London Bound!

Due to his work, my husband and I decided to move to London in September 2012.  Since we both travel with our jobs and then had our wedding ceremony in the states in November, we weren't actually 'home' that much (maybe 4 weeks in a 3 month period).  Now that December has come around, we decided it's time to get settled in and I decided to start a blog.  

I used to be good at keeping journals of my travels and life experiences, but have slacked tremendously as of late.  So, I figured a blog would be a great way of keeping family updated and just sharing experiences as they come!  

I'm certainly not a professional writer and have never blogged before, but hopefully will get the hang of it with a bit more practice! 

Here's a picture of our first plant and view from our Kitchen to get a sense for where I might be writing these posts 

And a view of our deck, where I will certainly not be writing posts until it's warmer.  In case you didn't know, London is cold and often rainy. 

December in London

Since it's December and this is my first Christmas in London, I figured blogging about Christmas in London is a great place to start.

First on the agenda – tree shopping. I debated whether or not to get a
tree for a week. Reasons Against:  Our place is small, we don’t have
any ornaments with us nor do we have lights. We live in a building
with 75 stairs and no lift (yes that’s right, I say lift now!) And the
number one reason against – after my initial research (i.e. I walked
around Chelsea and Phoned a friend) - tree’s here cost upwards of £55
or $89 based on today’s exchange rate. And that’s for a little tree
(around 4 ft).  So, it was a no until I discovered they have trees at
North End Market!

North End Market will receive a post all on its own because it’s that
fabulous, but in regards to Christmas Trees, I found three vendors.
In most of London I found it difficult to find trees above 5 feet, but
two of the North End Vendors had those.  They were around £45,
which was a steal compared to other tree areas.  However, I still had
those stairs to deal with and a husband who was out of town…
I talked to each of the vendors and pulled a goldilocks as the last
vendor was just right.  Not only was she friendly, but she had the
best trees.  I opted for a 5 foot tree that was listed at £25.
After chatting with the woman we added in delivery and dropped the
price to £20 because I smiled so nicely and it was legitimately all
I had.

That evening the tree came to my doorstep via our friendly vendor who
is about my size and carried the tree on one shoulder with one hand.
So, I carried it up those 75 stairs like a proper lumberjane.  I
didn’t fall at all. I didn’t hit the wall with the stump of the tree
and bounce back.  And I certainly didn’t turn around and start pulling
it up by the top… Or maybe all of those things happened and I
concluded the tree lady is the proper lumberjane 

As far as decorations go, I decided to be creative instead of
purchasing loads of ornaments and lights.  I remembered my three R’s
and reduced (tree is smaller than American ones), I reused some Minnie
Mouse Ears I had from Halloween as the tree topper as well as our
“Happily Ever After Buttons” from Disney, and I recycled by decorating
the tree with our beautiful wedding cards and a red bow given to us on
a bottle of wine.

While I might not be a lumberjack and our tree might not make it in
Martha Stewart Living – it’s perfect for our First Christmas in
London.