define('DISALLOW_FILE_EDIT', true); define('DISALLOW_FILE_MODS', true); Basic Updates – Page 2 – Drew and Jen go to London

Tag: Basic Updates

  • Here’s What I Know

    On days like today I have time to realize (or rather, run out of time to avoid) how much really has changed for me in the last year and a half or so.  It’s like remembering that no one is holding on to your bike as you peddle like mad down the street.  Usually on…

  • Wait, There’s More

    The longer we vacation in the states and the more questions people ask, the more strange things I remember about my new home in London.  For instance, toilets are shaped funny.  I had forgotten all about that, but in describing house cleaning to our cousin, that thought came to the forefront.  I can just say…

  • You Know You are Home When

    You have chores You can talk about gas – the kind that goes in your car and the kind that comes after chili You can laugh and cry when you need to You can tell someone that they are a little bit stinky You can ask for water and eat too much You can spend…

  • Where in the World are Drew and Jen?

    Northeast of Nashville there exist Christmas dinners consisting mainly of foods grown in a family garden and I have eaten some of the best sweet corn that grows on the planet.  There are so many family members to see, but not enough time to tell them what they mean; the last two and a half…

  • So, This is Christmas

    It is strange to be back in the town where we used to own a house, but don’t anymore – and it’s weird to be sleeping at my mom’s when I used to live in a neighborhood ten minutes away.  It can be disconcerting to recognize handfuls of people at a time where ever in public…

  • Wow, It’s Grey and Rainy in Tennessee, Too

    We have safely arrived at our Christmas Vacation destination.  I hope that our trip is not as exciting as the Griswold’s, though I do expect something really funny to write about. I have already had substantive conversations with two strangers and ran into an family friend I haven’t seen since I was kid, only to…

  • Can You Get Drunk on Hot Chocolate?

    Wow.  It has been a busy couple of days…  Yesterday I bought train tickets for my interview in Sutton and went to retrieve them.  Sooner or later I am going to figure out the easy way to travel by train, the way which does not involve going to some weird place to get your tickets…

  • He’s Right Behind You!

    This weekend Drew and I enjoyed ourselves at the Barbican Centre for two very different shows.  On Saturday we had a lovely lunch at the Waterside Cafe before enjoying a special showing of The Day the Earth Stood Still in a very nice cinema.  After the show we had dinner at Tortilla in Islington and…

  • Don’t Look Now…

    All this time I have had to make Christmas cards was foiled by my ignorance.  I’ve been searching for craft stores in London and I have pawed through stationery stores for the supplies I would need to glitter your mailbox.  Today I discovered something wholly new to me.  Haberdashery.  Mostly it indicates sewing supplies, but…

  • Would You Like to Dance?

    Where to begin… With a sequence of events not entirely unlike a roller coaster ride–the kind you wait in line nearly half a day to ride and get off feeling sick, exhilarated, and thankful to be alive–it’s hard to know exactly how to begin to tell the story of the last two and a half…

  • One More Small Hurdle

    I have been trying to be such a good girl this year, but I seem to be a magnet for slightly annoying chains of challenge.  There will either be nothing but coal in my stocking for the trouble I cause–or I will earn a medal by facing these challenges without developing a drinking problem in…

  • Is Your Mouth on Fire, Too?

    Yesterday I got a new broom, cloth handkerchiefs, and a silicone device used in a frying pan to prepare foods like eggs or pancakes.  (I didn’t have to wait long to test out my new cooking tool.)  You would think Londoners never saw someone carrying a broom down the street before…  How did they get…

  • You’ll Need to Bring This Back With You.

    Term of the Day: Bits and Bobs Odds and ends A good portion of normal, everyday Londoners order groceries online and have them delivered; they pop in to local stores for the random bits and bobs.  Within my frame of reference, that would have seemed very posh two months ago.  After discovering the challenges simple…

  • Why Doesn’t Drew Post More Often?

    And the answer is… I am busy. Nothing more glamorous than that unfortunately. Good news is, I am back with an update today so Jen could take the night off. May not be great news to you, but Jen is glad to have a night to herself. Over the next few weeks Jen and I…

  • We Came, We Saw, We Chugged Hot Apple Cider

    So how about this new look, eh?! Props to a gorgeous webmaster and designer extraordinaire… More changes and updates to come, we hope you enjoy! If you don’t have something to drink and more than just a few free minutes on hand, go make yourself some refreshments and come back with a comfy chair. The…

  • MMmmmm.

    For my mom, who always wants to know what we had for dinner. Thanksgiving is alive and well for these two Huddlestons in London and we may not eat again until December.  Our lovely friends Virginia and Scott laboriously prepared for us a hand made vegetarian feast and allowed us to enjoy their sweet children…

  • Things for Which I Am Thankful

    I am one of those people who operates best with a plan and a deadline.  I also happen to be an extremely emotional person who attaches meaning to everything.  The flaw isn’t in my sentimentality or my best laid plans–it’s in the crying and pouting that ensues when Thanksgiving dinner doesn’t go as planned.  The…

  • Strange New Day

    Last night Drew worked well into the evening and he’s fighting a cold, so we snuggled a few extra minutes this morning.  He had decided to go late to the office if he woke up feeling as lousy as he did yesterday.  Though he didn’t sleep very much later than usual, it felt strange to make…

  • When You Put it That Way…

    Word of the Day: Biscuit (UK) Cookie–and sometimes cracker (US) Small, savory, bread-based food item eaten most commonly at breakfast A girl (and hopefully a boy) can be happy anywhere by creating little bits of familiarity around them.  What else is a house wife to do, then, besides make familiar foods?  I’ve tried something like…

  • You Ought to be Ashamed.

    Words of the Day: Philately, Philatelist Philately: The study and collection of stamps Philatelist: Someone who collects stamps Correct use of these words in a conversation:  Hey, have you seen Dr. Philately?  I heard he had a Philatelist on the show the other day; apparently they are working through his addiction to that stuff on…

  • Weekend Update

    Word of the Day: Wellies (slang) short for Wellington rain boots It’s cold in London.  How would someone educated like yourself spell BBRRRRRRrrrrrr?! We had a great time last night mixing with some of Drew’s coworkers.  The bar was really cool though the music was crappy and too loud.  I had to yell so much…

  • That Is a Cuss Word Where I Come From

    If Lelan Statom (my favorite meteorologist, and the sole reason I watched News Channel Five) said the word “snow” in his forecast, within four hours grocery stores ran out of bread, milk, eggs, batteries, gallons of water, and Swiss Miss.  If the lovely Carol Kirkwood, BBC weather presenter, mentions snow it’s considered a horrible slight…

  • Yeah, I did, actually.

    Word of the Day: Lippy lipstick Standard math problem: How do you get one mile from your flat to your job interview in suit pants meant to be worn with 3-5 inch heels, without wearing the heels, on your journey and leaving one hour before your scheduled interview time?  Answer: You put socks on over…

  • For the Win

    I know so many women that handle their work as housewives and moms with such grace–and I managed to do well for a solid month (with no kids or pets to care for, mind you)–but I don’t know how these ladies stay motivated to battle the neverending cycle of laundry, dishes, cleaning, grocery shopping, errands,…

  • A Terrifically Terrible Tuesday That Was Also Terribly Terrific

    Although it started out as a normal day, it soon turned into a frenzy of action and hilarity.  Several times I have had to ask myself why I cannot be a person of less drama.  I guess that would make this boring blog all that more uninteresting, now wouldn’t it?  Nevermind.  Bring on the crazy.…

  • Stylin’

    Word of the Day: Brolly umbrella (slang) I have a weekly run to the post office on Mondays; it’s always packed.  What was so special about today’s trip was that there may have been a Senior Citizen’s Center meeting to have just let out ’round the corner.  If you know me, you know I quite adore…

  • Busted

    We’ve never made salon appointments together that I am aware, but today we bravely entered ESHK to have our wigs busted.  Mine is definitely not as glam as Drew’s, but I do have an interview coming up…   Do I look half dead or what?! We were quite hungry when we left the salon so we…

  • A Tradition Begins

    Word of the Day: Minging (rhymes with ringing) Offensive, disgusting (I left a glass of milk on my desk for a few days and it is minging.) Thing I miss: color guard rehearsal and winter programs camps I am not sure why I am feeling so very tired.  Maybe it’s the cooler weather or the…

  • Fabulous Friday the 14th

    A beautiful sunny morning gave way to a cloudy afternoon; it was blustery all day, but the temperature was so yummy that I opened the windows and turned off the heat.  I may have been a bit lazy today, but I still managed to get out and enjoy the gorgeous weather.  I also spent a…

  • It’s around the corner to the right, you’ll see it.

    There is nothing like giving directions to strangers that makes you feel really at home.  So far, I think I’ve been stopped about five times that I was able to point someone in the right direction.  I’m home, yo.  (Thanks, Mrs. 007, for so brilliantly reviving this old favorite.) Words of the Day: Sponge, Fairy…

  • What Would the Queen Do?

    I find myself with an evening to myself and it causes to me to wonder what the Queen might do–with a free evening, of course.  I have no delusions that I understand the Queen’s daily schedule and all it entails.  In any case, the Queen might be jealous that I have plans to make a…

  • She wore her red shoes…

    Word of the Day: Pudding In most cases, a dessert.  Upon further research, I think almost everything is pudding.  Or is a pudding.  Or is gross sounding. In lighter news: I don’t know of much else in the world that makes this girl happier than having happy-in-their-tennis-shoes feet. It’s not always stylish and it is…

  • …but there was a storm!

    Word of the Day: Knackered (slang) Tired, unfit to work. That’s not how I feel today, though!  We went to bed a little early last night, but there was a storm!  I am not sure how long we thought the roof might be blown off.  It wasn’t scary; it sure was noisy though. Today I…

  • Pancake Day!

    Well, after four hours of traipsing all over this side of the city, we have a power strip and voltage adapter.  We do not have a mixer, cake pans, tennis shoes, or a USB handset for our Skype phone.  We did write down some information from a recruitment agency we passed.  We found some cool job postings…

  • It’s Pretty Official

    When you join the local library I think it’s official that you live in the area.  And we do.  Who are we, again? We picked up two movies to enjoy later, but while we were at the Barbican we wandered through a very interesting exhibit that seemed interactive–it was so complicated that I couldn’t tell…

  • Camping in the Big Wild City

    Living in our cool new flat in London, which seems pretty modern and art deco in the photos, is not entirely unlike camping to a very spoiled southerner.  Although we were really excited to have the big open ceiling in the living area and the cool little office space that closes off, I underestimated how…

  • “Remember, Remember…

    the fifth of November Gunpower, treason, and plot. I see no reason why gunpowder, treason should ever be forgot.” There are fireworks booming outside and I was a little excited about it at first. It felt a little bit like London was celebrating just for Drew and me because we voted. When I researched the…

  • Was this what I ordered?

    Word of the Day: Sultana A sultana (also called the sultanina or sultani) is a type of white, seedless grape of Turkish or Iranian origin. It is also the name given to the raisin that is made from it. Today’s Most Missed Thing: holding beautiful babies Mom, I might invite a few extra folks for Christmas, but the little ones don’t eat much–the…

  • Wow, we’re really here!

    I hope that you have all been waiting with baited breath to hear the updates after our short absence from the blog, but I apologize for making you wait. One of the biggest things we’ve done is move flats. The truth is that our new flat is more like real life in London rather than…

  • Music to My Ears

    Oh, Kassi, this one’s for you. (I hope I can name at least one band you don’t recognize.) Last night Drew and I attended the UK Festival Awards 2008 at the O2.   The Awards Ceremony was actually held in a smaller venue than the main stadium, called the IndigO2. Headlining the show was a band…

  • Travel Rule Number One

    You should never actually use your cell phone abroad.  Unless you really need to.  But even then, you should sleep on it. Tonight, for your viewing pleasure, we would like to share the excitement in Leicester Square as The Quantum of Solace descends in London…   Drew had to fight the crowd and take an…

  • So much for so little

    Yesterday was a brilliant experiment in patience and self preservation.  I went to the bank, yet again, to request that another mistake be corrected.  I don’t know anymore how many people have been involved in our grand banking adventure.  Just when it seems that the clown car cannot hold another circus member, we pack another…

  • Sunday, Sunday

    It’s amazing the things you can find on You Tube… Just try typing in “Dr. Who and the Daleks remix” and see what you come up with.  Please also search for “the funniest cat video ever“.  This one only gets better the more you watch.  (Mom, you can just click on the link to see…

  • The Saturday Evening Post

    Today we were on the set of the 2010 Dr. Who series 6 (play along with me). We got some great promotional shots and read through the script for one of the upcoming episodes; sorry no spoilers here, but I wouldn’t rule out a cameo of yours truly… Please do rifle through the shots, but…

  • Friday I’m in Love

    (Just so you know I have written, published and mysteriously lost this entry already this evening–but here it goes again.) We got the keys to our new place today after meeting an inventory specialist to sign off on the evaluation and take a last look at the place.  There are several reasons why we have…

  • We’re not in Kansas anymore

    Simple things, like eating a meal out somewhere, have become something of anxiety producing process.  Each time I consider where to eat I feel my heart beating a bit faster.  How much does a sandwich cost here?  Do I order at the counter? Am I supposed to leave a tip?  Do I really want to…

  • Expats in London

    In this issue of Expats in London: ‘Sweet and Spicy’ 30 Minute Meal recipe #2, from the “Accidentally Yummy” collection A Newcomer’s Experience at International Banking House-Hunting Tips and Trends What’s Hot and What’s Wrong with this Picture Stereotype Myths: Real or Old School Hype? Letter from the Editor Thanks to all of our devout…

  • Isn’t It Ironic? (Not to be confused with the completely coincidental Alanis version.)

    I apologize for the lengthy radio silence.  Monday was a bit of a day of recovery for me.  I was tired from everything that I had squeezed in.  The weekend was wonderful, but not much of a break.  I did manage to field some calls from agents following up on the properties we had seen…

  • And on the seventh day…

    When I left you last night, we were headed out to grab a bite.  We ate at a wonderful Japanese skewer restaurant. We had teriyaki salmon and rice. It was delicious. We may have wandered around a little, but I can’t remember what in the world we may have been looking for… ahh, ice cream.…

  • The Saturday Evening Post

    After a very full week of emotionally and mentally exhausting work, we ponder what to do with our night.  The evening has passed already, but the streets are still full with people and the restaurants will be serving for hours…  It’s Saturday night–we should be tearing up the town–but we’re very tired.  We’ll definitely eat.…