Mondays and relationships are pondered

Mondays in general are always a bit sucky, naturally, because you have to go back to work and deal with all the stuff you left behind on the glorious Friday of the past. But when you are in a relationship you get this little added bummer…. after a nice weekend of cuddles and fun, you all the sudden feel you are going through couple withdrawal!

I felt it keenly today, so Tom and I arranged to meet halfway between offices (me at Oxford Circus and him on the western edge of the square mile), for a little extra dose of coupleness. In true romantic style, Tom brought me a big bunch of red roses. Very sweet – and they are making me smile as they sit on my desk inviting glances of envy from all the ladies in the office.

Tom is off to an emerging leader course for work this week, so we will have 3 whole nights to miss each other, but then a nice long bank holiday weekend to be sappy again. Instead of spending too much money to go to some village in the country, we are planning a London tourist weekend. We are going to visit Hampton Court Palace and maybe do a London Walk, and if the sun shines even a picnic in Hyde Park. I have been here a year so its time to pretend to be a visitor again for a long weekend.

P.S. the flowers and trees are in bloom and it’s SO GORGEOUS here right now. Lilacs and cherry blossoms everywhere…especially in my hood of Notting Hill.

On the Occasion of the Happy One Year London Anniversary...

Let’s pull a quote out of the archives to start this off:

From approximately one year ago, specifically April 22, 2007:

“…It was certainly not how I expected to feel on my arrival, but I guess in hindsight I should have figured on it. I mean seriously, a lot of people make this kind of move because they are tired of where they were before. I love LA...I love my friends and the life I had in LA. I did this because I always wanted the chance to live here...not because I wanted to leave LA. For me this is a challenge I gave myself....not a reward. So it's hard. But yeah, that day I was seriously questioning myself. And I still have that thought from time to time...but it's more geared towards allowing myself the possiblity of not living here for a long spell...and being ok with going back home if that’s what feels right too. People have told me that I am pretty ballsy to make this move, and I get it now...cause it sure ain’t easy…”

So here I am. One year to the date of my arrival in the UK. I have come a long way from pulling up in a black cab to my temporary flat on the Camden canal…and I am still here. There are no plans to leave.

Life does go on, I do adapt, I get over the homesickness, I get over the fear, and the longing for familiar things. New things become familiar, new friends are made, new bonds are forged…and it all combines to make me feel that London is now home.

But I am still ballsy and brave. I did it. I moved to London. I made it happen, and I enjoyed it…still enjoying it. Pretty cool, eh?

Following a holiday, the writer becomes busy

I always seem to slack on the blog posts after a trip or holiday. Most likely because returning from a holiday usually finds me thrown back into work or activities with no free time. That has definitely been the case this time.

So here I am reporting a while later.

The trip was good. I really enjoyed the sunshine and the beach and the Pacifico with lime down in Mexico. It was also fun to hang out with my brother, see my dad, visit with cousins and aunts, and introduce everyone to Tom. Tom wasn’t a huge Mexico fan…the street food and poverty weren’t too his liking…but he did enjoy the family, which is what really counts anyway.

Then it was back to LA for a short time. Once again I felt a sense of oddness about being back in LA. It’s like I don’t belong there anymore, but yet I have strong ties in friends/family/familiar scenes. Tom did like it quite a bit. We went shopping and had posh drinks and enjoyed lovely Santa Monica. It all felt a bit short, but I was ready to come ”home” to London.

And now Tom is officially living with me and that has been really good. It’s nice to have that feeling of being in a serious relationship again, knowing that you can come home and always have that person there to support you. He might even learn to rollerskate!