What have I been up to?

That is a good question. I will try to make the answer as quick and painless as possible--like a band aid/plaster being ripped off. I have been avoiding my blog for lack of things to say or maybe I'm just a bit over loaded with things to tell. Either way, I think I am finally ready to write again.

Just to recap, I moved from NYC to Harrogate UK in October and this is what I have been up to since then.

I did cry the first week I moved to the UK.
Really the only reason I was crying was that I just missed towels, got all emotional about it and had a little girly cry in the shower. Milestone 1, Check.

Enjoying the balls
Get your head out of the gutter. I mean fancy dress, ceremonial, freak-out-about-my-hair-type of balls. You already know I moved to Harrogate but what you didn't know what that I get to do really cool things here. Like go to formal events and wear pretty dresses. Yeah, it's girly but hey I have those moments too. What Leo woman doesn't like to look hot in a $500 dress (that I got on e-bay for $30).

(Girls love playing dress up)

A girl can't go to balls every day therefore, part-time work has filled two of my week days and the rest are spent searching for work or even sometimes working from home. Not that there is anything wrong with working from home but it is not for me. The very first day of working from home was pretty blissful. I woke up, got tea, had my cereal and spent the rest of the morning in bed under a down comforter while I worked on my sweet macbook pro. This blissful state only lasted about 4 hours.

By 1:00pm I was going stir crazy, I was pretty grossed out by the fact that I hadn't changed out of my sleep shirt and yoga pants. Then, I took one look in the mirror and lost all self-confidence. Perhaps it was the fact that we only had a tiny 'beauty' mirror at the time and the best view I got of myself was from two feet below my chin. Note to all women: the "under the chin badly lit view" could possibly be the most unflattering view ever. On a side note this made me feel bad for kids. They see us at this angle at all times. No wonder adults are depicted as monsters in kids movies.

(I resorted to taking snapshots with photo booth to capture a cute photo for a mid-afternoon pre-shower self-esteem boost after a look in the under-chin mirror).

Anyway, since then we have gotten a large wall mirror from Ikea and until this weekend I was still jones-ing for a full body/full-length mirror. I won a sweet Teak framed mirror at a local auction on Friday and can't wait to gauge the progress of my Harrogate hill runs in full glory.

Remember Remember November
One of the balls was in November and it was very lovely however it was scheduled at the same exact time as the giant bonfire in the Stray. Guy Fawkes Day is on the 5th of November. To all who are not familiar with Guy Fawkes Day, just imagine the 4th of July with a giant bonfire. From the sounds around our flat that week, I think everyone celebrates Guy Fawkes Day for at least a week prior and even a few days after the 5th of November. I got to go to a very nice ball but I did missed my first UK holiday. In fact, I've missed Christmas here as well.

Because Thanksgiving isn't celebrated in North Yorkshire, or all of England, we moved the date and made our own Thanksgiving on Monday the 23rd. While our friends and families were eating turkey back in the states, we went to Spain. We got this pretty sweet deal for a holiday package to Torremolinos. Upon arrival we realized why it was such a sweet deal. Despite our hopes for a sunny retreat from the UK, Spain was pretty cold.
The first day we proudly wore our tourist sandals and warm weather clothes but only to freeze all day and get gawked at by the locals. I think my skirt was a bit too short not only for the weather but also for the local taste. The second day we learned our lesson and bundled up in as many layers as we could find. We wandered the streets and castles of Malaga and Granada, I had my fortune read by an old Spanish fortune teller, without my permission, and she nearly ran us down when we refused to pay. I don't think someone telling me I'm going to have two dark-haired babies is worth €5.

Day 1

Day 2

Note our change in attire from Day one to day two.

Wisconsin Girl in WI
Eric and I trekked back to Wisconsin for Christmas for two weeks and two days. We both met each others' families and I met some of his Portage friends. We cooked a couple chicken stews with me on cutting duty and Eric as the chef, we consumed copious amounts of sugar. I tested my pro-skills at snowboarding and skiing for the very first time and managed walked away despite several diligent attempts to break my neck. I have to thank Eric, Mike and Claire for waiting on me while I fell and then got up again and then fell again. A special thanks goes out to Claire for teaching me that your first time is "all pizza", that "falling down is the hardest thing to do when skiing" and for her company in the lodge when I was just too sore to attempt another bunny hill.

(Daisy, Stella and me at my parents house in Wisconsin. There is no better early morning alarm than two little blonde nieces)

The morning after ski/snowboarding, we took an interim trip to Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon for a hike on the Kaibab trail.When we arrived in Vegas we drove almost immediately to Grand Canyon and spent the night in the car. The next morning we arrived so see the sun light up Grand Canyon. It was amazing. I have been there as a teenager with my parents but never as an adult and we never attempted any type of climb with Mom and Dad. When we got there, we were a bit surprised by the amount of snow on the ground... and in the canyon. So doing the smart thing, we asked the rangers what they would suggest for trails and equipment. We rented 4 hiking poles for the day for $8 and I bought my own pair of crampons for $13.99 +tax. It didn't take me more than a few steps with the crampons on to realize that "this was the best $13.99+tax I have ever spent." I am pretty accident prone, my arms and legs don't like to synchronize. They are frequently letting me down, literally. But with tiny metal bits that dig an inch into mud or ice attached to my feet and poles that jab into the ground, it is much harder to fall down. :D Take that, arms and legs.

I got so confidant skiing I thought I'd try it down Grand Canyon ;-)

Since we flew into Las Vegas and had a hotel there, we decided to drive back and spend some time in a comfy hotel room, shower and find a buffet to chow on. Nothing against Vegas or Vegas lovers, and perhaps if I liked spending my money, shopping for things I cannot afford or looking at naked women I would have liked Las Vegas a bit more. It was good to see the city as an adult but I would prefer a walk in the woods over one down the strip any day.

Back in the U.K!
We returned to the UK the day after Boxing Day and I have been jet lagged since. I'm a bit "off" from the flight and the time difference. I haven't been able to pry myself from bed before 10 am this past week. Luckily I didn't have to work. However, this coming week will be another story and I may need some help getting to work on Monday.

Unfortunately I have been self-diagnosed with car sickness
I know this sounds ridiculous. Yep, I'm a grown woman and I get pukey at the first sight of a roundabout. This is probably an aftereffect of living in NYC for 5 years. I got used to trains and forgot what it was like to ride in a car. I am getting better. I'm forcing myself to. The big plan is to do a long trip in a car in Europe in a year or two. So, I had better either get over my pukey-ness or I will not be a happy backpacker.

Seabands are the newest purchase I have made to combat this rare and horrible disease. They seemed to work throughout the United States. However UK roundabouts are the prime obstacle of this illness. I'm just not so sure if tiny plastic beads attached to sweatbands will get me through a long trip. I guess we will find out.


That is all I have for now. I will close with a few new words or phrases I have learnt (or learnt not to use) this year:

1. Pants: In the UK pants mean... ahem... underpants. My nieces in the US think this is simply the funniest thing ever. They even made me a Christmas card that said "you need new pants" and gave me a gift certificate for new undies. How thoughtful.
   
2. Double Fisting: In the US this means to hold two alcoholic beverages at the same time or even two desserts (I saw it recently on a Facebook image in reference to cookies). It does NOT mean the same thing in the UK... just think about it.
   
3. Oven: Even though the switch on the wall may say "cooker" it is still called an oven in my new NY (North Yorkshire). A real British citizen told me this so I will believe him until I am told differently. He said the switches are made in a different country so it is called the oven but they don't know that where they make the switches.
   
4. Buck's Fizz: To my New Yorkers, when you come to visit, mimosas are called Buck's Fizz here. Buck's Fizz is the original concoction created in... anyone? anyone? Yes, the United Kingdom. It was the first name for an orange juice and champagne cocktail. Later the French changed the recipe and renamed it to a mimosa in Paris.