Things that I love.

I haven’t had much time to reflect on life and what I love about it due to a busy work schedule but tonight I finally have a moment to relax and reflect.

Today was a traditional English day in that it rained. I had anticipated more rain than sunshine but the change in weather was an appreciated one and it became sunny all afternoon.

I live on the top floor of an apartment building and my day started out with pouring rain that slowly woke me up. I couldn't help but think “this is great! There is no obligation for me to enjoy the weather, I will make the most of it.” I got up and planned for a day of the gym, reading a book and absolutely and utterly relaxing in the evening.

Recently, there has been a campaign in the UK called “Love Life.” It’s all about healthy products from Waitrose. I work in the food industry and this campaign is all the rage right now but that isn’t really what is inspiring me. At various moments in my life I find myself thinking “I love life.” Maybe I’m not the only one?

Anyway, for personal gratification and reflection I’m posting this list of the things in life that I love. It’s not exhaustive and I hope you, whomever you are reading this, also have things in life that you love.

I love:

Rainy days where you can cuddle in bed and read a book

The sun in England

Watching a seagull circle a town

Politeness of others & being friendly to others

Friends

Family

A job well done/ accomplishment

A cool breeze on a hot day

The blue sky

The smell of home

The sound of familiar voices

The sound of ocean waves crashing

Family histories

Scary stories and great books

Tea in England and Coffee in the US

A long hard run

A long hot bath

Convenient mistakes

Human kindness

Fresh flowers

Being Barefoot

Falling asleep as a passenger in a car

Seeing two people in love (young or old)

Finding money in a pair of jeans you haven’t worn in a while

Watching the ground disappear on takeoff

Watching the ground come closer when landing

Catching up with friends and family

Relating with other human beings

And waking up happy.

Where Have All the Americans Gone?

Hello to all the Americans, I miss a lot of you.

I've been in England for 19 months now and slowly I'm losing touch with my American-ness. I notice when someone else is speaking with an American accent, I purchased a teapot to have tea the right way (brewed in a pot not per glass), I'm starting to "get" the references to British Pop-culture and when I watch American movies I'm starting to think "why are they driving on the wrong side of the ... oh yeah."

I haven't lost the American accent. I'm just as Wisconsin as ever but words like lovely and brilliant have crept into my vocab. I have been corrupted with DVDs like Nighty Night, Gavin and Stacey, Marion & Geoff, League of Gentlemen, etc. Oh, and I finally understand the "Oh!, What's Occurin' " thing that they do on the radio.

For the past few months I've been on a little roller coaster with jobs and apartments but I'd have to say I'm very lucky to be in England, and I'm happy to be learning the culture. And finally, I think my roller coaster has stopped in the station to exchange passengers and I'll be hopping off for now.

For the past year I was on a Maternity cover role when I worked for Asda and as it was coming to an end I didn't know what my future held. Where do I live? Do I go back to Wisconsin? New York? etc. There were several paths I could have taken and surpisingly more than I had even hopped for. But I'm happy to say I'm not moving to Australia just yet, I am staying in England and I'm very happy to have taken a job with Morrisons.

For those who don't know, Asda and Morrisons are competitors so when I gave my notice I was literally escorted off the premises. It was done in the nicest of ways however it's the first time I've been escorted off anyone's premises. After you are used to going to the same place day after day, it's a bit strange and sad to be told you are no longer allowed there anymore.

I'm not complaining, just reflecting... but anyway, I was put on Garden leave. Basically it's a time where I needed to remain available to work for Asda but they did not want me at work and I could not work for anyone else until my notice period was complete. So yeah, time off. Sounds great, right? Well, for anyone who knows me, they know I don't do well with sitting around and doing nothing. Garden leave means you can stay at home but I wasn't exactly allowed to go on holiday or leave the country.

So for the month of April I was in Wales and it was absolutely lovely. I learned how to cover and tar a flat roof, reclaim old bricks and build a brick wall, and how to cut and put up plasterboard. I even did a little gardening on my garden leave. And I was only two blocks from the sea with a sandy beach! You'll never hear me complain of the lovely sound seagulls and waves make.

Oh, and I totally watched the Royal Wedding in my PJs. It was great. I was ready to get dressed at 1pm but they hadn't kissed yet and how can you watch the whole thing without seeing them kiss??? So I held strong and waited the extra half-hour for a smooch on the balcony. It was... kind of worth it.

I'm back at full time work now. I'm just getting used to the change of location and learning the ropes as the new girl but I'm very excited about my new job. I cannot say much more than that... Just know that I'm super happy and I just might get to do a little traveling for work (NYCers I may be knocking on your doors soon).

My first day of work at M's

Other than that, I've given up my gym membership and am looking for a new one near my new job. Until the time comes, the weather has warmed up and I can run outside plus I've found Argos and all of the amazing home-gym equipment I need. I've now got my kettle bells and a yoga/pilates mat.

I do still miss a lot of American things & I had a little cry about being home-sick this weekend. I miss knowing what laundry detergent I normally buy when I go into the grocery store (here I just buy what's on sale and then get it home and hate it). I miss all of my friends and family (that is the #1 thing I miss). And I miss not paying 50 quid for gas/petrol (it's soooo expensive here).

But I'm not ready to go stateside just yet. Until I am, I'll be exploring the UK and what beauties the motherland has to hold.

We went exploring and found this old ship that used to be an amusement park/ship, cool.

No More Dead Ends

I'm totally stoked today. I just cut my own hair and it does not suck.

I've trimmed my own hair before but never given myself a real hair cut.

I am becoming a seasoned hair cutter. Every Sunday is haircut day for Eric. Instead of using a barber he has--conveniently for him--trained me to give him a nice clean man cut. I've gotten used to using clippers and I think I even do a decent fade. However, I'm a girl so unless I want to look like a boy I've got to use different techniques when cutting my hair.

Eric helped me last time and gave me a decent cut. It was pretty standard but clean and looked better with less dead gross dyed ends. The bangs got a little over cut last time. I take full credit and I persevered with a few bobby pins until they were long enough to let down.

So today I decided I needed a new do. I'm trying to grow out the disgusting dyed blonde hairs and cut them off. I'm about halfway so I can't quite get rid of all of them and I do not look nice with a bob. I weighed all my options and got a pair of scissors, well two pairs of scissors. An hour later, voila! I'm super stoked that I cut my own hair today. There are still some dead gross dyed ends that remain but now they look a little bit nicer and I've gotten rid of a whole dustpan full of grossness.

Woot.

1 Week ago: My hair was out of control!!! Gross.


Today: Post haircut

What's for dinner? Detox Night 4

I'm just not as inspired tonight. I had a long day and was the last one to leave work tonight. So, when getting home I just wanted to eat and not do anything.

With that said, it wasn't a bad dinner by any means and I managed to get slightly creative when putting it all together. But it was more of a standard "I just need to eat" dinner.

The menu:
Detox Scallop Paella
Although I could have gone with rice, it would have taken too long to make and tonight's dinner was about quick and easy. So it's a Quinoa paella with scallops, parsnips, carrots and broccoli. Topped with red onions and served with a avocado slices.
After the blueberry passion fruit with mint last night, I am pretty excited about making desserts that are satisfying yet healthy. They'll never be similar to a bowl of ice cream but I'd like to think that my desserts are a bit more posh and would possibly cost more in a restaurant. Anyway, tonight I went with a soy banana-passion fruit smoothie with frozen blueberries and mint leaves.

Time for bed!

What's for dinner? Detox Night 3

Since I added the creative element of blogging to my detox, I'm more excited about having a meal that is free of wheat, dairy, added sugar and added sodium. I suppose the rice noodles constitute as processed but everything else is fresh or frozen from fresh.

I've gotten a little creative with tonight's dinner. It was either go shopping for something new or have steamed chicken and some sort of veg again. Blah!

Also, I just got my super awesome discount card for work and was itching to get my 10% discount. So after work I zipped over to the local Asda and got some scallops, fresh herbs and some cheap tights.

I wanted a soup tonight but realised that soup is super bland without salt. To counter that I've added some spice and used very flavourful herbs, and vegetables.

Tonight's Dinner:
Scallop and Rice Noodle Stew:
I lightly pan fried scallops, scallions and garlic with a spritz of olive oil. Once the garlic turned brown I added enough water to make a soup. Then I chopped red chillies for a spice and parsnips for flavor. I'm addicted to these tiny baby mushrooms, so I threw in a handful of those as well and then gave the soup a squirt of lemon. Finally the rice noodles went in just before the soup was finished.

Bonus: Eric's out of town and since we only have 1 set of chopsticks I got to use them (it's my fault we only have one set, I lost one under our porch).

Tonight I was craving a bit more. I'm jones-ing a bit for sweets so I made a detox dessert.

Passion fruit and chilled blueberries with mint.

What's for dinner? Detox Dinner: Night 2

I've got a lot of work I still need to do tonight so I'll make this brief.

Tonight's dinner:
Wheat free, gluten free rice noodles with steamed chicken breast bits, parsnips, carrots and green beans. Topped with pepper and a bit of cilantro (coriander for the Brits).

To drink: I've gone for water flavored with clementine and lime juice.

And-- yep I'm shamelessly promoting my employer-- all purchased at Asda. I think the parsnips were even Smart Price.

What's for dinner? Detox Dinner: Night 1

Eric went out of town and I decided it was time for a detox. Not that I'm a drug addict or anything but I have been known to hit the bottle over the past few (cold) months.

Anyway I'm going substance free for a week and maybe more. No Alcohol, no caffine, no wheat, no dairy, no added sugars, no added salt or sodium and no processed foods. Let's see if I can keep up the nightly posts of "what's for dinner?". However, knowing me, I will probably stick with the same meal every night this week until I run out and have to buy more un-processed food.

Tonight's Special:

Steamed chicken breast and vegetables seasoned with tyme, pepper and lemon and lightly dusted with olive oil. Served over a bed of watercress and avocado with a side of Quinoa. Finished off with a topping of salad cress for colour and crunch!

ps. It's actually really yummy!