Things we miss from America!

So one thing we have learned is that London grocery stores are nothing like American stores. Some things in particular we miss more than others like:

-McCormick's steak seasoning
-Chalula hot sauce
-American light beer (lightest beer here is fosters)
-Ranch seasoning packets (for my taco soup of coarse)
-Diet sunkist
-Turkey meat
-Gatorade
Im sure the list will get longer but we are going to try our hardest to embrace the culture here and start making dinners with what they have. If anyone comes to visit you are more than welcome to pack a suitcase with these items. We will provide you with a free place to live...haha!

We just so happened to walk into a grocery store today and tony and I couldn't believe our eyes. We looked at each other and smiled! It made our day that we found the one thing we had been googling in search of....

Yes....we were excited for Coors Light! The mountains were blue and everything!!!

We miss so much about America here but I will say there are so many perks about here that are amazing. The transportation here is so wonderful and it is a shame that not every city has the convenience that we do here. Taking the tube and getting almost anywhere in London within 20 mins is awesome! No gas, no insurance, no traffic...except after everyone gets out of work!

Our very first visitor to London....KENDALL!

Our first weekend in London was so fun thanks to Kendall coming to visit. She was visiting family in Scotland and it was so sweet for her to come see us for 2 days. We were starting to miss our family and friends so she came in the nick of time. Thanks for coming to visit Kendall!

We visited one of the pubs in Knightsbridge...pubs have the best food here as far as I'm concerned!

We went out Saturday night in Shoreditch which is apparently a great place for young people to go out! It was a great night!

We miss you Kendall...next time the Irish Car bomb wont be lumpy!

We are FINALLY in London!

We are now somewhat settled in London now and looking for places to live. It is so different than the US in terms of space, how refurbished the place is, and the cost of each place. The first day of viewing flats was very disappointing and discouraging. We were trying to get a grasp of what area we wanted to live in and what we were willing to give up to be in a good area. Coming from the US, size wasnt as big of a deal but i wanted refurbished kitchens and bathrooms at least....but that was hard to find in good areas.

FINALLY, today we placed an offer on a flat that is in a great location (Chelsea/Earl's Court). We are just waiting on the final transfers of money to go through and they need recs from previous landlords. Its great walking distance to the train and right in the heart of great pubs, markets, and restaurants. What we didnt realize about flats here is NO ONE has air conditioning which was very hard for us to understand, everyone has washers but no dryers (how the heck to they live like this???? simple they just hang their stuff to dry and then iron everything). Why must they make it so difficult for themselves. Most places we looked at didnt even have dishwashers!!!! We have it so good in the US! 

We are taking it all in and trying to reset our expectations as we take on this new adventure! We will update you as we finalize our living arrangements! SO FAR SO GOOD!

This is our flat that we will hopefully move into next Wednesday! Its very tight but much better than any other flat we looked at here! Here are some pictures!

This is the main living area. A little modern for my taste but its so cute and i could maybe throw a little traditional decor in there.  

We love our renovated kitchen. Most refrigerators here are little mini fridges. We lucked out big time!

Bedroom is very tight but it will do.

Bathroom is more renovated than most over here which was very important to me :)

The picture below if our first cooked meal in London....grocery stores have nothing compared to the US. It was not easy trying to find stuff to make. First night...TACOS!

Waffles, Frites, and LOTS of beer!

Tony and I began our journey to London with a pit stop in Belgium. We first took a plane from Atlanta to Dallas back over Atlanta to get to London where we then stopped at Brussels. We spent 2 nights in Brussels and loved the different beer selections (not as much as my dad i'm sure).We took a day in between to head up on an hour train to Brugge, Belgium. This was so pretty with cobble stone roads everywhere and the shopping was fantastic!
 The only negative part of the trip was the actual traveling to and from the airport and to and from the trains to our hotel in brussels. We shipped over quite a few boxes to London but the rest of our luggage we lugged everywhere. By luggage I mean 8 pieces that were between 30-70 pounds each! The best part was lugging all 8 pieces of luggage down cobble stone roads, sweating, people staring and laughing, and even better getting lost through a crowd full of people. Looking back on everything, it was all worth it. We had a great time in Belgium and recommend everyone check it out!

BELGIUM TRIP!

Row of restaurants in Brussles!

Our first night enjoying my very first DUVEL!

Our  first night in Brussels...a much needed beer after all the luggage we carted around all day.

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My first train ride...very fun but still so tired. I had a much harder time trying to catch up on sleep than Tony!























Brugge was beautiful with horse carriage rides everyday! Tony would not let me take any pictures without one of us in them...one of his pet peeves.

Yummy restaurant in Brugge....overall food was a C-. It was hard to find a good restaurant that had menus in english.

It was a bit Chilly in Brugge. It is apparently called the "Venice of the North" and was worth the extra trip!

You can take boat tours through this canal...so pretty!

There were stores all over Brugge where you could buy any Belgium beer and the glass to go with it. Tony loved doing this of coarse.

We had to take a picture of this. We went into the famous delirium pub in Brussels and this is what we found on the wall. GO DAWGS!

All of the gold taps were different belgium beers. There must have been 100 different ones at delirium pub.

"The Manneken Pis"- also known as the famous peeing boy statue in London.

Last but not least....WAFFLES! YUM!

We will miss all our Friends and Family!!!!

What an amazing Hostess!!!

I Love you Cathy...thanks for hosting a great party!

I will miss you Brandie!

Our Favorite Nieces!                        

                                                                                                        

  Who am I going to have lunch dates with???

  The Boys!                       

 We loved having our families in town...Thanks for coming Alyssa!

  The Girls...well most of them!

     My work friends and the final goodbye!             

  I will miss you guys!