I Heart LDN

I'm having an "I love London" kind of week.  I was a little reluctant at first to fall in love with my new city as there were many annoyances of life here versus life in Chicago.  But it's starting to come together and I'm starting to really love this city.  Now if we could only do something about the weather, cost of living, and distance from friends & family, I would never leave!  I'm just really starting to love the little neighborhoods within London.  There are so many of them and each one has so much character.  I realized my love this Tuesday when Alison provided her babysitting services and I went for a tourist day out on the town.  I had booked a ticket with the Hampstead Women's Club to travel up in the Shard, a new building that is now the tallest in the European Union.  Unfortunately, and typical for London, the day was cloudy and we couldn't see a thing from the top.  It was still cool to be one of the first to travel up as the viewing deck just opened in February and we were one of the first groups to go up.  The great (and slightly unbelievable) thing was that they gave us a full refund since there was no visibility so I can go back on a clear day!  After the Shard I went to JJ's office and met the people there and we got to have a lunch date.  Then after lunch I wondered around the East end by his office.  The East end is where all the cool, trendy artist types live.  I went to Spitalfields Market that has been around in some form since the 1600s.  Today it is a big open air market with all sorts of shops, clothes, jewelry, books, vintage stuff, restaurants, etc.  I had so much fun wandering around looking at cool stuff.  I ended up buying a new black (and very fashionable) winter coat for half price and left happy.  On my way home I stopped in TK Maxx.  That's not a typo, TJ Maxx must have already been trademarked here or for some other reason they decided to change the J to a K.  It was the same store format, etc as it was in the states.  I was curious so went in but didn't find much. 

Then while waiting for the subway, satisfied after a lovely day, I saw this billboard and realized that I do Heart LDN!

Now the other big news that has me in a chipper mood is that I'm going to be a working woman again!  I spoke to the Managing Director at Watco, a sister company to Rust-Oleum and he loved my proposal and wants me to start next week!  I will work for them as an independent consultant so now I'm busy finding out what in the heck I need to do to cover taxes here and in the US.  Hopefully that doesn't become too complicated.  I couldn't be happier.  The things they want me to work on are right in my wheelhouse and I think it will be a great fit for both parties.  I'm going to average 10 hours a week which is super manageable and I'm really looking forward to using my brain in a different way other than the typical "How am I going to clean up this giant mess" kind of way I'm currently thinking in "mama-mode."   I have a bit of guilt about my own excitement of leaving Tyler once a week, he really is a great kid, but I know that this is the best for both of us and I'm feeling so lucky to have this perfect opportunity. 

This weekend, to top off a great week, we are headed to Covent Garden as our Tube stop adventure continues.  We will go there in the afternoon as a family and wonder around.  We will also be searching for same day theater tickets for that night since we lined up a new babysitter to come over Saturday night.  I had met a girl from New Zealand back in January so we decided to have her come over Saturday so that we have a couple babysitting options available to us.  We are also going to have her come back in a couple weeks so JJ and I can catch some March Madness where ever they are showing it.  Looking forward to that and hopefully some warm weather coming our way!

The Shard viewing deck in the clouds

Diagram of the Shard

Me at the top in the clouds.  There is an open air part with no ceiling which would be cool if you could see anything.

Looking up from the open air viewing

Spitalfields Market

A shop in Spitalfields displaying Mum's Day gifts (weird that Mother's Day is in March here....)

An example of "How am I going to clean up this mess?"  The answer was a mid-day bath and lot's of cleaning wipes.

Handsome boy!

The sun was just right to capture his silhouette with his head as the O in LOVE backwards.  The sun went down too fast so the picture didn't turn out as cool as I saw it.