Moving Part 3

I'm sure everyone who reads this blog, all 7 of you, are on the edge of your seat waiting to read the next installment of the moving saga.

The truth is there isn't much else to say, we had one last meal with my parents and brother and took a car to the airport on a Tuesday afternoon with all 8 of our bags - that's 2 suitcase each, 2 carry-ons and 2 personal items... If you haven't figured it out yet - that's a lot of luggage! It all barely fit in the town car. After spending $300 on luggage fees (thanks delta amex) we got into the airport. The best part about flying on a Tuesday night in the international terminal is that we got through security in 10 min tops. After making a beeline to the delta lounge, where we each had one more much needed drink, we got called to our flight & boarded.

Steve would know exactly what plane we flew, but since I'm guessing non of you care, ill skip over the 9 hours flight (read couldn't sleep, watched a few OK movies and wished it would go by faster) we landed at Heathrow. Thankfully Steve had ordered a car service for us, so our 8 bags and ourselves got into a nice air conditioned mini van and drove the 35 min to Reading. We stayed at a hotel the first night because a) it was easier & b) we didn't get our apartment keys till later.

If all of this doesn't sound exhausting, both physically and mentally then I am not adequately conveying the stress this sort of move puts you through. Just before we left, sitting at my parents home in Atlanta, I just held onto my mom and cried and asked her if it was worth all the stress & second guessing & anxiety of the unknown. As she held me and reminded me of the grand adventure we were about to embark on, all I could do was cry. I don't mean a few tears, I mean a deep, heaving sobs - the kind of crying when your world has been turned on its side and all out can do is ride the wave & hope you survive. Yes - that might seem melodramatic to some of you, but I can tell you, unless you've done this, its very hard for you to even have an idea of how hard it is. Yes, we're around the corner from some of the greatest cities in the world. Yes, this is a once in a lifetime experience, but that's doesn't mean its not hard. Hard on your mind, body and soul.

That's enough soul pouring out for right now - trust me, there will be more. I haven't mentioned the washing machine or the oven yet, but there is also lots of good and funny to come as well - hot British men in my apartment carrying groceries. Need I say more?

Travel Tuesday

Hello!

So here is the plan for the schedule for the blog:

Monday - anything
Tuesday - Travel Tuesday (I'll either write about a place we want to go, or if we traveled that weekend)
Wednesday - Wordless Wednesday (I'll try and keep it themed)
Thursday - anything
Friday - anything
Saturday & Sunday - I sort of hope to be to busy doing stuff to post but you never know :)

So for my first official Travel Tuesday I'm gonna finish up the moving saga.

Before we got all of our stuff packed into boxes and shipped off we had a bit of a going away party at Mellow Mushroom at Brookhaven. It was so wonderful to see all of the people we love and care about and are going to miss so much come out and see us before we left. I am super proud - I only started to cry but I didn't & if you know me that's a big deal - I am a serious crier! We got a coffee table book of Atlanta photos and asked people to sign it - still haven't read the messages in fear they will make me even more homesick :(

Here are some pictures from the party!

Everyone!

Me & Christine - we survived both SPX & GSU!

Me & Doreen, best Carter's trainer ever!

Jordan, me & Courtney AKA World Market Crew

Another really important dinner we had before we left was with my theater teacher from high school -  Bonnie Spark. She was and is like a grandma to me, in a old but not really old way. So she's more like an Aunt. Mom, Dad, Steve and I met her at her favorite restaurant in Atlanta - Violet. Side note - OMG this place is really good, expensive but if you're looking for a real dinning experience & good food for a nice date or anniversary I highly recommend this place! I hadn't seen her in a number of months so it was great to catch up with her... aka gossip like mad about people from high school. Bonnie's a sorority girl at heart, just don't tell her I said that. On a side note I did ask her to sing at the wedding in some capacity (yes she is Jewish and yes it will be a catholic wedding, but its mine and ill have a crazy NY jew sing if I like). She also filled us in on Father Dan, who is still in Atlanta and I need to find to ask if her can preform the weeding for us. Yes, its gonna be like a big Pius party but that's what I want.

So after we had packed everything we owned into storage, shipping boxes and suitcases we had one final evening with our closest friends to enjoy one last big group mean and laugh and not cry (again - no tears from me which is unheard of). We went to Taco Mac in Buford, big surprise there I am sure. We were pretty much regulars there without anyone like the staff knowing or recognizing us, that's ok. Its still kinda like our place. So the 8 of us got together and had one last meal together, which was really wonderful. It made the last night in the US happy, not sad, which I really needed because I was second guessing our decision to move at all, but seeing our closest friends be so excited and happy for us made all the difference. Here is the group photo we took that night - sorry the quality is shit, our waiter was a big supporter of 4/20 and couldn't hold the phone still (I tried to fix it). Lesson? Bring the DSLR and tripod when the photos are important!

Bryan, Laura, Andrea, Jake, Me, Michael, Steve, Matt & Rachel

Moving Part 2

Now that everything we we're going to be taking or storing wasn't sold (well almost - we have 2 large loads to take to the local goodwill & a donation of 150 lbs of food to the local food bank) we were ready to pack. Sounds easy enough - everything else is going to one of 4 places - suitcases to fly with us, storage - to sit and wait for us to return, goodwill - there's lots of little stuff left & shipping. Steve found a company which ships personal home items overseas for a reasonable price (read $1200 for 100 sq ft) which is pretty reasonable compared to some other shipping companies.

So 100 sq ft is about the equivalent of 33 medium home depot moving boxes, sounds easy enough right? Fit everything you need for the next any number of years into 33 boxes, and put them on a boat and wait 5 to 8 weeks to get them.... yes I am being super sarcastic.

So in an ideal world the house would be super organized and we would know exactly what to bring and what to leave behind. Unfortunately that's now how this went. It was more like a tornado, stuff everywhere, no origination, no going back and double checking to see if we packed what we really needed and not just stuff we thought we might like to have. It just all went into boxes, until we had way more then 33 boxes. We had golf clubs and shelves and art and computers and more clothes then we could ever where or wash and it all went into boxes. It took 3 days (not full days, but still 3 days) of packing to get it all in boxes. And after the dust settled and everything was in a box we had 2 full pallets.

Pallet 1

Pallet 2

After packing all this stuff in boxes, we loaded it all into a big box truck - that's everything we own fit in a box truck U Haul. If that's not a life altering experience I don't know what is. 

Now we were left with the task of getting the rest of our stuff into 4 large suitcases and 2 carry-ons & 2 personal items for the flight to the UK - let me tell you sir this kinda packing is an art! We even bought a scale. In the end we had one overweight bag (65 lbs for $100) and 3 50 lbs bags. Plus carry-ons weighing about 30 lbs a piece and personal items (backpack and a purse) coming in at about 35 lbs and 20 lbs respectively. 

Moving Part 1

So in full disclosure style we are actually already here in Reading, but the last 2 weeks have been CRAZY so I haven't had much time for anything, let alone blog posts. So I figured I'll just go back in time and write each step of the moving process, and at the end Ill do a final moving post about advice and "20 20 hindsight" kinda thing! Who's ready to relive the craziness? Cause you know I am :)

Lets take a look at the real basics of moving - IT SUCKS! Its one of the most stressful things you will ever do in your life. So if you think moving down the road or to the next city is stressful, think about moving to the other side of the country? Ya, you pack up all your stuff, sell the small "extra stuff" and drive across country. Sounds scary huh? Ya that's what I used to think, then I agreed to move to another country. Holy Cow! Hello STRESS!!

We started by deciding that moving overseas was a great idea! Right before thanksgiving we told our folks Steve had taken a job in the UK and we were moving! It all sounded so exciting! Moving to another country, me leaving my job. Let the madness begin!

I worked until April 3, so my health insurance would carry over until we left - that was important for last minute doctors appointments etc. I took the weekend to relax and let it sink in that we were moving to another country later that month. Monday I started to sort through the stuff as we were having a huge 3 day yard sale! I need to interject major props and kudos to our house keeper Amanda who came and helped me sort, label, tag and price (reasonably). She was amazing and I owe her a bottle of wine (I left her a few in the house so I hope that covers that debt ;) ).

Tuesday mom thought it would be fun to go and look at potential wedding venues - The Fox, The Piedmont Room, Ansley Golf Club & Rhodes Hall.

More on the venues later - I will have lots of free time to blog about wedding planning or lack there of while we are here :)

So the yard sale - sounds simple enough right? Put all the stuff you want to sell out in your garage/ yard and wait for people to stop by. Not so much - I posted everywhere, 10+ Facebook groups, craigslist and we put signs up around the neighborhood advertising this huge yard sale, starting at 9am Friday.  We opened the garage door at about 8.30 to start putting things out and low and behold we had customers wheeling and dealing at 8.40. Talk about being unprepared! We had maybe half the things out that we wanted to sell and people were bombarding us with questions.

Its a real eye opening experience - having things you spent years buying, on display in your garage with price tags for maybe 1/3 of what you paid for them - some even brand new. Its a lot harder then you would think, when someone takes a pair of shoes you remember wearing just a few times and tells you your $10 price is too high and offers you $2, when you know you spent $75+ on them. Or when someone offers you $5 on the dress you spent hour finding and picking out and haven't gotten a chance to wear because its too small and the price tag on it shows $45, its hard. It almost feels like a personal assault on you & your things. Thankfully I had my parent there to help as well as Steve & Amanda and Rachel. I know I couldn't have done it without them!

That concludes Part 1 of the Moving saga! Hopefully you enjoyed the read :)

Lists & Cupcake

Let me start this post with the fact that I am list person, that's my mom. But since we're 28 days from leaving all I want to do is make lists and start checking stuff off. That and lay on the couch and watch TV and eat cupcakes. That's a profession right? Cupcake eater? Socialite?

Steve and I did a bit of a cupcake tour Monday when we were in town to get our finger prints done for our visas and I decided I had to try George Town Cupcakes and Sprinkles! Ive had cupcakes from local placed - small cakes & cami cakes so I was excited to try some "big brands".

George Town CCs opened in the last 3 weeks in the heart of Buckhead - aka right across the road from my old house. 0 parking. I really mean zero, unless you want to pay $7+ for valet... don't do it! The shops not big, but it's bright & simple. Chic even. Staff are friendly and there was a good variety of cupcake flavors. They also serve tea and coffee which I think is a nice touch to go with the cupcakes. I got a chocolate chocolate cupcake and a chocolate birthday cake. I'll let you know how they are once I eat one.

We also went to Sprinkles, at Lenox mall. Lots more parking, it's a mall. There is still valet tho, and if you're planning on shopping during the weekend I highly recommend it. Parking at Lenox mall is a bear! OK back to cupcakes. Let start with they have an ATM FOR CUPCAKES!!!! OOOOMMMMGGGGG!!! I didn't use it but its there! Cupcakes available 24/7 (I think). So Sprinkles sells ice cream (I didn't try) & cupcakes. Their selection seemed more limited I felt - they had nothing peanut butter for Steve, but their cupcakes are bigger. I got carrot cake and salted caramel. I ate the carrot cake and YUM! The cake was moist with real pieces of carrots, the icing was thick and yummy. I could have done with a tad creamier icing, little less sweet. I'd go with 4/5 stars.

London Sightseeing

Sorry for the lack of posts since February. Lots going on, I turned in my notice at both of my jobs, started to sort through stuff to sell, starting to think about a going away party, spending time with my parents & just overall worrying about the move in general. 

So today I'm home sick in bed. Yuck! Watching RHOA and eating soup and tea and thin mints (the real cure). I figured throwing back to our fun day in London doing some sightseeing.

The Queen's guards going through the Marble Arch

Queen's guard

Outside of an entrance to the Palace

Big Ben

London Eye

Big Ben and the Parliament

Tower Bridge

Big Ben

Big Ben and the London Eye

In other news...

Steve proposed right before we left for London and I said yes! This was our Facebook announcement we made on the flight home from the UK. 

Enjoy the photos and I'll get back to my marathon & tea! 

XOXO

Bridget

The House Hunt

Yesterday Steve and I went and saw some potential flats (apartments) here in Reading. It was a bit of an eyeopener to say the least. Remember we currently live in a 4 bedroom 2.5bath house in Buford GA. Needless to say any apartment would be a big change for us, but nothing truly prepared us for what we saw.

Small. Tiny, Minuscule. I didn't know families could live in apartments as small as the ones we saw. But they do. Not organized, they could do with a few trips to the container store in my opinion - but who couldn't (my mother - she owns the whole thing as it is).

We're looking for a 2 bedroom, 2 bath furnished place here within walking distance to the Reading train station - its close to Steve''s office and town center (aka mall/shopping/drugstores and such). A property in a similar area/size city as close to major transport in the US probably would cost us about $100-$1300 depending on how nice it is. The places we looked at yesterday started at 1200GBP or the equivalent to $1800 & that's starting! We saw a place that was 1495GBP / month, which is $2300 a month! Can you imagine what that would get you in the US?! A small mansion in some cities. Maybe in NYC it would just be a run of the mill apartment, but that's NYC.

Reading isn't even a city - though they've petitioned a few times, so they just a town. With a population of 160,000 people it is growing everyday. The closest city size comparison would be Columbus, GA / Aurora, CO / Syracuse, NY / Winston - Salem, NC. They're all around the same size as Reading (I cited a variety of cities based on potential locations of readers of the blog - aka friends and family).

Our favorite place is 1295GBP which equates to $2000/month. Now that does include furnishings, aka beds, dressers, tables, chairs, things like that. But it doesn't cover council tax ($230/month) or utilities. Its available in mid march so we are hoping we can get the go ahead and speak to the landlord to try and work something out (fingers crossed!). We saw a few others for about the same amount, also really close to town but they weren't as nice.

Unfortunately if we don't get one of the ones we saw we may have to fly over again to look at places before we go or stay in a hotel when we move till we find something we like. Judging by our current hotel room we would last maybe 3 days. We would have all of our luggage (5-8 suitcases a piece) with  the things we brought over with us.

Planning

When you're moving you have to plan a lot. When you're moving 4,000+ miles you have to plan a million times more. From yard sales to seeing family before we leave there is so much to plan. And in my world planning means panic.

Sometimes I walk into a room and the panic just washes over me as I realize 99% of the things I see must be sold, donated or packed into a box in the next 2 months.

There are the things I'm working on right now:

• Finding the time to fly us to Arizona to see Steve's family
• Finding time to fly to Michigan to see my grandmother
• Working on on a date for our yard sale
• Working on a date for our "estate" sale
• Finding time to visit Steve's parents in Florida
• Who's going to take Steve's dog Gwen
• Making time to spend time with local friends before we leave
• Packing for our house hunting trip in a week
• Sorting what we're gonna sell/save/donate

I'm sure there are more things that I have forgotten but these are the things on the top of my head. What makes all of these things harder is I work two jobs. I am full time at Carters Oshkosh & two nights a week I work at World Market. Which means two nights a week I work 8-4.45 and 6-10. On top of that Steve is spending three of four weeks a month in Boston training for his new position - meaning I'm home alone to manage everything. To stay its stressful is an understatement. 

Topping off all of this I am trying to get in better shape, which so far, isn't going very well. I've lost about 5 lbs so I have quite a bit left to go. I want to join a local gym but with the move around the corner it seems like a waste of money and I don't want to get stuck in a contract. Plus I'm severely lacking in motivation so I don't want to waste the money if I won't even go. 

That's my brain spill for today. As we work through all these plans, I'll keep you posted. 

Super Bowl 49

Quick update here.

Watching the Super Bowl with Steve. Made some epic spicy chili. Boston is expected to get 18-24 inches of snow tomorrow so his flight were cancelled and he's home with me! Its really nice since next weekend we are flying to England for him to meet his new team and for us to find a house/apartment.

STRESS!

But at least he's home this week so that should help some stress levels- at least lets hope so.

This week I am focusing on me - that means wax (not bikini but everything else) mani & pedi. I wish a massage was in the budget but its not :( I'll post photos (of the mani pedi of course) when I get it down. Not sure of what colors to get, something fun but not too loud I think.

Diet update... ya.... Not going so well. I'm thinking of trying weight watchers because "no gluten no dairy" isn't working :( Does anyone have any thoughts on the matter?