Three Days in Copenhagen, Denmark

copenhagen69Our family visited Copenhagen to celebrate my birthday. It was kind of a last-minute trip, and we’re calling it a rough draft. We had a good time overall, but agreed we’d like to do it again, and do it better.

Most disappointing was Tivoli Gardens, where we’d planned to spend the day on Monday, my actual birthday, after a weekend of checking out other parts of the city. Turns out it closed that day, for two weeks, as a between-seasons break. Our hotel was steps from the park, and we passed it open countless times over the weekend, which made it especially upsetting.

We still got to see and do a lot, though.

Continue Reading

Three Days in Copenhagen: The Louisiana Museum

copenhagen14It is one of the great tragedies of our marriage, that I enjoy art museums and Matt does not. I’d go as far as to say he married me under FALSE PRETENSES, as he attended a prestigious art school for a year, except I knew going in he was anti-museum. I actually think art school is partly responsible for this. Matt is violently allergic to pretentious.

But I, as a stereotypical Libra, love museums. Even the pretentious ones. As long as you’re showing me pretty things in a hushed, relaxing atmosphere, I am in.

It is a testament to just how darn cool the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art is, that we both loved it. Even Dexter felt the love, as there were tons of great, artsy kid things to do, as well.

Continue Reading

We’re calling this one Cricket

brolife1
How could you NOT double down on this situation?

Matt and I have been keeping a secret.

The whole time we were filing paperwork and closing on our house and selling most of our stuff and packing up the rest and bon voyage-ing, we were working on another project: fertility treatments.

Dexter is a science baby. I’m infertile. He exists as a result of in-vitro fertilization and a big pile of luck.

When Matt and I were deciding whether to relocate to London, there was a lot to consider, and once we’d decided to move, we had to consider two more things: a pair of frozen embryos, in storage, left over from the retrieval round that gave us Dex. What would happen to them?

It wasn’t really a tough decision. We had always planned to transfer them and roll the dice on whether Dexter would have a sibling. And when the London move became a reality, that plan quickly shifted from someday to right now, so we met with a doctor and he presented an expedited medication and treatment schedule that would allow us to make the transfer before we had to go. It was rushed and painful and stressful, fitting in screenings and drugs on top of everything else, but we were committed.

I never believed it would work.

Continue Reading

Seven photos for seven years

Matt and I celebrated our 7-year wedding anniversary September 19. I found a sitter I liked on a local website and luckily, she was available to watch Dex while we sneaked out for dinner. We went to Cow & Pig for upscale British pub food and bovine puns written on chalkboards. (Something in the way she moos… attracts me like no other udder…)

Started with something called a bacon bomb, and then Matt had a steak and I had LOBSTER SHEPERD’S PIE, man alive, that is a good idea for a dish. Ciders and desserts and a little walk through downtown before it was time to return to real life.

Continue Reading

Day Trip: Brighton Beach

A couple of weekends ago, we decided to take a mini road trip while we still had the rental car. We miss Florida already and the weather has been unbelievably gorgeous here, so Brighton Beach, a mere hour and a half away, seemed to be a natural choice.

brightonbch

We started at the Regency Restaurant, a seafood place I read about in The Telegraph.

Continue Reading

Top Books of the Year(s, Archived)

Last week, I did something I haven’t done in a long time. I visited a library in person, and slowly browsed the shelves, choosing books to read simply because they looked interesting.

IMG_20160906_161803

The library system in Orange County has things on lock. I could order books from any branch and have them delivered to my house, for free. The only time I had to go near an actual library was to return them and I’d drop then in a machine outside. Don’t get me wrong – I love libraries, and love visiting. But I was a mom and a wife working full time and playing a sport and there’s only so much time in the day, so I was a slave to my Goodreads To Read list and the Orange County library website. And it was a great system, one of the non-person things I knew I’d miss the most about Orlando.

Continue Reading

Little Differences: US vs. UK, v. 1

First volume, because I just feel like this is going to be an ongoing thing. These are not particularly revelatory or earth-shattering. Just small differences I’ve noticed as we make our way around.

-In addition to yellow lights between green and red, there are also yellow lights between red and green. So you’re warned before you may go, and everyone just guns it during the pre-green yellow lights.

IMG_20160810_101625
Stay in there and think about what you’ve done, refrigerator.

-British people really hate refrigerators. We saw all manner of crimes against the friendly little chillboxes while flat-hunting: tiny refrigerators, refrigerators crammed beneath countertops and refrigerators in living rooms for no discernible reason. The worst, however, was the house that had an apparently normal kitchen except there was a tiny, cave-like closet off to the side where the poor refrigerator was forced to live. We couldn’t help but wonder what the fridge had done, to be forced to live its days in a bizarre, dreary kitchen dungeon.

-When I was pregnant with Dexter, I read a lot of women complaining about unsolicited touches to their bellies but never experienced it myself. Friends who wanted to feel asked and everyone else kept their distance. I think this used to be a thing, but thanks to the internet and social media, most people have gotten the message that it’s not really appropriate. I also think, in America, most people have absorbed the same message about touching babies – ask first or hands off. British people haven’t gotten that memo. It’s just head pats and shoulder squeezes, and it doesn’t bother me. Just an observation.

IMG_20160809_154025-The ambulances are Mercedes.

-You can buy adorable little “to go” lattes in grocery and convenience stores.

-Drivers are super-respectful of pedestrians. I think this is a natural result when communities are walk-friendly and have good public transportation.

 

Continue Reading