The Blitz Party - London

We are throwing it back. WAY back to the 1940's - for this post, as we wanted to share our experience taking a step back in time to the Blitz Party, London.

London has hosted The Blitz Party quarterly for a while now and we were determined that we would go at least once while living in London. Unfortunately, we could never quite time it right. Luckily it turned out that on a trip back to London to visit our friends Alison and Dave we were able to coordinate the visit!

After a few hours' research into outfits from the 1940's and scouring the Blitz Party Facebook page for ideas we decided to see what we had in our wardrobe that could work. Turns out Laura and I have been rocking the 1940's look at work for a while as we both had dresses that seemed to fit the bill.

Next was the hair. Looking at pictures we wanted to go with Victory Rolls. We knew that if we got really stuck we could get our hair done at the venue for free but had read that the lines could be quite long so we thought we would give it a go. The first step was to find a YouTube video that showed us what to do and thankfully this one was pretty spot on:

Alison's boyfriend Dave played DJ setting the scene with 1940's music and the three of us set up a make shift salon. I can say with certainty that getting the Victory Rolls right was hot and time consuming work, it took more bobby pins than I have ever seen and the amount of hair spray made us a fire hazard but it was really good fun. We felt like we belonged in an era where it took all day to get ready and hair styles were an art form - and we loved it. We had enough time that it wasn't stressful and that made all the difference. Drinking, dancing and hair-styling...not a bad Saturday night!

Our makeup was done by my wonderful wife. Red lips were a must from the time and defined eyes were essential. They were also fans of defining cheekbones and rosy cheeks - we did our best with our limited makeup range. Knowing that the venue was going to be hot we hair-sprayed our makeup to give it the best chance of staying on. We were so glad there were no open flames :)

Alison finished our look with red nails and we all wore heels - the look was complete!

From the reaction across our social media accounts, it turns out we kind of rocked the 1940's look!

We left for the venue at 10pm and made our way from Camden to Shoreditch in our Uber cab. It was all very London and felt sophisticated!

The venue was obvious from the sandbags piled up by the door and after a quick ticket check (£25) we were in. It looked just like an underground bunker, the up-lighting gave it atmosphere and the band were in full swing. There was a cake stand selling 'war time' cakes and the walls were plastered with memorabilia and props typical of the time. The bar itself had ration books as menus and depending on the drink, it came in tin cups or champagne glasses. Unfortunately the cocktail prices were not 'of the time'! We were definitely in London!

Throughout the venue there were professional dancers giving swing dance lessons or showing us how it was done surrounded by circles of viewers. The music was probably my personal highlight, I didn't know I enjoyed 1940's music SO much. In fact, I have even added some my Spotify list! We danced and danced and only took a break when we got super hot and we could feel the pain from our shoes (we don't wear heels often!). We then stood by the bar watching over the dance floor and soaking it the truly unique experience.

We even got caught in two air raids which were more fun than I am sure they would have been at the time. The spotlights shown, the sirens blared, the music stopped and everyone would look super confused until a confetti canon signalled the end and the party continued. We may not have lived through WWII but we have survived an air raid of sorts!

The event closes at 2am but at 1.30am we decided to get our Uber and head home. It is fair to say all four of us were buzzing. I don't remember a night out where we had such fun. The class, the elegance, the men and women in uniform - in fact, all the outfits, the live music that added to the atmosphere and the setting - it was all amazing!

If you time your trip to London and the Blitz Party is on we would definitely recommend it - just make sure you take comfy shoes!

How Long Until I'm British? - 7 Years in England

Today, the 19th of January, is always a special day. I don't celebrate per say, but always try to take note of it - it's the day I moved to England, 7 short years ago.

Last year I wrote the story of how, and why, I moved to London. If you haven't read it, please do, it brought back a fair few emotions for me.

I still can't believe I moved over (mostly) on my own at 19 years old. And I can't believe how much I've been through since then - some hardships, but overwhelmingly great, wonderful things.

I thought this year I'd commemorate the most 'American' things I've done/said in this short time, which have hit home that I most definitely am not British yet.

I was looking for a vodka mixer for a drinking-in-a-park-type event, and came across a huge bottle of orange squash (very potent cordial, meant for mixing 1 part with 10 parts water to make juice). Not knowing what squash was at the time, I drank a quarter of the bottle straight, then filled that quarter with vodka. The mixture of strong cordial and vodka made for a very ill Laura.

I too often pronounce names of things phonetically, instead of remembering the proud British tradition of inserting as many silent letters in words as humanly possible. Most made-fun-of examples include High Wycombe ('WY-COMB-BEE' if American, 'WIH-cum' if British), Gloucester Road ('Glow-chester' if American, 'Gloss-ter' if British) and Worchestershire ('War-CHES-ter-sheer' if American, 'Wuss-ter-shur' if British).

On numerous occasions at work I've had to get the phone number of a Scottish caller and have a colleague ring them back as I'm unable to understand them. Note, this happened much more frequently before I gained a Scottish mother-in-law!

Not knowing any better, in a family match I held a cricket bat like a baseball bat. Still not lived it down. Cricket is silly anyway.

Found a pub serving turkey sandwiches on Thanksgiving Day, in a sad attempt to not miss one of my favourite holidays.

I was very shocked to find out houses don't come standard with in-built sprinkler systems or outdoor house plugs - how does everyone plug in their Christmas lights?

I tried to get refills at a few restaurants in London before realising it's very rare here - which left me embarrassed and extra DC-less!!

Made numbers of Londoners uncomfortable by hugging them upon meeting and smiling and saying hi on the street - I soon learned that lesson after people started either crossing the road to avoid me or thought I was flirting with them! I once had someone follow me down a street winking at me because I'd smiled at him!

I think /hope that's it, that I haven't done that many other embarrassingly American things.

Here's to all the love and happiness that the UK has brought me, and another 7 here with my beautiful British friends and family!

Have You Heard About Shared Parental Leave?

Have you heard about Shared Parental Leave?

Here in the UK if you child is born or adopted after the 5th of April 2015 you may be able to benefit from the new maternity / parental leave scheme that is coming into play!

While this may not be relevant to all our lovely readers or indeed us we thought it was such great news that we would share it as it is a change that anyone even thinking of becoming parents here in the UK should know about!

We think this is definitely a positive change for parents and kids alike, raising a kid should be a joint venture never left to one parent and should we ever have children I know that Laura and I would both bring very different attributes to the table so sharing leave is an ideal solution.

Having heard about this earlier in the year we had done a bit of research prior to today's announcement and couldn't believe how soon it was actually happening. The change comes with an aim to create a culture change for families and for employers focusing on flexibility that will benefit everyone, while allowing both parents to have an increased input into raising the child should they wish. All good things right?!

The starting point is of course the eligibility so here's the highlights:

      To qualify for Shared Parental Leave (SPL), you must share care of the child with either: 

•       Your wife, husband, civil partner or joint adopter, 
•       The child’s other parent
•       Your partner (if they live with you and the child)
•       You or your partner must be eligible for maternity pay or leave or Maternity  Allowance or adoption pay or leave.

     You must also:

•       Have been employed continuously for at least 26 weeks by the end of the 15th week  before the due date (or by the date you are matched with your adopted child)
•       Be employed by the same employer while you take SPL
•       Your partner’s eligibility

During the 66 weeks before the baby is due your partner must:

•       Have been working for at least 26 weeks (which can be discontinuous) - they can be employed, self-employed or an agency worker
•       Have earned at least £30 a week on average in 13 of the 66 weeks

52 weeks to share - amazing! Laura and I have always said if we do have kids (it's a long ongoing debate that has ended with a puppy......news on that another time!!) we would want to split the first year allowing us both to bond with the baby as well as share the task of going to work. So this plan will help us do exactly that. Of course a few of the details will depend on our employers but that's always been the case.

On the www.gov.uk/sharedparentalleave website you can check out all the exact details and this example is just one way that they explain:

The other good thing is the inclusion of Shared parental leave in touch (SPLIT) days in addition to the 10 ‘keeping in touch’ (or KIT) days already available to those on maternity or adoption leave. It allows you and your partner can both work up to 20 days during Shared Parental Leave. These are called ‘shared parental leave in touch’ (or SPLIT) days. Catching and kinda does what it says in the acronym.

For anyone wanting to know more check out the website or there is a free online guide here! 

And here's a real-life case study I came across that I think sums it up, the fact that the lady in the example works in my industry is a coincidence but it explains the way it works perfectly for me:

Real life case study from: Government News

Hannah is a Senior Project Manager in the e-learning industry and her husband Chris works for the Civil Service. When their son Euan was born they decided to split their leave entitlement. Hannah returned to work on a 4.5 day week when Euan was 8 months old at which point Chris took 7 weeks of additional maternity support leave to look after Euan. Both Hannah and Chris feel that sharing leave has been a very positive experience for themselves and their son.

Hannah said that knowing Euan was at home with Chris was very reassuring when she returned to work:

Chris and I felt that this would be one of the few opportunities we would get to spend an extended period of time with Euan before he started school. Going back to work it was nice for me to know that Euan was with Chris rather than going straight into childcare and when I returned to work we were able to meet up for lunches as a family which was great. Sharing leave is something we’ll definitely do again.

Chris said that having father and baby time together during the period of leave he took was very special:

During the 7 weeks I had with Euan we were able to take part in a range of activities like swimming, music and baby sensory sessions. It was brilliant to have that father and baby time together. It’s something very special and I felt that both Euan and I gained a lot from it. I’d really recommend it to any other dads-to-be."

British-isms - Do You Say These??

Happy Tuesday!!

I saw this online the other day, and just had to share it with you. Having now lived in Britain or with a British person for over six years now, I finally get these, and actually use some of them!

I had a really hard time getting my head around when the British say 'Alright?' they actually mean 'Hello!' - it took me almost two years to fight the urge to say 'Yes fine thank you, how are you?' (because that is then met with 'I'm fine thanks, how are you?' and then we get stuck in a vortex of asking how each other is, forever, when really we don't care that much in the first place!) I now just smile and nod. Actually, I do that a lot of the time, when I don't understand an accent, turn of phrase, random cockney insert into otherwise normal conversation...

So I want to know - as non-British, do the British meanings of these phrases make sense to you? And as British, do you use these, and are there any others you can think of?

What I get from this list is the British are polite and mildly passive aggressive! Aren't we all though :)

London at Christmas 2013!

On Wednesday the 4^th of December my beautiful Laura had her Christmas party and as we are still driving in from Reading during the week I thought I would offer to wait around in town so we could drive back together. The original plan was that Laura would leave the party at 9:30pm so I would have 3 and a half hours to entertain myself.

As it was cold, wintry evening in December and I had a budget of £0 there was one obvious plan – a walking tour of London. It’s rare that I ever get the opportunity to just walk and admire London and London at Christmas is special. The bustling streets, the fancy window displays and the lights all build a level of excitement that I love.

From Victoria where my current office is based I made my first destination the Hyde Park Winter Wonderland, a short 10 minute stroll away. I prefer to head there during the day to enjoy the market but at night this place is a fairground filled with lights, music and crowds of people. The line of coaches was HUGE!

After a brief pit stop I head towards Marble Arch and down to Oxford Street. This was the most challenging part of my walk, it took almost 25 minutes and other than a busy road and impressive hotels the distraction is limited. I was so relieved to get to Oxford Street and be welcomed by the lights.

Selfridges is a third of the way down Oxford Street but the light it omits is clear from almost the top. In every window the main attraction varied from shoes to underwear, playdo to vodka – all covered in snow and little people – their theme ‘Destination Christmas’ was well executed!

Next with the impressive decorations were HMV, the ailing music store, and Boots – the UK version of Walgreens. They really committed to wishing everyone a Merry Christmas.

House of Fraser

House of Fraser wasn’t shy either, with every part of their building covered in sparkle they gave Marks and Spencers a challenge as they have changed their name to Magic and Sparkle for the festive season.

On my long walk down Oxford Street I came across my favourite window displays, this year by John Lewis. 

Their advert has already been announced as the best this year and the clever concept of using household items to make animals was ingenious. I had to push people out the way to get a good picture!

I had heard that the Mr Peabody & Sherman display on Regents Street was also worth seeing so I took a turn that way thinking it would allow me to detour through Carnaby Street – it was worth it! Both Regent Street and  Carnaby Street were completely lit up.

Even the little back streets gave me windows to marvel and smile at – who knew Sumo fighters were Christmassy!!

Back on to Oxford Street I continued my journey towards Tottenham Court Road and my next stop – Primark! This store is seriously the BEST store I have been in – UK and USA! – Four floors of good value clothing, bags, shoes, accessories, Christmas decorations, Christmas outfits, Christmas gift ideas just CHRISTMAS – I loved it so much I lost 2 hours and £70 in there! Ooops that £0 budget was always going to be a challenge.

By this time I had heard that the party was now going on till 10:30pm!

It was 8:30pm by the time I left Primark so I thought it was worth getting a non-so-healthy snack to keep me going. I decided to head for Leicester Square for this.

From Tottenham Court Road I cut across to Covent Garden to see the lego London and the tree there – very impressive and festive with the carols in the background!

My final destination of Leicester Square welcomed me with a fairground, who knew London had so many Christmas fairs?! I debated walking in but my appetite drove me to Maccy’s and after that all I could think of was getting to the car.

Thankfully after a 20 minute tube ride and I was back at Turnham Green and had just enough energy for the 20 minute walk back to the car. The de-icing was almost the end of me but thanks to the motivation of seeing L shortly I powered through and with clear windows made my way to collect her from her Baker Street location.

I love London, especially at Christmas, but next time I head of on a walking tour i’m wearing trainers!!! 

The Language Trials & Tribulations of Being a Trans-Atlantic Couple! Part 2!

Tumblr has recently brought this piece of artwork to our attention and it reminded me of a post we did a while ago on our language differences! The post is here: Language Challenges!

But these pictures cover a few we missed.....

Now we definitely don't use all of these, but a good deal of them are an ongoing battle in our house as to who wins! We tend to decide to both use certain American or British terms, instead of us each using our own. For instance, Laura won on 'candy' instead of 'sweets', and Sarah won with 'cinema' instead of 'movie theatre'.

Laura also raised a point on Twitter today about how us Brits love to add a few extra letters into our place names just to cause confusion - High Wycombe is pronounced 'Wickham' instead of 'Why-comb-ee' which is how it looks, and L's example today:

I wonder if we'll ever get to a point where our language differences aren't a source of entertainment :)

WorldPride London 2012!!

We had an incredible and packed weekend!!

The week started fairly mundanely, but come Thursday we took to the car and headed to London's city centre. The Shard was having its opening ceremony - mind you, it was only celebrating the completion of the outside, the inside is yet to be finished! Our first plan was to head into L's office at Covent Garden to see the show, but after getting home, doing the food shopping, having dinner and tidying up, we were too late to get there before the show started! So we decided to drive around London to catch a glimpse - that turned out to be a far better idea!

Sat comfortably in the car we headed in via Westminister and saw the lasers in the distance, by chance, luck, and amazing driving skills (if Sarah doesn't say so herself!) we found ourselves getting closer and closer to The Shard. In fact, at some points we were right by The Shard and able to look up through the sunroof and admire its colourful show. It wasn't quite the laser show that had been advertised, but it was a great opportunity to see the city at night and drive with the windows down and music turned up!

On Friday we had full days at work, but Sarah & Lauren were driving down from Birmingham and parking at our flat before taking Sarah's journey into work to meet her. Sarah finished at 5.15 and met the lovely ladies at Victoria Station before completing the journey in to meet Laura. After a quick march to Covent Garden and back we decided on Spaghetti House for dinner- always a great choice! It worked out really well as they do dishes for two to share - we LOVE the spaghetti carbonara (seriously BEST we've found) and Lauren and Sarah shared a veggie option.

Next stop was the Southbank and the Udderbelly festival. We had tickets to see Cantina and with a 7:30pm start. Once we arrived, there was little time to relax in the sunny evening so we got drink and headed into the big top. It was like we took a step back into a 1940's circus!

The show started with a tightrope act that included a lady in HIGH HEELS (omg!), it continued with death-defying stunts, acts that made us go ooo-aah-ow far too often and a lady who could pop all of her joints in and out of place - it was certainly a mind trip! Entertaining, but shocking! Laura spent the entire time worrying that someone was going to need to be taken to hospital! It also turned out to be more 'educational' than expected for one of us. Lets just say there should have been a *nudity* warning somewhere, as a certain gentleman had an aversion to clothes!

The show lasted just over an hour so emerging from the Big Top we were surprised to see a gorgeous sunset over the Southbank. On such a gorgeous evening it seemed a shame to rush home so we strolled through the newly opened Jubilee Gardens and enjoyed the view over to the Houses of Parliament. In our opinion Southbank + Sunset = perfect London evening!

Come Saturday morning, all four of us were up early and ready to go by 9:15! I'm not sure what people who saw us board the bus that morning thought but with Wimbledon less than two miles from the flat they probably thought we were ready to support Murray (in Sarah's case) or the Williams sisters (in Laura's case). For those in the know, however, Saturday saw the arrival of London Pride, and for this year WorldPride! You'd never guess where in the world we're from! :D

Our early start meant we made it to Leicester Square in time for Maccy D's breakfast and meant we avoided the rain that had started. Once fueled for the day we walked to Trafalgar Square to find our spot. Thankfully the rain has passed and we were able to enjoy the stroll and stay dry. On arrival at Trafalgar Square we spotted two of the designer phone boxes so headed over for photos, and to find a place to wait for the parade. There were a few rainbow'd people milling around but it turned out that the parade route had been changed from previous years so we picked a spot in the middle of a traffic island to wait.

The four of us sat and chatted for almost two hours (which flew by!) before the crowds started gathering, and our early start paid off as we got to stand at the front (a first for us!) and see what was happening. The parade its self lasted two hours from start to finish - highlights included 'Nando's - always worth coming out for', the veteran pride folks from the first ever pride, Stonewalls 'some girls marry girls get over it' and Microsofts 'geek and proud'. Oh and having Sarah & Lauren there to enjoy it with, of course!

At the end of the parade we joined the masses of people in Trafalgar Square for the music & Gok Wan hosting - with the intermittent rain and boiling sunshine we were glad to have dressed for all weather conditions. Smirnoff Ice had prepared us for summer with sunglasses & fans and Lauren became the official umbrella holder whenever the rain made an appearance! Thanks to her we survived being SOAKED!

In Trafalgar Square we ended up meeting fellow bloggers Carley & Stacey, and the ever-so colourful, pretty and patriotic Megan & Whitney! It was a lesbian blogger gathering that we would have never predicted this time last year. In fact, for all previous Prides it had just been the two of us, and we had joked about at some point finding friends to go with. Who'd have thought we'd have this lovely group this year!!

From Trafalgar Square, we headed to Soho to see what was happening and the crowds in the street made it clear that the last minute changes had done nothing to limit the numbers or impact the mood - it was BUZZING!!!

We dined and drunk and made all kinds of interesting acquaintances- the great thing about Pride is wandering alone, as a couple or in a group you can always find someone to talk to. Or should we say, someone will always talk to you! By the end of the day we had posed for over 45 photos from random strangers including a group of Asian tourists - Pride is a mini-moment of fame for us! :)

We always love Pride, and we must say that despite the last minute budget cutbacks from Pride London, this year's  London Pride was just as amazing, fun and incredibly GAY as it always has been!!!

Did you go to WorldPride? What was your favourite part??

Lots of love (and rainbows),

Laura & Sarah xo