Well hello there… I’m just getting myself together now, a week after we’ve been back but with all the illness, jetlag, time change stuff its been a tough week!
So… the trip… It was fantastic! Little Miss was an absolute STAR on all the flights. On the way out there I was really anxious and luckily met a couple with twins that were sitting close to me and who felt the same way. I had organised everything down to a “t” so that Little Miss was sleepy and hungry when we got on the plane but then, typically, we were delayed so that all went out the window and she was asleep right up until we boarded. She didn’t really sleep much during the flights – maybe 3 naps between 20 – 40 minutes each way but she was very happy and cuddly and easily entertained. The cabin crew was AMAZING! I flew Thomas Cook airlines through Canadian Affair and I couldn’t say enough good things about them. They kept an eye on us, gave me first choice of meals but held it back until I was ready and settled with her to eat and, after seeing me trying to juggle Little Miss and the tiny bathrooms when I had to pee they offered to hold her for me whenever I needed the loo – amazing service.
We arrived in London at around 9am so I had no idea how the jetlag was going to hit us (I usually arrive in the afternoon so that by the time you get somewhere you just have to make it through dinner and then you can go to bed). My original plan was to head back to my friend Killa’s place and sleep for a couple of hours before heading out for lunch and shopping but I actually felt ok and Little Miss fell asleep as soon as she was back in the stroller so we decided to hold off on the sleep and head straight to Carnaby Street for food and shopping.
I really expected that when we arrived I would be hit by the “English-ness” of being back in England but I was surprised that as I looked out the train windows at the terraced rows of brick houses and the high streets passing by it all felt so normal – like these were scenes I see every day. Over the next couple of days I started to be reminded by how much I love the varied styles of architecture but it never “hit” me like I thought it would. You know how you can plug computers in anywhere in the world and they’ll just adapt to the electrical voltage of the country you’re in? That’s how I felt – like my voltage had changed but it was still familiar and comfortable so it wasn’t shaking me up.
We had a great lunch at one of my favourite old haunts, Ping Pong, complete with the Vanilla Lemon Vodkas my old workmates and I used to indulge in (the restaurant is across the street from my old work) and as we were sat in the street level windows I was able to indulge in some glorious London people watching. I want to expand on this in another post but my god, those Londoners are a stylish lot. I had specifically forgotten how gorgeously stylish the men were – lots of lovely lines and gorgeous coats. Not a stitch of gortex, running shoes worn as fashion items or yoga gear in site. It was heaven!
Our shopping trip wasn’t really successful and by then I was experiencing the good old jetlag sea-legs so we headed back. As Little Miss had slept pretty much all day I was terrified that she would be up all night so I decided to grab two hours sleep – somehow with the nap, then a dinner we went to bed at 11pm (Little Miss’ pre-trip sleep time) and slept a normal night (normal being waking 3 times to feed!) I don’t know whether it was because I was already so sleep deprived or because she didn’t sleep on the flight but aside from a bit of fussiness on the Sunday (which could have equally come from being passed around for the hundredth time) we didn’t really experience any jetlag (hooray!)
That first weekend was then filled with seeing my favourite people – lunch (which was really 9 hours of gossiping) with the gorgeous girls I used to work with filled my soul with such joy and laughter. It had been almost 3 years since we’d all be together in the same room but it felt like nothing and in no time we were fixing all the world’s problems. The following day we took over The Castle pub in Islington for a fabulous lunch and a revolving door of people I haven’t seen in ages. Director friends who are on the up, a radio producer who’s just back from some amazing travels to South America after a stint in NY, friends with new babies and other friends I picked up along the way through random meetings and temp job assignments. Its such a diverse group of people and it just made me miss that about London. Although Vancouver is multicultural its not really diverse – people (of all cultures) really like the status quo and while I understand it, seeing the huge range of people in one place made me really miss the difference between the two. That evening I stayed at the Hyatt Churchill (thanks to a free night I won) which was lovely and far more baby friendly than I expected. Despite plans to head to a pub full of Canadians to watch the gold medal hockey game we decided we needed something a bit more low key so Killa, Little Miss and I watched in pj’s in our room (after filling up on yummy Wagamama!)
On the Monday we loaded all of our luggage and took the train out to see Husbando’s family. It was a great visit. My in-laws are lovely people but their visit to us after Little Miss was born wasn’t exactly great so I was thrilled that this one went off without a hitch. They obviously truly enjoyed seeing Little Miss change and grow before their eyes and they spoiled both of us. Little Miss has come home with a fab new summer wardrobe and I ended up buying this dress:
And my in-laws bought me this one for my birthday:
We really had a great time together – shopping, visiting pubs plus some of my favourite towns (Cirencester & Cheltenham) and eating delicious food. One of the biggest highlights for me though was the day we went to my cousin’s in Oxford so that my Gran could meet Little Miss. It was a pretty incredible experience (unfortunately the photos, not taken by me, are terrible). My Gran and I are very close and I know seeing Little Miss meant a lot to her but seeing them together meant the world to me.
On my last day in London I headed back to Brixton where we still have our old flat. I had heard from several people that it had changed a lot over the last few years and was happy to see that it had indeed changed for the better. The main square (where all the slightly scary drunks and addicts hung out) has been redone and although it looks a bit bare it feels more inviting without the scary people. Its a bit gentrified but the area is so mixed it seemed to keep its funkiness, whilst feeling a bit cleaner. I liked the edginess in my twenties but now, with a kid, I don’t need too much. Staying up passed midnight is edgy these days!
I met up with a girlfriend and we hit my fabulous, local coffee shop and after a huge gossip we headed to our old local pub for more gossip, but this time with wine! En route to the pub we went passed the flat so I could spy in through the windows and just check out the neighbourhood again. It seems a lot of people have been fixing up the exterior of their buildings which was nice – in fact one whole block looked like it had just been painted (sadly not ours) but it was nice to see people taking good care of the neighbourhood again.
The next morning we were up at 5am to fly back. The flight back seemed longer but once again Little Miss was a STAR and thanks to the lovely Polish guy next to me and the grandmother in the next row who helped entertain her it didn’t seem too hard.
Its hard to explain how I’m feeling post trip. When I was in London I felt like myself, in a way I haven’t felt since we’ve been in Canada. Here I feel 75% like myself but there’s always that nagging feeling that part of me’s missing. There I feel dynamic, strong, positive, stylish and I don’t feel the same way here. Maybe a lot of it comes down to that there I had a career and here I don’t. There I was an actress and producer and here I’ve done odd jobs and am now a housewife. I came into my own when I lived in London – I feel like I discovered myself there and maybe back here I’m reminded of all the things that made me leave in the first place. I’m not entirely sure how to change all that and for now I’m trying to hang on to how I felt in London to see if I can tap into it or duplicate it in some way. So while I’m happy to be back here with Husbando and my lovely Canadian friends, I also feel as if something’s missing – I’m just not sure what!
or taking Little Miss to different activities (number 9) but I’m going to have two to three weeks next month where Husbando will be away and I will have to stay busy so as not to go insane. I also think I’ve identified a major time waster in my life (number 11) but I’m not sure I’m ready to let it go just yet (hello head, meet sand!)
