Things I forgot about being an American living in the U.K.
It’s been a while since I posted on here and, oh look! It’s 2019 all of a sudden. I’ve now been living in the U.K. for 20 years. That’s nearly as long as I had lived in the States. Being an expat and living a life abroad means many things but one thing is for […]
Acceptance, Identity, Belonging
The Lightning sessions at the Families in Global Transition (FIGT) conference are meant to be engaging, informative, and based on a powerful question or idea. With 20 image-based slides, advancing automatically, 18 seconds each and with the speaker having no control over their transitions, these short presentations, presented in rapid succession, are fun and inspiring. […]
Talks I enjoyed and learned from at FIGT 2018
One of the great joys in life (and in work) is learning and expanding on what we might already know (or not know) but seeing things afresh or from new perspectives. My last blog post was about the Families in Global Transition conference in the Hague where I was a presenter but also enjoyed the […]
Families in Global Transition
Last month, from March 8 to the 10th, I spent three wonderful, life affirming days at the Families in Global Transition (FIGT) annual conference. As a first time attendee, before going, I wasn’t sure what to expect nor was I confident in my decision to take valuable time out of my working schedule and away […]
The New US Embassy London
The New US Embassy London address: Embassy of the United States of America 33 Nine Elms Lane London SW11 7US Nothing much has changed regarding the actual process for US citizen services; registering a birth, applying for a passport, renewing a child passport BUT, the new US Embassy is in a different part of London. […]
Guest post on Multicultural Kid Blogs on the Royal Wedding
Happy New Year all. Welcome to 2018, here’s hoping this year is a great one for us all. I recently wrote a guest blog post for Multicultural Kid Blogs on the Royal Wedding – something we’re all looking forward to which is uplifting and positive in this time of uncertainty and unrest (ahem… Brexit, ahem… […]
Raising cross-cultural kids in Britain
Only by chance, very recently, I have learnt about the existence of Meghan Peterson Fenn’s book Bringing Up Brits, and I’m glad I did! As an expat and mother myself, I’m almost relieved that someone has been brave enough and passionate enough to examine the difficulties that come with raising cross-cultural kids in Britain, from […]
Consolidation Plus Gives 7 Financial Mistakes to Avoid in Your 20s
Here is a sponsored blog post for our former selves (LOL) and for twenty somethings or even thirty somethings. I’m afraid it may be a bit too late for us forty somethings! But I enjoyed checking it to see what I had done, if anything. One thing that is also good to keep in mind […]
How to move to England infographic
Not sure infographics as we know and use them now in blogs and social media existed when I moved to England, I certainly never saw any nor were any brought to my attention. My move was only supposed to be temporary and because I was already living outside my home country, I didn’t do much […]
Three countries in one day
Firstly, I am so sorry about not posting for a while. It’s been hectic and a heartbreaking and tragic time for a while and I’m only just now feeling inspired to write. We have recently returned from a family holiday to Slovenia and Croatia, one week in each, both beautiful places with very different landscapes […]
The most British of them all
My middle child, my one girl, born on March 7th 2003 is without a doubt the most ‘British’ of all my children. She’s quietly beautiful, reserved, wary of foreign places she knows nothing about, doesn’t like to socialize unless it’s with people she already knows, finds going out too much effort so prefers to stay […]
Mince pies – our tradition, always a reminder
I have now been living my life and raising my family in England for 18 years; that’s nearly half my life. There are far too many mixed feelings that I could talk about, why I have them and why they will probably never fade. This is one reason I started this blog. A place where […]
An American in Helsinki
For my 45th birthday, my husband whisked me off to Gatwick, sans enfants, walked me blindfolded (not literally) through to the gate where, to my delight, I saw we were about to board a plane set for Helsinki, Finland. Amazing! What a fabulous birthday surprise. I never would have thought I’d visit Helsinki but now […]
An odd feeling this Thanksgiving
Happy Thanksgiving everyone from over here in the UK! I can’t help but feel that this year there is an odd feeling surrounding Thanksgiving with a lot of people struggling to find something to give thanks for. It’s been one hell of a year, that’s for sure. I’m thankful for the following: My British husband […]
Halloween in the UK
Well, my work is done. You are welcome. Tee hee. Halloween is an established holiday (not an actual holiday) now in the UK and I’m thrilled to report that more people than ever are taking part in Halloween celebrations across the country! Over 10 years ago, I introduced Halloween and Trick-or-Treating to a humble street […]