Cross The T's And Dot The I's

Well this is something fun and original! I saw this link up on Betsy Transatlantically and thought why not? Something different from my usual sheep in the road rants and Americanisms.

 

In case you didn't already know, I'm.....

(Fun fact: I will never ever write my name with a capital t, unless it's something really formal or important, or if I'm doing my signature, which makes zero sense, I know.)

I'm a pretty big fan of handwriting. I like to analyze other people's when they write and see if it fits their "personality".

When we were learning penmanship in elementary school and "handwriting" was actually a grade, I was always pretty average. And then one day in the fourth grade I got an A in handwriting and I was hooked. I thought, "Wow, I must have really great handwriting!"

News flash, kid, you didn't.

Now looking back, my handwriting was absolute crap. But it did set me up to be kind of a perfectionist when it came to note taking and the like. I'm not a big "doodler" and I hate when I have to cross things out. But I hate writing in pencil even more.

Also in case you forgot where you ended up on the internet (I know, I end up in weird places too), my blog is called.....

....which explains my previous location and my new location! 

(I thought about adding running shoes to this photo but clearly I like running. What you might not know is that I'm obsessed with owls. I got an owl stuffed animal when I was 11 and accidentally started an owl collection!)

My favorite quote is....

"If you can't laugh at yourself life's gonna seem a whole lot longer than you like." 

from the movie Garden State

(More Fun Facts: I don't dot my i's and haven't since high school. I love Sharpie Pens and carry them around with me always. The notebook pictured above is my everything notebook that also gets carried around with me.)

If you'd like to take part in this fun link up, click on the button at the top! And include these in your blog post:
- your name and signature
- your blogs name
- your location
- your favorite quote or song lyric

(See, I told you my signature had a capital T in it!)

Let me know if you do this link up! I'd love to see if your handwriting "fits your personality!" 

Remember Remember...

....the 5th of November!

Catchy little rhyme, isn't it?

(Not to be confused with Earth, Wind, and Fire's "Do you remember the 21st night of September")

Yesterday was Guy Fawkes Night, also known as Fireworks Night for this side of the pond.

Fireworks in our back garden

For me, I associate fireworks with July for obvious reasons. I think of hot weather, BBQs, and the smell of bug repellent being sprayed (which did nothing but delay the inevitable 87 bug bites).

But for the UK, they think Guy Fawkes Night, which means cold weather and lots of fireworks throughout the weekend.

Cold and no mosquitoes! Just the way I like it! 

I was pretty excited for my first Fireworks Night. Yes I know it has a history of being anti-Catholic, but I wasn't "celebrating" the night in that way. Just like I don't "celebrate" the 4th of July as our independence from the country I now call home. 

I like fireworks. Sue me. 

And sparklers. LOVE sparklers. I look like a wizard!

So being the incredibly open minded Expat that I am, I enjoyed Fireworks Night by setting off Fireworks in the back garden for the sake of liking fireworks. 

You will now have Katy Perry's song "Firework" stuck in your head. I'm sorry.

Houses all around us were also setting off fireworks of their own. We started with fountain type ones that aren't rockets, but then quickly wanted to set off these bad boys.....

They're called "Outrage" for a reason. We spent more time dodging the remnants of the explosion than we did actually admiring the fireworks. (I tried getting some pictures, but as I've explained before, my camera isn't the greatest. If you want pictures of you, or fish, or anything underwater, I'm your girl.) 

These were a lot less Outrageous, pun intended. Didn't have to dodge any raining debris from these!

I also learned about "the Guy". It took a good long while for me to understand what the Fiance was talking about with "the Guy". I was like, "who? What guy!? BE MORE SPECIFIC!" 

"The Guy" as in Guy Fawkes. Duh.

Apparently it's popular for kids for dress up a life sized scarecrow in old clothes and have it represent Guy Fawkes. They ask "penny for the Guy?" and they get pennies and other change to collect and spend on sparklers or sweets or whatever kids want these days. Then at the end of the night, they burn the Guy.

Like literally, burn their little scarecrow man aka Guy Fawkes.

I thought, "Well that's a bit violent!"

But hey, what are you gonna do?

I'll stick to my sparklers and pretending I'm a wizard.

Did you do anything for Fireworks Night?? Did you even know what Fireworks Night was?? (Because I didn't!) Have you ever celebrated a new holiday in a different country? 

Cheeky Bit Of Wedding Jealousy (And Can I Ask You a Favo(u)r??)

Hello all, I hope you had a lovely weekend!

This past Saturday, the Fiance and I went to a wedding celebration in Bristol.

It was my first ever British wedding! And to tell you the truth it got me very excited for my own British wedding.

Honestly, I haven't been to many weddings in my life, so this was the first one where I was old enough to 1) care, 2) realize what was going on, and 3) be jealous!

I saw the bride and groom mingling with everyone and being incredibly busy yet incredibly joyful all at the same time, and I thought I can't wait for that to be me. Selfish thought at another wedding, I know, but the realization that this is what life is, people who love each other get married and it's beautiful, was enough to bring a tear to my eye.

Also this weekend, Expatsblog.com launched the entries for their October 2012 contest. I think it's great to be a part of such a helpful and global community, and everyone a part of it deserves to have their story told.

If I could ask a favo(u)r (favor... favour.... oh expat problems) of you guys, I would love it if you could visit my entry and write a comment about you felt about it. It's my story of becoming an expat; every good, bad, confusing, terrifying, and exhausting part of my long distance relationship and my process of obtaining the visa that put me where I am today. Thank you so much in advance for taking the time to read it and for connecting with my journey.

Finally in England! (Don't judge me for my Primark bag please!)

Have a lovely Monday, and Happy Guy Fawkes Night (aka Fireworks Night) for my side of the pond! (Penny for the guy?? What guy, you ask?? Well I will let you know after I've experienced Fireworks Night for myself!)

What Am I Going To Do Without Thanksgiving?

I've confessed my not so secret indifference about Halloween.

But the one good thing about Halloween was that when it was over, it meant this:

STARBUCKS RED CUPS! This is me creeping a picture last year on November 1st. That's how much these red cups please me. Don't mind the terrible "I'm using an Android phone and I'm late for my sociology class" quality of this picture.

Starbucks red cups = Christmas. So in case you didn't get the memo, if you have received a red cup or have seen the red cups, it's Christmas. If not, go get yourself one. Hot bevs only, people, don't go crazy getting frappacinos; you'll be given an ordinary clear cup.

The time frame goes like this:

October = Pumpkin, pumpkin, and more pumpkin and a little bit of Halloween.
November before Thanksgiving = Also known as "Nearly Christmas", the start of Starbucks red cups, more pumpkin with a side of pumpkin. But now it's acceptable to drink Peppermint Mocha and Peppermint Hot Chocolate.
Thanksgiving = Parade, last acceptable day to eat pumpkin (so get as much in as you can!), fighting off the tryptophan effect, and if you're my family, a hefty buffet of Thanksgiving appropriate foods (we don't do the whole "sit down and be thankful thing").
After Thanksgiving = Christmas. I don't care what anyone says... Every single day after Thanksgiving is Christmas. It just is. 

So, now that I'm in England, my time frame is all messed up!

They don't celebrate Thanksgiving here! What am I going to do about my pumpkin and peppermint ingesting time frame? WHEN WILL I KNOW IT'S APPROPRIATELY CHRISTMAS?!

I asked some cool English peeps.... They all agreed that Christmas begins with the first viewing of the "Holidays are comin'" Coca Cola advert. If you are not familiar with it, go on YouTube and type that in. If you're not smiling and dancing while it's playing, you've clicked the wrong video.

I'm sad I can't properly celebrate Thanksgiving with the Parade and a day of binge eating, but at least I have the Coca Cola advert to look forward to!

Sidenote, the trees are putting on their autumn outfits.

Don't mind me, just running around a car park taking pictures of the trees. They don't change colors where I'm from!

Florida trees keep the same outfits year round, kind of like Florida people! No cold weather to deal with for us! Trees, can you change to green and red so that I know when it's Christmas here please? Just sprout some antlers while you're at it too.

Have a great weekend! 

Which is your favorite autumn/winter holiday to celebrate? Halloween? Thanksgiving? Christmas? Hanukkah? When do you start getting into the holiday spirit? Any expats know how to deal with the lack of Thanksgiving across the pond??

Halloween: Across The Pond Style

I'm going to say something.... And please don't judge me or think differently of me because of this... Because we are all entitled to our opinions....

I'm not a big fan of Halloween.

I know, I'm a rare breed. I'm sorry.

I think I liked it when I was little. Each year I dressed as a different Disney Princess and went trick or treating with friends. And then I went home, changed costumes, and went trick or treating again and got more candy.

(Sadly, all of my cute princess pictures are in America. I know you're devastated.)

And then you get older and it becomes socially less acceptable to trick or treat. You either get invited to cool Halloween parties or screw the norm and still go trick or treating and say "I DON'T CARE HOW OLD I AM! I WILL ALWAYS GO TRICK OR TREATING!" (me).

High school consisted of marching band Halloween parties since our last major competition/evaluation always fell around Halloween.

Yes, I said "marching band Halloween parties". No, that is not the next American Pie movie.

Sadly, this is the best picture of me as an awesome 80s workout girl. Because you know, I know soooo much about the 80s because I definitely lived it. (I was born in 1990...) I was such a cool senior (NOT). 

Still never got invited to those cool kid parties.

And then came college! Which did me no favors either...

I was the yellow Ninja Turtle.... There is no yellow Ninja Turtle. We were a group of 5 and I got shafted because I went "I love the color yellow!"

Sadly, this Halloween pictured above started the worst month of my life. I'm not even joking. That night I ended up in the ER with an allergic reaction to something I still don't know, then I got tonsillitis, then I got ANOTHER allergic reaction to the medicine they put me on for the tonsillitis. October 31st and all of November 2009 was spent in bed and on the Benadryl diet.

Multiple trips to the hospital, doctor, and allergist + my entire bank accounts worth of medical bills = I'm still alive.

Maybe that's when I started not liking Halloween.

The last two years I didn't celebrate at all. Or you could say I dressed up as a "studying college student whose evil professors scheduled multiple exams the day after Halloween" which was entirely true.

This year, I have made ZERO plans for Halloween. Again, I'm not a fan. But I think it's because of my genuinely lackluster Halloween's for the past few years.

I have decided though, if I do dress up tonight, I will dress up in true nerd form like her....

 Denim Vest . . Denim Shorts . . Long Sleeve Shirt . . Nerd Glasses . .  Belt

This is Kathy Beth Terry, from Katy Perry's music video for Last Friday Night.

It all started when the music video came out. My ever so charming Fiance said "Hey, that looks like you!" He just seems to think any brown haired nerd with glasses "looks like me". I also apparently look like that girl from The Big Bang Theory (no, not the hot blonde one) but that's another story.

So I've come to terms with my nerd status. Clearly you must know by now that I'm not your typical 20-something. While everyone is dressing up in animal ears or some slutty version of the Village People, I long to be Kathy Beth Terry.

The thing is, I'm not too sure how big Halloween is here in England....

Everyone I speak to says something different, like that it's not very big at all or it's more about witches and wizards and scary stuff and less about dressing up as anything and eating candy.

I don't know how I feel about that, because for the first time I kind of anticipated a good Halloween! I don't have any tests tomorrow (or ever.... I graduated....) and *fingers crossed* I don't get any allergic reactions later! I'm not planning on going to a marching band party (I wonder if those exist anywhere other than my high school), but I'll survive!

So what do 20-something adults do in England for Halloween?? Or rather, what does anyone do in England for Halloween??
What are you guys dressing up as? Any fun Halloween plans on either side of the pond??