So I haven't posted in a while because I've been busy with an international move! Lots of pieces have to come together for this one -- Departure stuff: Closing accounts in the UK, moving out of my flat & cleaning it, handing over my old job to my successor,...
- Travel stuff: Sorting out what goes into what shipment (air, ocean, airplane luggage, give away/UK electrical stuff/can't transport - i.e. spices, liquor), travelling (which normally would be easy, but the ash cloud hit the week I left! Thankfully, my flight wasn't affected)
Arrival stuff: Getting a car (I got a 2009 VW Tiguan, Joe got his BMW - that's me with his car in the picture left), finding a place to live (we found an awesome house in the historic Redmont neighborhood, with views of the whole city), working through the closing process & moving in (still in process - we're set to close May 21 and our stuff should arrive the next week)
- Fun stuff: Celebrating my 30th birthday, the really cool casino themed leaving party thrown for me by my office (and the LV bag they gave me), planning our upcoming wedding, starting ballet classes again (at the Alabama Ballet)
My first day back in the States we even found a place to live, which was really exciting as we'd been looking for 6 months before this all came together and were really nervous about that. Our new house is awesome - right in the neighborhood we wanted (Redmont/Forest Park) and with a view of the whole city and airport. Its even got a 2 car garage, a rarity in Birmingham! Further, we can walk to restaurants (Mexican restaurant Rojo is just a 10 minute walk) and the public Highland Park golf & tennis courts.
I've been working on wedding plans too & have come up with 2 options that I'm excited about, but would love your help deciding between them. We're thinking this Fall or next Spring:
Birmingham city wedding - Rehearsal dinner on our patio overlooking the city (how cool!), wedding & reception at the Sloss Furnaces (an old steel mill converted into a museum - vivid rust metal colors with a large covered place for a band and dancing). BBQ catered by Jim & Nicks, funky Motown band.
New Hampshire lake wedding - I used to go to camp with my family when I was little (maybe 5?) at this awesome place called Sandy Island. Its a 66 acre island in Lake Winnepasaukee in New Hampshire. There are 55 waterfront cabins ranging in size from accommodating 1 person to 6. We can rent the whole place for a wedding weekend and have access to all of their facilities (tennis, swimming, sail boats, hiking, crafts house for custom tie dyed favors!, etc). They even have a waterside chapel on the island that would be perfect for the service and we can bring a band over to the lodge for evening dancing. I really love this idea, but want to hear from friends and family if this is too far for them to travel and what they think about the whole camping idea. The camp is a 2 hour drive from Boston, so we'd need to rent cars, but the camp will shuttle people over via boat from the shore and once you're on the island everything else is taken care of and in easy walking distance. The accommodation cost is cheap too (i.e. $135 or so per person for the weekend), but most cabins share central showers/restrooms that are a short walk from their cabin. I think this option could present a really cool opportunity to really spend quality time with friends & family at our wedding.
