Things are looking up... kind of

     Um let me start off by saying... WHERE THE HECK DID NOVEMBER GO? I swear it was only last week that I was starting to get ready for my trip back home to New York. Now it's been 10 days since I left England! Lots has been going on between coming back and the last time I wrote about Oktoberfest and ice skating at the Museum of Natural History in Kensington. Still in shock it has been that long since I have posted.

    So here is an update on things before I get back to my happy go lucky posts of exciting places I have been going to. Sam and I left London with the hopes that once I landed our solicitor would submit my paperwork for my visa. Since the course of true love never did run smooth, we hit a few bumps along the way. A lot of it had to do a lot with miscommunication and lack of time to formulate an actual plan. Currently the solicitor has completed paperwork and by Monday we will have a full idea of what the next steps are. Nothing quite makes you scattered for brains than not knowing where your life will be in the next week let alone next month. 

   I was set to fly back with Sam to England on the 27th of November but because the paperwork had still not been completed, let alone handed in because of insufficient documents, I had to change my ticket. This meant a few things were about to happen. I had to change my return ticket date to a time that I still don't know will be enough, and I would have to do the number one thing I thought I would never have to do again since marrying Sam... we'd have to be apart for what is still an unknown amount of time. And let me tell you, if I could talk to the Nicole and Sam that were merely just saying goodbye to each other at terminal 4 of JFK airport as boyfriend and girlfriend, well I would have laughed at them. Because nothing hurts nearly as much as saying goodbye to your husband that you had seen everyday for the last 507 days (yeah I actually checked). It also meant that I would be missing the Mumford and Sons concert at the O2 on November 29th that I was lucky enough to get seats for, and because I didn't buy insurance (thinking what could go wrong?) I have to just eat the money for them. Which is a whole other annoyance I wont begin to go off on. But obviously this was the least of my worries but just a small add on. 

     What should be happening in the next few weeks or so should be simple. Sam meets with the solicitor on Monday, he then has the entire batch of documents and application nicely and neatly sent over to me so that whenever it is that I have to go to the embassy to get "checked out" I have everything I need in order to make their jobs easier to say yes. Then I will have my visa and finally be able to go back to my new home and start an actual life with Sam. I say actual life because I haven't been able to work and teach, the job that I have dreamed of doing since the age of 5. Not only that, to me a life is having structure and a regimen. It may sound weird but I long to have an alarm set for something I actually need to get up for. You might be laughing but to me in order to not turn into a couch potato (which has happened at times) I need to have a set schedule. I'm not that friend who's like I might be doing this or I might go there. I'm a solid yes or no lady. So Sam and I are back to our long distance relationship routines of Facetime regularly, ridiculous amounts of phone calls, watching tv shows at the same time so we can talk about them, and of course binge eating (my stretchy pants are doing overtime work after Thanksgiving). 

     You might be asking yourself, ok Nicole I'm reading these good things and all seems to be in motion here, what's the problem? Well my life wouldn't be as exciting as it is if there wasn't some twist in all of this. Since I changed my return flight to the 17th of December, it now puts a heavier time restraint on when things can get done. That's also because the man helping me schedule my return flight let me know that there are no other seats or days available to return until January. Sure I could maybe try a different airline or maybe even airport if I really needed to, but at this point with no incoming money from funemployment, it's just not realistic. Sorry not sorry if I sound like a bit of a drag here but this situation has not been easy. I am not playing down the fact that I am extremely fortunate to have parents who love me incredible amounts that I get to spend a lot of quality time with now. Or that I have another family across the pond who loves me too. It is just a hard pill to swallow when something you thought you were so sure of getting gets ripped out of your hands in an instant and you're forced to change a lot of your future plans. And the not knowing is what kills me the most. 

     The entire reasoning of me even sharing all of this is because I hope that if this unfortunate situation becomes of a friend of a friend or even someone who just happens to stumble across my page, I want to help them and inform them of everything that I know and have had happened to me and Sam. I have already had a few people contact me that I had not known previously before starting this blog. I've been asked about long distance relationship advice, and on the process of immigration. While I don't make myself out to know everything about either subject, I would help someone the best I can to feel even slightly better about what they are going through. I know we're not the first and most certainly not the last. 

     To end this on a positive note I'll let you know some of the good things that have happened so far since the last post.

1. I have created an incredible bond with a 7 year old girl, who I know will be in my life fora very long time. 

2. I have been able to spend Thanksgiving (my favorite holiday) with my parents and Sam.

3. I got to see my 4 best friends in the entire world and all their fellas.

4. Sam and I got to visit Astoria  and Legends bar in NYC (where we first met) a few times while he was here and reminisce on some amazing memories while living there. 

5. I legally changed my name to my married name!

6. I have plans to see a lot more of my friends and family for the next upcoming weeks while I'm in New York.

7. I have booked a trip to LA for next Friday to see my beautiful best friend Jordana.

8. And finally yesterday the 29th of November I was FINALLY granted my professional license for teaching! This also means that I will have the qualifications to teach anywhere I'd like to when I return to the UK. 

There will be more posts to come VERY soon, with all these good things happening. I'm doing my best to stay positive in the meantime and hopefully can update with good news soon.

      

 

Tis the season...

Erdinger Oktoberfest, Stratford 
Museum of Natural History, South Kensington
Battersea Park, Battersea

     Ah! I really have no idea where the weeks have gone. It blows my mind that I have not written a post in 2 weeks and I'm heading back to New York in just 8 days! October really escaped me while November feels like its gone in a blink so far. But none the less I have been going to some really great spots over the last few weeks. There are some great traditions going on during these end of fall into winter months.

     In October it was all about the name stating Oktoberfest parties. Sam and I went to the final night of the Erdinger Oktoberfest event at stratford. It went on from September 27th to October 28th, but because of our schedules we couldn't get there any earlier, but figured save the best night for last. I had bought our tickets for 50% off from a post the company had put up on Instagram. I was absolutely over the moon thinking (well this is meant to be that we held off going because now tickets are super cheap!). Well it wouldn't be me unless I mucked up something in the seamless plan. Once I hit the submit payment button on the site, I realised that I had bought tickets for the night before we had planned to go. Since I bought the tickets on Ticketmaster there was no number or service I could call to cancel the payment. I couldn't even pawn the tickets to someone else because the cardholder had to be the one to get the tickets at the gate. Ugh I found myself in a real pickle thinking I'll have to eat the money on the 50% off tickets I was amped to get, and thinking I'd end up paying full price in the end anyway. Then I thought of a plan..... what if we just showed up on the last night, went to the ticket booth to get the tickets and then play dumb about the date? (What the date is wrong? OMG I had no idea!!) Could we actually get lucky and have a nice human let us go through even though it was the wrong day on the tickets? We got to stratford and walked up to the woman at the ticket office and I was really bricking it. I thought no way this will actually work, and I was prepared to just pay full price for tickets to get in, because after all I was dressed up and I wasn't going to go home after applying a fresh pair of fake lashes! (Yeah I do that now) When I started explaining the situation to the woman she quickly cut me off to search my name on the database for tickets. After thinking that we would be turned away the woman smiled and said "no worries, we're not sold out tonight so shouldn't be a problem to have you seated somewhere else in the tent." BOOM!! https://erdinger-oktoberfest.co.uk

     We walked through the gates and I was very pleased with myself and my good luck of the night. It was one of the first really cold nights in London so there was no one outside at all, despite the bumper cars ride being set up. We walked into the main tent and there were rows and rows of picnic style tables set up, a buffet, and live band in full swing. The tent is set up for seating areas, vip tables, and standing section. Since it wasn't sold out that night there was plenty choices for seating areas. The steins were massive!! (I've never drank from a actual 1 litre size stein before) So after having just 2 I felt buzzed quickly. And it wouldn't be a proper Oktoberfest without wiener schnitzel! The live band really made the night. They played some major classics "Sweet Caroline" and literally all the Oasis classics. The crowd was lively and everyone was singing along and dancing. It made me really want to go to Germany next year and go all out for Oktoberfest, Bavarian costume and all!

 

     Another amazing happening going on right now is all the seasonal ice skating pop ups and holiday stands. I recently brought my mini friend to the Museum of Natural History, hoping for a fun Friday afternoon activity. I was surprised to see how set up the holiday fest there was. The ice rink there really reminds me of the one that Sam and I have been to in Bryant Park, in New York City. The mini friend and I really enjoyed ourselves skating around the giant Christmas tree in the middle of the rink. They have a small rink section in the back that is for smaller children to have some more space and to not get skated down by the bigger kids. What was really sweet was the selfie corner of the rink. You push this massive red button and have 10 seconds to skate back to your spot before the picture gets taken. We had to do this a number of times, as every time we were getting ready for the picture my mini friend would take a spill on the ice or wouldn't be quick enough to get back in time. The nice part is that if you buy the picture in the main building after you're done skating, the proceeds go towards the museum.
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit/exhibitions/ice-rink.html

              

   I will definitely be going back here for a little date night with Sam. They have a bar section where you can eat and drink after you have done your skating. It's a really comfy cozy section with lots of couches to hang out on. They carry the most perfect cold season drink, mulled wine that I just had to take advantage of while I was there. I mean come on I had earned it after lifting up a 7 year old every two minutes because she was like watching a new born deer walk for the first time. It wasn't even too crowded when we went which is always great because its just not as fun when you keep bumping into people on the ice. I'm sure this place will be packed out the closer Christmas gets. There are so many of these rinks opening up around London, I really want to partake in the ever popular rink outside the Tower of London.  I'm even trying to set up a trip to Bath to see their Christmas markets that I keep hearing so much about.

     The last bit of the season happenings are ALL THE FIREWORKS! Not even kidding you I have heard fireworks going off every night since Halloween. Much different from New York since they are illegal to buy and set off, but here it is an absolute free for all. Not to mention in New York you really only see fireworks during the summer time for the 4th of July or New Years day. You can buy frieworks just about anywhere here. I'm talking corner convenience store everywhere. I mean I like fireworks just as much as the next person, but every single night is a bit excessive. It's like people who celebrate their birthday for the entire month, it just looses its sparkle (pun intended). It really takes a bit of getting used to here and now I catch myself with the old lady remarks of (really again with the fireworks?!) BUTTTTT for this instance I went to the Battersea Park fireworks show in the beginning of the month which was absolutely amazing!! I am all about the organised fireworks shows. Battersea holds the special event every year near Guy Fawkes night (November 5), complete with bonfire and lights show. At one point I felt like I was at a music festival because they have the laser lights going with techno music. They had rows of food stands and beer lounges to hang out in before and after the fireworks. (Best to stay for a while after as the crowds were insane getting out of the park). This place got packed out really quickly. When me and my mini friend first got there we were practically the only people on the open field but half hour before the show you couldn't move. Luckily we had a blanket so we were able to have a rest while waiting. I was very envious of the people who brought fold out chairs, because the darker it got the more likely it was someone would step on your blanket walking by... or your hand. Battersea really put on such a great show as the fireworks went off to popular songs. They best were the opening and closing songs from "The Greatest Showman" (If you don't know what I'm talking about then do yourself a favour and rent that movie because it is amazing and the songs are out of this world!) https://batterseapowerstation.co.uk/whats-on/detail/battersea-park-fireworks

     So as I'm off to New York next week I am very excited to visit Astoria, get to have some of my moms amazing home cooked meals, and chat about all my favourite spots in my home town. It is still up in the air of when exactly I'll be back home in England because of this whole visa mess. But fingers crossed all goes smoothly so that I can be back for Christmas popping crackers and wearing paper crowns with my husband.