Chad and Catherine's Adventures in London

An international move

We have just a week left in London.  Even as the movers came yesterday to our temporary apartment and packed away the last little bits that will go both by air shipment and sea (leaving us only with what we can carry in our own suitcases), it still hasn't completely sunk in that we are leaving.  There is just too much to do.

I finally created a four page word document in two columns in an attempt to list, divide and conquer all of the things that we have to do to make it happen.  Even with relocation assistance from Lexis Nexis, it is still a little daunting.  Obviously, we've moved a lot in the past ten years, but this one by far is the most complicated.  Particularly given Chad is still working full time and I have yet to completely ramp down and sign off with Intuit.

I have to detach from Intuit after nine years (change health insurance, sell stock, file my health insurance claims, clean personal files of my PC, get a new phone given they've always provided me one, tell the literally hundreds of people across the US, Canada, UK, India and Singapore that I've worked with over the years that I'm leaving, etc.).  Then there is the ramp up with a new company - lots of forms for taxes, relocation, insurance.  Small things that are a big deal like figuring out the dress code as it makes a big difference in what few clothing items I choose to hold back to put in my suitcase for immediate wear when I start.  

Then there is the actual physical relocation.  Our household goods have been in storage through an Intuit provider since the end of August when we moved out of our last home into temporary housing.  The company has everything in Liverpool.  But Lexis Nexis is using a different company and needed to transfer the goods.  At first, they told me they would have to unpack and repack everything in order to insure our things through the new company.  Yikes!  After much prodding, we finally got the goods transferred this week and they are shipping out at the end of next.  It will take 25-40 days via sea to arrive in Norfolk... so now it's about figuring out timing on the other side and hopefully having a longer term place to live in Raleigh.  And half of our belongings are still in storage in Washington DC.  

How about getting all of us to Raleigh?  Intuit graciously paid for the tickets from London, although Chad isn't coming until right before Christmas.  We've worked through a few dozen steps of getting Renata a J1 visa to come work as an Au Pair with us in the US, which thankfully was approved at the US embassy in London last week.  She has to fly home to Romania next week, then to New York for mandated training for all US based Au Pairs, and finally to Raleigh in mid-November.  I booked a rental car given we don't own one and will need one immediately upon landing to get around (strange after living in a place with such strong public transportation for three years).  And what about driving insurance... what do I have and need now that I'm back in the US?  Need to call about that.  And Renata doesn't know how to drive.  Need to research a driving school in Raleigh and figure out how to get her a drivers license.  How long can I live there before I also have to go get a NC drivers license?  Lots to figure out.

I could write paragraphs more on what feels like a never ending list of things to wrap down in London (got to get our dental records and William's medical records...).  And that is all before my long list of things that I'd really like to do for FUN before we leave.  Can you believe that I still haven't visited Westminster Abbey?  Or the Tate Brit ian museum?  I've been saying for years I would take an afternoon and finally explore the antique markets on Portobello Road that are always a mob scene on the weekends. And I simply can't leave without visiting Kensington Palace because after all, we've lived just blocks away for the last few years and the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall will be living there in the very near future.  I would be ashamed to say that I walked within 100 feet of the palace in Hyde Park weekly and never went in.

But it seems a little frivolous to think about how I'm going to get to Crazie Homie's mexican restaurant to buy a t-shirt when I haven't yet locked in where we are going to be living in 8 days when we arrive in Raleigh, huh?

 

 

 

 

Orange County, California

I've heard a lot about Orange County, but had never visited until this past August.  Probably from too much television (ie, The Housewives of Orange County), I'd written the place off as some place I'd rather not visit given it seemed like all the superficial parts of Los Angeles that I hate... just in the suburbs.  But what a beautiful place.  I snapped this picture from the hotel where I was staying on my iphone:

I was there for an annual semi-annual conference held for Intuit's global leadership team.  The location was the Ritz Carlton Hotel, Dana Point - just south of Laguna Beach.  I'd never stayed at a Ritz before, and let me tell you, the hype is for real.  The hotel and guest rooms are simply beautiful.  The food was delicious.  Staff looked me in the eye and greeted me proactively as I made my way around the grounds.

On day one - after a 13 hour direct flight into San Diego - I went down for the early morning yoga class.  I waited and the instructor never showed up.  Asked the staff at the gym and they tried reaching her with no luck.  Aghast, they asked me if and when I had time for another lesson during the day.  I told them four pm... and sure enough, I got a private yoga lesson at 4pm waterfront.  Talk about delighting customers.  The funnier part was the yoga instructor was an Intuit QuickBooks ProAdvisor (Accountant) so we ended up talking work anyway!

The town of Laguna Beach was postcard perfect.  Cute little waterfront boardwalk, surfers by the dozens out riding crashing waves, independent boutiques and TONS of art galleries.  And I did manage to attend every bit of the two day conference as well.  Can't wait to go back to Orange County, and next time it will be for 100% fun.

Love hate relationship

I have to admit, I actually enjoy business travel.  For any international trip over six hours, Intuit flies employees business class.  Although I would never pay the price for personal business class tickets, there is a world of difference between business and economy air travel.  First, the airport lounge – wireless, quiet space, food and drinks.  And as our friend Ian says “Once you turn left, it’s difficult to ever turn right again”… boarding a plane.    Space and privacy.  Seats that not only recline but fold completely flat.  The food is actually good.  Free booze.  Noise cancelling headphones.  Bottled water and even a snack bar for between meals.  I just reached platinum status with British Airways and the head of the cabin crew actually comes to personally welcome me by name on every flight.    And believe it or not, I look forward to any flight that leaves out of Heathrow Terminal 5.  The most modern of any airport terminal I’ve seen, they have the equivalent of a shopping mall where I can plan to pick up  anything I need at 20% off given everything is tax duty free. 

And selfishly, I love having a couple of nights in a king size bed with amazingly soft sheets all to myself.  I actually get workouts almost every morning when I travel at the hotel gym.  And a breakfast buffet where I can help myself easily and quickly to a range of fresh fruits already cut up and prepared.  No dishes to clean up.  No bed to be made. 

But there are also plenty of things that I really do hate.  Primarily, being away from my family too frequently and missing so much of daily life in London when I’m gone.  Want to make dinner or lunch plans with friends during the week?  Sorry, I’m in Toronto this week.  Want to plan to do something over the weekend?  Would love to, but I’m catching up on all the errands that build up from being away.  And I work like crazy while I’m gone.  Meetings start at 7:30 and go late in the day.  After all, I don’t have the same urgency to pick up and leave at 5:19pm to catch my 5:29 direct train from Maidenhead and be home for William and Chad time.  And when there is nothing to do at night, I simply work some more.  I hate the extra pressure it puts on Chad and Renata back at home when I’m not there to help out.  Most of all, I hate the “No Mama” I get for 24 to 48 hours after I get home when William only wants to be with his Daddy.  Although it passes fairly quickly, it also hurts.

But enough is certainly enough.  The past sixteen months have been brutal in terms of travel.  Ten trips to India in nine months.  Since the 1^st of June alone, I’ve made eight international trips back and forth to the US and Canada.  That’s two a month.   As much as there are parts that I love, I will not miss the level of traveling I’ve done over the past year and a half working in a global job.  Although I have to give up some of the things that I truly enjoy, being home with my family and having more of a life is by far more rewarding.

San Sebastian, Spain

We are currently on vacation in San Sebastian, Spain with our friends Sarah, John and Evelyn Dalena.  Sarah and I have talked about San Sebastian for what seems like years, both having heard about it from friends or read about how wonderful it was.  Most people don't put the north of Spain on the top of their "must visit" list - - seems to be southern Spain that gets most of the attention.  But this area  is simply beautiful, and is known to have some of the best food in the country... if not Europe.

San Sebastian is only about 20 km from the border of France and sits right on the Atlantic ocean, technically in the Bay of Biscay.  It has three huge golden sand beaches and a well constructed and kept promenade that stretches the length of the city front along the ocean. 

We've got a rental house within 5 minutes walking distance to Playa de la Concha (beach) and thus far have done a lot of walking on the beach (and to the playground and merry go round!), eating both at beautiful restaurants as well as walk up Pintxos bars that are reknown in this area.  Pintxos are the Basque Country's version of tapas, the differences being that pintxos are often served with a stick through them and on a piece of bread... but not necessarily always given the creative license the different bars take with the food. 

Regardless, the food has been fantastic, the weather has been in the mid 70s to 80s all week, and we've had a really wonderful time catching up and exploring with the Dalenas.  More photos to come!

Big News

We are moving back to the US in November to Raleigh, North Carolina. Can you believe it? We barely can ourselves.

Some of you might be asking yourselves, “Where did this come from? Didn’t you just agree to stay with Intuit for another year in London?” Yes, we did. And at the same time, Intuit asked me to interview for a position leading marketing for our Intuit Health product also based out of Cary. The position actually went to another internal candidate, but the process of thinking about moving home was firmly planted in our heads. I started putting out feelers to different contacts in the area to see what if anything might be of interest and available, and sure enough, something really interesting did emerge.

I’ve accepted a position as a Director of Marketing with Lexis Nexis, based in Cary and will focus on their small law sector, specifically a new product they have called Firm Manager. This is Lexis’s first step into the software as a service space which is an area I’ve focused at Intuit. As it turns out, one of my previous managers from Intuit, Michael Lipps, went to work for Lexis Nexis about a year and a half ago in Lexis Nexis's Marketing and Services Division. The company is making Cary an important hub in their growing software development efforts. How lucky for me! It is an excellent opportunity with a really sharp team of people.

Chad is excited about the move as well. He’s had a great two and a half years at the UK Green Building Council learning so much about sustainability and real estate development. He’s exploring options of both starting his own business as well as potentially working for companies focused on sustainability in North Carolina. He has a three month contract with the UK GBC that he must fulfill, and will follow William, Renata and I to Raleigh late in December, hopefully in time for Christmas.

All of this change comes with an intense wave of emotions. We have enjoyed our three years in London immensely and find it hard to think about leaving such an amazing city. Although we knew we would return to American someday, we aren’t exactly ready to give up our diverse urban lifestyle, access to fantastic and affordable travel and most importantly, the friends that we’ve made while living here. It is also extremely difficult for me to leave Intuit. I’ve spent nine years with the company and simply love the people, the mission to serve small businesses, the innovation and the constant challenge and change of working in a silicon valley based technology company. I’m forever grateful for all the opportunities I’ve been given to grow and develop professionally. I’m a little nervous about moving to Raleigh. It’s been a long time since either of us has lived in NC and it will be a big adjustment coming from a much larger city. I know it’s changed a lot over the past 15 years, but we’ve changed a lot as well.

And yet I’m ready to go home. I want to be closer to my friends and family and feel like I’m part of a true community again. I’m ready for life to slow down a little more. I’m ready for a spacious house (which by American standards will be normal - - but anything will seem big after having three adults and a child in 1200 square feet). I’m ready to have my own garden and to have more sunshine and less rain. I want to be in the same time zone with people I know and love and not have to pre-arrange and schedule phone calls to catch up. I’m ready for a fresh start and new challenge professionally.

I’m excited. So is Chad. Renata even teared up when she heard we were moving as she is so thrilled to come to the US. William is just pumped about an airplane ride. Raleigh, North Carolina, here we come.

Some Welsh particulars

There were a random assortment of observations from our trip that I thought I would share with you.

First of all, what is a Welsh Rarebit?  Based on the British love for lots of game and different pieces and parts of animals in their food, I braced myself when I asked this question of our waiter the first night.  As it turns out, rarebit is a specific Welsh cheese mixed with mustard.  I had some over some fresh steamed broccoli our first night in Conwy and then again the next day over a baked potato (or “jacket potato” as they call them here).

And the language.  It isn’t quite like anything I’ve ever seen.  Everything is written in both languages, with Welsh being prioritized.  Interestingly, we didn’t HEAR anyone speaking the language all weekend.  And I really listened keenly, wanting to hear it in action.  No luck.

On the day we arrived, a new national law went into effect that charges customers 5 pence for every bag they receive from a store.  We are somewhat used to this in London and grocery stores charge for bags.  But I’ve never had a general retailer charge me for one.  Chad even stopped at a fast food restaurant on Saturday night for a snack and they asked him if he wanted to pay for a bag for his fast food.  I have to say, I think this law rocks.  Did you know it takes almost 1,000 years for one of those plastic grocery bags to decompose?  Nothing like money to motivate humans to do things differently.

Betws Y Coed

Just south of Conwy was the little town of Betws Y Coed, the entry point to a rather impressive National Park called Snowdonia. We were under the impression that once in this town, we could catch a train to the top of one of the highest peaks in the UK (Mt. Snowdon). Alas, the train left from Llanberis which was another 30-45 minute drive further up the mountain. We were too late in the day to get it so missed our opportunity. Instead, we took some time to kick around this lovely village and also visit Swallow Falls. The feel of this place was 100% backpacker base camp. You could tell that people come here to camp for family vacations and even spend days trekking up the mountains together.

Another fun element was the slate. There is a huge National Slate Museum on the way to LLanberis as this was a huge industry for the country for many decades. The town buildings are almost 100% build from slate. Note for future travelers: leave a full day for Snowdonia!

Stopping for tea on the way to Betws Y Coed:

 

The town church:

Swallow Falls:

And for reward after our tough hike (not), a beer garden. One of the things I love most about the British are their kid-friendly pubs. Why don’t they have bars with playgrounds in America?

Northern Wales

Last weekend, Chad and I took a weekend get away to Northern Wales.  He had a conference for work in the far western side of England and it seemed like a perfect opportunity not only to get away, but trek north to an area of the island that I’d wanted to visit.  Wales is an independent country, part of the United Kingdom and even has its own language.  Yet most people barely know about it or really recognize it.

So what did we find in Wales?  First and foremost, castles. Lots of castles.  Edward I determined in the late 1200s that he wanted to conquer Wales.  He set out with his armies from England and did just that.  Then he proceeded to invest tons of money into building castles around the northern and western side of the Wales.  Often – as in the case of Beaumaris Castle – he would relocate an entire existing town or population to achieve this goal.   Today many still stand, some in better shape than others, almost all protected by the national trust for folks from all around the world to enjoy.

Map of the castles of northern Wales:

We based ourselves in Conwy, Wales which has one of the most stunning castles of all.  The town is completely walled in (we walked around ¾ of the town on top of the walls) and the Castle is in amazing condition.

 

View inside from the one of the turrets of the castle:

Signs of the times.  Three bridges running into the main entrance of the castle... one for those on foot, one by train and the last for cars.

Walls around Conwy:

The we drove by Gwyned castle:

And to visit Runndlam Castle:

And Flint Castle:

Believe it or not, we didn’t even make it to two of the most beautiful because we ran out of time.  Caernarfon Castle was built as a total show of muscle and might, on the foundation where both Roman forts and Normal castles had previously stood.  The birth of Edward's first son, the first English “Prince of Wales” happened in this castle in 1284.  And HRH Prince Charles was also officially declared as heir to the thrown (or "investitured") here in 1969. 

The last castle we missed was Beaumaris Castle on the island of Anglesy (where Prince William and Kate live today).  He built this beautiful castle but never got around to finishing it – the Scots were starting to give him a lot of trouble on the northern border thus he had less time for Wales.  The brochures call this castle “technically perfect and constructed according to an ingenious “walls withing walls” plan” which made it the equivalent of a spaceship landing in those times. 

As usual, I felt a little guilty I didn’t set the alarm clock, get up early and push us to get out and see the last two castles.  But really, weekends away are less about go-go-go and more about sleeping and spending time catching up with one another.  We had a nice big breakfast at the hotel both days, reading the paper and drinking coffee totally undisturbed.  Not to mention 9 ½ hours of sleep each night!  And as I always say, if you do it all on the first trip, there isn’t ever a reason to go back.

Warwick Castle

Weekend before last, we rented a car and headed out on Saturday morning for Warwick Castle, located just northwest of London and north of Oxford.  I'd read that this was one of the best castles around, particularly for medieval history and architecture.  And they have lots of activities designed for kids!

 

The castle was actually first built by order of William I in 1084 and later given to the 1st Earl of Warwick by William II in 1153.  The castle was inhabited by a long line of English nobility and visited by royalty throughout the ages (Elizabeth I in 1572 , Queen Victoria in 1858, Elizabeth II in 1996). It was sold in the 1980s by one of the last Earl of Warwicks and luckily has been beautifully maintained for the general public.  The bottom of the castle is a display of medievil times, chronically the time period when Richard Neville was Kingmaker and lived in the castle - armour for horses and soldiers, the making of weaponry to defend the castle and go into battle, even early toilet chambers. 

Kids playground outside the castle:

 

Inside the castle gates (check out Chad having a picnic):
 

The ground floor is an interesting display of rooms from the 1700, 1800 and 1900s - filled with really incredible art and furnishings.  One of the most facinating rooms was a bedroom that was designated for a visit from Queen Anne in the early 1700s.  In expectation of her visit, her personal monogrammed bed was shipped from Windsor Castle along with a few trunks of her clothing.  As it turns out, she never made it to Warwick, but gave the bed and other items as a gift to the Earl at the time as a consolation.  They are displayed in the bedroom intended for her visit, surrounded by tapestries that were commissioned by the Earl and some of the finest of the day.

 

We had a picnic out on the grounds and also climbed the 513 steps that made up the defensive wall, turrets and towers of the castle.  And little William climbed every one of those steps on his own - with minimal guidance from Mom and Dad.  I couldn't help but smile, hoping that we are instilling a sense of exploration and adventure into his blood.  I explored my first castle at the age of 29... and he's lucky enough to do it at 2. 

 

You just can't pass this photo opportunity by....