ten thoughts on a wednesday |11|

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one.
a belated happy fourth of july!! i absolutely love independence day. it’s a little different celebrating it in england … it’s the only day of the year when i feel truly homesick for america. ian had to go to work of course, but we still made the day special – with our stars and stripes outfits, shake shack for dinner, and even some mini sparklers before bedtime! moses and i also enjoyed a picnic in the park with american friends and some classic american food (chocolate chip cookies, pigs in a blanket, oreos, pretzels, etc). we are really grateful for the freedom and security we experience as americans. traveling and living abroad has decreased my nationalism and increased my patriotism, which i think is good.

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two.
speaking of the usa, we are headed there today! in just a few hours we leave to fly across the ocean and i am so pumped! our first stop is new york city. we are just sleeping over there and then hopping on a train tomorrow morning to go to baltimore, where ian’s brother lives. then we go on to grandma and grandpa’s house in texas and next monday we fly to utah. it’s going to be a crazy whirlwind trip full of family and jet lag and sun. i think the long-haul plane ride is going to be really different this time around than last time (in february to sri lanka) – moses now very much understands the joy of independent mobility and is as wiggly as they come. sooo…send us some good vibes for an okay long flight with a one year old!

three.
ian and i have been talking about gratitude a lot lately – about how gratitude can transform anything. we’re trying to remember gratitude whenever we become critical or complain. there is always something to be grateful for.

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four.
speaking candidly, it has been difficult for me to cultivate friendships since we moved to london. i think there are several reasons for that that make sense, but it’s been kind of hard for me to adjust to this new pattern of relationship-making (in all my previous moves to new cities, awesome friendships have developed pretty easily). more recently, i’ve felt more secure in growing friendships, and that makes me really glad! last week i went to dinner with some girlfriends and we sat at the table chatting and laughing for over two hours, and it was good for the soul.

five.
i’ve decided that it’s time for me to start investing more in taking care of my skin, and for me to learn how to use makeup. now that i’m thirty one – haha! i’ve just always winged it with drug store products, but ever since having a baby the skin on my face has been noticeably more worn down, and it just needs and deserves some tlc! the beauty product world is so foreign (and quite overwhelming!) to me, but i’m starting to delve in a bit…

  six.
moses is just the cutest. here’s some pictures of him having fun at the mirror. gosh we just love this kid. he makes life one million times better.

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seven.
last week moses and i took the tube to the end of the line to play with some friends out in kew. it’s always pretty nice to get out of central london and have a bit more space to breathe. we spotted some lovely charming sights around kew and snapped a couple of pictures. i really love england so much. IMG_7940 IMG_7944

eight.
moses is obsessed with his dad, and it makes me so happy! whenever ian is around, mo is constantly reaching for him, and as soon as he gets in his dad’s arms he pats him on the back and makes sounds of glee. if ian hands moses off to me, baby boy often starts furiously signing “more please, more please!” and leaning back towards dad. he often spontaneously snuggles into ian’s neck to give a legitimate hugs. he can barely contain his excitement when ian gets home from work in the evenings, or when he gets to get in the shower with dad. it’s just the sweetest thing to watch the loving relationship between those two boys of mine.

nine.
last friday, my dear friend brittany had a long layover in london. so, naturally, we went to a fancy afternoon tea together! if you’ve read this blog for even just a little while, you’ll know that brittany is my soulmate when it comes to appreciating lovely things. there’s no one i’d rather share afternoon tea (one of my favourite things on earth) with! i had been looking forward to this experience for months – i saved up some leftover monthly budget money and i even arranged for moses to stay at home with a friend so i could enjoy tea with both hands! we went to claridge’s and positively swooned over all the prettiness and deliciousness and wonderfulness. although we decided claridge’s is overpriced when compared to other afternoon tea experiences, we had a truly fabulous time.

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ten.
seriously, we have the sweetest little baby in the world.
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i can’t wait to see mo’s excitement being with his cousins, celebrating his birthday at grandma and grandpa’s house, and experiencing the unparalleled wonders of bear lake for the first time!

this blog may be a bit quiet over the next couple of weeks while we are traveling around the usa. but you can follow along on our adventures via instagram if you want!

happy wednesday! life is beautiful!

Comments

  1. Last year I started using this range, and it's so good! http://www.decleor.co.uk/face
    I also love this, my Grandma used it every day and at 94 was nearly totally unwrinkled so I hope I'll be the same, ha ha ha. https://www.olay.co.uk/en-gb/skin-care-products/essentials-beauty-fluid
    And then for make up, Charlotte Tilbury is totally my go to brand. Her eye shadow pencils especially. I think you'd look lovely with that, given how pretty your eyes are. They really make the colour pop! http://www.charlottetilbury.com/uk/colour-chameleon-amber-haze.html

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  2. Oh man, I think you may have given me a little light bulb moment with your makeup/skin thought! I too have a one year old, am a makeup minimalist/amateur (at best), and am really unhappy with my skin lately. Please feel free to share any helpful skincare tips you learn! Also, I love your thought about Moses and his dad. Enjoy your time in the U.S.!

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    1. I'm in the same boat as well! Let me know what you find out re: skin care regime. I need to up my game!

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  3. 4.... Ironic that you feel you don't have many friends when my first thought when I seen how many people were at Mo's birthday party was, "Wow, she has a ton of friends there"

    I don't think I could ever make friends easily

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  4. Five thoughts on this post:

    1. If I was Moses, I'd be kissing the mirrors too - simply adorable.
    2. I don't visit your blog very often (though I really enjoy it), but if you haven't already done it, would be fun to read a comparison of locations for afternoon tea, including smaller gems you perhaps have found...
    3. Do share what you find on the skincare front!
    4. Kew looks lovely - which line on the Tube?
    5. How did you get your hands on sparklers for the Fourth?? Nice work.

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  5. Being a German, I'm always a bit jealous to see other countries' traditions which we don't have due to our history. Of course, I don't want to take our history lightly, but dressing in German colours on 10/3 would be fun!

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    1. Welche Traditionen denn?
      Kerstin, please know that US-Amerikaner DO NOT dress up in red/white/blue and stars/stripes on July 4th each year (only the Eyres are so obsessed with “traditions”). Ian walking around central London in those pajama shorts gives me Fremdscham.

      If you want to wear “German colors” – hopefully more tastefully (say, black jeans and a red polo with subtle gold trim) – what’s stopping you?

      In any case, the German way of displaying patriotism is arguably better. Instead of on a default day year in, year out, and full of bombast – the schwarz/rot/gold appears less regularly, when showing support for the national team. When there’s really something to celebrate. When you’re experiencing a Sommermärchen.

      Like wildflowers that bloom in the desert after a sporadic rainshower, patriotism in Germany may be ephemeral and understated, but is nonetheless natural and beautiful.

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    2. Are you German (considering you use a few German words in the correct grammar)?

      It's true that I have seen the wearing red-white-blue only on blogs and instagram, so certainly not all Americans do this, and yet it's not just Eyres.

      If I were to wear our colours on the German national holiday (even as you proposed), I would be judged. That someone would think I'm wearing them for the wrong reasons, stops me.
      We only do it for Sommermärchen (and any national sport event), unless it's the State.

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    3. Bin kein Deutscher, aber die Sprache kann ich :)

      It’s fascinating to compare the über-patriotism of Americans with the guilt-ridden Germans. The United States has been at war all but five years since the founding of the peaceful FRG - not wars of self-defense, but of projecting power. The US was founded on lands more or less stolen from native peoples and its early economy was built on the backs of slaves - the origin of intractable racial tensions and inequalities that still exist today. If Americans are reminded of these things in “our history” at all, they hardly have a sobering effect on American patriotism - which is practically a religion.

      On the other hand, while American flags are everywhere to be found in U.S. cities, in German cities it’s Stolpersteine and memorials and signs related to WWII that you will find at every turn - and rightly so. But that doesn’t mean Germans can’t *also* have national symbols to take pride in.

      Cities in the American South are just barely starting to reevaluate monuments to the Confederacy and only a few have been taken down - on the other hand, a statue of a WWII general in Germany would be absolutely unthinkable (and criminal!)

      I for one say that Germany needs a little more flag-waving and a true national holiday (not just a “Day of Unity”) - while the US needs more Native American documentation centers, lynch mob markers, plaques at the last address of internment camp residents, signs where ships filled with refugees were turned away, etc. Nie wieder U.S.A.!

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    4. It IS interesting to compare the different attitudes towards patrotism, because it really is very different (again I'm judging from what I've seen, not personally experienced)!

      I disagree that our Day of Unity isn't a real holiday, because I think it is and I like the rrason behind it. But I agree we could be better at celebrating it (maybe that's why you said, it's not a real one). Which is why I envy something whimsical as Ian's pants (no offense!).

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    5. That’s what I meant, Germans don’t celebrate on October 3rd.

      What’s worse, being judged as a right-wing nationalist by wearing a nice red polo and black jeans – or being judged as a FOOL for wearing pajamas in public?

      (Englischtipp: “whimsical” doesn’t quite fit. If you do the same thing every time – like Ian – you’re not acting on a whim.)

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    6. Danke für den Tipp!

      The first is worse: I'd rather be laughed at than be despised (Though I must admit I don't think Ian made a fool out of himself). What do you think?

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    7. Wir müßten uns also einigen, dass wir uns nicht einig sind – agree to disagree!

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  6. I don't sell this so it's not a sales pitch but I started using Rodan and Fields skin care and it's a game changer.

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  7. I just gave birth to my first child and I really enjoyed your postpartum advice "10 things to do every day" post, esp. the kegels and doing something outside your comfort zone daily, so thanks Charity! I would be especially keen to hear about your makeup / skin care research, so please share when the time comes :-)

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