It's time...California, here we come!

Well the time has come for us to finally make the move back home again. After 7 years and 3 different countries, we are (mostly) ready to go back home. It’s something we’ve been thinking about for a while and the timing just felt right. We’ve been in London for just over two years now. And while Nate's new role has been great for him, he started feeling ready to move on. And with the girls, we just felt it was time to be closer to family again. So, in just a week we pack up our things and move back to the Bay Area. I found another position within Google, very similar to what I’m doing now but on a different team, and have already started work on that team from London. Nate will quit his job here and find something new once we move back. It’s sad for sure as we do like London and we love our neighborhood and have enjoyed our life here these last 2 years. But we always knew that we weren’t going to be here forever. Movers come August 29 and after spending 5 last nights in Paris, we fly home! It’ll be the end of one adventure but just the beginning of a new one.

June - A Month of Visitors

Our June was quite a busy and fun one! We didn’t go anywhere but we had lots of people come to us. It started first with a visit from the Tannaci family. They were on their way back to the US for the summer and stopped in London for 2 nights, luckily over a weekend. On Saturday we went over to the Hampstead neighborhood, walked along the high street and gathered some food and treats for picnicking. We then wandered into the Heath where we found a playground and camped out there for a bit while the kids all played. They had a blast! We then wandered around in the Heath (it’s huge!), walking around little ponds and watching the ducks before heading back home. And then they were off and away early Sunday morning.

Just a few hours after the Tannaci’s left, the Lamson’s then arrived! They were with us for 10 days. And that first day was Polo in the Park at Hurlingham. We’ve lived here for 2 years and haven’t gone to this yearly event either of those years so this year we wanted to be sure not to miss it. And it was so fun!! The Lamson’s rallied after a quick power nap and we spent the afternoon there. It was family day so they had tons of stuff for the kids like a big blow up slide and a bounce house. There was tons of food as well and then of course it all finished with a polo match. I’d never been to a polo match before so that was fun. And the kids got a kick out of seeing the horses. It was rather hot and not a ton of shade so by 3pm we were done and headed home.

The Lamson’s did their thing during the week while Nate and I were at work. The following weekend we took turns going out. Kristine and I went out Friday night for a girl’s night in SoHo and Nate and Aaron got out on Saturday night. Saturday was fairly mellow with lunch near the river and some play time for the kids at Wandsworth Park. Sunday was Father’s Day so we all relaxed, especially the boys, and ate a yummy dinner, compliments of Kristine.

They left Tuesday and we had 3 nights before Ehren, Julie and Everett arrived on Friday. While Nate had last seen them for Matt and Sabita’s wedding, it has actually been a few years since I had seen them. So it was fun to have them here for a visit. Again, the weather in London has been really warm and sunny so Saturday afternoon we picnicked at Parson’s Green and then dinner at Tendido Cuatro, a favorite of ours. Nate left early Sunday to head to Boston for work so the rest of us all ventured over to Bishop’s Park to let the kids play in the water and sand there.

And before we knew it, they were off Monday morning and John, the last of our month of June visitors arrived late that night. He has the opportunity to play in a series of concerts in Aix en Provence through Vanderbilt so made a stop in London before starting that. Minus a minor delay with baggage that never made his connecting flight, he toured around London seeing the major sights. I managed to get tickets for us to Hamilton for that Thursday night, which was a highlight for sure and so amazing!!! John’s a huge fan and knows that play inside and out while I didn’t know much beyond the hype going into it. But I absolutely loved it!! And even better going with such a big fan. His last night in London we took him to our neighborhood pub spot, The White Horse. Can’t leave London without a good pub meal. And then early Saturday morning he was up and off to France. We figured out that it had been about 7 years since we last saw each other so was great catching up.

And there was our June. It was a whirlwind for sure and so much fun seeing so many of our friends and family.

A Tuscan Holiday

One of the vacations we were most looking forward to this year was a trip to Tuscany, which we took at the end of May. Together with Ron, Lindsay and Lauren, we rented an amazing villa just a 5 minute drive from Montalcino. Both Ron and Nate turned 40 this year, within days of each other, and we thought it would be a perfect way to celebrate.

Before meeting up with Ron and Lindsay in Tuscany, we first flew to Venice where we stayed with our friends Vika and Martino in Padua (just about 40 minutes from the Venice airport). It’s a smaller town, but not too small, and a perfect way to start our Italian holiday.

What wasn’t quite perfect though was our journey there. Elaine threw up all over me on the plane (of course I didn’t bring a change of clothes for myself so had to sit there in vomit soaked clothes for close to 2 hours). She then proceeded to throw up in the car on our way to Padua and then one last time about an hour after we put her to bed that night. Other than the throwing up, she didn’t seem sick at all. She didn’t have a fever and acted and ate normally. So who knows what was going on. But it left a lasting impression on Josephine who was traumatized by all three vomit events. After that, any time Elaine would make a small whimper, Josephine would dart away from her afraid that she would throw up yet again. She even said to me “Mommy, I don’t want Elaine to come next time.”. Poor Elaine!! And I suppose poor Josephine too.

So we had a fairly mellow Saturday in Padua and got to wander around the city and eat at Martino’s amazing pizzeria. And then Sunday we were off on a 4 hour drive down to Montalcino.

As soon as we pulled up to this villa, I was in heaven. It did not disappoint!! The view was incredible. Exactly what I imagined and hoped for. It had a swimming pool as well. And we had a whole week ahead of ourselves. We didn’t plan too much as we wanted to make sure we could just relax. One of the days we arranged a half day wine tour. We visited the Terralsole winery and had a very thorough tour and tasting followed by lunch in Montalcino. We shipped some of their wine back to us in London and it tastes even better now than when we did the tasting.

And the best thing we did for ourselves was arrange for a private chef to come to the house. I don’t think we would have thought of this except that the Airbnb host suggested it. We did this on 2 of the nights and it was fantastic. The chef comes to your house with all of the food, prepares it, serves you a multi-course meal and then cleans up and leaves. We put the kiddos down for bed and then the four of us could relax with a restaurant quality meal. Again, the best decision we could have made!

Otherwise the week was indeed quite relaxing. We would venture out briefly in the morning….generally to explore Montalcino. Then back in time for Elaine and Lauren to take a nap while we’d all go in the pool. Josephine (and Elaine for that matter too) loved the pool and had a blast!

Everything was perfect. Doing a Tuscan holiday had been on our list since we first moved to Zurich and it completely lived up to the dream. And doing the trip with such good friends made it that much better.

Italy is such a great place to visit. The food is delicious, the people are so friendly and they love kids and it’s just beautiful. I’d go back to this same place again in a heartbeat.