the traveling cupcake: london

Showing posts with label london. Show all posts

Monday, February 20, 2012

Goodbye London

Ok, so it's not quite time to move yet - but the date is rapidly approaching. By the middle of this week our flat will be empty and by the weekend we will be on our way to our new home in Houston.

I've been feeling a rush of emotions over the past few days. We have been excited about moving to Houston and starting the next phase of our life. But I have also been reflecting upon all of the wonderful memories that we have from our time here - all the amazing places we have been, wonderful people that we have met, and delicious food we have eaten. Sure, it hasn't always been easy - sometimes it's been down right hard and frustrating - but we wouldn't trade our time here for anything in the world. We are truly blessed to have had this experience and I will remember it always.

Untitled from tracy miller on Vimeo.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Things I'm going to miss about London

By the time we move next week we will have been here for three years and four months. To me, that's a long time - it's almost as long as I lived in New York City. And although this has been an amazing opportunity and I have so many wonderful memories, I never really called London "home". I always saw it as a temporary move, never thought of our life here for longer than 1-2 year increments. And maybe that was part of the problem. A friend of ours mentioned that the London relocation program at her work was the least successful out of all the programs. That simultaneously did and did not surprise me. It was a little surprising to hear that employees found settling in to far away places like Singapore easier than London. And at the same time, I know exactly how they feel.

We have been looking forward to moving back to the US for quite some time now - especially since we found out about Baby C. And as much as I am looking forward to starting a new adventure in Houston, there are a few things about London that I am going to miss...

*read more*

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Time for a change...

I have had a lot of exciting news to share over the last twelve months! First, I redesigned my blog. Then I announced we were having a baby. And NOW - I get to make another exciting announcement. It has been three years and three months since Brian and I, newly engaged, packed up our life in NYC and moved to London. It was thrilling, scary and exiting all at the same time. We have had some amazing experiences living abroad and wouldn't trade that time for anything in the world.

But - we have decided that it is time to go back home. It's time for us to move back to the US of A!

In a little less than a month we will packing up our London home and shipping it all back across the pond. But we aren't headed back to NYC. Now that would be too easy. Much to our parents dismay (especially with the little one on the way!) we are heading off on a new adventure...

*read more*

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Photo project - Childrens Photography part 4

During much of November and December I was a busy bee building my Children's photography portfolio. Our friends were kind enough to let me invade their home one afternoon and take some pictures of their two beautiful kids, Mia and Luke. The family had recently returned from a trip back to the US so everyone was a little jet-lagged - or so they claimed! The kids were running around playing like crazy, only towards the end did Luke show signs of fatigue (by laughing uncontrollably - I hope my kids are like that when they are tired).

*read more*

Tuesday, December 06, 2011

Photo Project - Childrens Photography part 3

WARNING!

This post is very picture heavy and full of adorable children.

Consider yourself warned.

*read more*

Monday, November 28, 2011

Around the World Christmas Tree

The first "big" trip that Brian and I took together while dating was to St. Croix in the Caribbean for a little winter sun. We had been dating for six or seven months and although it wasn't our first weekend away with each other, it was the first trip that required a plane ride. It was exciting and a little nerve-wracking. Happily, the trip went off without a hitch (apart from that one time when we were driving down the wrong side of the road - who knew they drove on the left hand side in St. Croix??).

While we were there we bought the funniest Christmas ornament to commemorate the trip, somehow we knew we would be spending lots of Christmas' together.

St. Croix, 2007

*read more*

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Photo Project - Childrens Photography part 2

I enjoyed my first time taking childrens photos so much and got such great feedback that I decided to do it again. The mother of the little boy (William) put me in contact with a whole bunch of her friends who were interested in having photos of their little ones taken. I am so thankful for this opportunity to grow my portfolio and gain some real experience.

And let me tell you - I am learning a lot.

I am learning my limitations as a photographer. I am learning how to overcome those limitations and grow and improve.

And I am learning how exhausting children can be! Man alive, where on earth do they get so much energy?!

*read more*

Wednesday, October 05, 2011

Photography Project - Children's Photography

If you haven't noticed by my lack of Project 52 posts lately, I have become a little bored with the project. This is pretty typical for me - start off with a bang and buckets full of enthusiasm and then slowly push it to the back burner and become distracted by something else (Baking? Shopping? Shiny tinfoil??)

To combat my boredom with Project 52 I decided to try and challenge myself in another way. I have been interested in expanding my photography experience into other areas for a while now. I've done plenty of travel and landscape photography, and really liked the fast paced street photography that I did in Vietnam. I would love to try my hand at photographing weddings or newborns or children.

So that's what I did.

I put the word out with a friend of mine that has two little ones and has lots of friends with children. Soon after I had my first "project". The Roos family graciously let me invade their home for an afternoon taking photos of their beautiful children (and one cousin!). The children - Sienna (two and a half), Mia (eighteen months) and cousin William (also eighteen months) - were really good sports, letting a strange lady stick a big, weird camera in their faces.

I'm not really around kids that much so to say I learned a lot was an understatement. I learned how quick you have to be on your feet and comfortable with your camera you have to be. I found myself sticking the settings on Aperture Priority just to keep up with the little ones. I also learned how quickly little kids moods can change - from happy to crying to laughing all in less than 60 seconds!

I would like to give a great, big THANK YOU to the Roos family for letting me photography their lovely kids!

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Interesting European Photos (or, weird sh*t we see on vacation)

After a year or so of traveling around Europe, Brian and I started to notice some weird stuff goin' on. And I'm not talking about the normal cultural differences like clothing, hair styles or music. The stuff I'm talking about is more like weird advertisements, weird shop windows and (oddly enough) lots of weird photography studios.

So, without further ado, here is some weird shit we've seen from around Europe...

*Just a heads up, there are some semi-indecent photos below. So if you happen to be looking at this with your kid, you might want to tell them to scram. I think that is the only time I will ever have to put this kind of disclaimer on my blog...hopefully...*

Why are you looking at me like that, don't you let your giant stuffed bear straddle you?
~ photography studio in the South of France

Best damn ice cream bar you will ever have
~ Magnum ad outside of a cafe in Dubrovnik, Croatia

Honey, let's get a romantic photo of us and Dubrovnik (and that random lady walking behind us)
~ Dubrovnik, Croatia

Umm, yeah. I'm going to leave this one alone
~ Dubrovnik, Croatia

Frisky mannequins...buying sporting gear was never so erotic
~ Bolzano, Italy

Perfect, I've been looking for a KKK band to play at my next event
~Venice, Italy

Sadly this was taken in my neighborhood...I am not even going to try and explain this one
~ London, England

This was also taken in my neighborhood. Are the Power Rangers back and no body told me??
~ London, England

Please tell me these people are not brother and sister...but are they old enough to be anything else?!
~ photography studio in Bruges, Belgium

Maybe I don't understand this photo because I don't have kids of my own yet...but I have a feeling that even then I still wouldn't understand. I'll get back to you when the time comes.
~ photography studio in Bruges, Belgium

Lord only knows what else we will find on our travels...but I can't wait to find out!

Monday, September 12, 2011

A Weekend at the Seaside

When I was growing up, living in the middle of a cornfield, in a ~~town~~ hamlet that had one blinking light, I dreamed of moving to the big city. So I did. First to New York and then to London. And now, the older I get, I find myself dreaming of the country.

The grass is always greener, ay?

My good friend invited me down to her parents house by the seaside in West Sussex. It was the perfect escape that I didn't know I was looking for. A quiet girls weekend away from the hectic city, with long walks on the beach, many bottles of wine and lots and lots of laughs.

The weather was...English. Sometimes it was sunny, sometimes it was raining. Sometimes it was cloudy, sometimes it was clear. And it was always windy. Like I said, it was typically English. We made breakfast and a picnic lunch. We went for a long walk along the beach, braving wind, rain and sun. And we laughed.