tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31786033558357160992024-03-06T04:23:40.691+00:00A Midwestern girl living in LondonAmerican expat blogAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14596471352231721816noreply@blogger.comBlogger314125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3178603355835716099.post-48209393842127295782013-11-18T04:02:00.000+00:002013-11-18T04:27:51.534+00:00Back in Minnesota<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Technically I've been back in Minneapolis, MN for a year and three months and in that time I think I may have posted a total of 3 times. I spent part of this afternoon going through my blog reading list and having a look to see what was happening on the other expat blogs. So many people have left England or wherever they were living to return to America and some have been very good about documenting what it's like to be back on your home turf. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I admit that I've been busy getting adjusted and settled in that I didn't make as much time for writing as I would have liked to, but now that winter is drawing near I feel like more blog posts will be appearing. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">There are so many things to write about. Coming back to America has not what I thought it would be, in both good and bad ways. It has been interesting and exciting to see how Matthew adjusts to being Minnesotan and how we know think about this America and how we think about England. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Stay tuned for more posts and thanks to all the other expat bloggers out there who continue to share their stories. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14596471352231721816noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3178603355835716099.post-80480935176682452172012-11-09T22:42:00.001+00:002012-11-09T22:44:14.843+00:00Art Buddies, Session 1 <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY7uUKlLcrdDfixoNylOd3v-AcUnDlDOpwfFH5HpHM696MhFQ7khP71uiwRRvbV5b2zm1RcopnCcgXpMX6VZ4_N7ut9YnahUZyokh_pFBei-PWNHOsnydqnwF6I3bqqkair3IQWJsYLEIO/s1600/560827_537260689741_1057443495_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY7uUKlLcrdDfixoNylOd3v-AcUnDlDOpwfFH5HpHM696MhFQ7khP71uiwRRvbV5b2zm1RcopnCcgXpMX6VZ4_N7ut9YnahUZyokh_pFBei-PWNHOsnydqnwF6I3bqqkair3IQWJsYLEIO/s400/560827_537260689741_1057443495_n.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A note for my buddy Amy.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The first day of Art Buddies is so much fun. There’s a
strong sense of excitement and a great buzz on that first day. I also love how
everyone just pitches in and works together to get the room set up. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s always a good mix of familiar and new
faces. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">One thing that I love about the first day is that the kids
get to pick their adult buddy. They don’t want anyone to have the experience of
being picked last, so they have the kids draw a name from a hat. That way they
get to pick you and the kids love that. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">As the kids enter the room they get a chance to call out
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and others are a bit shy. Part of the objective of the program is to build the
kids confidence so they create opportunities for the kids to speak in front of
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">My buddy is called Amy and she’s in the 5<sup>th</sup>
grade.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After she picked me we went to
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">On the first day the adult buddies bring something in to
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It’s also a really nice way to break the ice. Amy was really
curious about the work that I do and asked a lot of questions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The theme for this session is animals. We spent some time
talking about the positive qualities that animals have and the kids are
supposed to pick an animal that represents their good qualities and make a costume.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The brainstorming time is such a rush because all the kids
are super excited. The room that we work in is filled with an amazing
assortment of art supplies and everyone just wants to start walking around collecting
supplies for their costume. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">All the
adults try to spend a bit of time sketching and talking through ideas, but the
kids can’t wait to start walking around and collecting supplies :)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Amy didn’t want to make an animal costume and instead wanted
to be an artist who painted pictures of animals. The great thing is that it’s completely
fine for her to do that. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You don’t have
to DO anything a certain way. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Art buddies also stresses that the costume you make with
your child doesn’t have to be the most amazing costume ever, it’s about
spending time together and for you to make your child feel successful and to
help foster their creativity. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Sue does such a great job reminding us all that the point of
art buddies is the shared experience and not about how great the costume is.
Art buddies give the kids an opportunity to feel successful in what they are
doing, everyone gets to feel important and like be a winner. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Something new that has come into the program is the Buddy
Books. We get a blank book at the start of the session so that we can write
notes to our buddies, paste in photos of our kids working and we give it to the
kids at the end as a keepsake. We can also use the buddy book as a way to give
the kids something else to do if they are having a hard time focusing on the
costume. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I think it’s a really cool idea and Amy and I spent some
time decorating our book together.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The first session was fantastic and I feel so happy to be
part of Art Buddies.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I also want to mention that I do have permission to post
photos of my buddy </span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgusLxpyUO5be4WMkS-mWxLXkopr3WtUetBjWgx0o6yQxG0r2dlOiK5tDavv9Gs3R1EGaGKxxB5dALDwnpqYueLAS1motBzwILh1PevqlSg9MUtwRNdDrQrKOtZYLK1Qrz2P84j-buo8Ora/s1600/314296_537260569981_101202328_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgusLxpyUO5be4WMkS-mWxLXkopr3WtUetBjWgx0o6yQxG0r2dlOiK5tDavv9Gs3R1EGaGKxxB5dALDwnpqYueLAS1motBzwILh1PevqlSg9MUtwRNdDrQrKOtZYLK1Qrz2P84j-buo8Ora/s320/314296_537260569981_101202328_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Amy tying up our bag at the end of the session. It was pretty full of stuff. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzAB87P5inQPM22H0FyJVE-nGnEYMRk10xVoIG_u5HkiWoJ6aVifyxW7xfgd8zFZxuUxmM80iWoM8TeJ9BwcHLmB9a7rmeZHdh41CQmGOmLj5lFo7IUzd0M6R949US5M5GKtf6EJuLUCT8/s1600/61641_537260594931_743206990_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzAB87P5inQPM22H0FyJVE-nGnEYMRk10xVoIG_u5HkiWoJ6aVifyxW7xfgd8zFZxuUxmM80iWoM8TeJ9BwcHLmB9a7rmeZHdh41CQmGOmLj5lFo7IUzd0M6R949US5M5GKtf6EJuLUCT8/s320/61641_537260594931_743206990_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Amy is feeling pretty happy at the end of our first session together. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR1HjNbpg6h_o0_9tfaD_6IuUdosvPFTi0Y8W1wt-n3hIYjX6csnN9mK7Dp9uVrVXo8YL2CDzNoSqjwBVS23BvouGI2sROh6r9oN3Gd61HvBXDFUE954CBg7iBsAYwZeNllGHMOuMRpr6P/s1600/550344_537260774571_378444025_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR1HjNbpg6h_o0_9tfaD_6IuUdosvPFTi0Y8W1wt-n3hIYjX6csnN9mK7Dp9uVrVXo8YL2CDzNoSqjwBVS23BvouGI2sROh6r9oN3Gd61HvBXDFUE954CBg7iBsAYwZeNllGHMOuMRpr6P/s320/550344_537260774571_378444025_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is only one half of the room we work in. There's another huge table filled with supplies.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
<span style="color: red;">SESSION ONE: OCTOBER 25<br />
PAIR UP, </span><span style="color: #f40000;">BRAINSTORM COSTUME IDEAS<br />
</span><span style="color: red;"><br />
</span>3:30 Help set up<br />
3:55 Orientation<br />
4:15 Kids arrive<br />
5:30 Kids to bus<br />
5:35 Clean up<br />
</span></b><span style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
<b>FIRST, PICK AN ADULT PARTNER.<br />
</b>Choose another volunteer to work with you and your child as a team of four.
You and your "adult <span class="il">buddy</span>" can support each
other throughout the program, and fill in if one of you is absent.<br />
<br />
<b>MEET YOUR CHILD.<br />
</b>Pair up with your child and get acquainted. Today, you'll help your child
brainstorm ideas, then start creating together.<br />
<br />
<b>SHARE YOUR CAREER.<br />
</b>Show your child what you do. Most of the kids have no idea that the
logo on their sneakers --- or the TV ads they watch --- represent a JOB.<br />
<br />
<b>CREATE AN EXCITING NEW IDENTITY.<br />
</b>At this program, you'll help the children imagine themselves as powerful
and important by identifying with the positive characteristics of animals.
They’ll choose an animal that represents something they’re good at, then you’ll
create a fanciful animal costume together. You’ll help boost the children’s
confidence as they discover and celebrate their strengths. <br />
<br />
<b>SPARK IMAGINATION.<br />
</b>Break the ice by looking at library books with animal pictures. Ask
the kids to tell you about themselves. Show them our “Animals with Good
Qualities” sheet, and encourage them to identify as many of their talents and
strengths as they can. The more positive qualities they discover, the bigger
the boost to their self-esteem.<br />
<br />
<b>TAKE TIME TO EXPLORE OPTIONS.<br />
</b>Sometimes, kids are so anxious to get started, they’ll settle on an idea
too quickly. Tell them they can always come back to their first idea, but
this is the time to explore lots of choices.<br />
<br />
<b>SKETCH COSTUME IDEAS TOGETHER.</b> <br />
Start planning what you’ll create. We'll have paper and markers for sketching
concepts. If you're ready, start creating your costume. Use your imagination! <br />
<br />
<b>START YOUR "<span class="il">BUDDY</span> BOOK."</b></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>
</b>We'll also have blank books for you and your child to write and draw in.
On the last day, you'll give the book to your child as a keepsake.</span></span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14596471352231721816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3178603355835716099.post-36010621721802080942012-11-06T22:48:00.000+00:002012-11-06T22:49:18.225+00:00Art Buddies<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">One of the things I was really looking forward to doing once I came back to Minneapolis was to volunteer for <a href="http://www.artbuddies.org/">Art Buddies</a>. I had been a volunteer twice before I moved to London and it was a wonderful experience. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The fall session started at the end of October and this semester we have a new theme, which is all about animals.</span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We're helping the kids imagine themselves as powerful and important by identifying with the positive characteristics
of animals. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The kids choose an animal that represents something they’re
good at, then we wor<span style="font-size: small;">k to </span>create a fanciful animal costume together. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"> </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Art Buddies was started back in 1994 by a wonderful woman called Sue Crolick, you can read her story about why she started it <a href="http://www.artbuddies.org/history/">here</a>. Sue and Steph Vagle are just incredible woman and are so wonderful. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<a href="http://www.artbuddies.org/volunteer-apply/"><b><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Get involved:</span></b></a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">There are lots of ways to participate and I'd be happy to talk to anyone who has questions about what it's like to be an Art Buddy. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Have a look at their <a href="http://www.artbuddies.org/">website</a> and they are also on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/artbuddies">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/artbuddies">Twitter</a>.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I'll be blogging about this session so look out for more posts :) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>What is Art Buddies?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Art Buddies helps kids from low-income families discover their creative gifts while building confidence and big dreams. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The creative volunteers come from all sorts of exciting fields —
including advertising, graphic and interior design, film production,
commercial photography, illustration, public relations, web design and
architecture.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">At every program, creative volunteers work one-on-one with their
child. The kids are amazed that they each get their own adult. One boy
told us, “Art Buddies is cool, cuz you get your own person!”</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The workshops last from 7 to 10 weeks, with 40 mentors helping 40
kids create something fanciful and unique. It might be a costume of a
child’s future self, or a model of their dream city, or an image of
themselves as “ruler of the world.”</span><br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">No matter what the activity, the goal is always the same: to help the
children believe in themselves and expand their vision of who they can
become.</span></b><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Art Buddies ends with the kids posing for professional photographers
and showing off their creations in an exciting parade and performance.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Since its beginning in 1994, Art Buddies has paired over 1,800
children with over 1,800 creative people. In the fall of 2011, we
doubled the number of kids we serve to 160 per year. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">They believe in the power of creativity and one-on-one attention to change children’s lives.</span><br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/IVq8OTlk_u4" width="420"></iframe><br />
<br />
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14596471352231721816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3178603355835716099.post-61920285511625390032012-11-02T22:11:00.000+00:002012-11-02T22:12:32.405+00:00A tribute to a great friend <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">My lovely friend Mary Ivers sends me the most wonderful music via Spotify Tweets. So even though she is far away in London, I feel like she's right here. She sent me this song tonight and I'd thought I'd share it with you. Cheers MareBear, I really miss you. </span><br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/jbh6jTI8tfE" width="420"></iframe><br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14596471352231721816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3178603355835716099.post-30322462054705139012012-10-30T17:56:00.000+00:002012-10-31T20:48:20.015+00:00Hometown Tourist <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEHNG1XUg4FpOiloMomDySkT2OZDKFbKKI5dgUFdtRl4UATYR8TqR7JKVavSyFzopc5Uu008xMzGNXyGEZJsSs6ZnNKzlYK-pYjUX7RKrUlaGkNAs41ejf3M63y2fUFhKa0MsJT1IEd_U5/s1600/225999_248553531839291_7226097_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEHNG1XUg4FpOiloMomDySkT2OZDKFbKKI5dgUFdtRl4UATYR8TqR7JKVavSyFzopc5Uu008xMzGNXyGEZJsSs6ZnNKzlYK-pYjUX7RKrUlaGkNAs41ejf3M63y2fUFhKa0MsJT1IEd_U5/s320/225999_248553531839291_7226097_n.jpg" width="136" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As a quick intro, but I will be writing a separate post that
covers off the move back to America, Matthew and I arrived in Minneapolis back
in July. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since that time I have found a lovely job, spent time with
friends and family, met some wonderful new people, bought a second had Saab 900
and am now a homeowner. A lot has
happened and it has been a lot of fun. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The topic of this post is about being a tourist in your
hometown. I recently went out to lunch with an old friend who mentioned that they
had been doing some local touristy things recently.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I would say this is something that I was rather good at
before I moved away, the old hometown tourist, but I am really trying to make
an effort now that I am back. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There’s so much to explore and enjoy here in the
Land of 10,000 Lakes. We’ve got a lot going on here and it’s going to be fun to
take Matthew around and show him what’s so super about the cities and the
state. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There’s a bigger piece to this story as well, but I won't get too preachy. I think it’s very
important to support local businesses. These unique places are what make our
city an interesting place to live in. I won’t get on a soapbox now, but we
should really be thankful that people open these businesses and we should our
support by shopping local…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The other day I was at the Target out in St. Louis Park and
I overhear a conversation on the way to my car. One woman was saying to her
friend “It’s so great around here. You've got Target and Noodles and Verizon,
it’s really great.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yep, you've got all your big box stores right here in this
strip mall. Not that I am poo pooing Target or Noodles (I am sucker for the mac
and cheese with broccoli and tofu), but it just struck me a sad thing. That
people were exciting by such a generic retail experience.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before I moved away I made an effort to go to new
restaurants and bars.I have my favorite haunts, but I am a firm believer in
trying new things.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am big fan of lists and I was at the library going through
the <a href="http://mspmag.com/">Mpls St Paul magazine</a> and they had an
article about where to get interesting/good food broken out by neighborhood. I thought it would be fun to try and see how
many of these places Matthew and I could get to. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>When in doubt, start with a donut!</b></span></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So I decided to start with donuts, which is a pretty tasty
place to start. We went to <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/a-bakers-wife-minneapolis">A Baker’s Wife </a>over on 42</span><sup style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">nd</sup><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Street and
28</span><sup style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">th</sup><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Ave in the Powderhorn neighborhood in Minneapolis.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The article mentioned that they had a cinnamon sugar donut
that must be experienced, so on Sunday morning we made our way over. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ve heard a lot of good things the A Baker’s Wife, but
I just never went there. No reason in particular, just never made it, you know
how it goes :)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A Baker’s Wife is a charming neighborhood spot; there were
lots of cute families going in to get a special Sunday treat. I went for
the cinnamon sugar donut, which was warm and yummy. Matthew had a nice flaky croissant.
I read online that their American tea cakes are to die for, so we’ll have to
try that one next time. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The intersection of 42</span><sup style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">nd</sup><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Street and 28</span><sup style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">th</sup><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
Ave is an old school kind of place. It feels like old Minneapolis, in a good
way. I found a blog called </span><a href="http://tcsidewalks.blogspot.com/2011/06/sidewalk-of-week-28th-avenue-and-42nd.html" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Twin
City Sidewalks</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> which featured this intersection, I recommend taking a look
at the post and heading over to A Baker’s Wife.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here’s to being back in a great city and hometown tourism. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Enjoy other posts about A Baker's Wife</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://sweet-travel.blogspot.com/2010/06/bakers-wife.html">A Baker's Wife - Sweet Travel Blog</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://youcarewhatwethink.blogspot.com/2011/06/bakers-wife-pastry-shop-minneapolis-mn.html">A Baker's Wife Pastry Shop - Minneapolis, MN - You Care What We Think Blog</a></span></div>
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<a href="https://foursquare.com/v/a-bakers-wife-pastry-shop/4587a7d5f964a520c83f1fe3"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reviews on Foursquare </span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://best%20bread%20shops%20in%20the%20twin%20cities/">Best Bread Shop in the Twin Cities</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/aBakersWife">A Baker's Wife on Facebook </a></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14596471352231721816noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3178603355835716099.post-9900524864825731102012-10-24T22:51:00.002+01:002012-10-24T22:51:42.637+01:00Just to say that my blogging vacation will soon be over<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzsx1HkcIZu7F6FvLl1WRtf-mJ64scXpKjFoJWahkMQBYy3HgfwUv_-_8pCli-X_jsTz5oUY8P4yjiQqnzCuV4YxOjCEQO1voWj7XMem0lmsHRIeJggZHb-5XR8csb8eJ0H4BJwnk5L9C7/s1600/blog1.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzsx1HkcIZu7F6FvLl1WRtf-mJ64scXpKjFoJWahkMQBYy3HgfwUv_-_8pCli-X_jsTz5oUY8P4yjiQqnzCuV4YxOjCEQO1voWj7XMem0lmsHRIeJggZHb-5XR8csb8eJ0H4BJwnk5L9C7/s320/blog1.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Posts will include, but won't be limited to:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Riveting</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: center;"> insights on what it's like living back in Minneapolis after being away in London for almost 5 years! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: center;">P.S. Thanks to all the expat bloggers out there who have sent me messages asking me to write some new blog posts! </span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14596471352231721816noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3178603355835716099.post-70761179325473782482012-07-22T18:34:00.000+01:002012-10-24T22:53:19.445+01:00Last night in Bognor<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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As per my previous post, Matthew and I arrived back in Minnesota on July 9th. We had a pretty long journey. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We also only had two days from the time we arrived back from Uganda to get everything ready to go. Originally we thought we were going to be coming back in August, but things changed. We only bought our flights back to MN while we were in Uganda. Thomas, being the kind brother in law that he is let us stay at his house. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We went down to Bognor on the Thursday and the day before we left we had a really nice evening out with friends and family.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We all met up at the local Indian and had a farewell chicken tikka masalas. It wasn't an official leaving do, just a nice dinner with Tristan, Sue, Thomas, William, George and Ryan. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sue gave Matthew a really lovely present. She had printed out a bunch of photos of Matthew and the Bognor gang. Some real gems from over the years. It was a really touching present.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since it was our last night in England, that meant a trip to the pub. We went to the Claremont, a pub that can only be described as a hardcore boozer. If you ever find yourself in Bognor and are looking for an authentic local experience head there and tell them Matthew sent you. You'll get a free serving of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whelk">whelks </a>to go with your pint.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We decided it would be a good idea to leave some packing for after the pub, so that meant we were up until 1am. We had booked a minicab to come collect us at 3:45am so after a brief sleep we were off to the airport. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am always a bit nervous about taking a taxi at ungodly early times in the morning. Matthew and I had a terrifying experience a few months back when we were on our way to Lithuania.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Long story short, the taxi driver fell asleep behind the wheel and we ended up shouting at him to wake him up. Once he was awake Matthew convinced him to pull over on the motor way and to let him drive to the airport. So, now Matthew can add taxi driver to his CV.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thankfully our driver was bright and chipper despite the early hour. We had a 90 min drive up to Heathrow that was actually pleasant. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once we were at the airport all we had to do was check in and make one last trip to Boots<b>*</b> before boarding the plane back to America.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As everyone knows the airline industry has tightened their belts and clamped down on the amount of luggage you're allowed to check in. I used to be able to check 2 bags on an international flight, but that was back in 2009. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our carrier only allowed us one bag each, although I did look at the website and I could swear it said 2 bags, but I wasn't in the mood to argue at the check in desk. I had also caught a cold the day previous and wasn't feeling too feisty.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The woman on the check in desk was more than happy to point out that we were over the allowed baggage limit and I think she was hoping that I would melt down and be reduced to tears by the news.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was like, whatever. I am happy to pay the extra fee, it's not a problem. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am also not ashamed to say that I was secretly pleased with the look of disappointment on her face when I just slide my credit card onto the counter and paid the fee.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We checked in and headed to the lounge. I don't remember too much after that, probably because I was so exhausted. Matthew and "slept" for pretty much the entire flight.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next thing I knew we were landing in Chicago. Oh yeah, we had to go with a connecting flight. Flights to MN in the middle of the summer aren't as cheap as I had hoped. It was definitely worth saving that $25.00 by having a connection. We also got to recheck our luggage and go through security again!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">During the connection Matthew had to present his green card packet to the US Border Authority. That was pretty straightforward. When we came through customs Matthew showed his visa and then we were ushered into a separate office area. We were in and out in 20 minutes.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The flight from Chicago was short and sweet and then we were in Minnesota! I called my friend's dad from a pay phone (yes, you can still find a few pay phones kicking around the place). My friend's parents have had the same phone number for my entire life, which comes in handy.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We collected our baggage and headed out to the pick up area and waited for Dennis to come and collect us.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We were whisked away in a lovely air conditioned car to their house in West St Paul, where family was waiting to welcome us with hugs, kisses and food. That was two weeks ago.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lots has happened in that short amount of time. I also realize that I haven't blogged about our trip to Africa. Don't worry, I'll be posting shortly. There will be lots of fun posts about life in Minneapolis, because it is great to be back!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>*Going to Boots at the airport is an English tradition</b></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14596471352231721816noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3178603355835716099.post-14344181380922235582012-07-06T11:19:00.000+01:002012-07-06T11:24:35.365+01:00Back to Minneapolis<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Super quick blog post. Matthew and I just got back from Africa on Wednesday and we are flying out to Minneapolis tomorrow. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The past few days have been a haze of seeing people, packing, moving stuff, sorting out bills and trying to get our heads around the fact that we are going to be in back in the states tomorrow!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our flight leaves from Heathrow at 7:45 am and today is going to be busy busy busy. So much has been happening and I can't wait to see everyone back home and to spend time with friends and family.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am sure there will be a whole new slew of blog posts to chronicle what it's like being back in America as well as sharing how Matthew's getting on. As well as sharing what's been leading up to this journey back home. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here's to a new adventure!</span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14596471352231721816noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3178603355835716099.post-44647102102277492282012-05-07T20:49:00.001+01:002012-05-07T21:28:12.066+01:00London Tweed Run 2012<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Source: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/booksnake/7149494347/in/photostream" style="color: #76838b; font-size: 10px; text-decoration: underline;">flickr.com</a> via <a href="http://pinterest.com/rheajoconnor/" style="color: #76838b; font-size: 10px; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Rhea</a> on <a href="http://pinterest.com/" style="color: #76838b; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Pinterest</a></div>
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I LOVE this concept. I wasn't able to get a spot on the <a href="http://tweedrun.com/?page_id=90">Tweed Run</a> this year, but I lived vicariously through photos and <a href="http://tweedrun.com/?page_id=93">blog posts</a>. </div>
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Could you imagine anything better than seeing a group of lads and ladies dressed in their finest tweed cycling through town on vintage bikes? </div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It looks like there's a Tweed Run in NYC and Italy, but not Minneapolis...</span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14596471352231721816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3178603355835716099.post-36001650581854676062012-05-05T17:38:00.001+01:002012-05-05T17:40:58.019+01:00Marks and Spencers Pinterest board<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Source: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/everydaylifestyle/6919352628/" style="color: #76838b; font-size: 10px; text-decoration: underline;">flickr.com</a> via <a href="http://pinterest.com/rheajoconnor/" style="color: #76838b; font-size: 10px; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Rhea</a> on <a href="http://pinterest.com/" style="color: #76838b; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Pinterest</a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">To share with all my friends back in America I've started a British Food packaging board on <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/10977592812041893/">Pinterest</a>. I absolutely love all this Diamond Jubilee packaging!</span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14596471352231721816noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3178603355835716099.post-34718837422163715692012-05-05T17:22:00.004+01:002012-05-05T17:24:22.015+01:00Marks and Spencers<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I could write endless posts about how much I love Marks and Spencer's food hall. The packaging design is so lovely. It is certainly one of my favourite things about living in England, being able to shop in M&S food hall. </div>
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Whenever I travel I like to look in the local grocery stores and see different styles of food packaging and it's no different here in London. I have been known to wander around the aisles in M&S taking photos. </div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">At the moment they have some fantastic packaging for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. I was looking for some images of that to share when I stumbled upon the website of </span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_387316803" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Debbie Powel</a><a href="http://debbiepowell.net/" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">l</a><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> who is a packaging designer who has done work not only for M&S, but also Tesco, Jamie Oliver and Carluccios. I love her style of illustration, have a look at her site. There's a link on the site to her blog and that's filled with lovely images. </span><br />
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So this post has turned into a bit of a M&S packaging design round up.I found out that a chap called <a href="http://www.stuartkolakovic.co.uk/">Stuart Kolakovic</a> was the designer of my favourite tea packaging. His website is full of gorgeous illustrations. </div>
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<tr style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH8M33D7Adg4eHdzrJRDphNDkR7ImA9wdh9MTvI7AmxscSIslbC7yC537aNb6cons_rOA7a0NnYwgOmcaYAH_NMgNu_Ck6Lpc5L3EkfOqnP_L6P36O7-cE_fPv9CmT1Z_8hP71dXsJoPf-/s1600/Picture+60.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH8M33D7Adg4eHdzrJRDphNDkR7ImA9wdh9MTvI7AmxscSIslbC7yC537aNb6cons_rOA7a0NnYwgOmcaYAH_NMgNu_Ck6Lpc5L3EkfOqnP_L6P36O7-cE_fPv9CmT1Z_8hP71dXsJoPf-/s320/Picture+60.png" width="227" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Debbie Powell Giant Pretzels (a personal favourite)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha-oM3VqhcrxYkUZALr1YFAVODOLm2jL1TVWVs3777MGTpahyjNM__mpOmApwHRsmWgzYy45D9hNZ1DI9gFhJzYdSEwfTctsIVt3BQ4RAoeNlXbj8pcij5-QSJ9ciRw5fWOeqp-6fc9U0w/s1600/Picture+59.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha-oM3VqhcrxYkUZALr1YFAVODOLm2jL1TVWVs3777MGTpahyjNM__mpOmApwHRsmWgzYy45D9hNZ1DI9gFhJzYdSEwfTctsIVt3BQ4RAoeNlXbj8pcij5-QSJ9ciRw5fWOeqp-6fc9U0w/s320/Picture+59.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Debbie Powell Queen's Diamond Jubilee tin</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq3F6DvQGRz1_Q2qUhwlu4LHilq3abuin5buDteRDIsrP5KakUkkRQ1Esdgmg8YS7AgIO7G3IEQRELLWZnNhlum5HWegrIsJstEHg0RCkHqmElQWhi2tGPlw2LH2-2D93-lqd3ax9CFuMw/s1600/Picture+64.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq3F6DvQGRz1_Q2qUhwlu4LHilq3abuin5buDteRDIsrP5KakUkkRQ1Esdgmg8YS7AgIO7G3IEQRELLWZnNhlum5HWegrIsJstEHg0RCkHqmElQWhi2tGPlw2LH2-2D93-lqd3ax9CFuMw/s320/Picture+64.png" width="292" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kate Forrester's Queen's Diamond Jubilee tin</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimIG4uWw21LZVK_X1dGyQ1eL1hmDL69ceiZJ8s_Lb4BWOxzYZ_kKLeW-9061MccphjubsdqcZjWGesPjgokpWuHoTX2p191ABvT2GSIX9gKG-3ta3uM4Fg_PDvPWKTGXO8e-teTDkDzqNJ/s1600/Picture+62.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimIG4uWw21LZVK_X1dGyQ1eL1hmDL69ceiZJ8s_Lb4BWOxzYZ_kKLeW-9061MccphjubsdqcZjWGesPjgokpWuHoTX2p191ABvT2GSIX9gKG-3ta3uM4Fg_PDvPWKTGXO8e-teTDkDzqNJ/s320/Picture+62.png" width="252" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stuart Kolakvoic tea packaging</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14596471352231721816noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3178603355835716099.post-61360307129782454822012-04-12T12:07:00.000+01:002012-04-12T12:10:36.691+01:00An awesome Kickstarter project!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGVF36LWCInjGzt_gDwUhxNpGoLWllbtqpP7OIjoYPZlugBldAvjAXqTR2cRPwnfecT-AqmZ4zjl7FBdAbkb9UYp7DrRpGpsFIgwTnbTSNRsdZlN_85SoLClxBL_6gsHx1KibIwX9nzG5B/s1600/TB-headshot.large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGVF36LWCInjGzt_gDwUhxNpGoLWllbtqpP7OIjoYPZlugBldAvjAXqTR2cRPwnfecT-AqmZ4zjl7FBdAbkb9UYp7DrRpGpsFIgwTnbTSNRsdZlN_85SoLClxBL_6gsHx1KibIwX9nzG5B/s1600/TB-headshot.large.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
If you don't already know this brilliant chap, you're in for a real treat. My very good and talented friend <a href="http://www.taylorbaldry.com/">Taylor Baldry</a> has a project on Kickstarter, the world's largest funding platform for creative projects in case you haven't heard. </div>
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Here's Taylor's bio, it totally backs up that he's a legit guy with a dream in his heart.</div>
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<i>TAYLOR BALDRY is a brainstormer, artist-designer and large-nosed
person. He studied Visualization at the Minneapolis College of Art and
Design and after graduation, became a graphic designer and animator for a
boutique marketing agency. In 2009, Baldry was inspired to quit his
salary job and moved to Ota, Japan, where he taught English, judged
beauty contests and ate rice. Two years later, Baldry returned to
Minneapolis and guided by a need for meaningful conversations and his
love for office supplies, founded The Conversationalist Project and The
Minneapolis Stationery Club, respectively. He shares his inventions on
his idea website <a href="http://projectcentaur.org/">Project Centaur</a> and is currently writing and
illustrating a book on Romance language gender articles. He lives in
Minneapolis with his house plants.</i></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Taylor has to raise the entire $1,000 by Wednesday May 9, 6:01pm EDT. If he doesn't reach his goal he doesn't get anything and then it's back to square one. Believe you me, I don't think his parents are going to want to give him any more money...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">The books that he's creating are not only useful, but the will make learning fun and you more popular. So donate generously! </span><br />
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<div style="color: #cc0000; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Have a look at his video and please visit <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/taylorbaldry/feminine-masculine-books?ref=4nokio">his Kickstarter page</a> to become a part of the story!Please be warned that there are some rude bits in the video, but no strobe effects.</span></div>
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="360px" src="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/taylorbaldry/feminine-masculine-books/widget/video.html" width="480px"></iframe></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14596471352231721816noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3178603355835716099.post-16690803471764763712012-02-05T19:55:00.000+00:002012-02-07T15:01:12.072+00:00Getting a Spouse Visa<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Looking back over my immigration journey I spent probably too much time worrying about all the things that could have gone wrong, but you know what? It all worked out. I thought I'd share my journey with all those who are going through it. The key bit of advice would be this, don't worry about what may or may not happen. If you are a real couple and meet all the criteria then you will be fine.</span><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></b><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></b><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></b><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Spouse Visa </span></b><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I met Matthew in October 2007 and we decided to get married in August 2008. I remember us beginning to figure out everything we needed to do in order for me to get my spouse visa. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I don't remember the exact date, but Matthew and I decided to go and see an immigration lawyer to make sure we understood the process. It was definitely worth the money at the time, I remember it being around £75. We are able to ask all the questions that we wanted. The immigration lawyer offered a service where they would fill out your application for you at the modest sum of £500! Please don't waste your money. Having an immigration lawyer fill out your application won't guarantee you anything. The visa's are expensive enough without wasting money for someone just to fill out a straightforward form.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I can remember reading loads about how to get the spouse visa on the internet and at the time it was a bit daunting. I guess the most scary thing about was the uncertainty over whether or not it would be approved. Looking back I can see that it would be highly unlikely that I would have been refused, but you just never know. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">After we were married Matthew went back to London and I stayed behind in Minnesota to wait for my visa to come through. Since I was only in London on a tourist visa I had to return home to send the application.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We had to wait for the marriage certificate to be sent out before we could send off the application. In theory that should have taken a week, but for some reason instead of sending to my address in MN it was sent to London!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">That was really annoying. Matthew tried to send it back to me, overnight via DHL, but that got cocked up. The letter ended up sitting in a distribution center in Detroit for several days. A week later it finally arrived and I went and sent off the application.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Once it was sent the waiting began. It was good to be spending some time in MN, but it was really hard being new married and away from Matthew. It was a weird limbo time for me. I was staying with friends and I wasn't working. Not knowing how long I was going to be in MN was a bit stressful. In the end after the spouse visa application was sent it only took about 3 weeks for it to be approved. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The application itself was pretty straightforward. We had to prove that we were a legitimate couple. I ended up printing out email conversations, photos of us on holiday and photocopying cards that we had received as a couple. We also had to show proof that Matthew had a place for us to live and that we had a certain amount of income, basically they wanted to make sure that we could support ourselves. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">All I have to say is that if you are a real couple and you meet the requirements than you will be fine. I spent a lot of timing worrying that my application wouldn't be approved. I read way too many stories of couples who were separate for months and other immigration horror stories. Don't waste your time getting stressed over what might happen, just make sure you fill out everything carefully and be prepared to be patient if the processing times are longer than you would want them. </span><br />
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<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14596471352231721816noreply@blogger.com43tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3178603355835716099.post-68159815115687124522012-02-05T13:06:00.000+00:002012-02-07T15:03:22.211+00:00Becoming British<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Yesterday it was a cold and snowy day in London. I had spent much of the day in the flat doing odds and ends when finally it was time to brave the cold and go out to the shops. Matthew and I bundled up and headed out in search of ingredients for a classic tuna hot dish. When we got back and stopped to check the post we discovered two interesting looking envelopes from our local council addressed to me. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Since I never get any letters from the council this could only mean one thing, news about my citizenship application. After tearing open the letter I was very happy to see that my application had been accepted and I had also been assigned a citizenship ceremony to take place on the 22 of February. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">What a feeling. I would even venture to say that I was chuffed to bits!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I applied for citizenship back on November 6, 2011 and you just never know how long things might take. I was told that it could take up to six months and so that was kinda what I was expecting. I also didn't realise that they would assign you a date for the ceremony. I thought that I would have to phone up and do that on my own. I've also heard people say that it can take a long time to get a place at a ceremony. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Matthew of course was very excited, especially because I have to pledge an oath to the Queen. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I am excited too and also relieved that it's all sorted now. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It is a bit strange to think that I am now a British citizen. It's just something that I never thought in my wildest dreams would ever happen. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I know the journey to citizenship is a subject that people are generally interested in so I thought I'd condense my journey down so you that people can get a general idea of how it all works.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Looking back this entire process of marrying someone from another country and sorting out all the visas seemed really daunting and at times a bit scary. I can say now that it's really nothing to get worked up over, as long as you're in a real relationship with someone and you follow all the directions you'll be fine. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I'd also like to say thank you to all the other expat bloggers out there who have taken the time to share their journeys and also all the wonderful people who take the time to write on the <a href="http://www.uk-yankee.com/">UK Yankee Forum</a>. It's always comforting to read other people's stories. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14596471352231721816noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3178603355835716099.post-12737643433830619152012-01-21T18:51:00.002+00:002012-01-21T18:53:37.838+00:00Going Green Ewa Kwolek's Brazilian Adventure<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I started a new job in December. I am now working at Proximity London on the Kraft Foods team and I am loving it. It's a great agency, I've got great clients and projects and my new colleagues are wonderful. </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I wanted to share this post from <a href="https://twitter.com/#%21/ewakwo">Ewa Kwolek's</a> (a new colleague on the Kraft team) blog. Ewa is going to Brazil for the month of March and doing charity work through the TIE organisation for the Edificio Ecologico.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Ewa has been working incredibly hard to raise money and has been coming up some very creative fundraising ideas. Please visit her blog to follow her story and make sure to donate!</span> <br />
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<header class="entry-header"> <h1 class="entry-title" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://ewakwolek.wordpress.com/2012/01/11/who-am-i-and-what-is-this-all-about/">Who am I and what is this all about?</a></h1><div class="entry-meta"><a class="entry-date" href="http://ewakwolek.wordpress.com/2012/01/11/who-am-i-and-what-is-this-all-about/" title="January 11 2012"> <time datetime="2012-01-11T22:36:53+00:00" pubdate="" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Jan<b>11</b></time><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></a> <span class="entry-byline" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> by <span class="author vcard"><a class="url fn n" href="http://ewakwolek.wordpress.com/author/ewakwolek/" title="View all posts by ewakwolek">ewakwolek</a></span></span></div><div class="entry-meta"><span class="entry-byline" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="author vcard"> </span> </span> </div></header><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span> <br />
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Who am I?</b></div><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">My name is Ewa and I am an Account Director at a marketing agency in London – <a href="http://www.proximitylondon.com/index.php">Proximity London</a>. My agency working with TIE (<a href="http://www.theinternationalexchange.co.uk/what-is-tie/">The International Exchange</a>) chose me to help developing world by using my communications skills.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>What does it mean?</b></div><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">From 5<sup>th</sup> of March 2012 for 30 days I will be working for a sustainable organisation Edificio Ecologico based in Brazil creating a communications campaign for them.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Who are Edificio Ecologico?</b></div><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.theinternationalexchange.co.uk/latest-news/improve-the-lives-of-the-hundreds-of-street-garbage-pickers-in-recife-whilst-preserving-the-environment-by-getting-businesses-to-sign-up-to-the-edificio-ecologico-project/">Edificio Ecologico</a> could be translated as ‘Ecological Buildings’ simply explaining their main goal of implementation of recycling systems (separation) in high-rise residential and business buildings in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recife" title="Recife">Recife </a>(north of Brazil) to help improve environment and lives of garbage pickers.</div><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This project started 8 years ago and thanks to efforts of its coordinators, 200 residential buildings are now registered to the scheme.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>How will I be able to help?</b></div><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In order to support these guys, I am not only offering them my communications skills. I am also raising money here in the UK that will form my marketing budget in Brazil.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>How do I raise the money?</b></div><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">My main idea is around saving money at my work place by simple ‘green steps’. I am encouraging my colleagues to print double sided, switch off PCs and lights, walk up the stairs as opposed to talking lifts and also stop using plastic bags. And all of this to create savings for my charity work. It is simple:</div><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<ol start="1" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><li>My colleagues do something simple</li>
<li>Proximity passes on the savings</li>
<li>I help a charity in Brazil</li>
</ol><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>My re-usable bags</b></div><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I produced 250 cotton bags and I am selling them to raise the funds. They were designed by two students who offered their time for free. The idea is simple: stop using plastic – buy one of my re-usable bags helping not only the environment here in the UK but also supporting my fundraising as 100% of takings will be passed to my charity.</div><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://ewakwolek.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/rusable-bag.jpg"><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-thumbnail wp-image-154" height="150" src="http://ewakwolek.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/rusable-bag.jpg?w=112&h=150" title="Re-usable bag" width="112" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>What next?</b></div><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I have 7 weeks left and still plenty to do. I need to raise minimum £1000 and I have a few more fundraising activities to organise and I need to sell all my bags. I also need to get ready and learn as much about Brazil as I can. On top of this I am learning Portuguese to help me communicate with the Brazilian family I will be staying with.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>How can you help?</b></div><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">You can simply donate using the donate button on the top right hand side of my blog. Don’t worry, you don’t need a PayPal account and you can simply use your card. Read more here: <a href="http://ewakwolek.wordpress.com/2012/01/11/2011/12/19/the-importance-of-a-strong-cta/">http://ewakwolek.wordpress.com/2011/12/19/the-importance-of-a-strong-cta/</a> You can also buy a bag from me (£4 only). Or simply read my blog and pass the message! Thanks in advance for all your support!</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14596471352231721816noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3178603355835716099.post-88691636767262947372011-12-10T09:51:00.004+00:002012-01-22T17:46:26.667+00:00Land of 10,000 Stories<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I've been getting into the routine of waking up on Saturday morning and watching the latest episode of <a href="http://www.kare11.com/news/investigative/extras/stories.aspx">Land of 10,000 Stories.</a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Land of 10,000 Stories are news segments on Kare 11 in Minneapolis-St.Paul, Minnesota. They are presented by Byod Hupert and they are sooo Minnesotan. They are local human interest stories and I usually can't help but tear up during them. The stories are usually about remarkable people in the community. They are great and I love watching them. Matthew is now a stories fan and has gotten used to me crying and despite his stiff up lip I've seen him well up a bit too.</div><br />
<br />
<h1 style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Land of 10,000 Stories: 'High-five Tuesday' pumps up the office </span></b></h1><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,47,0" height="412" id="flashObj" width="486"><param name="movie" value="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="flashVars" value="videoId=1214325780001&playerID=35036491001&playerKey=AQ~~,AAAACC6OgzE~,L0bTvfk9n161rxAUbRKUHVmDGRBSHx-N&domain=embed&dynamicStreaming=true" /><param name="base" value="http://admin.brightcove.com" /><param name="seamlesstabbing" value="false" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="swLiveConnect" value="true" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><embed src="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" flashVars="videoId=1214325780001&playerID=35036491001&playerKey=AQ~~,AAAACC6OgzE~,L0bTvfk9n161rxAUbRKUHVmDGRBSHx-N&domain=embed&dynamicStreaming=true" base="http://admin.brightcove.com" name="flashObj" width="486" height="412" seamlesstabbing="false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullScreen="true" swLiveConnect="true" allowScriptAccess="always" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed></object></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14596471352231721816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3178603355835716099.post-35082858058296487882011-11-06T19:58:00.002+00:002012-01-21T18:55:06.597+00:00Form AN has been submitted<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFB81uvi2lIYbVpn1AFdtlywHG7x-UgM1wzZcSoib1GqTDocZxIE5OKPQmdBvl2eECaNLJNMlgdKGNCB1n9BrSg93_R8sGYQVsfIg7itNnsVWrAeKoUd7AAY-DUn5QPzYgWNcaLSif4uR_/s1600/Picture+122.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFB81uvi2lIYbVpn1AFdtlywHG7x-UgM1wzZcSoib1GqTDocZxIE5OKPQmdBvl2eECaNLJNMlgdKGNCB1n9BrSg93_R8sGYQVsfIg7itNnsVWrAeKoUd7AAY-DUn5QPzYgWNcaLSif4uR_/s320/Picture+122.png" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I am happy to say that my application for citizenship got sent off on Friday and it's on the way to the Home Office. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The application itself was pretty straightforward. The only part that was a bit of a pain was having to account for all my time spent outside the UK. That's my fault because I should have been keeping track of that in a spreadsheet as I went. Instead I ended up having to go through my passports and track it that way, which was very time consuming, but I got there in the end. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I decided to use the <a href="http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/britishcitizenship/applying/checkingservice/checkingservicelocations/">National Checking Service </a>so that I wouldn't have to send off my passport and they also go through the application to make sure its filled out properly. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I had my appointment last Tuesday (it took about 3 weeks to get it and it costs £45) and it didn't last long because they wouldn't accept one of my referees. For the application you need to have two have people to say that they have known you for the past 3 years and they have to fit this criteria.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i>5.1 One referee should be a person of any nationality who has professional standing, eg</i></span></div><div style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i>minister of religion, civil servant, or a member of a professional body e.g. accountant or</i></span></div><div style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span">solicitor (who is not representing you with this application). The other referee must normally be </span><span class="Apple-style-span">the holder of a British citizen passport and <span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">either </span>a professional person <span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">or </span>over the age of 25.</span></i></span></div><div style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i>Both should declare that:-</i></span></div><div style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i><br />
</i></span></div><div style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i>• they are not a relative, solicitor or agent of the applicant, or related to the other referee;</i></span></div><div style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i>• they are not employed by the Home Office;</i></span></div><div style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span">• they have not been convicted of an imprisonable offence during the last 10 years (unless the conviction has </span><span class="Apple-style-span">become spent under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974);</span></i></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i> </i></span></div><div style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i><br />
</i></span></div><div style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i>• they have known the applicant personally for more than 3 years;</i></span></div><div style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i>• they are willing to give full details of their knowledge of the applicant;</i></span></div><div style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i>• they will advise the Home Office of any reason why the applicant should not be naturalised.</i></span></div><div style="font: 9.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i><br />
</i></span></div><div style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-family: Helvetica; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I decided to have my wonderful friend <a href="http://swearyshmary.blogspot.com/">Mary Ivers</a>, who has known me since I first arrived here in London, as one of my referee and then I needed someone else who was a "professional". Matthew's uncle is a police offer so we thought to use him. I was a bit unsure that he would be suitable because I know him through marriage. Matthew's uncle thought that since it was through marriage that it would be ok. However it wasn't and they wouldn't accept him.</span></div><div style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-family: Helvetica; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-family: Helvetica; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Of course I was gutted when they told me at the appointment. Too gutted to feel smug that I was right and that he was going to be considered a relative.</span></div><div style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-family: Helvetica; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-family: Helvetica; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The woman processing my application was really nice about it and said that if I could find someone else to sign the form by Friday they wouldn't charge me again. Which was great, because if I wasn't able to find someone else by Friday I would have to wait another month for the next appointment. </span></div><div style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-family: Helvetica; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-family: Helvetica; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Luckily enough I did have another person to sign the form and I was able to return on Friday to submit it.</span></div><div style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-family: Helvetica; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-family: Helvetica; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I returned on Friday and the woman who was helping me again was very nice. The only thing that went wrong was that I forgot one page of the application! Thankfully I live just two minutes away from the office and she let me run home and get it! I guess they won't print anything off for you. </span></div><div style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-family: Helvetica; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-family: Helvetica; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">So, the application was checked and sent off and now the waiting game begins. It could take 2 months it could take 6 months. The next steps after the application is processed and approved is having a citizenship ceremony. There's the possibility that the application isn't accepted, but I can't imagine why it wouldn't be. </span></div><div style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-family: Helvetica; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-family: Helvetica; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Fingers crossed that I won't be waiting too long. </span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14596471352231721816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3178603355835716099.post-67451640112906199392011-10-31T20:09:00.001+00:002011-10-31T20:09:49.083+00:00I love this vintage Etsy shop<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjQBpxTvwmxCqGIKKZfBV7A8dyHjPkiJXD_oe8YHMDWy1yfPs2flQ7H5MNbZpdGPFRlNDniD4pwu6oOXm-MrbQY7DqpWuuZgkl83mRBWKDMUOqahR8cfARxEmu8ZNOmMkkGhyRy4oW1Z3A/s1600/Picture+116.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjQBpxTvwmxCqGIKKZfBV7A8dyHjPkiJXD_oe8YHMDWy1yfPs2flQ7H5MNbZpdGPFRlNDniD4pwu6oOXm-MrbQY7DqpWuuZgkl83mRBWKDMUOqahR8cfARxEmu8ZNOmMkkGhyRy4oW1Z3A/s320/Picture+116.png" width="288" /></a></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitnjASOtfVR6MWiW2OPdonWvyAVWKMWLbWbDO6VGP2yTYbeTmldGOM8zO4YP2tNslCdyyaahYVlIOCXxtxx1i8M_sXQJyF1lbiGspaDdtMxu8ny36LuQGZMvpHrcBbdzos8TqHn5rriCM-/s1600/Picture+115.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitnjASOtfVR6MWiW2OPdonWvyAVWKMWLbWbDO6VGP2yTYbeTmldGOM8zO4YP2tNslCdyyaahYVlIOCXxtxx1i8M_sXQJyF1lbiGspaDdtMxu8ny36LuQGZMvpHrcBbdzos8TqHn5rriCM-/s320/Picture+115.png" width="285" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>I love this cute cute Etsy shop, <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/vintagejane?ref=seller_info">Vintage Jane.</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14596471352231721816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3178603355835716099.post-40834596682256083972011-10-31T19:53:00.001+00:002011-10-31T21:10:18.742+00:00Happy Halloween<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjjDEC9PpmnNz1JHz-kEVD12ZOQg3aW-biq2eg9kAwMCGJe7KX6Z6Hyz_M1blyQCGWXR2d92lbLh6aRmGuoSTCeZd38cDv8wbI8kaGSOTJ2nrxYPsiq_mmN2xOzABGC2nv3KaOR0lwiUFI/s1600/Picture+120.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjjDEC9PpmnNz1JHz-kEVD12ZOQg3aW-biq2eg9kAwMCGJe7KX6Z6Hyz_M1blyQCGWXR2d92lbLh6aRmGuoSTCeZd38cDv8wbI8kaGSOTJ2nrxYPsiq_mmN2xOzABGC2nv3KaOR0lwiUFI/s400/Picture+120.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.belleandboo.com/art-prints-c-43.html">Belle and Boo</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I've seen so many super cute photos of my friend's kids all dressed for Halloween today.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I miss an American Halloween. There are definitely not any trick or treaters on my street in Brixton. I miss seeing all the kids dressed up, all the jack o'lanterns and the candy.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I've made a little jack o'lantern for our flat, so hopefully it will be a little cheerful surprise to people passing by. </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Halloween is catching on over here in Britain, but it's just not the same. I also love how American's will dress up at work! I've seen some pretty funny costumes popping on Facebook today.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">To everyone across the pond, hope you're having a very spooky Halloween :)</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14596471352231721816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3178603355835716099.post-90821587223492912682011-10-24T13:33:00.000+01:002011-10-24T13:33:03.206+01:00LBi Social Media Team<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1lJk1RRJZ-OSMh2vQKcLhvI8hSIvEHT6RhsTCGTEn9GktdKlrYmY7TjctSkOwwuHHMMZ2hqpqVK5UGbQXqdv0WKQovmzW-7-7GbNisIdelB6Htj2UgsPGaIETgEjddUnE1dqYlZBZxxlt/s1600/Picture+94.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1lJk1RRJZ-OSMh2vQKcLhvI8hSIvEHT6RhsTCGTEn9GktdKlrYmY7TjctSkOwwuHHMMZ2hqpqVK5UGbQXqdv0WKQovmzW-7-7GbNisIdelB6Htj2UgsPGaIETgEjddUnE1dqYlZBZxxlt/s400/Picture+94.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Doing Bex faces!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">On Friday it was Bex's last day on the LBi social media team. We're all going to miss her, but she'll definitely not be forgotten. Bex pulled some pretty amazing faces during her time on the team and here we all are pulling them with her! Sending her off in style. </div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14596471352231721816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3178603355835716099.post-79695217656356640122011-10-23T14:06:00.000+01:002011-10-23T14:06:30.756+01:00Life in the UK: could you pass the citizenship test?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUrQf9CEyj5nXbBvBQraDCEJqk21q-F-wAxXthYTQy2o2Ga0jvZfONMe5c4kPqT4U0wuVzZNf9YKMNl6Szf_NF6S4w3bCg-PHRwvS3rB1r7v9JNNwbnAVelAuvRktNsa235aWNj-QGB2If/s1600/Picture+93.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUrQf9CEyj5nXbBvBQraDCEJqk21q-F-wAxXthYTQy2o2Ga0jvZfONMe5c4kPqT4U0wuVzZNf9YKMNl6Szf_NF6S4w3bCg-PHRwvS3rB1r7v9JNNwbnAVelAuvRktNsa235aWNj-QGB2If/s320/Picture+93.png" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<br />
I saw this on the <a href="http://anexpatinlondon.blogspot.com/2011/10/how-would-you-do.html">American Expat in London</a> blog today. I took my Life in UK test last year and I remember lots of people wanted to look at the book. People would debate about how many actual British citizens would pass it.<br />
<br />
The <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/blog/quiz/2011/oct/11/uk-citizenship-test-quiz?INTCMP=SRCH">Guardian posted an online</a> quiz so you can have a go and see how well you'd score!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14596471352231721816noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3178603355835716099.post-54545439471737275992011-10-16T17:13:00.001+01:002011-10-16T17:15:23.035+01:00My so called British cooking<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6QIMFsKBMXin6V0WwibjIBArqJlg-PlmaHYN5mm1sgk5b_3h2iR_uf2us1wKOUTbjDjmG3hLFy5_LYv98NqELHXtwc1Nj8IA1BnUjQYYKplWEYW8bxvJGd27vjiF7g6LL6x5JE1ehEZjC/s1600/Picture+91.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6QIMFsKBMXin6V0WwibjIBArqJlg-PlmaHYN5mm1sgk5b_3h2iR_uf2us1wKOUTbjDjmG3hLFy5_LYv98NqELHXtwc1Nj8IA1BnUjQYYKplWEYW8bxvJGd27vjiF7g6LL6x5JE1ehEZjC/s400/Picture+91.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/rheaj/2659262110/in/set-72157606405692443">Cafe Latte original cheesecake and chicken salsa chili. From my trip home 2009.</a></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A few weeks ago I made a pledge to learn how to make some authentic British cuisine. I was going to be making a dish every Sunday and blogging about it. At least that was the plan. I started off strong and made Shepherds Pie, which turned out really good, and after that....well...I just got busy. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I find that I enjoy cooking on a Sunday, especially when it's a bit chilly outside. I was in the mood for a good chili today and decided to make<a href="http://www.cafelatte.com/chicken_salsa_chili.pdf"> Cafe Latte's Chicken Salsa Chili</a>. It is so good and one of my favourite things to eat when I go there. My very good friend Cory turned me on to it years ago. It's one of those dishes that's very straightforward to make and you can find all the ingredients here in London.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I remember the first time I made for Matthew and he couldn't believe that I was adding tortilla chips to it. He thought that was crazy, but of course he loves it :) I miss Cafe Latte, especially the cheesecake. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you like a spicy chili you will like this recipe. A nice touch of home here in London. If you're ever in Minnesota, please go to <a href="http://www.cafelatte.com/">Cafe Latte</a>. You will love it!</span><br />
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<div style="font: 14.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>Café Latte’s Chicken Salsa Chili</b><span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica;"> </span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Symbol;">•</span><span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica;"> </span>3 tablespoons olive oil<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica;"> </span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Symbol;">•</span><span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica;"> </span>1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch pieces<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica;"> </span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Symbol;">•</span><span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica;"> </span>1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onions<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica;"> </span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Symbol;">•</span><span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica;"> </span>1/2 teaspoon crushed red chili pepper flakes<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica;"> </span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Symbol;">•</span><span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica;"> </span>1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica;"> </span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Symbol;">•</span><span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica;"> </span>2 teaspoons minced fresh jalapeno chili peppers<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica;"> </span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Symbol;">•</span><span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica;"> </span>1 1/2 cups chicken stock<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica;"> </span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Symbol;">•</span><span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica;"> </span>3 tablespoons chili powder<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica;"> </span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Symbol;">•</span><span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica;"> </span>1 can (28 ounces) whole tomatoes, undrained and broken up<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica;"> </span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Symbol;">•</span><span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica;"> </span>1 can (29 ounces) tomato puree<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica;"> </span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Symbol;">•</span><span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica;"> </span>2 cans (15 ounces each) dark red kidney beans drained<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica;"> </span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Symbol;">•</span><span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica;"> </span>1 can (15 ounces) hominy<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica;"> </span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Symbol;">•</span><span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica;"> </span>1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica;"> </span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Symbol;">•</span><span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica;"> </span>2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica;"> </span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>To make chili: </b>Warm olive oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Sauté chicken<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica;"> </span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">until cooked. Add onions and reduce heat. Cook for 3 minutes or until onions are tender.<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica;"> </span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Add pepper flakes, garlic, jalapenos, chicken stock, chili powder, tomatoes and tomato<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica;"> </span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">puree, kidney beans and hominy. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica;"> </span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>To serve: </b>Add chopped cilantro and limejuice just prior to serving. Adjust seasoning to<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica;"> </span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">taste. Top with sour cream, chopped red onions, grated cheddar cheese and tortilla chips.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14596471352231721816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3178603355835716099.post-63813399456650112752011-10-05T21:36:00.003+01:002011-10-05T21:39:54.028+01:00Craft Fields<title></title> <style type="text/css">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXLSJqlYvOcj_ceuiJ935ejBwqhps79HaT6qQZMF-9Pc5wTKvLikbYGxZEuUVhwFk_A5jAwEDAxNfoAyIGhGQseR9HMRnu7t8TXcEP2OwFR9yOiOeJSKhh6Ea-X6XMPvjgTnM0P_-GTMNT/s400/Picture+85.png" width="400" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.craftfields.co.uk/blog/2/just-saying-hello/"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH8N2mykb34p2Unj4BPO0J7khP29ZgVLRkWwnL2kmFr9YNF4ey30fx9FcIXuKPhEOGqIzKSsWCAATbPknF8wkb4jAZtBVMOgRBe2133thFRbaeQOsv_xOC8pj-s4yll2Zty_9zNuRX6mIV/s400/Picture+84.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My friend Monika has been working super hard to launch a website called <a href="http://www.craftfields.co.uk/"><span class="s1">Craft Fields </span></a>and it has just gone live this month. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Monika is passionate about helping Lithuanian designers/crafters promote themselves and sell their creations so she and team of three other people set up the website/social hub to do just that.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The site also has a <a href="http://www.craftfields.co.uk/blog/"><span class="s1">blog</span></a> which you should definitely have a look at. There will be more and more designers/crafters who will be selling on the site, so you should check back often.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's a really exciting project and I think it's really amazing that Monika and her team want to share what's unique about her country with the world.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had the chance to go with her to Lithuania, where's she from, at the end of August and I loved it. It was a beautiful country and had a really cool vibe. The countryside reminded me a lot of Minnesota and we managed to visit several places over the long weekend.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="p2"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>This is how she explains what Craft Fields on the site:</b></span></div><div class="p3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="p2"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>We're a social hub and marketplace for Lithuanian craft makers – artists, designers, carpenters, painters, writers, musicians. We started as a startup and are a joint team of passionate social entrepreneurs spread across Europe.</i></span></div><div class="p3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br />
</i></span></div><div class="p2"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>We believe in the ability of communities to nurture creativity and originality.</i></span></div><div class="p3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br />
</i></span></div><div class="p2"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>We'll tell stories about our crafters working hard to create different and unique experiences through their products. You'll have the opportunity to embrace craft work in various ways: sharing, buying, giving opinions, telling your stories.</i></span></div><div class="p3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="p2"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here is a sample of what's currently for sale on the website.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.craftfields.co.uk/goodies/52/wooden-handmade-bunny-rabbit-flowerpot-stick/"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkaiKuY-4uXccH3F3SIsYGzNUIvpy7cG-jOelQcalDidb_xQvZfQcG5viP3N6bz7gYYVKQXOVsG7MSBtGH8a6J2nzy4MvzhEyoluNdzK6f21O75Qd5otI1JSbWXD2a-Tg4nambrQfwCnHg/s320/Picture+88.png" width="309" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL4FSx2uJ9E3YX_0sPaVs9oh_-X1wiWB27Y2ii2tnVsF51TBYEOqV7cCD_QQlJCd72VoTnxY4Z0WDlCB0bLLg5SF7QzvzowavcU0ad0mYyBYKTwyOugOG6df8Kr10Tj0eZu6PuUjpA7aj6/s320/Picture+87.png" width="297" /></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.craftfields.co.uk/goodies/78/true-white-leather-bag-with-snake-print-handles/"><img border="0" height="287" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq1tdmmci3FP7pAIws3qpviRqyAnMD8YYRDubvDZCQZ62RMDXTsktdPhRm11yTbgq_y5DcPHBYDQ9tRCIr8zdRzAO1Zmx8tlsy3t8dD5jYxsIo26ucxSO5w3SjIyg2pPJ3dFdwUe2W3I5F/s320/Picture+86.png" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0d0600; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;">Be sure to Like Craft Fields on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/CraftFields"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4c4c4c;">Facebook</span> </a>and to Tweet with them on <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/CraftFields">Twitter</a>!</span></span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14596471352231721816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3178603355835716099.post-14954063477420998822011-09-17T10:58:00.000+01:002011-09-17T10:59:46.514+01:00Time to apply for naturalisation for British citizenship<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzZTktaSK8mos8LmDfRodMh7At6apAjqpxWHxmUfqOIZoJP94dTGPjkDCQPw72DhNh_byG3oWSQB3amrrWE1ZPSdpuP3ttUeqeRr0rRrdoSqlhEXfrQvasVhLVnamzmqw__KlXe_AGJ3fw/s1600/uk_passport-ooo1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzZTktaSK8mos8LmDfRodMh7At6apAjqpxWHxmUfqOIZoJP94dTGPjkDCQPw72DhNh_byG3oWSQB3amrrWE1ZPSdpuP3ttUeqeRr0rRrdoSqlhEXfrQvasVhLVnamzmqw__KlXe_AGJ3fw/s1600/uk_passport-ooo1.jpeg" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So funny that as I typed in that title for the post my spell check wanted to change the s to a z. I really like using the z instead of the s, but I've lived in London long enough now to have to sucumb to the fact that I use the letter s and u where I wouldn't normally before. I think that fact alone should qualify me for citizenship :)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am coming up on three years here in London on my <a href="http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/visas-immigration/settlement/">ILR</a> visa, which means I've lived here long enough to now apply for naturalisation and get a lovely passport with a unicorn and lion on it.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In preparation I've already printed out the <a href="http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/applicationforms/nationality/form_an.pdf">AN form </a>and <a href="http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/applicationforms/nationality/guide_an.pdf">guide book</a> and it seems pretty straightforward. You need to have two references (people of a certain professional standing who have known you for 3 years), a record of every trip you've made out of the country, your proof of passing the Life in the UK test and a <a href="http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/britishcitizenship/nationality-fees.pdf">fee of £836</a>. At least that's what I can remember off the top of my head. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You have to prove that you've been with your partner and that you've spent a specified amount of days here in the UK. I am not worried about filling out the actual form, although I don't feel 100% about where I've put my Life in the UK certificate, I am sure it's somewhere.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am going to have the application reviewed by the n<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 28px;">ationality checking service. A friend of mine had her application checked and she said it was definitely worth it. </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 28px;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 28px;">Needless to say that I am pretty excited and it feels like a long time coming. It will be interesting to see how long the actual process will take from me sending it off to receiving the passport. I am expecting it to take at least three months. We shall see. </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 28px;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 28px;">If anyone knows of any good blog posts of other people's experiences or your own, please post them in the comments and I'll add them into a new post.</span></span><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14596471352231721816noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3178603355835716099.post-49218554411397303412011-08-20T20:38:00.001+01:002011-09-04T17:25:58.762+01:00Birra Moretti<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14596471352231721816noreply@blogger.com0