A Yank in Blighty: January 2014

Wow. A whole month of blogging. And, I haven't even run out of ideas yet. In fact, I have drafts of posts still coming soon because I wanted to get this post out this week!

Firstly, I want to say a massive thank you to everyone that has read my blog in the past month since my first post. I am blown away by the stats and never expected to have so many readers/pageviews in my first month! It's of course not all about the stats as I would blog regardless, but I thought I'd share and give myself a little pat on the back.

Bloglovin': 21 Following
Twitter: 29 Followers
Instagram: 7 Followers, one post with 23 likes! (and a couple more with 9)...my personal Instagram never got that many likes!
Facebook Page: 54 likes!

And Google Analytics tells me I've got 133 unique visitors. That is just incredible.

I've taken part in three really awesome #lbloggers chats on Twitter, had a few conversations with some bloggers, joined a blogging forum, won a giveaway (which will have it's own post soon!), and was nominated for a Liebster Award!

Thank you so much Keena Lee over at Lee Muse for nominating me for the Liebster Award! It's an honor that anyone is reading, and here you liked it enough to put a link in your blog!

Based on her post about it and a few others I've looked at, the Liebster Award is given to new bloggers by other bloggers. As it is given to bloggers with less than 200 followers it is a great way to learn about new bloggers! And I certainly am new!

Getting into the bones of the award:

There are a few simple rules that you need to follow:

1. Mention the person who nominated you with a link in their blog

2. Answer the 11 questions provided by the person who nominated you

3. Nominate 11 other bloggers with less than 200 followers

4. Create a new set of 11 questions for your nominees to answer

1. What day do you post on your blog the most? Do you have a set schedule? Wednesday is my weekly post day. Well it started as Thursday but I prefer Wednesday. I post once a week plus the occasional extra post as it fits.
2. What do you love about blogging? I like having somewhere to document everything. I'm just starting this journey (as a blogger, wife, expat) and expect to do a lot of interesting things along the way and I think this blog is a great way to share those thoughts and experiences. Even if no one reads it, I can look back on it in a few years a see how I adjusted!
3. If you can have any blog out there, whose blog would you want to have? One that makes decent money? Haha I don't have anyone in mind specifically. I mean I like being me and look forward to the content I hope to produce, but I wouldn't mind if this could turn into a work from home career like it has for some bloggers!
4. What color clothing do you wear the most? Why? I don't know. I guess black? A lot of my closet is black (or at least a dark other color). I also like color though, I have a few yellow shirts I think suit me, and pink is nice.
5. What do you hate about blogging? Nothing yet! So far I've had a great experience with the lifestyle blogging community, everyone seems friendly and welcoming. I think at some point writer's block will plague me, but for now I've still got a few drafts and ideas so I'm doing ok!
6. Which Social Media App do you use the most? I think I use Facebook/Twitter/Instagram pretty equally. Generally I check them all one after the other. For the blog I can see Twitter really taking over though, especially as there is the #lbloggers chat on Sunday nights!
7. What can you not leave home without? Practically, keys...or I'd have a hard time getting back in. But psychologically my phone...as I use it so much when I'm out I'd probably be lost without it!
8. Describe yourself in one word. Multifaceted - not as in I'm two faced, but as in there's a lot of layers to me. Remember the onion analogy from Shrek? Yeah.
9. What was/would be your first dance wedding song? I'm not sure haha. Kevin and I had a small registry wedding with a lunch after, no dancing reception. If we were going to have one I'm not sure what the song would be!
10. Tell me something funny that happened to you. When I was in 6th grade we had an assembly where these yo-yo trick guys came and performed. I was chosen to go up and try a trick (around the world) and ended up hitting myself on the head in front of half the school. Pretty embarrassing. But I did get a free yo-yo out of it!
11. What main reason you started a blog? (Being Heard, Being Seen, Popularity, Hobby, For Friends...) Just to document my life in England and vent a few frustrations with adjusting to life in a new country and culture!

I nominate:

1. Adventures in Tea and Cake - She's got it all, bit of beauty, bit of fashion, bit of food...and I've really enjoyed reading all of her posts so far!

2. The Grits Blog - She's already been nominated but just in case you haven't read her go check her out. She's a Southern Belle and has a post about gooey butter cake. She clearly knows the way to my little blogger heart!

3. Running on Coffee - She used to make YouTube videos that I watched so I followed her on Twitter, and she's semi-recently started this new blog which is all about getting healthy. This girl has made some very impressive life changes, and if I could muster up half her motivation and follow suit I would be so much healthier for it!

4. Team Starnes Takes London - This is written by another American Alexandra...She's a recent expat I believe and I love her posts of exploring London. I was hooked though when I saw her post about their dog they've left with family in the States!

5. Note to Self - She is a member of the message boards I mentioned joining earlier which is how I discovered her. I've really enjoyed her posts so far, especially the one about moving. Moving away from home is challenging whether its a few block or half the world away! I'm really looking forward to seeing how she settles in and any other thoughts she wants to share!

6. Lisa's Beauty Street - She lives in Iceland! How cool is that? Plus she gives great product reviews, and I love the ideas on the Valentine gift guide she just posted! I look forward to reading more from her in the future!

7. Mac & Cheese - Firstly I love her layout. It's so adorable but not overwhelming, what a great choice. She has some great (healthy) food posts, and interesting product reviews. I just found her in Sunday's #lbloggers chat and am really looking forward to setting aside time to read back through older posts!

8. Bethnal Bohemia - She has this really awesome bright white hair, that takes mega guts to pull off...and she does it so well! She also has interesting product reviews and I especially love her rant about how it can be difficult to be petite and slim...just goes to show no matter which end of a spectrum we're on, fashion can be a challenge!

9. Bristol in My Pocket - She is a native Texan living in Bristol. She's way better than me at managing to travel around England and I've been loving her pictures along the way!

10. For Your Entertainment - This is my friend Megan's film blog. We met during our postgrad program and she's awesome and insightful. She is a great writer and is doing a 2014 movie challenge to watch all the top 250 IMDB movies! I can't wait to follow her on that journey!

11. Project 365 @ Okiedokie - This might be cheating I'm not sure, but this is my husband's Project 365 for 2014. He's not always on time with his posts, but he does take a picture everyday and then writes a little snippet that's an insight into his (and our) life.

Now...the questions for all you nominees!

1. Why did you start blogging?
2. What is the main goal you'd like to accomplish in 2014 with your blog?
3. If you could move anywhere in the world, where would it be? Why?
4. What is your earliest memory?
5. If you could have any super power what would it be and why?
6. What website do you spend the most time on?
7. What if your dream job?
8. Do you prefer cooking or getting take out?
9. What if your favorite store, where you could probably spend too much money?
10. Who is your favorite blogger?
11. What is the best piece of advice you've been given/found?

That's it! Now go my nominees, answer my silly questions and share more blogs for me to find!

And if anyone just wants to answer the questions that's cool too, I'd be really interested to read the answers. You can leave them in a comment or link me to a post.

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

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Last month I had a job interview set one day for 10am. It required two tube changes (so three lines in total). I thought the time was good as it would hopefully mean the majority of the rush hour crowd would be out before I needed to travel. However, because I’m a paranoid (and perpetually early) person I left my house at 8am in the middle of rush hour anyway. When I left my home station the status board said there was a good service across the line.

By the time I got about 3 stops down the line to my first change the line I needed to change to was expecting severe delays. So I kept going a couple more stops where I could have changed to another line, but it wasn’t running either!

So I exited the station and tried to get a bus. Apparently everyone else in the station was needed to do the same as there were at least 75 people waiting at this bus stop. I was luckily positioned a bit closer to the first bus that stopped (as it was behind another one) and as soon as I stepped into the bus the driver covered the oyster validator and said no more people and threatened to shut the doors (which is was standing in the middle of!). The crowd waiting behind me just almost didn’t let me off! I'm not actually sure what is appropriate commuter behavior in this situation as despite plenty of experience with transport, it's almost never during rush hour!

I waited for the next bus and it was almost as full as the first before it even stopped and I wasn’t as well positioned. Another one came and was about the same.

At this point I figured a bus wasn’t much of an option and I had just about an hour to get to my interview. I was frankly happy that I had left so early. I started looking for cabs, but none of the black cabs had their lights on and to be perfectly honest I’ve not had much practice hailing cabs so I wasn’t sure how well I’d fare going that route.

So I checked my Uber app to see how far away the nearest car was and it said 11 minutes. I figured chances of finding a cab in that time were slim...and the crowd around the bus stopped seemed to just grow despite regular busses….so I requested an Uber car and stood around to wait.

Once it arrived I immediately felt better as I knew I’d get there on time. We hit a fair amount of traffic...but still moved faster than the bus would have. After about 25 minutes we arrived at the place for my interview. And lo and behold I was early. But I’m used that.

I walked up the road so see if there was a nearby cafe or something as I didn’t want to go in too early but didn’t see much. So I just walked around and played a bit on my phone. It was a fairly deserted street...although there were some Barclays Bikes nearby...shame I didn’t know/aren’t brave enough to cycle on London streets or that could have been a pretty good solution. However, I was fine and after killing a few minutes it was only about 10 minutes until my appointment so I figured I could navigate the reception area and find the office I needed and not be too early.

Coming out of the interview the tube line I would have used was still delayed/not running so I just took a bus into central London to where my local line stops and went home that way. The only reason I didn’t use this combination to start with was because I thought it would take too long with the central London traffic! But if I were to get the job might just be the perfect solution...and would mean lovely views of London everyday!

But anyway, just one example of a minor transport crisis and thankfully a minicab company provided a viable solution. And as a bonus, when my receipt came through from Uber it was £0.00!! The ride was £10.96 and they round down to the nearest pound, so it was £10...and then I had a £10 referral credit from when my husband signed up and took his first ride with them. Not a bad deal and luckily was cheaper than the bus!

If you are interested in signing up with my referral link, when you take your first ride we'll both get £10**! (It used to be the new user got that off their first ride and I'm not sure if it's still that or if it's off your second ride, but either way it's free money that could come in handy!) My link is here: https://uber.com/invite/56l1r. Or if you download the app you can just enter 56l1r I believe. And as a bonus, this service is actually available in a lot of cities across the world (including several in the States though I'm not sure what the referral amount is there) so worth a visit to https://www.uber.com/cities to see if they are in your area (or somewhere you'll be traveling soon)!

Happy traveling, and may yours always go better than this day!

**Extra bonus, it looks like it says the referral is now £20 for each person...not sure if this is a special promotion or if they are just more generous this year!

Disclaimer: This post wasn't sponsored by Uber or anything like that, I just found the service through Twitter and have had a couple good experiences and thought it worth passing on information :) If you use my links I will be compensated, but only in the same way as anyone else using the service who refers it. If you sign up (with or without my link) you can refer a friend and get free money too!

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Prior to relocating to London I had only held a few part-time jobs and one “real world” full-time job. So needless to say I didn’t have a lot of experience in applying and interviewing for positions!

The first step I needed to take after acquiring my residency was to apply for a National Insurance Number. I would have thought this process was easy and not that is was hard per se but it was more cumbersome than I expected. I needed to call the JobCentrePlus hotline which I assumed would send me a form to fill out and that would be it. However, when I called, they asked me a few questions and then said my nearest JobCentre location (Camden) was booked but they booked me in for an appointment at one in East London. I didn’t get to pick the date or time, it was just assigned to me. However, as I’m not currently working or studying I made it work as it was a priority. The woman on the phone told me to bring my passport, residence permit, proof of residence, and proof of working/looking for work.

When I arrived at the JobCentre with my documents I was asked if I had an appointment letter (which I had not received) or my confirmation number (which was given to me over the phone). They had me wait in an open area with at least 30 other people standing around. After about 5-10 minutes a woman came a called me along with four other people and walked us back to another area with seating lining the walls (which was mostly full) and we had to find a place to sit or stand there. After quite awhile of waiting a man called me back (my husband was not allowed) and sat down at a desk with me to go over an application form. First he copied my passport and then I answered all the questions and then went to sit back down and wait for my passport. Several minutes later he came over saying that he missed some visit stamps in my passport and had made copies of that and amended my application. I sat back down. Then several more minutes later a woman came over and said the first gentleman had filled out the prior visits section wrong (he had asked me of any trips during my stay where I spent more than 30 days out of the country...but he should have asked any trips I’ve spent 30+ days IN the UK). So after some questions and amendments to the application and another short wait to get my passport back I was finally done and able to leave.

To be honest I was a bit annoyed at all the back and forth and lack of clear questioning (which would have sorted the issues to start with). However, at the same time I appreciated the fact that they checked it and went back over it to ensure it is processed quickly and not delayed because of missing or incorrect information. Thankfully it seems to have all worked out as I did receive my number before Christmas!

Also in this time I had submitted my CV to several jobs on The Guardian’s job section. Mostly I’ve either gotten no response or a thanks but no thanks e-mail. However, this round I got an e-mail from Pathfinders Recruitment agency saying they were interested in registering my details. I wasn’t really sure what to expect (as in I kind of assumed it would be a scam or at least charge something) but I thought I’d take a chance and go meet with them to learn what they are about.

I met with two women initially, one of whom handles temp assignments and one who does permanent placements. I had said that I ultimately wanted a permanent role but was willing to work as a temp to gain some UK experience. After having a chat with the very nice women I had to do spelling and typing tests. Then they had an Admin/IT role I might be interested in at a design firm and I agreed to have my CV put forward for that. Over the next few days after my appointment there were a couple more roles they thought I might be suitable for. By about a week later and not really hearing much of anything I kind of assumed that nothing had come of those few roles. Then I got a call asking me to clarify my visa/work permission status because the design company was interested in my CV. Once I confirmed that she came back saying they would like to interview me. A few hours after the interview they notified me that the company would like to see me again. Unfortunately, the company decided to go with someone with more IT experience.

I’ve been continually applying for positions, including part-time retail work at places like Boots, Whole Foods, Build-a-Bear...all of which I haven’t had any luck with. Boots even said I didn't pass their questionnaire (which was basically about customer service situations) despite the fact that I worked in retail for two and a half years and if I'm honest the US has better customer service. Just yesterday at Boots my friend was having trouble finding something and asked an associate twice and instead of walking her to the product she just told her the section it was in both times. I'm sorry but that just wouldn't fly in my former retail position!

I have to say, when I got my first job mere weeks after graduating college I was very fortunate. I was in the right part-time student worker job at the right time and had impressed my supervisors. This four months of looking for work has been soul crushing to be honest.

So many places never even respond to your application, and the ones that do just say they won’t be taking my application further. I haven’t gotten any other interview requests. I'm just not used to so much rejection!

Rejection...

Insulting rejection...

Now in the new year, I’ve decided to expand my search back into the higher education field. It’s where my experience is, there are several openings, and to be completely honest the pay is better than the entry level media jobs I was applying for. Hopefully I’ll have a better response and be able to finally start working!

One benefit of not finding a job before the new year? My US taxes should be simple at least...and technically as I had no income I don’t think I actually have to file them.

But, I can't wait until the day I can post all about "Working in the UK"!

Have you ever had trouble finding a new job? What did you do to entertain yourself (considering your budget for entertainment is next to nothing)?

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Yesterday I set my alarm for early in the morning and met up with a friend at the Almeida Theatre in Islington at about 8am. We stood in line until 11am when we were able to buy day of tickets for the new musical American Psycho starring Matt Smith as Patrick Bateman.

Waiting outside in line after a lot more people had joined the queue!

They let us into the lobby at 10am (tickets went on sale at 11am). Was nice to be warmer!

I remembered watching the film with Christian Bale sometime in college and to be honest I don’t particularly remember much about it. Other than knowing it was quite violent I didn’t remember many details and don’t remember any greater message.

Maybe it’s my age. Maybe I’ve matured. Maybe I’ve seen more of the world and had enough learning experiences to see things differently. Maybe the cast of the musical was that good. I don’t know.

Whatever the reason, this time I feel like I got it (or at least a better understanding). I got the satire. I could see the ludicrous caricatures of vain and shallow people driven by consumerism. I think there’s still some meanings I didn’t pick up (as subtext has never been my strong suit), but despite the fact the play is about a serial killer I enjoyed it. I would consider seeing it again.

In terms of the acting, I will preface by saying the downside of a play set in New York but cast and performed in England (where I assume most of the cast are from) is that the fake American accents can be a bit distracting. At least to me and the American friends I were with that picked up on some weaker accents. Matt Smith’s accent was really good I thought. It really impressed me. But even despite it’s accuracy, there were times it just sounded strange to me. Not because the words were wrong, but because this is the actor I’ve been watching on my Doctor Who screen with a very British accent for a few years. To be frank, it was weird not hearing him speak in a British accent. But again, his execution (no pun intended) of the accent was spot on and impressed me wildly. In fact other than a couple of actors whose accents slipped several times the whole cast impressed me. In some moments it was easy to forget I was in a theatre in London and not New York!

Regardless of a few accent slips though the acting was incredible. There’s not a single part I could or would want to complain about (except that part of me wishes I’d not felt like splitting up the group was such a bad thing so we could have been in the stalls!). Each character was played with ease and believability...despite some actors playing several characters! The singing was great...none of the voice cracking I’ve experienced in some musicals (I’m looking at you girl who played Mimi in a touring production of Rent a few years ago…). And all this with it being their second show of the day!

And the music. Oh Duncan Sheik, you are a master. I still haven’t seen Spring Awakening (even though I’ve wanted to) and if the music is a good, enjoyable, and fitting as it was in American Psycho then I would see it for the music alone! And please release a soundtrack for this!

The set, I thought was so clever. Walls of video cassette tapes, large white sections of wall where white noise, images, words, colors were projected to add to the visual aspect of the action on stage. Rotating platforms to move set pieces and even people...used for practical and comedic effect. Slats that looked like the blinds we had on the giant picture window in my old house, that both lended aesthetic value to the design of these expensive Manhattan apartments (which would have of course had giant picture windows) but that also allowed a separation where a chorus (of I guess conscience?) could be seen but not awkwardly in the action.

I did have one complaint about the set design. It it might be unfounded as I’m no expert in television sets. But from what I remember in the late 80s/early 90s (though quite young) is that TVs were fat, none of these thin LCD screens we’re used to now. And yet it was a sleek flat screen TV on set in Patrick Bateman’s apartment. Is this an anachronism used simply out of ease and space consciousness? Or were they available in that time to the narrow (rich) demographic that the character belonged to? If it’s the latter then of course it’s appropriate as that character would have most definitely had the best and latest money could buy...but if it’s the former I can’t help but think it’s a glaring oversight by an art designer and/or director? When we first sat down it was obvious it was Patrick Bateman’s apartment and I wondered if they had modern day until I remembered the logo was the old Walkman headphones so it must have still been that late 80s period.

Honestly though, if my biggest complaint about a two and a half hour musical is a TV that looks out of place and a few words/phrases said without the required American accent then I think the cast and crew have done a fantastic job. Long story short...if you are in London and able to wait in line in the morning to get day tickets...do it! It is reasonably priced (the most expensive ticket offered to us was £38...I paid £26 for a full view seat in the circle...my friends with student ids were only £16 for any of the seats!). And most of all an excellent show!

I’m sorry that I’m not a trained theatre critic and I can’t give much substance to my opinions, but I still thought it would be interesting to talk about the play. However I have read this from others and will chime in as well...I will be shocked if it's not moved to the West End and then a future Broadway debut! (Though I hate to say it...I'd see it being recast for Broadway...I don't think American audiences would have the patience for a handful of the accents...and New Yorkers might even feel different to Matt's accent then I did, who knows!)

But I also wanted to talk about the fact that Matt Smith comes out and signs autographs for 10 minutes after the evening show. I bought the program for £5 (which I would have done anyway). Then after the show we made our way down to the lobby and stood near the staff only door (where we had interestingly enough seen a hooded Matt Smith with dinner in a bag, very much looking like he didn’t want to be bothered, so we didn’t, enter just before the show). After a few minutes and a decent but not huge crowd gathered he came out, set down his stuff and started signing.

I told him that I just had to say his American accent was awesome and really impressed me...and he said thank you and acted like that was a genuinely nice compliment to receive (probably because my own accent is so apparent!)..signed my program and then I got out of the way for everyone else. A picture would have been nice but it wasn’t conducive to that, the lighting was horrendous in the lobby, and my phone was pretty much dead anyway.

(As an aside, if you’re ever in a group waiting to get an autograph and someone is done and trying to back out of said group...it would do you well to let them pass as that gets you immediately closer to your goal!)

Signed program!

All in all it was a great play, a nice experience to (sort of) meet Matt Smith, and well worth the effort to get there for tickets. Again, if you are in London and capable of going early to wait for tickets...I can’t say it enough...do it! Do it! DO IT!

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A few days ago Kevin and I made a trek from our home in NW London to Lakeside shopping centre in Thurrock, Essex...which means mostly nothing to me, but I know it’s outside the M25 and that means more than just a tube ride away. So Kevin got a Zipcar for the occasion, and it made for a nice little road trip.

I’m sure it seems odd. What could this shopping centre outside London offer that we can’t find in Central London? Taco Bell.

Me outside the Taco Bell Stand

There are only three Taco Bell’s in the UK according to their website...the one we visited, another one in Essex (in a town called Basildon) and one in Manchester. This is a mind boggling fact to me considering that London is littered with KFCs and Pizza Huts, the latter of which is sometimes in the same building as Taco Bell back home in the States!

Anyway, we got there and it was just a little stand in a mall food court. Nothing fancy. They had a lot of familiar menu items, but certainly in a very limited capacity. No chalupas for me. One addition I noticed was Mexican fries...I don’t think any Taco Bells I’ve been to back home have fries.

Mexican Fries

We each got a box meal. Kevin’s came with a burrito, taco, fries, and churros. Mine was a Crunchwrap Supreme, taco, and nachos.

Funny Packaging

Kevin's Meal

My Meal

Overall the food was good. Pretty much just like home from what I can remember. Although there might have been a few more tomatoes in the tacos.

Soft Taco

Enjoying a Taco

Kevin Having a Burrito

The fries were different but not bad. But the nachos. What a fail. I’m not sure if they are supposed to come with sauce, but mine didn’t. Kevin got chocolate sauce for his churros and salsa, but we aren’t sure if that was for the nachos he ordered or the fries he was given. I did see one person with a little cup of nacho cheese as we were finishing, so maybe it’s separate or maybe it was just busy and got skipped out of my box. If I ever find my way to Taco Bell again I’ll be sure to ask because gooey nacho cheese from home is one of the things I miss! (And in hindsight would probably go really well with the fries).

More like Doritos than Nachos

The visit got me really thinking about foods I miss. Some of them I just can’t get over here at all and the rest generally cost too much from the speciality importers to have more than once in a blue moon. I’m sure eventually I’ll find substitutes or just learn to be content with having them as treats when I go home for a visit.

But for now, what I’m missing is still pretty fresh in my mind, so here’s a list:

Velveeta - And Velveeta Shells and Cheese! I’ve seen a couple recipes to make your own, but I’m not actually sure if I could get the taste right with the cheeses we have here. Because I’m pretty sure there’s no actual real cheese in Velveeta anyway!

Rotel - Though I think I could probably find a fair homemade substitute as it’s tomatoes and chilies. However, as the only things I make with Rotel also contain Velveeta I’m in no rush to recreate it until I sort myself out with the right cheese first!

Graham Crackers - Digestives just aren’t the same no matter how many cheesecake recipes I see that say to use them as a crust. Also, I have a theory that s’mores would be really good with Cadbury’s Dairy Milk and would like to try it out sometime.

Wavy Lay’s - Though I think I’ve found their UK version. Walker’s and Lay’s are the same company...and they have Walker’s Crinkles Crisps which seem to me to be the same thing. I’m looking forward to trying them with some sour cream and chive dip to really test it.

Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chips - They sell chocolate chips here and they make cookies just fine, but they are in tiny bags and it takes several to make a chocolatey batch of cookies!

Pillsbury Crescent Rolls - We may have found a substitute in the JusRoll Croissants...they don’t look as flakey as a normal croissant so they might just fit the bill. Looking forward to trying it out, when I do I’ll report back!

Good Nachos - It seems like everywhere here just throws some shredded mature cheddar on some Doritos and voila nachos….not the gooey nacho cheese I love from home. As you can see above I was even disappointed in the Taco Bell Nacho’s lack of cheese and addition of excessive seasoning.

Crab Rangoon - This seems to only be an American Chinese appetizer...despite having an extensive choice in Chinese restaurants and even huge Chinese food superstores, none have crab rangoon. But again, something I think I will try making on my own...but a baked version (for ease and health).

Good Dill Pickles - I’ve found some Mrs. Elswood slices that are close but just not quite right. I did however find some good pickle relish at the Chinese food store, Wing Yip.

JIF Peanut Butter - Tesco now has a fairly good American section, and they even have JIF...but it’s only extra crunchy! Unfortunately, I prefer creamy.

Any fun or seasonal flavored M&Ms - While I was in Vegas in September I found Pumpkin Spice M&Ms...Mom always sends peanut butter ones for Kevin...I know they’ve made peppermint ones or other fun flavors and colors for holidays. As far as I know unless I go pay exorbitant prices at M&M world in Leicester Square I can’t even get them with fun colors!

Girl Scout Cookies - Mostly Thin Mints and Tag-A-Longs. Ah how they remind me of my childhood...and how good they are from the freezer!

Imo’s Pizza - This is a pizza chain local to St. Louis for those who aren’t familiar. They serve St. Louis style pizza which a friend from Chicago once called pizza on a cracker. But I really grew to love the thin crusts, sweet sauce, and Provel Cheese (which is a wonderful regional blend). Plus they serve toasted ravioli, another St. Louis favorite. Alas, there is no substitute for Imo’s and will forever be something I have to savor while I’m in St. Louis.

And finally, pretty much all of my mom’s cooking! I’ve gotten a few recipes that I’m working on testing on this side of the pond...but even if I get them right it wouldn’t be quite the same.

Are there any foods you miss either from home or that you’ve discovered on travels?

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