Ghosts of Christmas Past

Christmas is over. PHEW!

 

What happened to me this year? Usually I love this holiday. But this year it just seemed like one big hassle.

 

I guess it was in part due to the fact that this year I didn't have the excitement of "going home." For the past 9 years, I've been living abroad and I have always taken 1 - 3 weeks off at Christmas and "gone home." So, Christmas wasn't really a one day event, but a big event full of family and friends and lots going on.

 

This year I did "go home" to Western Massachusetts but when I'm just driving an hour and a half from Boston, well it just wasn't the same.

 

And as I mentioned before, Christmas with just the four of us - my mother, father, brother and I - is a bit sad and well very very low key.

 

This year Christmas went something like this:

• Mom doing her annual cooking (that's right, she only cooks a big real meal about one time per year) and complaining and hating every minute of it
• My brother and I offering to help, mom not letting us and then complaining that we never help
• My brother and I drinking 
• My mother yelling at my brother and I for every little thing we did including at one point yelling out "Hey! No laughing while drinking!" I had red wine on the couch and was laughing and although there was no danger of spilling, my mother still felt that the glass of red wine + laughter = bad news for the couch
• My brother and I making fun of my mother for being so OCD
• My brother and I drinking
• Visiting Grandfather in the nursing home - always nice to see him but always sad that he can't join us at our house for Christmas the way he always did 
• My brother and I doing all our shopping (which really wasn't that much) on Christmas Eve and then staying up until 3 am to wrap presents
• The annual Christmas Eve eating and song singing with a couple who are my parent's close friends
• Christmas morning stocking unwrapping and breakfast eating (yummy breakfast casserole)
• Me spending hours and hours pre-Christmas to make family photo calendars only to find that they are all messed up (thank you Kodak) and being very disappointed)
• Mom burning my favorite part of Christmas dinner
• Me sulking about the burned part of Christmas dinner since it's the only time my mother ever cooks - have I mentioned that before? And my mother being mad with me.
• Mom swearing she will never ever ever cook again (yes, we are now reducing the cooking from 1 time per year to 0 times - although I do think that for the sanity of everyone involved it might be better if my brother and I take over this activity from now on). 
• The annual Risk game that we never finish - me sulking that I'm loosing. I always loose. I hate loosing. My brother getting mad at me for being a bad sport (I am a very very sore looser).
• Me making everyone watch The Sound of Music (which is always on Dec 26th) and everyone else in the family pretending to hate it but actually liking it more than they want to admit
• My brother and I getting stranded another night at my parents due to the inclement weather
• My brother and I drinking

This year Christmas was mediocre at best. I couldn't help but think back to Christmas' in the past when things felt just a bit more magical and special.

Let me share with you my Ghosts of Christmas Past in no particular order - just a random sampling of memories:

• Gram and Gramp coming to stay - they always played a very central role in the Christmas festivities and they made Christmas so festive
• My Grandmother would always dress up in a Christmas sweater, earrings and a Christmas pin (or broach - is that the right word)?
• When we were younger, my brother and I were so excited for Christmas! We couldn't wait to open all the presents. We would be so excited we couldn't sleep and waking my parents up as soon as they would let us.
• We always got to open one gift on Christmas Eve. It was usually a really good present. One year it was a Care Bear and another it was these little toy pianos (which I'm sure my parents regretted giving us)
• Other great Christmas gifts included: the wooden building blocks my grandfather hand-made us (those were our absolute favorite childhood toy); the wooden tool benches my father made us, the tape recorder and the books on tape (I remember my grandmother sitting with me listening to the books)
• We believed in Santa for a loooong time - that made Christmas fun.
• We always left milk and cookies for Santa
• Before we went to bed, my grandfather would always say that he thought he could hear Rudolph up on the roof
• As we got older, we got excited to give people gifts. We always spent a lot of time shopping for the "perfect" gifts - although we tended to choose quantity over quality. We loved to see LOTS of presents under the tree
• When we were still young enough to be super excited about Christmas, we were allowed to "tip toe" downstairs after the parents and grandparents were in bed and put our presents under the tree - I still remember how exciting it felt to get that first glimpse of the presents under the tree in the dark room. I would take a long time searching for the perfect place to put my presents. I remember how disappointed I was the first year that my parents brought out the presents before we "went to bed" they said we were too old and stayed up too late for them to wait any longer. I honestly think that until that day (I was 15) I still believed in Santa or at least in the miracle of Christmas. After that it was just never as special.
• Christmas Eve family jams - my brother and my father are very musical and sometimes I can be convinced to sing. This is one of the few traditions that still lives on.
• Grammy's ginger snap cookies and Christmas cheese
• Santa hanging boxes full of candy all over the tree - and sometimes we could even eat the candy before breakfast!
• Mom's lasagna for Christmas Eve, breakfast casserole on Christmas morning and Ham and home-made macaroni and cheese for Christmas dinner

What are your favorite Christmas memories? How was your Christmas this year? I hope that you all had a great one! And while I'm all bah humbug still, I sincerely wish you a warm and happy holiday with your families and friends.

It's Raining Men Part II

Thanks for tuning in to my "It's Raining Men" series Part II. Haven't read Part I yet? Do so here.

When this International Woman of Mystery last left you, I had been telling you about the attempted. yet averted kiss from Locker Boy and had been alluding to juicy omissions I may or may have not made on this blog. I also told you that I was not done talking about boys... there is one more boy to talk about.

As for Locker Boy... well, I have yet to return his last text message to me asking me to go to the symphony with him in Boston... I know. I'm feeling bad enough. Don't rub it in.


As for the juicy omission it might be because:

a. It involves a colleague
b. It involves a guy with a girlfriend
c. It involves a lot of alcohol and is therefore a little bit blurry and non-sensical
d. It is a little bit embarrassing
e. I haven't managed to process it enough to write about it
g. It is still playing out and I realize it's either too premature to write about it or I might never be able to
h. All of the above

Moving on...

There is one last boy to make an appearance on the It's Raining Men Series... And I felt like he deserved a whole blog post in itself.

So, without further ado... INTRODUCING NOMAD BOY!!!!

Nomad Boy and I have had a long history together. Let me tell you about it...

I met Nomad Boy when I was 19. That summer I had been living on Martha's Vineyard. The final night I was there, K one of my best friend's from home, came out to visit and help me move back. She talked about going to a party where there was a guy who I would "love." I remember her describing him as a long-haired skater boy (totally my type back in those days). He was a friend of a friend from a town close to our hometown. Well, we never made it to that party and I soon forgot about the cute skater boy she was supposed to hook me up with.

I moved back home to my parent's house for the final weeks before school started again. And a couple weekends later, I went with K to a party in the town next to ours. I didn't really know the people at this party, nor did I have any idea who lived in the house. But while looking at the family pictures on the walls, I recognized a girl who I had worked with at my summer job during previous summers. However, I didn't see her at the party.

So, I'm sitting in a bedroom on the floor and suddenly this super cute long-haired skater boy walks in and points at me. "You." He says.

"Yes?" I say.

"You're that girl!"

"What girl?" I say innocently and flirtatiously - I mean this guy is seriously hot and oh-so my type!

"You're that girl on the Vineyard." He says. And suddenly it clicked - he must have been the guy my friend was telling me about...

I tried to play it coy "What girl on the Vineyard?" I asked. Anyway, we chatted for a bit and I told him that apparently I knew his sister. And we made the usual comments about small world etc. (remember this is like 1997 way pre-Facebook when degrees of separation were so less in your face and encounters like this still seemed weird and random yet meaningful).

And later on that night we found ourselves alone...

"It's so strange," he says. "You know how you make up lives for people in your head? Well, I totally did that with you. I saw you all the time on the Vineyard - you always hung out with that blond skater boy and you worked in that shop and you always wear headbands." Wow. I thought to myself, he must have been totally stalking me from afar because boy had the details down. But he was hot so I decided I was more impressed than creeped out.

"And," he continues. "I thought that you were a Vineyard girl and lived there all year long and that the blond boy was your long-term boyfriend. And then I come home from the Vineyard to find you sitting in my bedroom and find out you're from the town next to mine."

"Funny how that happens," I said. And then he kissed me. And that kiss launched the adventures of Nomad Boy and the International Woman of Mystery - a story that has dragged on for 12 years and has yet to play itself out.

I went home that night slightly tipsy and overly euphoric and I woke up my mother to tell her in a typical International Woman of Mystery over-dramatic fashion, that I had met the guy I was going to marry.*

I can't say that Nomad Boy and I ever had a serious thing. We haven't. What we've had is a series of summer flirtations and random hook ups, stolen kisses on the couch in his basement while his dad watched TV in the room above us, many steamy late night conversations, flurries of exchanged emails, gmail chats, facebook messages and (sometimes dirty) pictures. We've also had years where we haven't seen each other and we've had many "just missed" connections were we thought we would meet up, but at the last minute it didn't work out - like this summer when we had plans to meet up in San Fran but he suddenly moved to Hawaii just days before we were supposed to meet (the life of a Nomad Boy is this way I suppose).

I sometimes blame our lack of substance on the fact that Nomad Boy and I have never lived in the same place at the same time. Our colleges were nowhere near each other. And since college I've been jet setting around the world and he's been wandering around the US... But for some reason, we have managed to keep in touch all these years which in days LONG before cellphones and when Mark Zucherburg was still in diapers, this was a BIG deal. We actually had to work at staying in touch by doing things like calling eachother's parents houses to find out how to contact each other. Of course in the later years we eventually moved to email and more recently Facebook (Nomad Boy is one of those strange people without a cell phone).

So, to bring you up to the present date... A couple weeks before Thanksgiving, Nomad Boy contacts me via Facebook to tell me he's going to be around the Boston area for Thanksgiving. We were supposed to meet up last Wednesday night in Boston but in typical Nomad Boy style he cancels at the last minute (I'm proud to say that I've finally learned not to be dissapointed by him - or any boy these days). We've been in touch a bit over the holiday and today he told me that he's around in the are for the next month and is planning to come to Boston on Thursday and stay with me over the weekend. 

We will see... Nomad Boy is not really a man of his words. Nor is he to be trusted. But I can say that I would like him to come. I welcome the distraction. And I would love to see what he's up to these days.

I'll be sure to keep you posted.

This concludes the International Woman of Mystery's "It's Raining Men" series. Although it's obviously "To be continued."

So, there you go from nothing to many things. To still totally lacking anything substantial.

In the meantime, I have recently received some awesome awards from some awesome bloggers. Stay tuned for my acceptance speech and pass on of the awards.

Love!

*My mother was typically unimpressed (and annoyed that I was waking her up) but I must say that in my 32 years this is the ONE AND ONLY time the International Woman of Mystery has ever proclaimed she has found a marriable man.

It's Raining Men Part I

So, after feeling all sorry for myself about the dry spot I was going through. Things suddenly changed and now there are boys everywhere!
The first boys to enter my life were my brother and his cute friend who came through Boston last Monday night to play a show (my brother is pretty much a nomadic musician these days but that's a whole other story).

My brother felt the need to send me an email in advance that said - and I'm quoting directly from his email here: "don't attack cute friend though.  he's tall and attractive and Germanic looking and he's kinda got a gf.  ;)"

I'm happy to report that I did not "attack" his cute friend - although he was cute and tall and had a really nice smile. He was also very sick with a sniffly sneezy cold which made him definite hands-off material (although I caught the stupid cold anyway it seems).

Next up was American Boy. Remember him? Here's the deal with American Boy (as I'm sure you are wondering what the deal is - oh what? You aren't? Too bad. I'm going to tell you anyway). American Boy unfortunately managed to move from Boston to San Fransisco right about the same time I moved to Boston - another sign that any sort of relationship between us is not meant to be - no matter how awesome he is. American Boy and I actually met for dinner this summer but outside of a kiss on the check, nothing happened between us. In fact, it was so uneventful I didn't even bother blog about it. And although American boy remains the hottest, coolest, cutest boy ever... I think that we are probably going to remain in the friendship territory. Unfortunately.

Anyway, American boy caught a ride home with me Wednesday night after work. So, we battled the 3 hour day-before-Thanksgiving car ride (normally 1.5 hours) together and spent the time chatting, catching up and listening to good music. It was actually kind of fun to drive with him. I tell you... he is really the perfect boy.

Being in my hometown brought forth lots more boys. On Friday night - Black Friday (btw - can someone pleas tell me when this became such a big deal? And wtf is cyber Monday? Clearly, I've been away too long), I met up with 4 boys from high school at the local pub in the town where we grew up. And although we are 14 years out of high school (damn we're old - although the bar tender did pull me aside to ask me if I really graduated with them because I look "way better" and "way younger" then them - I kid you not. I can't make this stuff up), it took about 5 minutes of conversation before it felt like we had never left high school as our conversation immediately regressed to high school immaturity levels.

And as sometimes happens when you catch up with the boys from highschool on Black Friday and find yourself as the only girl of the group, "handjobs" naturally became the the main topic of conversation. How does this even come up as a topic you ask? What is there to even say about handjobs when you are in your 30's? I have no idea... But that's how it goes with these boys.

So, handjobs was a recurring theme throughout the night. Awesome. And I kept telling them to be quiet since they were yelling the word handjob in really loud voices and I was embarrassed since I felt like the entire bar could hear or totally inappropriate conversation. Which come to think about it is probably why they talked about this particular subject for so long... I was giving them the total reaction they wanted. See? Just like high school. Awesome.

The other topic of the night was farting - but that's kind of the norm for one of those guy friends who has always (and I mean ALWAYS - I've known him since we were three years old) been abscessed with flatulence (high school friends who read this blog - take a BIG guess who I'm talking about). But what really amazes me is how this guy can bring farting into any type of conversation. And what's even more amazing that we have all known him for years but he still manages to make us laugh with the absolute outrageousness of his farting comments. For example, I was showing him a picture from a mutual friend's wedding this summer and he looks at a picture of the Groom and goes. "I bet he rips big juicy ones!" I mean who SAYS that? And who is even thinking that when they are looking at beautiful wedding pictures?

Alright. Enough potty talk. Sorry about that. Moving on...

One of the boys in the high school group was Locker Boy - who I have not seen since our kayaking adventure a month or so back although have been in some contact via text. Locker Boy actually picked me up and delivered me back home after the bar escapade. Upon dropping me off at my parents, Locker Boy made his move and tried to tried to kiss me (something I should have seen coming) and I politely declined by turning my cheek (seriously - this also felt like high school all over again - yes high school readers stop laughing and DO NOT tell him about this blog). Then I felt terrible... (and I kind of feel bad about blogging about this - I deleted this passage and then decided that I had to put it back in cuz this blog is supposed to be about boys and lately I'm omitting too much of the juicy stuff - more on that later... maybe -sometimes I can't don't tell you everything that's going on). I Especially felt bad when he texted me a really sweet message the next day apologizing for trying to make a move and telling me he hoped it wouldn't be awkward between us and asking to hang out again.

But that is not all... don't you worry. There are even more boys around that I'm going to tell you about. But as to not run the risk of writing a very LOOOONG post, I've decided to cut it into two parts.

You will have to come back tomorrow to read the next chapter in this International Woman of Mystery's "It's Raining Men" series.

I'm out. I'm going to work on over decorating my awesome new apartment for Christmas. If you are lucky there will be some pictures coming at you soon!

See you tomorrow.

Peace.

My First American Thanksgiving (since 2002)



Photo courtesy of Zwani.com



So, this is the International Woman of Mystery's first Thanksgiving in the US since 2002 - when I was home briefly between living in Bali and living in China.

I wish I could say that I was so happy to be back and celebrating this great American tradition. And I am happy to be back in many ways.

But mostly, today, I felt lonely, underwhelmed, and out-of-place.

First of all, the holidays are often a bit tough and lonely when you are single. There is no special person  who you look forward to spending a long cozy weekend with. Who can brighten up an ordinary day or holiday as the case my be, and make it wonderful. There is no one causing you to look forward to the holiday just because you know that no matter what, just sharing it with them will make it special and fun and just perfect.

Adding to this sense of loneliness, my family is rather small - so they don't really fill the void that being without a partner creates. Although I have various Aunts and Uncles and cousins, they are scattered about the US and we don't tend to spend holidays together.

My immediate family is my mother, my father, my brother and I. Growing up, we celebrated most holidays with my grandparents (mostly the ones on my father's side). Sometimes our cousins would join for a big dinner at my grandparent's house. But often it was just the 6 of us. But my grandmother - who was the one who made holidays so festive and special - passed away a couple years ago (and is missed by me every single day) and my grandfather is now in the nursing home.

We are now in that phase of life where grandparents are no longer around and neither children nor even significant others (for my brother and I) have yet to arrive (perhaps in my family they never will). And let me tell you holidays suddenly have become rather sad and lacking in some sort of magical spirit that only the very young or the very old can bring to the holidays. Without my grandparents around, holidays have stopped being so special and magical.

My mother is not a big holiday person -and neither is my father. And although they did a great job at making the holidays meaningful when we were younger, as we got older, it was my grandparents who made the holidays special and festive and preserved the traditions. In other words, once the holidays stopped being about the children, they started to be about the grandparents. And in a natural cycle of life, once the grandparents are no longer around, ideally there are children around to fill the void and the cycle continues - but since neither my brother nor I are planning to push out babies anytime soon.... well, we have interrupted the natural cycle and this leads to a very unsatisfactory feeling during the holidays.

And let me tell you, I'm the kind of person who LOVES holidays! There is no 'Ba-humbug' here.  I can see myself in the future as the crazy lady who always invites the entire extended family over to her way too over-decorated house to over-indulge in lots of holiday goodies and goes totally way over the top every time - and loves it!

So, as I mentioned, my first Thanksgiving back in the US was rather underwhelming. My brother decided not to come home for Thanksgiving (despite being in Boston on Monday - he is now in DC playing music). My Aunt who was supposed to visit but got sick and didn't come. My father, my mother and I drove 2 hours (and then 3 hours back) to see my grandfather in the nursing home where we had bland stuffing and mashed potatoes and dry turkey. The best part about the meal was the gravy.

No. Of course the best part was being with my parents and my grandfather (don't get me wrong, I'm very thankful that my grandfather is still around and that I could be with him on this day and I wouldn't have it any other way). But let's face it spending Thanksgiving at a nursing home is never ideal and I couldn't help but feel  a little sad. I couldn't help but miss my grandmother. I couldn't help but reminisce about Thanksgivings past when my grandfather was young and healthy and would proudly cut the turkey and say grace (he is so much the same but at the same time so different than he used to be and sometimes it breaks my heart). I couldn't help but feel envious of friends and colleagues who were participating in large happy Thanksgiving dinners full of lots of family and friends as we sat at a lonely table in the nursing home cafeteria choking down dry turkey and screaming across the table at each other so that my grandfather (who is hard of hearing) can hear us.

It's funny because while living abroad, every year I definitely missed Thanksgiving and was sad not to be at home with my family. But this year, I found myself missing Europe - especially Sweden. I even found myself missing Swedish food! Cranberry sauce is just so similar to lingonberry sauce (a typical Swedish dish - if you are interested to try it, just go to Ikea and get the meatballs, it will come on the side) and I found myself wishing it tasted more like lingon (and laughing at myself because I remember the first time I had lingonberry sauce, I wanted it to be more like cranberry sauce).

And I found myself thinking that the Thanksgiving spread is nothing compared to a typical Swedish Christmas smorgasbord! If I had to choose, I would choose the Swedish julbord (Christmas table) over Thanksgiving any day. But I remember those first years in Sweden that I spent thinking that Swedish holiday food just didn't live up to American holiday food. I wonder when my point of reference changed? It was so gradual. I didn't notice it at all. One day I just felt more Swedish than American I guess...

I also have spent some time today reminiscing about Thanksgiving days spent abroad. Of course I was always working on Thanksgiving day and for the most part, Thanksgiving was a non-event. But I do remember each year recognizing the fact that it was Thanksgiving and thinking about that throughout the day.

I remember the year in China where we had great plans to either order in (you could literally order in a Thanksgiving dinner from the American store) a Thanksgiving dinner or go out to eat. But we started drinking right after work and this lead to us ordering pizza which led to us drinking bijao (Chinese rice wine - NEVER a good idea, trust me on this one), and then going to a karaoke bar and belting out American songs totally wasted.

I remember at least 2 Thanksgivings where I had big work dinners in Stockholm. I remember the Europeans toasting me and the other Americans because it was Thanksgiving. I remember wishing I was having turkey rather than salmon. I remember a Thanksgiving spent mostly on a plane back from Moscow. I remember a Thanksgiving where I had take-out Thai food. I remember a Thanksgiving where I ordered a turkey panini from the Cafe down the street and lit a candle and had a glass of wine and sat alone in my apartment wishing I was in the US. I remember last year in London going to a friend's house where this British guy cooked the most awesome Thanksgiving dinner for his American girlfriend and her American friends.

And while this year, I'm thankful for many things - including my family, my grandfather, my friends in the US and all around the world, my new life in Boston, my health, the fact that I have a great job, my awesome new apartment...

I've decided that this will be my last Thanksgiving in the US until I have children. A four day weekend for a holiday I find that I don't care about too much anymore, is way too good to waste. Next year, I'm jumping on a plane to Europe or Latin America or Africa or wherever I feel is interesting (probably Sweden).

And someday, if I ever settle down and find a husband and have children, then no matter where I live in the world, I'm going to throw a HUGE Thanksgiving dinner for all my friends and relatives and make sure that it's a bright and happy and fun-filled day!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

First Weekend Back Home

photo courtesy of portfolio.kevinthom.com

So, yeah. I survived my first weekend in the countryside. And it was a long weekend as today is Columbus Day (you know 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue...). 

In case you are interested, the weekend was kind of like this:

On Friday night after the car purchasing experience, I stayed home BY MYSELF as my parents ditched me for dinner with friends (see how happy they are that I'm home). So, I ordered  Chinese take-out and watched a documentary on TV (oh man did the millions of channels overwhelm my non-TV watching self) on Hippies that was kind of interesting.

On Saturday I spent time on the phone with the car insurance agency, then ran 4.5 miles and did some core exercises (apparently according to Mr. Personal Trainer, I have a weak core - so I'm trying to improve on this. Damn planks. They kick my ass - or my abs as it may be).

Then I jumped in the shower quickly as I had agreed to meet a high school friend - the boy who shared the locker next to mine for 6 years (poor boy) who I have known since I was 3. Locker Boy had seen that I was moving home on Facebook and had a little too eagerly gotten in touch with me.

He originally suggested that we go hiking in the Berkshires - where he lives now. But as didn't want to drive up to the Berkshires because I hate to drive I had some stuff to do in the morning, I suggested he come down here instead. He then suggested that we go kayaking. It was an absolutely gorgeous crisp autumn day so I agreed.*

As I was rushing to get ready, I realized that this felt kinda like a date. Weird. And while this guy is nice and good-looking-ish and I did have a crush on him for about 5 minutes in the EIGHTH GRADE, these days, he is not really my type. I mean he is the typical, small-town, baggy stonewashed jeans and Red Sox hat wearing, Republican type of American boy.

Speaking of clothes... I realized that once again, as per usual, I had packed like an asshole (it happens every time). I did not have any appropriate country-activity type of clothes with me (remember, I have just 2 suitcases of stuff with me, the rest is on a boat from England). Skinny jeans and high heels did not really seem appropriate for kayaking... Neither did a dress. Besides, what do you wear for kayaking anyway? I have only been kayaking in a bathing suite in the summer. Exasperated with my lack of kayak clothing options and running late (as per usual), I decided to throw on a skirt while fixing my hair and makeup and figure out what to wear later.

Unfortunately Locker Boy arrived before I got around the changing my clothes again. He laughed at my outfit and told me it was not appropriate for kayaking. "Don't you have any jeans?" he asked.


"Ummm... only skinnny jeans."

"Sweat pants?"

"Ummm... no. I will sort something out," I said and left him alone with my parent's dog while I scrambled to assemble an appropriate kayaking outfit.

I finally settled on black khaki-type pants, sneakers, sweater, scarf and jacket. I grabbed the skirt though and a pair of boots and decided to bring them with me.

Locker Boy deemed my outfit appropriate but laughed at me for bringing a skirt with me.

Anyway, we drove up on small country roads taking in the beautiful autumn scenery (seriously, I cannot say this too many times NOTHING BEATS FALL IN NEW ENGLAND) to some small town I had never heard of (we are talking hickville here) and went out kayaking on a big lake. 

photo courtesy of jasonfarnsworth.com



Not to brag or anything, but I do have to admit that I was kind of awesome at kayaking and Locker Boy was struggling to catch up - for real. He had a laugh at this because his father (who the kayak's belonged to) was all worried that I wouldn't be able to kayak at all. Jeez. This family has known me since I was a little kid. They should know how sporty I am!

It was lovely out on the lake - we kayaked from one end to the other taking just over an hour to do so and feeling pretty tired by the end. It was a beautiful day but windy and the water was extremely choppy and we ended up soaking wet! Well let me tell you, I was the one laughing when after getting completely soaked kayaking, I could slip into my skirt and boots and be all nice and dry while Locker Boy had to endure his wet jeans!

We then decided to head to the local pub where they make their own micro-brew (the master brewer graduated with us from high school - see it's that kind of small town that my parents live in). There we had pints - oops... I guess pints are in the British word. I think in America it's drafts?

Anyway, we had some drafts of the local brew. Another thing I LOVE about America: micro-brews! I had yummy American Wheat beer (or 2 or possibly 3) and also a fabulous pumpkin spice beer. Gotta love America and all it's flavour options (if you are American, you know what I mean - and no this does not exist in other countries like it does here - I have never seen pumpkin spice listed as a flavor outside the good old USA). I'm feeling fall festive and so I'm loving pumpkin flavors right now (seems like everything from coffee, to muffins, to beer has this option here).

Locker Boy was interesting to talk to and surprisingly a good conversationalist. Although the interesting part is that we were so different. He was Mr. American and I was Ms International... He was all waxing poetic about why guns are great (Yes Europe, I'm so serious here) and I was all like - "guns are illegal in Europe and therefore the homicide rate is lower." I told him that cops in the London do not even carry guns (thank you Mr. Sexy Policeman for that bit of info) and he found this hard to believe. Although we were both stumped over the question of how to "de-gun" America if it ever came to that (I admit that would be a hard one), leading him to conclude that my visions of a gun-free America are ridiculous and therefore I should suck it up and learn to love guns. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em right? Right? Well maybe that will be my next purchase after the apartment - KIDDING!

He admitted he has conservative views - i.e. he is was against abortion and gay marriage and thinks Obama's an idiot. I actually kept my mouth shut and left him to his right-wing views without trying to argue for once - actually I was shocked silent since I had forgotten that yes, this is America. I realized that I'm kind of ill-equipped to go head-to-head on American politics at the moment. I need a quick brush up on American politics and to figure out where I stand exactly on key issues (it's strange but it was easy to not pick sides on American politics while living abroad, and I'm used to being the conservative one when discussing politics with Europeans).

And of course I talked about my life abroad and my travels. He seemed impressed with all the places that I had been. And of course talking about traveling got me excited and all I wanted to do was get back on a plane and go back abroad. (Sob).

And then we had this conversation which I feel perfectly exemplifies why it's going to be so hard to fit back into American life:


Him: "Like are there any countries you would never go to? I mean, like why would you want to go to Iceland? You wouldn't ever go there right?"

Me: "Well, I was actually there on Wednesday..."

Silence.

Locker Boy: "You are kidding right?"

Me: "Well no, I technically was only at the airport so that doesn't really count. But yes, I was in Iceland on Wednesday for 2 hours, so I'm not lying. But I hear it's a cool place and it is somewhere I really want to go and hang out..."

Silence.

Locker Boy: "Wow. It's kind of hard to talk to you. You have done everything. I have done nothing unless you count going to New Orleans two years ago."

Silence.

So... there it is. My life as an International Woman of Mystery is over. And not only that. Having that experience makes me weird and just plain hard to talk to. Great!

And so the date ended - and admitedly conservative talk aside, I had a really nice time. I went home and hung out with my parents and their dog and their cat and my blog.

On Sunday, I laid out at the pool and willed the autumn sun to give me some color - it did but only a little. Then went for a 6 mile run followed by more exercises. Then my Mom made me my favorite lobster dinner!

On Monday, I spent the morning searching apartment listings in Boston (next task) and doing more move-related emailing (i.e. trying to get my security deposit back from my London apartment, arguing on the phone with British Telecom over my bill - again, trying to figure how to wire my money from my London account to my US account, and hassling with the movers over my customs documents). And then I spent the afternoon at the mall wherea among other things I purchased an IPAD!!!!

As if it wasn't enough that I bought a car this weekend, I had to then rush out and buy and Ipad too (say nothing of a few new clothes to update the back-to-work wardrobe). Let me tell you, the Ipad is soooo cool (except for the fact that you cannot blog on it - you can read blogs, but you can't blog, or at least I can't find the right app - does anyone know of one)?

Is it really bad that I secretly think that my Ipad is cooler than my new car? Although I might change my mind tomorrow when I actually take possession of the car.

So, that was it. My exciting first weekend back in the US. A far cry from my club nights and meeting hot boys in London... And a bit more expensive too.*

*When talking about what "moving home" would be like, my Swedish friends tried to reassure me that my life in the US wouldn't be so different than my life anywhere else. I told them they were crazy. I was all like "Hello? Boston is a small city with a very student oriented night life. The bars close at 1 or 2 am. There is no hot single 30 something scene like there is in Stockholm. There are no nightclubs like there are in London. My life is totally going to change. I'm going to spend my weekends hiking and doing outdoorsy sporty country things."


But Swedish ladies - here's your proof! This International Woman of Mystery has become a Country Girl!

They didn't believe me...

Back 'Home'

So. I'm 'home.' I landed yesterday in Boston and am now at my parents in Western Massachusetts.

The last weeks have been tough. Full of anxiety, preparations, packing, worrying about things, turning off gas/electricity/Internet/water, canceling things, worrying about things, goodbye dinners and parties, lots  of sad goodbyes and lots of worrying about things.

It was difficult to say goodbye to friends and colleagues in London and Sweden. And throughout all the sad goodbyes. I did not cry. Some of my friends cried. Some of my colleagues even got a bit teary eyed. But I did not cry.

I did not even cry when I found out that the cost of shipping my stuff home would cost $1,000 more than what I budgeted (that's right it apparently costs a whopping $5,000 to 43 boxes of "six years of stuff" from London to the US).

I did not even cry when I found out I was loosing part of my security deposit on the crazy expensive London apartment for stupid reasons like a stain on a bedspread that I had professionally cleaned and then never used!

I did not even cry at the airport in Stockholm where I started to get this panicked feeling when I realized that after this plane ride, I had no more trips scheduled. I can't remember the last time that I had no trips (and no plane rides) scheduled. For the past 9 years, my crazy travel schedule has ruled my life. And I hated it. But I also loved it. At least life was never ever boring.

I did not even cry on the plane when I watched a movie with a scene filmed on King's Road right down from where my London apartment used to be and I at first felt that jolt of excitement and then extreme sadness when I realized that I no longer live there anymore.

I did not even cry when I got all the emails and texts from my colleagues who are in Dubai (where I would have been if I had not decided to switch jobs and countries) and having a blast celebrating a good end to our sales year.

I did not even cry when I arrived 'home' and felt this deep sense of loss and sorrow as I realized that perhaps my whole life is behind me and all the good things, the fun things, the things that make me me, the glamour of an international life, the nightclubs, the boys, the ridiculous drinks, the amazing international friends, the partying in different cities, the amazing friends around the world, that those things are now in my past and the future is a big lackluster unknown.

I did not even cry when today - on my first day home in the US - I got that familiar feeling of already wanting to get back on a plane and return to my 'home' abroad as that is where I feel that I belong... and then realizing that there is no more 'home' abroad. That I am here and here is now 'home' whether I belong here or not.

I didn't cry because I'm afraid if I started to cry, then the floodgates would be open I would never be able to stop crying. Because right now it seems there is more to be sad about than happy about. More to be worried about than to be content about. More to be anxious about than to look forward to.

Ahead of me is a mountain of 'stuff to do' like: find a car to buy, figure out how to finance the car, find an apartment, find a place to stay until I can start the lease on the apartment, read some books for work, fill out the customs forms to bring all my stuff into the country, pay the movers, figure out storage for all my stuff because it seems to be arriving before I will have an apartment, try to contact old friends, try to make new friends, figure out Internet dating in the US, find a man, start my new job.

But those are just tasks. They are practicals to take care of. They are not plans. They are not fun. They are the details of life but not the substance. 

I feel like I'm at the bottom of the mountain of  'stuff to do to get settled in' and I'm not sure what I will find when I get to the top of that mountain. And I'm so afraid that I'm going to look around, take in the view of 'my new stationary life' I'm not going to like what I see. That I'm not going to know who I am anymore when I'm stuck in the city of Boston and no longer a jet-set International Woman of Mystery.

There are so many unknowns right now and the control freak in me is completely freaking out.

Picture courtesy of webecoist.com

But this morning while driving with my father I saw a rainbow and this evening while running, I saw another one. I take this as a good sign. An omen. Two omens actually.

So, despite wanting to just cry, I am holding out a rainbow fueled hope (however small it may feel) that all the fun in my life is not in my past. That there somewhere in the future, good things are going to happen to me.

Things I'm looking forward to about moving home

So... Today is my last night in London. Can you believe it? Cuz I can't!

Feels very strange to be in my empty apartment (and very terrible to be sleeping in my bed without my memory foam mattress)! The movers came yesterday and packed up 6 years of stuff in 43 boxes. How did I manage to accumulate that much stuff? I have no idea. I guess it's on its way back to Boston now. It will meet me there in 6 - 8 weeks (I hope).

Today was the cleaning of my apartment. And tomorrow is the final check out (and please oh please let me get my 2,700 GBP security deposit back because I really need it to buy furniture in Boston).

It all feels so unreal.

Tonight The Company had a really nice dinner for me and we reminisced about the last 6 years and The President and VP said really nice things and we recalled lost of fond memories from back in the day when we were younger... (They also gave me some really nice gifts). It made me sad and nostalgic. It was hard. Tomorrow - the last day in the office - that will be hard too.

I'm not leaving The Company but I'm completely changing products/divisions/industries and although I know it's time for a change, I can't help but to feel sad about leaving my current product and all the great people I have worked with for the past 6 years.

And I'm surprised and humbled at all the nice things people have to say about working with me and that it truly feels like they might miss me as much as I will miss them.

I have to say - I hate goodbyes. As much as this has all been nice and sweet, I overwhelmingly feel like it is something to be endured and I keep wishing there was a fast forward button so I could get off this emotional rollar coaster I've been riding for far too long now. Above all, I'm determined not to cry. What's the point? I have to just look forward and move ahead. And hope that good things are waiting in my future.

Tomorrow I fly to Stockholm to hang out for a few days. Good friend J is getting married to S on Saturday (stay tuned for the final wedding blog post of the year) and I'm looking forward to that. And in general, I'm looking forward to catching up with the girls, participating in the Stockholm nightlife (Beware Berns - I'm going to kill it on Friday night), having fika, shopping at H&M, running in Hagerparken and generally soaking up as much Stockholm awesomeness as I can before leaving on a one way flight to Boston next Wednesday (sob).

So... I might go off the radar for a few days but am sure to catch up with you all soon when I'm back in the US!

In the meantime... here's the deal, I'm totally nervous and kind of dreading moving back to Boston - as you can see from many of my latest posts. But there are a few things that I'm secretly looking forward to.

So, I leave you with this small list:

Things I'm looking forward to about moving home:

Autumn in New England - Is there anything better than Autumn in New England? I don't think so actually! I have felt sad about missing New England Autumn every year. Autumn everywhere is kind of nice and special and gives you that cozy nostalgic feeling. But, every single Autumn that I've spent outside New England, I've been thoroughly disappointed. Because when it's Autumn - there is truly no place like home!*

Lobster and clam chowder - It will be nice to eat my favorite New England foods more often. As my Mother advised when I was very little: "Never eat lobster or clam chowder outside of New England unless you want to be very disappointed." I have to say that she was totally right. And the few times I made the mistake... I did regret it (unless it was imported from New England of course - for real, I've had Maine lobster in China).

The Red Sox, The Patriots, The Bruins, The Celtics - I'm not the world's biggest sports fan (i.e. I did not stay up to ridiculously late hours just to watch New England sports teams while living abroad. In fact, apart from my updates from my Father -a real sports enthusiast). And over the years I have become pretty out of touch with the world of New England sports. But I do kind of miss watching sports and I'm looking forward to being swept away by the sports enthusiasm of Boston. Go Pats!

Being closer to family - It will be nice to have my parents just 2 hours away and to get to see my grandfather more. I also hope to soon visit my cousin and her kids in Maine!

The countryside - London is a great city and the country is definitely accessible, but it doesn't feel like the countryside is in the city, the way it did in Stockholm. I've found myself desperately craving the countryside. It will be nice to be in Boston with a car and able to drive home to my parent's house or go up to New Hampshire or Maine when I need a quick countryside fix.

Reuniting with old friends - I don't have a big social group that I'm going back to in Boston. I've been away way too long. Most of my Boston friends have moved outside the city and are working on building their families. But there are a few people that have reached out to me and I'm looking forward to reconnecting with them. And I'm hoping they will become my new cast of characters in my blog - Sexy Single Friend C, Lovely couple L and P and SB - I'm looking at you! And for all you unsuspecting Bostonians who do not know me yet... all I can say is WATCH OUT!!! Boston here I come! Get ready for it!

Mexican food - I love Mexican food. But it's extremely difficult if not impossible to find it abroad. And never have I ever encountered a place abroad that does a decent burrito. Can't wait to eat some yummy Mexican. (drool)

Whole Foods and Trader Joes - These are the best stores ever! I absolutely love Whole Foods and Trader Joes is great as well. And although there was a Whole Foods in South Kensington, it wasn't very convenient to where I lived. Luckily, Whole Foods in Boston will be easily accessible by car (because yes, I will have a car).

Dunkin Donuts - I love their coffee. And there is just something about going through a drive through that makes me feel so American.

Salad Bars - I love me a good old "make your own salad" bar. I have never seen this concept in any other country. My office restaurant has a make your own salad bar and I can't wait to hit that!

American Gyms - I am so tired of the crowded, hot, small and windowless European gyms. I'm looking forward to the big, spacious and better equipped gyms in the US. And maybe if I'm lucky there will be some cute men there too!

Running on the Charles - Guess I'm trading the Thames for the Charles. But in terms of beauty, I think the Charles wins... Can't wait for lovely runs on the river!

Proximity to Latin America - I'm gonna miss Europe, but I am hoping to do a bit more traveling in Latin America and that is much easier from the US. And a long weekend in Miami wouldn't be too bad either!

The weather - Boston might not have the best weather in the world, but compared to London and Sweden it's pretty freaking fantastic! And as you drive everywhere in the US anyway, the weather becomes much less of a big deal. Say nothing of the fact that there is so much more light in the winter (although I guess that conversely means that there is so much less light in the summer).

*I'm pretty sure that Autumn doesn't need a capital at the beginning of it... But I'm too lazy to either look it up or go back and fix it. My blog. My rules. For me, Autumn has a capital A.

The End of Summer

It's official summer is over. Here in the UK the August bank holiday that marks the official end of summer here has came and gone two weeks ago. And this past Monday was Labor Day in the US - the official end of summer for Americans.

My question is where the hell did summer go? I feel like it just started yesterday!

And because I live in London, I think that I do have the right to bitch about the weather. So, let me start by saying this summer was a complete let down! Although it started off well enough. And the weather I had while on vacation in the US was amazing! I was expecting to return to London in mid-July to experience some nice warm summer days in London. Boy was I disappointed! It was rainy and cold in London all summer! Other than the 4 weeks I spent in the US, I feel like I had no summer at all. Boo!

Alright, enough complaining. Let's quickly review what I did this summer...

To start with, I hit up the wonderful country of Spain twice in one month - first Barcelona and then Madrid!

I watched the second Sex in the City Movie.

I stressed about my summer of weddings and what I was going to wear and how I was going to face all those weddings ALONE as a single gal.

I went to the first fabulous wedding in Sweden and where I kissed a younger hot boy. I saw a dear old friend get married in Western Massachusetts. I went to San Fransisco where saw my "other brother"  get married in the most over the top kick ass party non-traditional wedding of the year.

I chilled at home in the USA with my parents and their pets and thought a lot about Americans. I went to one of my oldest friend B's beautiful wedding on Nantucket where I got to dine on yummy lobster and catch up with old friends.

I spent some time on boats on the Thames. The first time, I got to DRIVE the boat. The second time I met a hot Swedish guy dressed like Chuck Bass.

I went for a fantastic weekend trip to Smogen with the girls where we ate lots of seafood and I kissed a cute boy in the rain.

I experimented with leaving Chelsea. I went on boring date with a Scottish guy from Match, but I had more fun dating myself. The best date however was with the sexy cop - but unfortunately, he wasn't that into me.

I thought a lot about what it means to be a foreigner and what men should clearly not do when Internet dating.

I also offered up some words of wisdom.

I wrote my first unfortunate drunk blog. I went clubbing and met hot boys.

I went on a totally awesome trip to South Africa and saw 7 lions while on a safari!

And after all that overindulgence and alcohol this summer, I decided that since my clothes no longer fit right, I need to hit the gym and therefore I started to see a personal trainer who makes me do really crazy things.

I also found out my Ex-Boyfriend got engaged! And the Beautiful Swede reached out to me again. I have not written him back though - I'm proud to say!

So, what does the autumn bring for this International Woman of Mystery? Well, funny that you should ask? Because MASSIVE changes are on the horizon. I mean huge. But more on that later.

Stay tuned for an update on my awesome trip to Stockholm.

Toodles.

About Americans Part II

Well, I'm off to London today and feeling rather sad about it - especially the going back to work part.

But before I go, I wanted to leave you with a few last reflections on Americans as a follow up to my last post on the same topic.

Bathrooms in America are TERRIBLE! I mean seriously in my book they are now ranking second worst IN THE WORLD outside of Asia (obviously). Nowhere else in the world has these terrible metal stalls where you can see underneath and between the cracks. When I'm sitting on the toilet here, I feel that everyone is looking at me. And when I'm washing my hands and looking in the mirror, I don't want to see through the cracks of the stalls and accidentally watch someone doing her business. Some things are meant to stay private. The Swedes and the Scandinavians have it right. Very nice bathroom stalls with proper doors you can shut - often with a private sink in every stall. And for some reason, despite being mostly unisex, the bathrooms in Scandinavia are WAY CLEANER than the bathrooms in America. I mean come on Americans why are your bathrooms so gross!?!

There are a lot of vegetarians and vegans in the USA - especially in California

Americans love ICE - Americans seem to only drink cold drinks and therefore use TONS of ice. I actually am not so crazy about ice and I have even been known to drink warm beer (all beer in Indonesia was served warm) when necessary, but I do hate it when I order an ice latte in Sweden and they put about 2 ice cubes in it which melt before they hand it to me. I mean, come on! But Americans use so much ice that there is hardly any room left for the drink. If you want an American to complain, just hand them a warm drink. And it does seem like every American household (including mine) has one of those refrigerators that dispenses ice.

Don't forget to go through the Drive Through - I know that drive throughs exist in other countries but I'm pretty sure it was an American invention and that it's still more popular here than anywhere else. As for me, I love me a good old Dunkin Donuts drive through any day! And I pretty much have driven through the Dunken Donuts drive through on a daily basis since being home.

Microbrew Beer is popular - Americans are crazy about their beer. They like to have lots of different flavors of micro brews on tap. It seems like everyone is doing their own beer these days. I love Sam Adams - Sam Summer is the best - especially if you add a lemon.

Light Beer - Here Light beer means less calories not less beer (umm... hello Sweden). Americans are crazy about light beer. It seems that Coors light and Bud light still are the beers of choice. I actually prefer Sam Adams light. Apparently Budweiser now makes a beer with only 54 calories - I haven't tried this yet. However, I do totally recommend Bud Light lime. It goes down like water and is oh so refreshing!

BBQ's (also known as cook outs) are a big deal in the summer time - traditional fare is hamburgs, hot dogs, maybe some chicken. A summer party is usually a rather casual affair. Someone mans the grill. Often guests bring some kind of dish. People eat on paper plates with plastic cutlery. They tend to eat standing up or can find a seat somewhere. In general eating is much more casual than in Europe where paper plates don't seem to exist and there is more emphasis on sitting down together to eat - even at a picnic or a BBQ.

New Englanders love their seafood - Lobster, clams, clam chowder, scallops - all traditional New England fare. If you are in New England, I totally recommend lobster although outside of New England (unless it's coming from New England), I would say skip it.

Service with a smile - In the USA, we know that the "customer is always right" and therefore Americans are known for their awesome customer service. Whether in a restaurant or a shop, you can count on Americans to provide service with a smile. It might have something to do with the fact that they are working for tips, which brings me to my next point...

When in America, do not forget to tip - Tipping is a big deal here. If you are at a restaurant, you should tip 15 - 20%. If you are getting a coffee, don't forget to leave your change in the tip jar. If you are at a bar, a dollar a drink is the deal. Even if you are at a wedding and it's open bar, you should be tipping the waitstaff (so bring one dollar bills). You should tip all the people who help you at the hotel (bell boys, the person who gets you a taxi). You should tip the taxi driver. And when you are staying at a hotel, it's common to leave a small tip in the room for the housecleaning! And at Christmas, you are supposed to give everyone something extra! In my opinion, tipping is a bit out of control.

Americans love hip hop and rock and roll - none of this Euro dance music for them

Summer means baseball! World Cup? What's that? I say GO RED SOX!

America the Beautiful

Although the Fourth of July is over, It’s officially still the Fourth of July weekend and I’m still feeling pretty patriotic!

Check out this awesome 100 Great Things About America list! It is so right on. It’s such a good list it reminds me of one of my own awesome lists! I totally could have written this list. In fact, many of the things that are on this list are things that I have mentioned before!

As I know that most of you are lazy and won’t even click on the link (although I really recommend that you do; seriously, just DO IT), let me list some of my favorites from the list: flip flops*, the Tiffany’s box, ice cream, chewing gum, Bendy straws, Redwood trees, The Golden Gate Bridge, New Year’s Eve (every country has one but they all watch Times Square), Baseball, Kegs, S’mores, salt water taffy, roller coasters...

Oh - and in case you are wondering what MY beautiful America looks like... well it looks something like this:

My Dog at the pool

My parents have a ginormous and fabulous pool!

I should note that the weather has been FREAKING FABULOUS! I don’t ever remember it being so amazing when I’ve been on vacation. Today was another day of “not a cloud in the sky” - see picture below so you know I’m so not lying. Although the temperatures soared (over 100 degrees which is about 38 Celsius), the humidity was low and all in all it was a beautiful day. In fact, this marks the 7th day in a row of pretty spectacular days!

See - Not a Cloud in the Sky!

I should also not that this is sadly the last week of my 3 week vacation (sob) and the final week of my four week US adventure. I go back to London a week from today. So... I’m kind of in that vacation panic where you realize it’s almost over and there are so many more things you want to do (or should have done). Above all I’m determined to soak up as much sun and good feelings as possible in order to return to London a more relaxed person.

This week I will actually attend wedding number 4 of the summer (remember there are 5 in total). My good friend B who I have known since I was three years old will get married to D her long-term love and they are doing it in NANTUCKET! Now, I have never been to Nantucket, but let me tell you, I’m oh so excited! Especially since I will be kickin’ it at a nice hotel with other long term childhood BFF’s S and K. We are headed out to Nantucket on Thursday where the wedding weekend will kick off with a Clam Bake. The actual wedding is on Friday and then we will stick around on Saturday (thank you three night hotel minimums) to just enjoy! S is attempting to arrange a boat trip - sounds like fun to me!

In case you are wondering, Nantucket is a small island off of Massachusetts (south of the Cape) and it’s a summer hot spot for the well-to-do. It’s supposed to be lovely! And hopefully this amazing weather will hold out.

Happy Monday everyone! Hope your week is off to a good start.

Happy Birthday America (and Dad)

Today America celebrates it’s 234th birthday and in other news my Father celebrates his 60th birthday (every year he thinks the fireworks are for him). Happy Birthday America! Happy Birthday Dad!

So, I guess you are wondering what I did to celebrate? I’m sure you are expecting some crazy party or story or at the very least a of the top fun things I did... But for once, I’m actually going to disappoint you. I have to admit that I did a whole lot of NOTHING on this Fourth of July. Life has been kind of running away with me for the past few months (if you haven’t noticed) and I thought that I would take this opportunity between big wedding weekends: last week San Fran and next week Nantucket, to just chill out a little bit. I think it’s been a much needed chill out time... But I have to admit, I’m getting a bit bored and am ready to get back into real life.

But the weather has been fabulous: over 90 degrees and yesterday there was literally not a cloud in the sky. Last night, we celebrated my father with a pool/keg/BBQ party - what else? So, I drank Sam Summer (from the keg) and chatted with my parent’s friends. Then went up to my parent’s friend’s lake house in Goshen to see some fireworks. Not exactly a wild evening - but nice.

Today I hung out by the pool and then braved the heat and went for a run (something I don’t really recommend doing in this heat - too hot)! Had dinner with the parents (hamburgs and hot dogs of course), hung out by the pool some more watching the sun set and then we decided not to drive to see any fireworks but rather to watch the on television (obviously not my idea and also something I don’t recommend as it’s not at all like being there). So, we tuned in for the NYC ones (which are supposed to be the best) and that was going ok until my Mother pressed some buttons on the remote control and started rewinding the DVR and then things got a little bit messed up. Then once Mom’s remote control privileges were revoked for the night, we settled in to watch the Boston Fireworks - which I actually thought were better.

But not to leave you with nothing (and for all my International readers), here is a rather boring list of Top Ten List of things you SHOULD do on the Fourth of July.

Top Ten Things you Should do on The Fourth of July

1. Go to the beach (if that is not possible, then a pool will do)

2. Gather with family and/or friends and have a fabulous time

3. Play sports such as wiffle ball or football (American style)

4. Have a BBQ

5. Eat hot dogs and hamburgers - as you do in America

6. Eat ice cream

7. Wear red white and blue (or something Patriotic - its seems that this year those Statue of Liberty Crown hats are a big deal) and march in a parade, watch a parade or join in whatever your town or city is doing to celebrate the Nation's Birthday

8. Sing Patriotic songs and wave American flags - seriously, this is important!

9. Drink beer - especially a patriotic and seasonal beer like Sam Summer

10. Watch FIREWORKS!

So faithful readers, as you can see... My Fourth of July weekend was a little calm. Did anyone else do anything crazy? If so, leave me a comment and tell me about it so I can live vicariously through you.

And Holla to Sweden - Midsommar kicks the Fourth of July’s ass. I know that as a true Patriot and an all around All American girl I should not say such things. But ha! I did anyway. I really missed Midsommar this year!

I hope everyone had a safe and fun Fourth of July weekend. And please share your stories!

About Americans

I have been in the US for just over a week now. This week I had the pleasure of spending most of the week in Boston. Which by the way was totally awesome. Thanks to my friends L and L for hosting me.

I've therefore had a bit of time to observe Americans and their behaviour. I would like to therefore offer up a few reflections I have "About Americans."


American women all have nicely pedicured toes - seriously, I dare you to find one woman between the ages of 15 and 45 who doesn't have cute little painted toes. The first thing I did upon arriving back in the great old USA? You got it. I booked myself right in for a much needed pedicure! (By the way, I also got an awesome Shellac manicure. It's a long lasting one. It dries in 2 minutes and is supposed to last for 2 weeks. I'm the type of girl who completely destroys my manicure the second I get to the car, but with this - so far, so good. I totally recommend).

Flip Flops are definitely the summer shoe of choice - Havainas being the most popular at the moment. Skinny jeans (finally arriving here in America) and flip flops seemed to be the wardrobe of choice for women in Boston. But both men and women rock flip flops here. They are worn EVERYWHERE and with everything. With suits at the office, with bridesmaid dresses, with wedding dresses, with shorts, with skirts with dresses and now with skinny jeans...

Americans love their sports teams (especially the Bostonians) - I got to watch the final game of the NBA tournament from Boston - featuring the Boston Celtics vs. the LA Lakers. Unfortunately, the Celtics lost, but it was still an experience to watch a Boston team play a game from a Boston sports bar. First of all this sports bar must have had around 40 televisions lining every free wall space in the very spacious bar. Second, almost everyone was wearing Celtics shirts (at least all the men were and many of the women). Third, everyone was drinking beer - out of plastic cups no less... I started to have flash backs to college right especially since by the end of the night my flip flops were absolutely sticking to the floor so bad I had to pry them off with quite a bit of effort with every step.

Americans are SUPER SIZED. Ok, obviously, not all Americans are huge (although that is the stereotype), but you definitely see a lot more super sized (well fat actually) people here. At least once a day when I'm out and about, I see a person who is just uncomfortably HUGE. In Europe, I don't think I've even seen one person who I've felt is alarmingly super sized American fat. But, just in general, Americans are big. Especially the men. Broad shoulders, big arms, big beer bellies - even the guys who are hot and fit (like the American boy who by the way I did get to meet) are still just big... It's just not the same in Europe. As one American man put it - "I just can't wear European clothing, it's too slim fit for me. I can't fit my shoulders or arms or legs in them." Hmm... why is that? Growth hormones anyone? Or possibly it's the SUPER SIZED proportions - seriously the proportions here are so out of control. Please show me another country where a "doggy bag" is such a common necessity.

American men wear very baggy (and bad) clothes. Ok, as I'm in honest person, I'm just going to say it. Most American men dress terribly! Big baggy jeans. Big unflattering suits. KHAKIS! Ewww... Sports T-shirts. Sneakers. Shorts! Yuck! I am already missing the sleek and tailored (ok, yes slightly metro) way that European men dress. My American girlfriends find it hilarious that I prefer this style to the American style (they think it's beyond metro and swear they could never date a guy who wears skinny jeans). They laugh at the fact that last summer the Beautiful Swede showed up at a Boston bar in Southie with white linen tailored pants, a baby blue collared shirt and a pink (yes pink) sweater over his shoulders and then proceeded to order a glass of Rose wine. The even more hilarious thing in their eyes is that I didn't even notice that this might be out of the ordinary until they proceeded to point it out to me. I have become Europeanized! To be honest, the way he dressed (and ordered Rose) was not at all abnormal in Sweden. I guess men there are just more comfortable with their sexuality and well way better dressers! I could never date a sloppy baggy jeaned American man!

Americans in general are very polite - this never fails to impress me. They are very curteous, they always give compliments and they seem to go out of their way to make you feel comfortable and at ease.

Americans get married very young and the women wear ridiculously sized diamond rings - I have noticed that I am an anomaly being over 30 and not sporting a huge rock on my left finger. This is less uncommon in Europe and certainly there seems to be less pressure to get married (and spend your entire savings on a ring) when you are young.

Americans are not as crazy about the World Cup as the rest of the world - While people are watching the World Cup here, there is not the same kind of frenzied excitement and activity that surrounds such a momentous event that I have experienced while living abroad during the last two world cups. The last two World Cups I had the pleasure of watching it in the same time zone (i.e. I was in Asia - Bali - when the World Cup was in Japan/Korea and in Stockholm when it was in Germany). There is definitely something to be said for being in the right time zone to watch the games (i.e. it's easier to watch them at the bar). The funny thing is that most children play "soccer" but we are not that used to watching it on television for some reason. I have not managed to watch a single game yet and I'm very disappointed in myself... I have unfortunately not had a free moment since I returned to the US, but that's another story.

Taxis in the USA are not very nice - whether eating in a restaurant, getting served at a bar, buying something at the supermarket or a clothing store, Americans tend to provide service with a smile and assume that the customer is always right. In a country with a strong customer service focus and in general excellent service, the one place where I find it appallingly lacking is when you get into a taxi. (probably because most taxi drivers tend to be recent immigrants...) But inevitably you end up with a driver who speaks little to no English and ignores your directions as he yells madly into his cell phone (yes, here it's a cell phone and not a mobile phone) - which I can't believe is even allowed here! It's not allowed in Sweden or the UK that's for sure. Also, I have to say that in Sweden and the UK, the taxi drivers are always very professional. And even in Sweden they speak way better English then the typical American taxi driver.

Americans have finally caught on to cool phone technology. It was not too long ago that while their European and Asian counterparts lost in their world of "texting," had forgotten that mobile phones can still be used to make phone calls, most Americans didn't even know how to send a simple text message. Times have changed and Americans seemed to have caught with and even surpassed their global counterparts. Thanks to Blackberries and Iphones that is. It seems like every American is typing away all the time on one of those two devices. Even both my parents have Blackberries which is just plain wierd.

Granted these are just my observations from the East Coast. I'm headed out west to San Fransisco for the rest of these week to participate in wedding number 3 of the 5 weddings I will attend this summer. I think it's going to be a great time. I'm looking forward to it! So in case you are wondering if the West Coast is any different (or if I will ever meet any cute boys this summer) well stay tuned for a West Coast update!

Hope you all are enjoying the summer!
XOXO

USA Update

So, I have officially been back in the USA for 4 days now. I got in late last Thursday so therefore today is officially my 4th day here. It is also my 4th day off of work. I have taken Friday and Monday off as vacation but plan to work out of Boston for the rest of the week.

Because my last post went on and on forever and ever, this time I will spare you the details and instead leave you with a very short list (relatively speaking) about what I've been up to since I landed back Stateside because I'm sure you are all very curious about what I'm up to and if I'm at all living up to my vacation to-do list. So, here goes:

First of all, I'm very happy to tell you all that I got CARDED on the plane on the way to the US! What is going on here? This is the second time in the past month (I must be doing something right). We didn't actually get to the point of me needing to show my actual ID. However, she did ask my age in a very skeptical tone and when I told her that I was the very old age of 32 she burst out laughing (and embarrassingly, so did everyone around me) and she actually said: "Wow. You look no older than 18!!" Well, that might have been stretching it a bit. But it did make my day err.... well, my week actually.

Since arriving home to my parent's house in Western Massachusetts, I have been very disappointed in the terrible cold and rainy weather. Blah! Where is summer? I want to lay by the pool!

On Saturday I attended the wedding of one of my oldest friend S. Despite the pouring rain, the wedding and the reception were fantastic! At this point I have to give a shout out to S. I have known S since we were 3 years old and we went to elementary school together. S and I have a long history that dates all the way back to his first bowl cut (over the years for some reason he chose to sport a bowl cut hairstyle most off the time). In elementary school he was like the way too "cool" kid who was always bullying everyone else. In high school he was the typical popular guy who played every sport. He was the guy who relentlessly teased everyone - although I think that he suffered his fair share of well-deserved teasing back. In college, he was the smart engineering student who knew how to have a good time and still get top grades.

Somewhere between elementary school and high school S and I became good friends and that friendship lasted us all the way to college at UNH. Over the years we have shared a lot of memories and good times (and some bad such as the infamous night that I split my head open at his girlfriend's apartment in college - oops). In high school he was a star basketball player and me being the cheerleader I was always had his name and even made up a special cheer for him (yes, we did relive this at the wedding). In college I remember driving home with S in TRUCK (pronounced loudly TRRRUUUCK) - it was a slow going ride since Truck only had 4 gears. People would joke that one day we would get together (I mean that's what you do in small towns right)? But S and I never had a romantic interest in each other. He is like a brother to me and I hope a friend for life.

I'm so happy that S found a beautiful bride in N. They are a beautiful couple I wish them the best of luck!

The wedding enabled me to to catch up with 2 of my best friends from high school who I went to the wedding with. So great to see them!

I also got to catch up with many other friends from high school mostly the high school "boys" at the wedding. Funny how quickly we all revert back to our high school selves and even the way we used to talk... As the mother of the groom said, "You all have such a special bond, and whenever you see each other, you pick right up where you left off." She is right...

As I so often do lately, I managed to feel out of place being one of the only single people as well as one of the few people without children - I guzzled gin and tonics as the couples went on and on about children. Not that I blame them or hold it against them (I'm sure I would be doing it too), it's just that I can't really relate and I certainly have nothing to contribute.

After a night of hearing my friends who are new parents talk about the early 5 am "wake up calls" from the kids and watching the married couples interact (not always in a very encouraging way) I have decided that I am in NO RUSH TO GET MARRIED OR HAVE CHILDREN! Perhaps single life is not all that bad...

I marvelled at the differences between American and Swedish weddings including: at this American wedding most guests (including the Maid of Honor) seemed to be wearing black which is a big "no no" in Sweden, the DJ serves as the person who gets the wedding going rather than the toast master, American weddings tend to have an emphasis on family members while the Swedish wedding has an emphasis on friends, the religious American ceremony vs. the very short and non-religious Swedish one, and the fact that the American wedding ended around midnight while the Swedish one raged on all night. Up next a San Fransisco wedding. We will see how that compares.

I have been trying to wean myself away from work but so far it's only been met with minimal success. Today while I was taking a nap (as you do on vacation) I had work stress dreams the whole time. I also have been unable to stop checking my blackberry (that damn blinking red light) and tonight and last night I actually found myself working for 2 hours! I hope I can find it in me to really leave work behind for awhile once I get through this week.

Today (Monday) the sun peaked its way through the clouds for exactly one hour. Unfortunately, that hour exactly coincided with the contractors who my parents hired to work on rebuilding our barn (no idea why this is important -it's not as if we have barn animals or anything). So, I sat in the house feeling very sorry for myself that I was missing the sun since there was really no way that I could strut out in my bikini in front of the 5 workmen. Thank you Mom and Dad for this great planning. I've been dreaming of a day at the pool for so long! I guess I have to wait a couple more weeks.

In general, I have been feeling a bit stressed and am not in vacation mode at all (probably because I know I have to work the rest of this week) I've been running around trying to sort out things, do work, get to the gym, etc. It has so far been anything but relaxing and so far I have not really crossed a single thing off my to do list and I'm struggling to find time to even sleep. And with this week in Boston and next week in San Fran, it doesn't seem like I will have much down time. Well, I guess that is the life of an International Woman of Mystery. I guess I should just get used to the fast pace.

I'm off to Boston for the rest of the week to work out of the office there and of course - have some adventures. Will keep you posted. So, stay tuned for a Boston update!

Have a great week!
XOXO