Baby Samantha!

A little over 24 hours ago, Jignesh and I became an Aunt and Uncle! While we already have 6 nieces and nephews on Jignesh's side of the family, this is the first on my side. My sister, Jennifer, and her husband, Brian, welcomed a healthy and absolutely adorable baby girl. I am incredibly happy for them and still cannot believe that my sister is now a Mom! While I love living overseas and experiencing all that Europe has to offer, it is times like these when I wish I was closer to family. While Jignesh is heading to Chicago next week to see his family (I am definitely jealous), I am not sure when I am going to be able to hop on a U.S bound flight. Hopefully, it will be sooner rather than later as I am anxious to meet my new niece and smother her with kisses. Congratulations Jen and Brian. I am sure that Samantha will bring you endless amounts of joy, laughter, and love!

Lisbon, Portugal

View of Lisbon from Castelo de Jorge

The town of Sintra

Portugal is known for its painted tiles!

On Top of the Torre de Belem

Palacio Nacional de Pena Gardens

Palacio Nacional da Pena

Not so Exciting European Life

While I love keeping this blog, I have to admit that it puts pressure on us to live glamorous European lives. Most of the time, we simply don't. These past few weeks are a good example. Recently, we have been just like any other young, working couple trying to stay afloat in today's economy. I have been working quite a bit (9 days in a row and counting) and have been spending the early evenings catching up on sleep and spending time with Schlopy. Jignesh's hours at work have steadily been increasing as well. Thus, we have not been doing anything extraordinary or overly thrillng. In fact, we have hardly seen one another much less any great London sight. So, there has not been much to blog about (maybe that is a good thing for those of you forced to read the blog!).

That said, since we do live in Europe, we (or at least I) cannot go too long without doing something exciting! So, tomorrow we are off to Lisbon, Portugal for the weekend. When I travelled through Europe in college, Lisbon was on my list of cities to see. Unfortunately, I never made it there. I really don't know what to expect of Lisbon and I have to admit that I don't know a lot about Portugal. It is a good thing I have a flight to inform myself of the city!

Cheers!

On Cars

One of the things that continues to amaze me about the UK (and Europe in general) is the small size of just about everything. In one of our bathrooms, we have sink so small that you unless you bend down and get right on top of it you will miss when spitting after brushing those pearly whites. Thankfully, I have mastered the technique and no longer have to constantly scoop toothpaste up from the bathroom floor. Brits are constantly amazed by the size of appliances in America. Standard washers and dryers (if you are even lucky enough to have both) can hold about half of what they can back home. In the States, it seems that almost every car on the road is an SUV or mini-van. Here, it is rare to see an SUV unless it is a delivery van. Pick-up trucks? I have not seen a single one since moving here. Even families of five get away without having large cars. They just pile in to a small sedan and make do. Despite some initial hassles of living among small stuff, I have adjusted easily and am actually starting to think that this side of the pond may be on to something. Who really needs a 5 bedroom house with rooms that are rarely used, closets that can hold an entire store of clothes, and a kitchen with endless cabinets. Pictured above is my next car! The Smart Car is a small egg-shaped car that only holds two people. You can park it just about anywhere and the gas mileage is ideal. I know they exist in the States but are rare. Here you seem them everywhere. I think Jignesh, Schlopy, and I would have a blast in one of these.

Cheers!