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Five Years of Living in London

04/13/23 | Expat Life, London, London Anniversary, Real Life

Sparkles and Shoes Five Years of Living in London

Half a decade ago in April 2018 I scanned my first ever one way ticket and got on a plane to the United Kingdom.  If you had told me that five years later I would not only still be living in London but married to an Englishman and parent to a British citizen I would have told you were nuts. However, Mark and Lily are two of the best people to ever come into my life and I am oh so grateful.

Since my brain is in a bit of a newborn blur of broken and nearly sleepless nights I almost forgot this milestone.  However, this past weekend as I was doing my US taxes (womp, womp) I realized that today I will have lived in England for five years.   I have blogged various times over the years about my expat life during this time and there are some things I still find really strange (post codes, eggs not being refrigerated) and others I have come to love like the thoroughness of the NHS in emergency situations or the fact that people actually take their vacation.

Two of the posts I recounted these differences were 10 Surprising Things After One Month in London though many of them still ring true and the same goes with the 13 Things I Wish I Knew Before Moving Abroad in case you missed them.  Living in London, especially during COVID, has been trying but it has certainly had it’s highlights as well.  There is a whole category of Sparkles & Shoes devoted to London as well as more than 80 highlighted stories on my Instagram page of my adventures here.

Five years is a long time, longer than the time I spent in Washington, D.C. for university and coming up on six years that I lived in Manhattan.  So is London forever? Realistically, I am not sure what is next.  If I had to guess I would not say that in another five years I will be living in England , I think my family will be on to our next adventure, be never say never!  And because everyone wants to see baby content it seems, the picture above is from one of our first walks with Lily this past weekend in front of her first London monument, St. Paul’s Cathedral!

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Comments

  1. Jessie says

    April 18, 2023 at 6:32 am

    So behind in my blog posts. So glad to see your back after the arrival of your sweet baby. That was a wonderful blog post as well.

    As an added follower of your blog, I’m glad you’re posting a bit now that you have Miss Lily. Hard for me to believe I’ve been reading posts from London for five years. I always loved your New York posts and all the fun things you were able to do there. Your fashion week posts are also some of my favorite.

    Welcome back and happy five year anniversary.

  2. Tammy says

    April 17, 2023 at 9:13 pm

    Congratulations on your journey in the UK. You have accomplished so much in 5 years there. I can’t wait to see your next 5 year journey there back in the USA or anywhere else. I miss Fashion Friday. Hopefully it comes back soon

  3. Fran says

    April 15, 2023 at 4:38 pm

    What do you miss most about the States?

    What have you liked best about living in London for so long. I know that you have enjoyed the quick traveling from such a central spot which I alway envy.

    To be able to pop to Paris or Amsterdam for the weekend was such a thrill for you. When is Lily’s first road trip?

  4. Emily says

    April 14, 2023 at 7:20 am

    Wow hard for me to believe that it has been 5 years!

    Congratulations and beautiful photo.

Hi, I am Kelly and welcome to Sparkles and Shoes, a fashion, travel, and lifestyle blog founded in 2012.  After six years of living in London I am back in New York with my husband and two littles! 

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