I’ve been doing quite a bit of reflecting in the past week or so, where I want to take my blog, what I want to post and how I want to be seen. Thinking about this, I would really love to throw a few more things into the mix on carryoncaroline. Hopefully I’ll have a bit more time in the next couple of months to start working on things on here and make a few little improvements. But as well as visual improvements, I want to introduce a few little changes to content as well. So here’s a little something a bit more personal to me: a proud Yorkshire gal.

I moved to London about 18 months ago, packing all my things into a little suitcase (having practised this a year earlier for a 3 month internship), and getting ready for a new working life down in The Big Smoke. London is unlike anywhere else, and although it initially took me a little time to get settled, I really do love living and working down here. There’s so much to do every minute of every day, it can get a little overwhelming at times, and there’s just nothing like home. So in case you were wondering, here are a few things I’ve noticed found a little different down here.

This one, I’m guessing, is the most obvious. Moving almost straight down from Newcastle after graduation, I tried to prepare myself for the jump for 3 trebles for £5 to 1 pint (or less!) for the equivalent price.

*Disclaimer: it’s not because they are unfriendly! It’s just everyone in London is so busy getting to where they need to be. I found it so strange when I first moved down south that no one would chat or smile on the tube, so I made it my duty to smile at everyone I saw, and even made a friend on the tube at Moorgate who I used to see every morning on my way to work. After 18 months I can definitely understand why not everyone is a happy chap on their morning commute, and I’m even more certain there’s been a few days where I have scowled instead of smiled, but I do think a genuine smile from a stranger can always make my day.

You’ll notice from my older posts, there’s a few hedges, some green grass, maybe even a few fields featured in the photos. This is a pretty stark contrast to my more recent posts shot in London featuring pretty pavements, brick walls and town housing. As much as I love London and everything there is here, I also love skipping town on the occassional weekend to race back up North. As soon as I’m sat on that train and fields come into view I start to breathe a sigh of relief – the weekend is there and I’m on my way home. Because nowhere but Yorkshire could be home.

Having never ever felt like I have a strong Yorkshire accent in the slightest, being put into a work environment in London suddenly made me feel a little more common. Being one of the few in the office to pronnounce my a’s as “ey’s” rather than “aaaah’s”, and the ability to talk at a million miles a minute definitely showed (or at least, I felt it did). This being said, it also lets you spot another northerner a mile away, and you can count on this for instant bonding which I love. Northerners seem to just have this connection in London – we all love home.

This one might not be true for everyone, but for me, my daily commute takes me over London Bridge and past St Pauls. Everyday I look at these landmarks and across the river to Tower Bridge and feel a little fizz in my tummy – I really live here, this is really it.

At home in Leeds, you could always look out the window while you got dressed in a morning, and it would always show – pretty accurately – what the weather was planning to do for the day. My first weekend in London taught me two things: firstly, trainers will be my best friend. Secondly,  to invest in a teeny tiny umbrella which will always fit in my handbag (Primark is top seller of these for just £4, FYI). In London, it appears to be pretty normal to get dressed looking at bright sunshine, and then go underground and pop back up to some rather wet weather. Though you’ll also need to invest in a more substantial umbrella for when you know it’s raining outside…(I also should heed my own advice on this one after being caught short this weekend!)

Caroline

(Yorkshire girl through and through)

xoxo