This is Goodbye!

Hello all!

We had all moved on, literally! One to Georgia, another (Me!!) to Switzerland!

WE have all being super busy being moms and juggling work and motherhood the best way that we can, and unfortunately we have found no time to share more on our experiences throughout the city. Because our support system is so small as expats, I'm guessing "no time" becomes a norm once we take more roles in life.

WE are very grateful for opportunity of sharing an important phase of our lives, that new beginning filled with a mix of frustration and joy. Thank you for being on the other side reading/ listening!


Until the next time we meet, this is Goodbye!

Life happens... And so does babies!!

Yes, my friends! That's what maternity means sometimes when living abroad: no help, busy days and nights, and lacking time to answer text messages, now imagine writing blog posts! 2 of us had babies and all of us had a hard time to put into words how busy life got!

As life happens and things changed, a whole new world opened up, and Philly got a new nuance... Which I plan to share with you here in the following posts. Although I promise not to convert this blog into a "mommies only space" ;)

It was my first pregnancy, so already a new world to me, but being in America had made this journey even more "new". Throughout pros and coms, overall I enjoyed it a lot. As if it was my first and only pregnancy - who knows, right? And it fulfilled me with pride to have a baby born in the first hospital of America... Super special to me and my husband, since our story starts in Philadelphia. This city has given me a lot, too much maybe!

Some of my friendships got closer while others, some distance - which I assume is very much normal in anybody's life, but crystal clear over expat's lives. Adding to that, new friends came to my life almost in a rescue mission, giving me new sights and the assurance so much needed when figuring out this new role of mine (mommy related).

Summing, there it is: I'm here, I'm back for you, and full of things to tell and shout out loud - and with a beautiful daughter by my side!

See ya soon!!

Embrace American culture through PUMPKINS!

Squash: Butternut, Spaghetti, Pumpkin, Kabocha, yellow, orange, white, green, with stripes...How long does it take you to realize that using a word "pumpkin" can be rather simplistic? The more you know about pumpkins and know how to use them, the higher is your level of americanization. (just kidding but I like to think about it this way).

3 years achievements

All people are different and behave differently in a critical situations. I changed my entire life for the man I love. I left everything I had in my life to move to a completely different environment. So what have happened in these 3 years? Have I got acclimated? Am I happy? Do I still miss something in my life? Or is it still like a waiting zone in the airport?

DECODING the Best of Philly Fashion #4

Here is our last fashion decoded post for this year! Lilly Pulitzer has been elected as the go to country club brand in Philadelphia... And I couldn't contain myself from playing the role, it was too much fun!

Falling in love with...fall

If you think that once summer is over you will only stay home falling slowly into winter lethargy, you are wrong! Philadelphia is a place where you can really enjoy all four seasons needless to say that fall is maybe the best one.  My third expat fall in Philly is well underway and I want to share with you its best moments.

DECODING the Best of Philly Fashion #3

I thought it was going to be such an easy job to visit local stores and make my own reviews... Well, not always I have been successful.

Can't miss apps for expat wives

Earlier this year, I presented you some mobile applications that may become handy to a newbie in Philadelphia, and more specifically to the expat wives like us. Take a look at my updated list of some new apps. Let us know if it useful or if you've discovered some that might be useful to other expats.

When I came to Philly more than a year ago there was a lot to discover and to adapt to. New measurements, new currency, also new TV channels, new pubs and restaurants for the night life. Luckily, we live in the 21st century and the process of discovering my new life was a lot easier thanks to new technology, the apps in particular!

7 American habits I gained when I moved from Russia to US.

1) Say 'Hi' to everybody and even wonder 'How are they?' If you plan trip to Russia,  don't expect people be nice to you on the street. Always remember, it is cold in Russia, so every unnecessary muscle move can lead to keeping energy away from keeping you warm :). Jokes aside, I learned to smile to strangers and engage into small talks with nice ladies in the supermarket (which here is grocery store). And I myself recently found it so rude when a guy at the church didn't want to shake my hand when exchanging peace.

Weekend IN or weekend OUT of Philly?

If the Memorial Day kicks off summer season and weekend getaways at the beach, with the Labor Day it all unofficially ends.

Did you know...?

DECODING the Best of Philly Fashion #2

I had suggested my next stop on my last post, but unfortunately that store is still not operating regularly until (and including) Labor Day weekend. But no worries, the Philadelphia Mag never placed them on a rank, so there is no one better than another - they are all winners in their own categories. So here I share with you another one of my visits, and attempts, to show you what the Best Of Philly Fashion means, this time featuring the best NEW OFF-PRICE STORE: Century 21.

Ice cream, baby !!!

I am an ice-cream addict. I can have ice-cream every day. And now that I have confessed it, I will share my favorite places in Philly with you:

DECODING the Best of Philly Fashion #1

Did you know... Philadelphia was named the #2 city in the world for shopping? The nomination came by The Conde Naste Traveler, and did not surprise me much considering the size of King of Prussia Mall or the amount of discounts I usually find in the off-price stores around. However, the more I read about the best local places to shop... the more I believe someone gotta translate to us (expats) what this mean exactly!

Embrace culture through your stomach :)

     In my culture we have an expression : "The way to the man's heart is laying through his stomach". That's why being a guest at Russian woman's place you will notice how she is concerned with everybody being full :)). For me as a bright representative of this culture, being an expat I would adjust the expression to : "The way to adjust to a new culture is laying through your stomach", or simply "trying the national dishes". We are blessed to experience different cuisines travelling abroad and in US you can try a diversity of cuisines without leaving the country.

Why am I richer ?

Once you decide to live abroad, there are things that will never be the same again. Some things change forever. Yeah, we all know that the change is a part of our lives. Many things would have changed either way, even if we stayed where we lived before. But here (here abroad), living this experience, some difficulties make us different and richer from what we would have become if we had stayed.

Book review for parents in U.S.

     Today I would like you to join me in some kind of book review. Many expat wives face (or will face) the challenge of being pregnant, deliver and grow a baby in a new country. We all grew up noticing and judging our parents, friends' parents and a number of other people, we have all received implicit or explicit parenting tips, inevitably thinking ‘when I finally have a baby I will do it my way’, the smartest way,  ‘I will do this and I won't do that’. Then you become an expatriate wife and

The high price of living away from home

Over the past weeks I had my twin sister visiting me in Philadelphia. For the first time she was the one leaving when we said goodbye. While I am the one who would be away from our family and happenings, I experienced this time all the bitterness of driving back home from the airport, with my mind filled of flashbacks from the new memories we made. I sighted entering my now empty house, already missing the fun and energy my sister and her kids had brought in. Not knowing when we will do the same again. The following article fell on my lap right after, while I waited for my husband to arrive, and get my mind an easy, since my thoughts were racing back replaying all the decisions we made and make everyday, as very normal expatriates. It is so perfect written, since 2 days ago I have been making its translation from Portuguese, so I could share it with you. If anyone is interested in reading the original, here it is.

By Ruth Manus:

The High Price Of Living Away From Home.

Costs that go way beyond rent.

Flying: the eternal jealously and frustration mankind experience every time a flying bird cuts the sky. We learned to do a million of different things, but being able to fly... That's something life didn't allow us. Maybe for knowing that we, humans, belong to places and people too easily, and in this case, flying would bring crises hard to handle, between the temptation to leave and need to stay.

Well. Then man created the wheel. The Kombi. Skateboard. Harley. The Boeing 737. And we discovered that we could fly without wings. But things got complicated when we realized we could leave without a date to return.

After this, all the braves began to arise leaving behind their poor cities full of misery and hunger to feed their families in capitals filled with opportunities and monsters. These braves left the comfort of their own home to study and dream of an incredible and hypothetic future awaiting them. They left beloved cities to live opportunities that can't happen twice in their lives. These people in the end left behind the lives they could held in their hands, flying to new lives they decided to face with an open heart.

The lives of those who go flying elsewhere are paradoxal, every day. It is a constant heart on the fence. It is crying for wanting to be there while not willing to move from here. It is seeing heaven and hell on departures, and dreams and nightmares in staying. It's to be proud of the choice that offered you a thousand treasures, and hate yourself for the same choice that took from you another thousands precious things.

Living this life is a classic routine: laying in bed thinking of your old home, in the miles away, in the beloved people there, in what they are doing without you, in the laughters you didn't participate, and the hard times you were not there to help either. It's trying to hide a tear without success, and sight knowing you are the only to hold responsible for your decisions. In the next morning, it's wake up feeling alright. Life makes sense again, even though you know other nights like that will come.

But do we ever learn to... get sick without being taken care of, smell food with our eyes, make empty apartments into homes, transform coworkers into friends, pain into resistance, strongly missing someone into just thinking of one?

Will we learn to... be a son/ daughter from far, love via Skype, see kids growing by videos, pretend that Whatsapp can substitute a bar table, be a friend through emoticons instead giving hugs, laugh out loud while typing HAHAHAHAHA... to swallow up the crying and move forward?

I wonder if that will always be the fate of those going through this. Will we be still asking ourselves if we should be here or there? Is this sort of a test, a choice, braveness or karma?

Wondering if we will ever know what's the right place to be. After all, is there a right place to be and live all the uncertainties of life that we insist on pretending we can control?

I know it is not easy. And admire those who face all this, every day. Those who left Vitória da Conquista, Sao José do Rio Preto, Floripa, Juiz de Fora, Recife, Sorocaba, Cuiabá or Paris to build a life in Sao Paulo. Those who left Sao Paulo to go to Rio, Brasilia, Dublin, New York, Aix-en-provence, Brisbane, Lisbon. Those who left Bolivia, Colombia or Haiti to live in Brazil. Those who changed Portugal to Italy, Italy to France, France to Emirates. Those who left Senegal or Marrakesh to pursue happiness in France. Those who left Angola, Mozambique or Cape Verde to live in Portugal. My admiration to those who try, face things up, and go.

It is a high price to pay. We ask ourselves, blame ourselves, stress ourselves. But destiny, life, and our own gut sometimes say we should leave. Some don't go. Those like me who did, are not free of fear and many weaknesses. But we are forever free from fearing to never have tried. Keep walking.

US,I'll miss you!

During my vacation I had a chance to talk to a friend who used to live abroad and then decided to come back to her home country. Difference number one between me and her was that she didn't follow her husband, number two, she didn't move across the ocean. Anyways, listening to the story of someone who expatriated from her home country and came back was very interesting and made me ask myself a question: what would I miss about the US if I came back to Europe?

Philly is (finally) in blossom

I have never enjoyed the arrival of spring as much as here in Philadelphia. Guess why? The winter is just so long and seems so endless that at the first warm sunrays people go literally wild. Myself included. There is no point in staying home in spring.

Where will I do my hair again?

It's been a while since our latest review feature. And because finding a good hairdresser can be tricky,let's see some other hair salon we tested for you.