About Me
Hello everyone and welcome to my little corner of the world in London!
I’m Lily. I’m a Londoner by way of California, where I was born and raised. Together with my husband Kenz, we live in southeast London with our beautiful 2-year-old daughter who we affectionately nickname “Lady Yeya” and the most adorable little Shihpoo named Buddy.
Embarking on my next chapter in my life as a (temporary) SAHM, I am in need of an outlet where I can write to keep my mental sanity (alongside coffee and wine!) during the current COVID-19 lockdown, whilst navigating this wonderful (but busy) journey that is motherhood.
Thyme for Motherhood shares my adventures in parenthood, food and recipes, and travels – all the things I love. In some ways, Thyme for Motherhood is sort of a grown-up version of my now-defunct ex-pat/travel blog. That said, however, I did manage to migrate all my old posts here under the category “Life before Kids” if you want to have a read. (Disclaimer: the posts didn’t correctly migrate so apologies in advance for the less than perfect posts).
From Expats to British Citizens
I started blogging when we first moved to London in October 2008 as a way to keep in touch with our families and friends in California of our adventures living abroad in London. On the ex-pat blog, we shared our travel experiences gallivanting through European cities and tropical destinations as far-flung as Brazil, Sri Lanka, and Borneo. We also shared our day-to-day life as ex-pats, commentating on the cultural differences of British and American society, or grimacing on the fact we had to pay for a TV license when we then didn’t even own a television.
Our ex-pat stint was meant to be for two to three years, travelling as much as our wallets can stretch, and experiencing all that London had to offer from the swanky bars to the latest hipster hangouts to new art galleries and the latest West End theatre.
In a blink of an eye, three years turned to four years, four years into five years, and soon we were on our way to getting Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) and then our British citizenship the year after.
Putting our Roots Down
At our five year mark as ex-pats, we started house hunting, looking to put our roots down somewhere, anywhere we can afford in London. After a lovely family trip to Thailand, we put an offer on a house in April 2014. Four months later, we exchanged and completed on a fixer-upper 1930s house in southeast London.
Nearly all my spare time and not to mention hard-earned money was spent meticulously planning the house renovation down to the very last detail. Details that are so mundane from kitchen taps to doorknobs, and paint colours to tiles and hardwood floors, that surely I would bore my readers on the blog I thought. So I lost the inspiration to continue blogging on the “ex-pat adventure.” Well because we are ex-pats no more, but rather bonafide naturalised British citizens with normal jobs and a mortgage. We were meant to write a grand finale post called “The Long Holiday” encapsulating all the highs and lows and favourite travel memories of our five-year ex-pat adventures, but unfortunately never got around to it.
On Losing and Becoming Parents
And then life just happened. I lost my mother in March 2015, having been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer six months prior. On a trip home to California for Christmas 2014, we found and rescue a dog who came into our lives by mere happenstance. Buddy would then come back with us to London in May 2015 and we became doting fur parents.
We enjoyed a few carefree years living in our newly renovated house. Life was good and we were happy in our little corner in southeast London.
Then we receive joyful news that we were expecting our first child due in February 2018. A new chapter in our lives that we were both excited (and just a tad nervous) about. We didn’t know what to expect, but that our lives will forever change in extraordinary ways.
Join me in my adventures in parenthood, cooking from my kitchen in London kitchen, and hopefully in the post-COVID19 era travel and exploring again. Until we meet again, stay safe and stay well.
Lily xx
May 2020