Hola from California! :D

Hello and welcome alynnkb! 

We haz pinto beans!  Yes we do. 

I'm sure at some point I'll get desperate enough to attempt to cook some mexican food myself, so knowing there's pinto beans is a good start :-)  Speaking of cooking though, would you all recommend that those of us moving over with US recipes pack along some measuring utensils?  Any other "must bring" kind of things I should be thinking of? 
Unfortunately my company isn't paying for my move and the quotes I've gotten are ASTRONOMICAL, so my plan is to only ship the stuff that makes me feel a place is "home" or that is just too ridiculously expensive to replace over there.  Suggestions of items I might not consider would be greatly appreciated! 

I'm sure at some point I'll get desperate enough to attempt to cook some mexican food myself, so knowing there's pinto beans is a good start :-)  Speaking of cooking though, would you all recommend that those of us moving over with US recipes pack along some measuring utensils?  Any other "must bring" kind of things I should be thinking of? 
Unfortunately my company isn't paying for my move and the quotes I've gotten are ASTRONOMICAL, so my plan is to only ship the stuff that makes me feel a place is "home" or that is just too ridiculously expensive to replace over there.  Suggestions of items I might not consider would be greatly appreciated! 

I think my measuring cups which have ml on one side and cups on the other came from here I think, so you might not need to bring all of those over.  I got them as a wedding gift from an Anglo-British couple but I don't think it was the ones from the base.  I'll see if I can find them again here. 

I think my measuring cups which have ml on one side and cups on the other came from here I think, so you might not need to bring all of those over.  I got them as a wedding gift from an Anglo-British couple but I don't think it was the ones from the base.  I'll see if I can find them again here. 

Oh that would be fantastic!  Thanks persephone!!  The less I have to ship the better. I just assumed I wouldn't be able to find "cups" over there.

I think this is similar to mine.  If not, it definitely has cups.  I just found this one on Amazon, but I bet there might be ones in other stores. 

Hola, from another Cali-girl. Welcome.  And you are right - this site is a Godsend for navigating your move. 

As for Mexican food - yes, I can get the ingredients.  What I miss is walking down to any street corner and getting someone else to make it for me, with tortillas that were made today!  Mmmmm.....My DH and DS were just in CA and ate at a different Mexican place every night.

BUT, my other DS and DD and I got back at them - we took an impromptu trip to Paris on the Eurostar and ate pan au chocolat and Berthillon ice cream and ooey gooey cheeses on baguettes.  Gawd, I love living here

BUT, my other DS and DD and I got back at them - we took an impromptu trip to Paris on the Eurostar and ate pan au chocolat and Berthillon ice cream and ooey gooey cheeses on baguettes.  Gawd, I love living here

Now you're talking!  I think that sounds better than Mexican food for sure!!    Thanks for the welcome.  Just curious, how would I locate other members of UKY that are in the Manchester area? I'm hoping to get some rental-hunting tips about the different areas and property agency references.

Now you're talking!  I think that sounds better than Mexican food for sure!!    Thanks for the welcome.  Just curious, how would I locate other members of UKY that are in the Manchester area? I'm hoping to get some rental-hunting tips about the different areas and property agency references.

I'm in Manchester! And from San Diego . Though, uh, DH and I have lived in the same area for AGES--so I won't know any property agencies, I'm afraid.  I do know about the city centre, bits of Cheshire, etc, though, and I'd be happy to answer any questions.  What company do you work for?

I'm in Manchester! And from San Diego . Though, uh, DH and I have lived in the same area for AGES--so I won't know any property agencies, I'm afraid.  I do know about the city centre, bits of Cheshire, etc, though, and I'd be happy to answer any questions.  What company do you work for?

Ah! fantastic!!  Thanks Jennie.  I work for a large company called Invensys that is based in London, but also has an office in Warrington.  I was given the choice between the two offices (doesn't really matter where I'm based as my sales territory will be all of Europe, Russia, and Africa and I'll be travelling quite a bit. YEAH!!).  I am 90% sure I'll go to the Warrington office. In which case, I'd like to live in the western Manchester area. From my perusals online it seems Didsbury, Altricham, Sale, Wilmslow seem pretty nice and compared to SoCal prices, quite reasonable!!  I would love to live within walking distance to shopping, pubs, downtown area.  I would get myself a cool flat downtown, but I am bringing my dog Bosley with me and will need at least a small yard for him.  So ideally I'm looking for places with yards but in an active village atmosphere. I'm 32 and single so I'm hoping to find that area that is neither an overwhelmingly family oriented area nor a University area. LOL.  Is this possible or am I being too much of a Goldilocks? ;-)
I noted that you ride horses, Jennie. I leased a horse up through high school and loved riding and was thinking that riding might be a good hobby to get back into (and help make friends) once I make the move.  I'd love to pick your brain about that as the time gets closer if you don't mind.
Thank you thank you!!  I hope I didn't ask too much.

I'm sure at some point I'll get desperate enough to attempt to cook some mexican food myself, so knowing there's pinto beans is a good start :-)  Speaking of cooking though, would you all recommend that those of us moving over with US recipes pack along some measuring utensils?  Any other "must bring" kind of things I should be thinking of? 

Welcome to you as well!

There is a really cool tool we got for our wedding that helps convert everything...that way if you're bring recipes from home, you can just turn the dial and see what it converts to.  It's been a lifesaver even here in the US when I'm trying to cook recipes that my MIL has sent me.  Here it is: 

http://www.countrykitchensa.com/catalog/product.aspx?T=1&productId=630779

And I'm a SoCal girl as well, so I'm looking forward to making Mexican over there as well!  I even have a recipe for how to make carne asada.  We'll see how it goes. 

Hi! Sorry this took so long, was out of internet range for a bit. As far as my personal knowledge goes, Didsbury might be your best bet if you do want to me near to the city centre.  Manchester has over 30,000 students (between the two universities here), so they tend to be everywhere, but lots of the people from my work chose Didsbury because it's an easy commute (will you have a car?) by car or bus, and you can find some nice semi-detached properties. There are "some" students but not many, really.
It's not really walking distance to downtown (you'd have to look more at Rusholme, Fallowfield or the city centre for that and there would be more students!), but it's an easy bus ride, and there are some nice restaurants out there. I'd definitely try and work out your commute first thing, because the roads can be absolutely jammed during rush hour around here. Take whatever Google says and add at least 20 minutes--and that's just normal traffic .
You can find some Mexican stuff here! Lots of black beans, some peppers and etc. I still miss proper Mexican food, though. I'm starting to miss curry when I go visit the US though, so you can't win!
I'd be happy to talk to you about places to ride, though for that you really need a car (it was my reward for getting off my butt and getting my UK license!).  There's LOTS to do in Manchester; it's a great place!

Hola, fellow Californian!!

I was born in Lancaster and raised in the North San Diego County area (well, between Vista, Leucadia and Denver, CO, lol)!  I graduated from Vista High in 1994.

My migration between SoCal, Austin, TX and Denver is a LONG story, but I moved back to Denver almost a year ago and met the love of my life, Erin about a month later (and I wasn't even looking!!).  I am working on finishing up my Bachelor's in Registered Nursing and am hoping to eventually move to the London area and work for NHS.  Erin holds 3 jobs right now...full time at a Kroger store and she has two businesses....computer consulting firm and photography.  She wants to go back to computer consulting full time and moving her businesses to the UK when I graduate (still have a few more years  )

Nice to "meet" you and congrats on your upcoming wedding!!!!

Hi! I'm Katie  I joined a few months back but never made an actual introduction!

A little bit about me: I'm from Southern California and engaged to the love of my life Kay since December 2008. Our wedding date is June 24th and I could not be more excited!  I'm nearly finished my BA in Psychology and own two dogs and a rabbit lol I am a Mexican food junkie aaanddd I love the TV over in England lol

Looking forward to being more than just a lurker around here! I feel so happy to have found such an amazingly informative groups of people. You all are a life saver! 

Welcome to UKY 

I'm moving in a slightly different situation than it seems most of you, in that I'm not moving to get married or to be with anyone, but am accepting a new job with my current company in the UK.  While I'm really excited about it, it's really scary knowing that I'm going over all on my own without a family support system. 

Hi - Welcome to UKY!

I too am a worker bee!  I moved over 3 years ago all by my lonesome and haven't looked back.  There's a few of us that are worker bees- some ended up getting married to Brits.  On one hand ,it can be quite fun being by yourself, as you can explore the country on your own schedule and agenda - but then on the other hand, you don't have anyone to show you how the electric shower works (but that's what we're here for  )

Thanks everyone for all the great info! 
phatbeetle, that is good to know that you guys will be around to help when I can't figure out something ;-) 
Jennie,
I will have a company car (although driving it might be a different story... LOL)  I will definitely be coming over for a visit to scope out areas before the big move.  I'm just still awaiting a date from my company so I can start making plans.  Once I know more what area I'm looking at, I'll be in touch to talk about riding stables. Thanks!!
mgwife, I am soooo going to get one of those tools.  It looks like a God-send!!