Welcome...!

Hello Everyone and welcome to Dear London, Love Dakota.  I have debated how to start off my first post.  Should I just jump in and pretend that I have been blogging for years... or use it more as an intro to who I am and what this blog is going to be about. So the only aye vote was for option 2... here we go!

I was born and raised in a small town in South Dakota -- 707 peeps the sign reads to be exact!  Growing up, I was involved in every sporting activity and group you could possible be involved in (basically they needed the numbers.. bar choir.. they would have rather been short one than to have my voice plague the song!)   I loved being outdoors and knew everyone in town... though could not wait for the day I could move away.. I always dreamed of bigger and, at the time, better things.  During university I went to Australia for a semester which allowed me to meet many British backpackers... That was it.. I was moving to London.  No idea what I was going to do or how I was going to get there..  

Fast forward 8 years... and I have been living in London for 7 of those 8 years with a year spent in NYC.  Needless to say, I love London.. well I love the whole country.  I have met so many people and grown in my adult life here.  I met the love of my life and made a home.  In London, you can experience so many wonderful things - Drive across tower bridge, swing past Buckingham Palace and a wave to big ben... discover the eccentric life of shoreditch and hoxton to the pristine streets of Mayfair.  The history is woven in with an edgy side and all placed on a beautiful platter to enjoy.
  

My journey has allowed me to look at SD from the outside in, where generations of my family have lived.   Hard work and dedication made the roots deep with pride love and happiness. I have a new love and appreciation for SD.  I love that homemade and homegrown are staple words (you can't buy a M&S ready meal in SD!).  It is a place where farmers and ranchers know the land like a london cab driver knows the streets.  Their work doesn't end at 5 o'clock and there is no difference between a Tuesday and a Saturday.  You can look from horizon to horizon and not see another building in site and the sunsets can only be described as amazing.

I am excited for you to join me in my mash up of London living and South Dakota roots.