London!

Good evening, hello... My! You're an attractive bunch!

How is everyone? Well it's Sunday night, almost midnight, here in Notting Hill. I'm happy to say that this Sunday has gone much nicer than last Sunday. While day-to-day life is not "easy" or necessarily "luxurious" as it was for me in the states, I'm generally content and ridiculously excited about where I am now. I love love love my neighborhood. The weather is better now, too; yesterday was the first day I could go outside without a jacket or long pants. I wore a new vintage (oxymoron?) dress that I bought from a really great vintage store down the street. I love it!

The weekend in a nutshell:

Friday night I did catering at some fancy Garden Party for a bunch of overly attractive and rich 20 and 30 somethings. The guys were mostly in tuxedos and the women in beautiful dresses. I didn't like the catering company so much, though, (I'm starting at a new & seemingly better one tomorrow) so I was more excited than ever to get out of there at 10:00, throw on some makeup and switch my shirt, get on the tube to Piccadilly Circus (again), and meet Casie and Meg for a night out. They greeted me in the Times Square looking area with a mini bottle of wine which I drank (yes, on the street, it's legal. I love it.) while I threw my skirt on and slipped my pants out from underneath. It's ok! It was dark and I was very discreet. Haha... sorry Mom. I was real sneaky about it. Then we headed to Astor for our 2nd Friday night in a row (read about it below - GREAT club/lounge) where we met my French friend Shawn who hooked us up with free admission. We had a good time there, again... great music, attractive crowd, and our favorite bartender.

Saturday I slept in quite a bit. If you know me, you know I love to sleep in... Got out of bed at around 1:30 and it was FAB. Next, I momentarily became a tourist and went to see the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge (or as many people mistakenly call it, the London Bridge) with the girls. It was hot and sticky and slightly miserable but once we got there, I was happy to see it and take some photos. It's one of the touristy sites that Manda, Steff and I didn't catch last summer while we were here. That night, the girls and I went to meet my friend Ben from BUNAC and his friend who was visiting at a backpackers pub called The Midas Touch - if anyone knows what this means, let me know, cause I know its a slogan in the US but why it's the name of a pub I don't know. Had a delicious few pints of Carling there after we walked in and saw that Ben & his friend had lined up 5 shots of tequila for our little group to take as soon as we walked in. I managed to have a good time at a pub that closes at midnight. Imagine that! The key is going out before 10:30... as silly as that sounds, it's tough! I'm so used to 10pm departures to clubs and bars, and with the sun setting extra late here ('bout 9:30), it can all be very disorienting. Anyways, after the pub we went to the drunken gathering that is the Burger King under the bright lights of Piccadilly Circus. Had a lovely $7 value meal and enjoyed every second of it. Then took a night bus home and reluctantly climbed the 72 stairs to my place before getting in bed. Sounds fun, yah?

Today, the "London is so expensive" idea became even truer than I had ever imagined. The girls and I did laundry.... In American dollars, one machine was $6 and one was $10. I. kid. you. not. I was practically sick!! Looks like I'll be washing clothes in my kitchen sink whenever possible... haha, you'll spot me walking down Notting Hill Road with the wrinkly, moldy looking top and stiff jeans. Then we had an exciting afternoon at Primark, aka London's cheaper-AND-trendier-than-the-US K-Mart. Got myself a blanket for a whole £3 ($6), and a cute & very punk rock England polo for when I watch World Cup games at pubs and what not. I'm so hip ya? Tonight, I decorated my place a little and I must say, I made some pretty hott looking artwork out of free postcards and magazine cutouts. Photos to come. Haha... I also scheduled what some may call a "date" for Thursday with my French friend. Fingers crossed I get a free pint or two out of the deal, this girl is poor! Haha, that's awful, but it's the truth. I've got the guts to say it! Now I'm just relaxing a bit before bed... oh, and another cheeky thing about life here - there are no screens. Sometimes bugs fly into my place and then fly right out. It's like the bugs are just as reserved as the people - they don't want to bother me or something.

This week will be full of some pubbing, some catering (Tuesday: The Glamour Magazine awards!!!!!!!!), and some more London explorations. Tomorrow I'll meet Karly for lunch and I'll get my baby back! (i.e. my laptop) I'll finally be able to put my pictures and drunken hostel videos up on this joint. Stay tuned. Miss you!

posted by Stacy @ 00:03