Drink up Mate!

When your boss is yelling that in your ear all night this is what happens. She's Australian by the way.

Last night I attended a Marketing Awards dinner with a couple of people from my work including my boss. KFC had been nominated for a marketing effectiveness award based on having turned around the business over the last year. It was basically a great excuse to get dressed up and party at a fancy hotel in the city. And that is exactly what I did. I sported the latest trend in evening wear, got my hair did at the TopShop (19 pounds gets you a blowout at the blowdry bar), and put on my dancing shoes. The award show itself was a snooze fest like all awards show but the champagne and the goodies bags more than made up for it. Let me just say peeps here in London love their champagne. I thought champagne was only drunk at that rate during New Year's Eve, apparently not. It tastes so good going down but not so good the next day. The best part of the night was when the dancing began. I had to learn to get down with more disco and pop tunes than I would have liked but it was fun nonetheless. It was also a great way to bond with my boss, as you can tell from the photo above. She's a blast after a bottle of champagne, then again who isn't!? The fact that we didn't even win award we were up for didn't phase her one bit. I could get used to nights like this :)

In order to redeem some of my self respect here's a photo from the start of the night..

My boss Jennelle and I

Two Slices of Home

I've told many of you over the last week how homesick I've been. So to remedy this I have two exciting things to report.

First, I'm coming home sooner than I had originally anticipated. I was trying to hold out until March but I was kidding myself. So, I've booked a ticket home for January 19th-27th. Mark your calendars people! Turns out January is the perfect time to go home since the weather here is awful and its pretty much dark for most of the day. It also falls in between two sets of visits from my friend's Robyn and Arisara. I can't wait to see everyone then!

Secondly, starting next Tuesday I will have a temporary roommate. A really good friend of mine from college is coming to stay with me for awhile. Some of you have meet her or may have heard me talk about her. Her name is Tenielle. We were best friends in college (Tri-Delts for life) and she actually lived with my mom for a short awhile while attending Pepperdine Law School. After graduating law school she practiced law back home in Bakersfield at a cut throat law firm. After two years of working her ass off she decided to quit. Over the last year she has been living the dream. Traveling the world, hanging out on the beach, just enjoying life. While she tries to find her way and figures out what her future holds she will be living with me in London. She arrives next Sunday. I'm so excited to see her and to have a friend to explore Europe with. We have a ton of exciting things planned, starting with moving into my new place. It will be like Sex in the City minus two girls and in London. The last time I saw Tenielle was at my 25th birthday- five years ago! Here's a picture of us from that party. Soon I'll have pictures to post of our times in London.

Halfway There

My time in Woking has reached the halfway mark. Thank the lord! My goal is to get through these next four weeks as quickly as possible. I'm still trying to find some redeeming quality to this town. I plan on doing so before I leave. I've gotten into a bit of routine during the week, which helps the days fly by. I come home from work by 6:00; yes people, 6:00 they really do believe in work life balance here, go for a run on the treadmill downstairs at my the gym, cook dinner, and watch re-run after re-run of Friends. As much I love Ross, Joey and Chandler I'm in desperate need of my shows back home. So I've succumbed to I-Tunes and shelled out the $1.99 an episode to get my Grey's, Desperate Housewives, and How I Met Your Mother. Thank you Steve Jobs.

I did get to visit Wimbeldon on Sunday. It's a really quaint town. You feel like you're in a small village but with all the amenities you'd find in the city. Today was the perfect fall day, even though I felt like it was winter. It's amazing to see actual seasons. I took a picture of the trees changing colors in Wimbeldon.

Sorry, I don't have any exciting stories to tell from this weekend. I promise to make up for it as soon as I get my butt back into London but wanted to let all of you know I'm doing well.

My First Visitor!

My friend Rina came into town this weekend on her way to India for a business trip. She couldn't have come at a better time. As I told you guys I was feeling homesick this past week so seeing a familar face couldn't have come at a better time. When I saw her I practically tackled her to the ground, I was so ecstatic. She only had Sat day and evening in town before heading to India, so we made the most of it! On a side note, I was fortunate enough to get into stay in a hotel in the city starting on Thursday night of this week until Sunday since I had work in the city during the week. Let me just say staying in a hotel is the way to live. Someone cleans up after you, you gets meals in your room- a girl could get used to this. Also, it was a great to get a break from my apartment in Woking and be part of city life again.

Back to Rina and I.. We had the best day/night one could have in London. We did it all! We shopped, we dined, and we danced. We were both on a mission to find boots for ourselves so we hit Selfridges, which is one of the top department stores in London. This place was ginormous! I got some sassy boots and my first Ted Baker piece, unfortuntately Rina was not able to find any boots- she did get some cute hats! From here we got all gussied up and were ready for a night on the town. We had plans to go a Marleybone for drinks and dinner but by the time we got there everything had closed. Rina and I spent so much time catching up in the hotel room we had lost track of time, oopps! We were planning on meeting up some with people in Soho for dancing so we decided to head straight there and see if we could find something there instead. We were in luck, the cab driver dropped us off right in front of a swanky looking japanese restaurant that was still open! This place was gorgeous and the food was amazing. Here are some pics of Rina and I in the restaurant.

I'm wearing my Ted Baker piece and Rina is sporting one of her new hats!

From here we went to a salsa club down the street called Floridita where we meet up with some friends I've meet through my friend Sahana. This place was a blast! Although I'm not a big fan of salsa the place was jumpin and there were quite a few good lookin' men! One in particular...

Bachelor #1- Sandy- hedge fund banker, lives in Chelsea, from Pittsburgh, plays in a band and can dance!
I'm smitten, Sahana I can't believe you held out on me! Now I need to reel him in, the question is how?

Rina left this morning and though I was sad to see her go I needed to catch up on sleep. She is going to try and come back in December for a week. So whose next?

My First Star Sighting!

My boss and I went to dinner tonight, her treat, at one of her favorite restaurants near Notting Hill. It's called E&O. Pretty swanky and she guaranteed me a star sighting. She did not disappoint. Half way into our dinner who comes and sits down at the table next to us- Ewan McGregor! I was so star struck and kept staring at him. I think I started to embarass my boss cause she asked me politely to stop staring. Good thing I didn't pull out the camera and take a picture- cause trust me I was thinking about doing it, she probably would have got up and left. Not bad for my first star sighting. He is super cute in person and but he could have done with less eyeliner.

Good news folks, I'm in London today through Sunday and my friend Rina from home is coming to visit for the weekend. We have a lot of fun things planned, so something tells me come Sunday I'll have lots of fun stories to share.

Homesick

It was bound to happen. It arrived unexpectdly and lasted only one night. I don't know if it was the seven straight days of rain, coming home to my empty apartment, wanting to see my friends, missing my old work, or missing my mom. Perhaps, all the above. At least I lasted a month, right!? If you all start getting a ton of emails from me or calls you know why. Ok, time to cheer up- I live in London for gods sake!