Next on the European Tour- Prague

My friend Rupali came to visit me a few weeks ago on her way back from India. She was my last visitor for 2008! So, per my tradition here she is at my front door.

Instead of staying in London for the weekend we decided it would be fun to go somewhere in Europe neither one of us had ever been to. Prague was on the list for both of us, so off we went. I wasn't sure what to expect from Prague except that it would be freezing! It was a nice short flight to Prague from London- only 1 1/2 hours. Mind you or flight was at 7 am in the morning, so it felt much longer!!!! Our first experience in Prague was the crazy cab driver who drove us from the airport to the hotel. I think he thought we were on the autobahn. I couldn't understand where the fire was.. this guy was driving like a maniac, cutting people off , driving in the wrong lane. I thought we were going to die!

After checking into our hotel which was really cute and in a great part of the city we signed up for a walking tour of prague. So far, in all the trip I've been on I've never done a guided tour. In hindsight I wish I had done them for my other trips. This tour was great. It took us to all the best spots in Prague and it came with very funny tour guide. I can't remember his name now, but I do remember he was quite entertaining. He spoke what he called Chienglish. A phrase he had coined which was a mixture of Czech and English. It was pretty classic!

The sights in Prague were spectacular! The architecure was amazing, every time we turned the corner it felt like we were on a movie set. The buildings were so picturesque and each one was different from the other. Now, I can't say the same for the food. Prague is all about the meat- specifically beef or pork! People were eating these giant hot dogs at 10:30 in the morning or kebabs. Our first meal was corn on the cob and a chicken panini. Not really Czech fare but that was fine by us! However, we were huge fans of this dessert that we found. We ate one everyday we were there. They were called Trindlek. Don't know exactly how to describe them but they were bread covered in sugar, honey, toffee and nuts. They were freshly baked and were delicious!! The other thing Prague is famous for is beer. When you see a girl being put into a cab at 10:30 in the morning because she's so wasted you gotta think the beer is good! Unfortunately I cant drink beer so wasn't able to partake in that bit of culture. I did have hot wine though, they were serving that all day to people to keep them toasty. I guess it's their version of hot chocolate. Not bad, I guess I'll drink wine if its cold, hot, red or white!!!

The best thing about Prague was how cheap everything was. The exchange rate was awesome. But it was weird because we felt like we were dropping tons of money because their currency, called crowns, was only available in high denominations. So, we would buy a souvenir and it would be 200 crowns. It was so strange giving them these big bills but once you translated it back to Sterling, in my case, it was only like 3 dollars.

Prague is the best place I've been to so far. I absolutely loved it. There was something enchanting and magical about it. Hard to describe if you haven't been there. I would definitely go back!

Now the question is where to next... I have a few ideas in mind but thought it would be fun if you guys helped me choose. I have put a poll on the blog, so put in your vote!! I'm planning my next trip for January.

A little photo collage of our trip.. enjoy!

Roma!!

No that's not a spelling error that is actually what Rome is called here in Europe. That was one of the many things I learned while in Rome. The city is so full of history, every time I turned the corner their was ruins or a magnificent sight like the Colleseum. I just couldn't get over how magical the city was. My mom and I arrived Friday night and stayed till Sunday evening. We were sightseeing maniacs on Saturday by taking a hop on hop off bus tour. Then we walked around most of the city till the evening. Instead of taking you through our entire iteniary thought it would better to list the things i loved about rome and things i could have done with out.

Loved..

- The Food: i've never eaten so much pizza and pasta in a 48 hour period before. no matter what restaurant we went to the food was always so good. turned out the hole in the wall places were better than the fancy ones.

- Gelato: i don't count this as food, cause it's heaven. i ate it everyday, almost after every meal of the day. couldn't get enough of this stuff, and since it's on every street corner it makes it quite accessible.

- Colleseum: by far my favorite momentum in all of the city. i couldn't get over the magnittude of the place, how old it was, how it stood the test of time and was filled with so much history. I was in awe when I stepped inside. I felt transported back to another era.

- The Men: my god, ive never seen so many good looking men in my life. it was like seeing models walking around the streets.

Didn't Love....

- Smokers: I thought London was bad, not even close. No matter where we were or what time of day it was people were smoking like chimneys all over the city. In Rome you can smoke in restaurants, in taxis, and the stench was everywhere. I felt like I had been in Vegas when I opened my suitcase at the end of our trip and my clothes reaked.

- Shopping: I was expecting to be blown away by the fashion in Rome but that was not the case. Yes, the clothes were cute but it seemed to be the same stuff I could find in London. Maybe my expectations were too high. They did had lots of cute leather boots and bags, but again nothing that made me feel like I had to buy something.

As you can see there was a lot more I loved than didn't. I'm so grateful that I got to share this adventure with my Mom. It will be one of those trips I always remember.

Here are some of my favorite photos from the trip.

Mommy Dearest

It's been awhile since my last visitor, although Shawn and Joe were here for less than 10 hours last weekend, so they don't really count :) Now, this is no ordinary visitor, it's my mom!!! She is coming to visit for almost two weeks starting today!! I am really looking forward to showing her my new home, literally and figuratively. Last time she was here, which also happened to be her first time, it was more about getting me settled into my new life and finding a place to live. She really didn't get to experience this city in it's all glory. Back then I was a rookie, barely willing to venture far from my flat, refusing to go on the tube, complaining about the food. Now I'm pro, well sort of, I know exactly where to take her, what to show her. I want this trip to be really memorable for the both of us.

On top of visiting London, my mom and I are going to Rome next weekend!! Woo hoo!!!!! I can't even begin to describe how excited I am to go to Italy. Rome has been at the top of my list in terms of places to visit while living in Europe and I finally get to go. I can cross that one of the list.

So, there will be lots to report back in the next few weeks.

These are a Few of My Favorite Things

When I first got here their were so many things I missed back home especially in terms of food. For example Pria Chocolate Bars, Bean and Cheese Burrito from El Ranchito, the fries at Islands, Diet Coke (for some reason I didn't think I could get here), The Tuna Special at Gary's Deli, string cheese, Mint Milano cookies, the list goes on and on. Nothing here seemed to fill the hole nor did I think it ever could. Twelve months later I have found things that have become part of daily repertoire and have become my favorites.

At least twice a week I go to Pret a Manger. It's nothing fancy, just your everyday sandwich shop with multiple locations all over London. I always get the same thing; a Avocado Salad Wrap and a bag of Vegetable Root crisps. It's like my Gary's Deli just more convenient and unfortunately more expensive!

Now that I can't drink Diet Coke (stomach issues) I had to find a suitable replacement. A girl can only survive on water so long. Along comes Ribena. Ribena is a brand of juice like Ocean Spray and comes in several flavours. My favourite is the Pomegranate and Raspberry version, but it has to be the light version, which they call Really Light. It's like the nectar of the gods.

Next comes Digestives. I know weird name! I didn't get it either. These things are like crack. They are cookies that people here drink with their afternoon tea. I eat them morning, noon, and night. They come in milk chocolate, chocolate, caramel, ginger, plain. They are so good. You can't eat just one. I need to bring a case home with me next time.

Last, but not least is Fruitella. You know when you eat Starburst or Skittles and you only pick out the best flavours? In my case that would be the strawberry pieces in Starburst and the red and purple Skittles. Fruitella is like having a strawberry starburst everytime. They are real fruit chews made from real fruit, I swear. At least that's how I justify having an entire pack in one sitting. I eat these things almost everyday. I have a problem, I can't stop

My Bridget Jones Diary Moment

If my roommate had been walking on the other side of the road last night on her way home she would missed have the sign that read premiere of "Then She Found Me" following a special Q&A with Colin Firth tonight... few tickets left. Lucky for she was in the right place at the right time,k so she snapped up two tickets for her and I and the next thing I know I'm sitting in a theatre with Colin Firth standing in the front row. You would have thought the Beatles had been on stage. What is about this man that just makes girls swoon? Including myself! Before the film began he told us a little about the making of the movie, the fact that he did not get paid for it, it was Helen Hunt's dream project that she had been working on for 10 years. The women wrote the screenplay, directed the film, and starred in it. It was a pretty all star cast; Matthew Broderick, Bette Milder, to a name a few. The movie was really good, I highly recommend it!

After the film was over we all got gift bags full of makeup, hair products, DVD's, basically all girlie things. I guess they knew their target audience :) Colin then re appeared for a Q&A with the audience. Peoples questions were the kind we are all dying to ask but don't dare: Are you married? Do you like playing the gay guy? What did you think of Pierce's singing in Mamma Mia? He was really eloquent and very funny!

Afterwards all the girls made a mad rush to get his autograph and picture. Sima and I stood in the corner both trying to work up the nerve to talk to him. We didn't have to wait long, because he ended up walking right by us and smiled and I knew it was now or never. I reached out my hand and said, "Hi, it's so nice to meet you. I loved the movie and really enjoy all your films." What I really wanted to say was, "Mr. Darcy I presume." I'm pretty sure that would have me sound like an obssessed fan not to mention a retard. I then asked if we could take a photo with him, and he said YES!!! He was so nice and tall!!!

Definitely one of my top three star sightings!

Best Week Ever!

This past week, while exhausting, was also the best week I've spent since living in this city. Most of the time I recognize that London has so much to offer but I'm not so good about taking advantage of it. What made this week so great and so memorable was experiencing the different aspects of the city, which just happens to be right outside my doorstep.

Saturday - The O2

Two Americans and one Brit attending the first qualifying match in basketball for the 2012 Olympics. It was Great Britain vs. the Czesk Republic. Not only did I get to see some great basketball but I got to see the sight of where the 2012 Olympics will be held. The O2 arena is amazing. Quite vast, glitzy, and in a great part of the city called Greenwich. Taking an English person to a US sporting event was quite comical. My friend Jane kept asking where all the big foam fingers were, why the uniforms were so shiny, and in particular why the shorts were so long. She didn't fancy the shorts at all!

Sunday- Viewing of Buckingham Palace

Most people, including myself, have had the opportunity to see the outside of Buckingham Palace. Not everyone however, gets the chance to go inside. My friend Suzanne bought us tickets for the whole dog and pony show and we spent the entire day Sunday touring the castle, the mews, and the galleries. In word it was STUNNING! It's hard to believe that someone actually lives in the palace. The palace was so grand and so elegant. I couldn't get over the grandeur of all the different rooms. The state rooms were so beautifully decorated, the banquet hall where the queen hosts here dinners with all the dignitaries was out of this world, I even got to see her throne. Unfortunately, she didn't swing by to say hi, I was so offended :). You weren't allowed to take any photos inside the palace, so the only pics I got were the backyard and the mews. So the mews, which is basically her servant quarters and where she keeps her ride, or should I say rides was quite the spectacle! The women has a million carriages and limousines. It was unreal.




Monday Evening- Wine Tasting at the London Wall

One of my suppliers invited me to go wine tasting a couple months ago since we both shared a passion for wine. He belongs to a wine society that holds tastings about once a month and had suggested we wait until September to attend an event. I know understand why we waited so long! The night's theme was Chilean wines and we tried 24 different varieties of wine from Chile. The wine was great but what was even better was the setting. We were inside a building called the London Wall. For you non history buffs, the London wall was a defensive wall built by the Romans made entirely of stone. Remnants of the wall still remain and there I was sipping my Chilean red in this historic site.

Tuesday Evening - Blind Date

Ok so every night can't be perfect but it can at least be adventurous. I was set up by a friend of mine who in all fairness did not know much about the guy I had agreed to go on a date with. All she told me was that he was a doctor, was Indian, and was single. Trying to be the open minded person I am (yeah right, just making sure you're all paying attention) I decided to give it a shot, even without seeing a photograph. Big mistake!! This guy was such a tool. Sorry to be so judgemental, but the guy drank his beer like he was holding a sippie cup, stil lived at home where his mom cooked his every meal, and the second sentence out of his mouth was that he fancied infectious diseases thus his decision to become an STD doctor. Can we say conversation killer? Needless to say I will not be going out with this guy again.

Wednesday Evening - Dinner at Christopher's in Covent Garden

Covent Garden is one of the coolest areas in London, at least I think it is... It's mini Italy basically, with a piazza, fabulous restaurants, street performers, cobble stone streets, and great shopping. I had the pleasure of attending a work dinner at an amazing restaurant called Christopher's, where we got to dine in the private dining room underneath the main part of the venue. The food was delicious, the wine even better, and the company was a blast. I have finally gotten to a place where I feel so at ease with my co-workers and really enjoy their company. It was all around a good night in a fantastic area of London.

Now Thursday could have been the culmination of a great week had I decided to go see Madonna in concert. I was offered tickets at the last minute but choose instead to spend a quiet evening at home. I know many of you are reading this cursing me, but turns out I made the right choice. The next day I found out her concert was fraught with issues. The speakers blew out at one point so the sound sucked, she came on an hour late therefore when the show finished all the public transportation had shut down by the time everyone left the stadium, leaving tons of people stranded. My boss (who I gave my ticket too) ended up getting home well after 1 am. Oops. She was still thrilled to have gone though, cause Madonna is her all time favorite artist, so I scored some major brownie points with her.

So as you can see, it was quite the week! A week that made me fall in love with this city and all it has to offer. A week that I won't forget for awhile and will motivate me to have many more just like it.

Full Circle

Today, I landed in London after a great visit home. The irony is a year ago I landed in London this very same day for the first time. I can't believe a year has passed since I moved. Crazy! So much has changed, so much has happened...

As I look back on the last year I have some great memories and a couple of not so good ones :) I remember arriving here and thinking people looked so European, how the city was so big, how the food was so different, it was all so new. Everything was novel, and so British. I thought the fashion was so strange, and now I've started to adopt it. I went from being scared to take the subway to not even giving it a second thought. I know many of you didn't think I had an accent but the scary thing is I kind of do. It comes out here and there. I've made some really great friends, including my Trishna, Leona, Jane, Jen, and my great roomie Sima.

Most importantly, I have learned so much about me. One of the main reasons I made this move was for personal growth. I really think I've begun to accomplish that, but I still have a way to go. I feel comfortable with who I am, I know what I like, what I don't. I'm learning how to be happy, independent and do it all without worrying about my career for the first time in my life.

My biggest concern living so far away from home was being so far from my friends. I was worried I would lose touch with them and they would become part of my past rather than my present. Luckily, that hasn't really happened. I still feel close to most of my friends (thank god for facebook and skype) and in fact, I have become even closer to some. I appreciate my friendships so much more than I did before. I guess absence does make the heart grow fonder. There are a few people who I am no longer close with but I think that comes with the territory. It makes me sad but I hope when I move back home things will go back to normal.

I am so excited to see what the next year has in store for me. I hope it's filled with lots of travel, fun, and who knows maybe a boy :)

Flower Power

Although it wasn't the nicest day today Sima and I decided to do something outdoors. One of the world's largest botanical gardens is right here in England. Who knew? It's a place called Kew Gardens, in the town of Kew. Lucky for me I have a friend who lives in Kew, Leona, so we meet her outside the tube station and she took us on a tour of the gardens. Girlfriend has a year pass so she knew her way around this garden. They weren't kidding about it being big, it was massive. We walked around for hours and saw the most beautiful flora, lakes, birds (yikes!) and greenhouses. We even listened to trees and climbed on top of some. Here are some of my favorite photos from today.

Wimbledon Baby!

I celebrated my 4th of July (yeah this post is a bit late) the British way; attending Wimbledon. It was so incredible. As a young girl I used to watch the matches with my family religiously. I was quite the tennis player back then, with dreams of playing on my high school team. Even though that dream didn't come true another one did! Never in a million years did I think I would get to attend a game in person. While most people que (that's British for stand in line) overnight for the best tickets Sima and I decided to go ghetto style. Our plan was to purchase return tickets, which are basically tickets that get returned at some point during the day by people that paid top dollar. Return tickets cost only 5 pounds and the proceeds go to charity. We first had to que to get into the grounds. We got to the grounds around 3ish. Forty five minutes and 15 pounds later we were inside. We then hiked up Henmann Hill (famous hill named after a player where people watch the games on a big screen TV), and got in line for return tickets. Five minutes later, Sima and I had tickets to court one. They were great seats! We really wanted centre court tickets but that que was way too long.

Henmann Hill

We got to watch a men's semi final doubles match. It was Britain vs. Netherlands. I had no idea who the players were but it didn't matter.

I was content watching the game and eating my strawberries and cream (the official food of Wimbeldon).

I feel so lucky to have gotten a chance to do this while in London, it's something I will never forgot!

Normal is Good

Where did the month of June go? I didn't realize I hadn't posted anything for so long but I guess it's because life has been normal, and by normal I mean good.. I now have a routine. I go to work, come home and have dinner and/or drinks with friends, yes friends, although there aren't a lot of them it's about quality not quantity, watch my shows, go to the gym. Essentially all the things I used to do at home. It's really nice, boring but nice :)

Oh, and I've found a roommate as of yesterday. She's a great girl from New York named Suzanne. She's quite spunky, really sweet, funny and we have a lot in common. She moved out to London about two months ago and is trying to figure out this great city, kind of like I was a year ago. I think she's going to be a great roomie and we're going to have fun together. I just need her to work on saying the word "precious" a little less. Every other word out of her mouth is precious.. right now it's cute but I could see it getting old. Ahh co-habitating, it's always an adventure.

My normal life will be getting a little more abnormal as I have some more exciting things coming up in the next week; Wimbledon, party in the park, 4th of July Texas style, and a music festival. Summer in this city rocks!

Seasons Change, Plans Change

I'll start with the good news first. The weather here in London has been amazing this last week. It is officially summertime. The temps are in the high 70's people are out and about in their flip flops and shorts. I spent this weekend getting my short sleeved shirts, skirts, and open toe shoes out of storage and swapping them with my sweaters, scarfs, and turtlenecks that have been in my closet for the last 9 months. I never realized how much I missed seeing color in my wardrobe! London is like an entirely different city in the summertime. If only it could be like this more often. I have definitely been taking advantage of the weather by enjoying all the beautiful parks and walking alongside the river. I used to take gorgeous weather like this for granted when I lived in California, but now that they're so far and few in between it's amazing how you make the most of it. Speaking of making the most of my days.. can you guess what time this photo was taken?

6 you say. Try 9:30 pm.!! The days lasting so long has got to be one of the oddest things I've experienced since arriving here. The sun comes up at 4:00am and it doesn't get dark until 10:30pm. The great thing is, I come home from work and it feels like I have all the time in world to go do things. The down side is, I am wide awake come 6:00 am because the sun is shining as bright as can be into my room. I'm thinking I might to need invest in some curtains, the sunshine cutting into my beauty sleep isn't going to fly.

Now the bad news, or maybe I should say challenging news. My friend Sima who I've referenced many a time in this blog as my future roomie is no longer going to be filling that position. She unfortunately has to return back to California to help out with her family business. She came back to London last week on her way to Italy for a 2 week tour, and dropped the news. Needless to say I was super bummed. We had all these grand plans to travel all of Europe together, take London by storm as two single girls on the prowl, explore other parts of the city, etc.. I was also really looking forward to living with someone. One of the things I've realized is that I prefer living with roommates instead of living alone. So now I'm debating whether I should to try and find someone else to live with or continue to live alone. There's advantages and disadvantages to both situations. If I do choose to live with someone else it would probably end up being a stranger since I would use the Internet to find them or send a note to friends at work who can pass along the message. I keep going back and forth.. on the one hand living with someone who I don't know very well could be a great way to make a new friend and meet their friends, hence creating a social network for myself. On the other hand, living with someone I don't know could end up being a nightmare because they turn out to be a freak. I'm not sure what to do??? Luckily, I don't have to make up my mind immediately. I'm going to give it some more thought this weekend and see how I feel on Monday.

The Grove

This past week I had the chance to stay at one of the prettiest resorts in London for a two day work meeting. It was outside the city in a city called Watford. The name of the place was The Grove. I got to bring my friend Heather with me and was able to indulge in all the property had to offer a lot more than I did. When you drove up to the resort it was like something out of a movie, Dirty Dancing to be exact. Alongside the beautiful green landscape and tons of trees was this majestic brown brick building. It completely reminded me of the hotel in Dirty Dancing. The inside of the hotel was beautiful. All modern furnishings, fresh flowers all over the hotel, a bathtub in my room that was one of a kind, and an amazing spa which I got to visit my first day. The resort also had a man made beach on the back of the property. This place it had it all! After our series of meetings were done, on our last day we had a team building activity on the beach with all my co-workers. We played beach volleyball, ran an obstacle course, and did some other challenges. It was a blast! Heather and I did get to spend sometime together, we had the yummiest kiwi martini at the bar one night.

Turns out while we were staying at this resort so was the entire US and UK futbol team. Mr. David Beckham himself was there!! Me and a few of the other girls tried to find him on the grounds one day (we got a tip he was golfing) but had no success. At least I can say I slept in the same hotel as Mr. Beckham.

Below are a fewphotos of the resort. I'm hoping I'll get a chance to go back again at some point this year.

All Good Things Must Come To An End

In May I had the pleasure of two visitors back to back and with some overlap! I had Heather and Arati. Heather and I have been friends since I was 7 and she was 5. We've kept in touch over the years even though we haven't lived in the same city for the last 10 years. She now lives in good old Louisville Kentucky and is engaged to a great guy named Anthony! Arati and I have know each other since we were babies. She used to bully me when I was a kid and play cruel, cruel pranks on me. Some things never change :) She was on her way to Cannes and stayed with me on her way there and on her way back. It was a short visit for her but nice nonetheless.

Unfortunately during some of Heather and Arati's stay I managed to get a nasty flu which left me bed ridden for three days. So, the poor girls had to manage on there own for a few days. They were both troopers and very understanding.

Heather and I share a passion for two things; food and shopping. Therefore our game plan during her stay was pretty straight forward- eat at as many great restaurants and get our shop on. We definitely partook in both. We had no plans to do the tourist thing, since Heather had been to London quite a few times. But we ended up adding that to the list, as well as a three day retreat at a beautiful resort outside of London (courtesy of my work; more on that later). Heather's fiance, Anthony had never been to London and everyday Heather would send him pictures, everyday and he would ask where are the pictures of London? For some reason all the pictures of us eating and shopping weren't really what he had in mind. Go figure! Heather being the sweetheart she is (the things we do for love) convinced me to do a hop on hop off bus tour of London on her last day here. I have to say being a tourist in your own city after living here for awhile, was very enlightening. We spent three hours on a top of a bus taking in all the sites London had to offer. It was actually really fun! Thanks Anthony :)

Heather and I on the bus- it was a little windy can you tell?!

Now, one of the things my friends always love when they come to visit is hearing the English accent. They just can't get enough and the next thing you know they start talking adopting the accent themselves. One evening Arati, Heather, and I went to a pub. We were on the hunt for fish and chips. Arati thought it would be fun to talk in an English accent for the entire evening. Heather and I had our very own Madonna in the house. It was pretty comical. I managed to get a great clip of her in action. Not bad huh!?

I had a great time with both the girls. They were my last visitors (or at least that I know of) for this year. So if anyone else wants to come visit, you know where to find me! Here are some of the eating and shopping pictures I referenced earlier.

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

Wow, I didn't realize it had been almost a month since my last post. Sorry folks! It's not to stay that much hasn't been happening, in fact it's the opposite but in a different way. For some reason when I started this blog I only felt the need to post all the great, happy things that have happened to me during this 2 year journey. I figured no one wants to read about my struggles. But the truth is, part of this journey has come with struggles and difficulties and it's just as important to post those so I can look back and have a true representation of what I experienced while I was in London.

So, I'm not sure if I'm breaking the rules of blogging or whatever but I'm going to share my struggles over the last month or so.

It's hard to say when I realized I was feeling down and just unhappy here in London but I think as everyday passed it just got to be harder and harder. Hard, personally and professionally. I never thought transitioning to my new job here would come with challenges, boy was I wrong. Even though I'm working for the same company it's was as if I'd started a brand new job. I was back at square one in terms of my learning curve and that was definite blow to my ego. I wasn't running the show to speak. Back at Taco Bell I knew so much, I had done so much, and I came into this job expecting the same. That was my first mistake. I couldn't understand why I was so frustrated with my job and why I wasn't "producing". Duh, Mita you're new you don't know this market, you don't know the UK consumer it's going to take time to figure these things out. I needed to be patient, something you all know I'm not very good at. I have always defined myself by my career and now that my career was no longer fulfilling me, I felt empty. That was my second mistake. I realized I had to define myself and find happiness with other things rather than through my career, but I didn't know what those things were since I never had to deal with this.

Coupled with these professional struggles, the feeling of loneliness was really beginning to settle in. Even though I'd been blessed with numerous visitors, every time someone left it made me miss home even more. I was longing for my old life back in Orange County, all the great friends I hung out with, all the fun things I did, the fully packed social life. I definitely don't have the friend circle here that I have at home. But again, I can't expect that to happen here. The friendships I built back home took years to foster and develop. It's going to take me more than 1o months to get that here. I also really missed my mom. I used to see her so much when I was home and we would talk everyday. Here I was talking to her once a week if things worked out between our schedules.

The problem was I had let all this unhappiness start to affect my health, which was preventing me from living and enjoying my life in London. I'm not going to go into the details but the physical illness, the mental depression all lead to my breaking point.

A breaking point that resulted in me questioning whether or not to stay in London. In order to make this decision I had to step away from what I was going through. So, I came home for a week. I know some of you are reading this and wondering why I didn't get in touch with you. This trip home for me was more about personal reflection rather than visiting with friends. Hopefully that's something people can understand. I did a lot of thinking while I was at home, spent time with my mom and only a few very close friends, and talked to my old employer.

After weighing all my options I decided to make the decision to stay in London. I'll be honest, it wasn't the easy decision. There were more times during my stay at my home that I was ready to come back home to the safety and comfort of what I knew. But in the back of my mind I knew that would be easy and easy is what I've always done. It was time for me to challenge myself, and be strong. That is why I moved to London in the first place. Also, if I came home I knew I would have regrets. Having regrets is something I didn't want to live with. That would have been much harder to deal with then the shit I was dealing with in London.

I've come back now with a fresh perspective and a game plan. I've swallowed my pride and approached my job in a whole new way. Things are already improving on that front. Personally, I am seeing doctors to help me with my physical illness and my sadness. I started doing yoga again and am starting to practice mediation. I've also decided it's ok to miss my family and friends and I should just go home as much as I need too. So I'll be coming home two more times this year and twice next year. All these things are going to get me to a place of happiness. I know it's possible, I just have to be focused and strong and let people help me. The important thing for me to remember is this was the lowest moment during my stay here and now that I've written about it, I can remind myself that I never want to be there again. I have to remember how lucky and fortunate I am to be given this experience and that overall my life is pretty great.

Sorry for the downer post, but it was really important to me that I share this with everyone including myself. Here's to more happy posts in the near future!

Spring has Sprung.. I Hope!

I need to officially mark the first warm day of weather I've encountered here in London since I arrived last August. Warm as in really warm, 70! I couldn't wear a single thing in my closet so I had to dig into my bags of summer clothes which are inside my storage cabinets to find a short sleeve shirt. When I stepped outside my door if I had closed my eyes I could have sworn I was back in Corona del Mar. It was the best feeling. I literally felt the sun on my hair, on my skin. The city looked so different and I've never seen so many people out about. People were wearing shorts, tank tops, flip flops. Ahh open toed shoes, I had to dust those babies off too. I didn't know what to do with myself. I was practically skipping down the streets, I just felt so happy. I'm praying it stays this way at least for a week and it's not just a fluke. Amazing how the weather has so much power of me now. Part of living here, I guess!

Round Two: Same Game Different Player

I should have posted this last weekend but never got around to it... I went on another date last Saturday with a guy I had meet on match who I'd been emailing back and forth with for awhile. So you guys can keep track of the guys let's call the last one Mr. Teeth (no explanation needed) this one I'll call Mr. Gucci (explanation to follow). That way when I have updates you know who I'm talking about.

Mr. Gucci scored major brownie points with me way before the date even started based on the restaurant he had chosen. It's a place called Beach Blanket Babylon and it's in Notting Hill. I've been dying to go there, it's one of London's trendiest, hippest restaurants. Again, I was nervous beforehand but my soon to be roomie Sima had been over to the house before I left and gave me a great pep talk. First impression of Mr. Gucci was handsome, well dressed, looked a bit older than his profile pictures, and I was completely thrown off by his ethnicity. For some reason I was expecting him to be British but he wasn't and he had a very strange accent I couldn't place.

We sat down at our table and I couldn't get over how cool the restaurant was. It felt like we were sitting in a garden but inside the walls of a castle. It's hard to explain the decor of this place but trust me it's cool! Conversation during dinner was good but he was a little shy and not very talkative. There were some awkward silences, which I hate. All through dinner, I felt like I kept asking him tons of questions to keep the conversations going, which he would respond to but he barely asked me any questions about myself. I've encountered this same behavior with other guys, and it's so frustrating!!! Why do they do that, hello at least pretend like you want to get to know me? So I find out he's half Dutch, half Iranian which explains the accent. He's originally from the Netherlands. He has one sister who still lives there and he has two nieces. He went to business school in Chicago and moved to London about two years ago. He's a investment banker so the guy does pretty well for himself and I could tell he had really good taste, perhaps bordering on the edge of snobby. The man loves to shop. This guy was like a Zagat guide for shopping, not only for London but also Paris. And if you're wondering was I thinking is this guy gay, you'd be correct!? After dinner was over he suggested we go down to the bar area and have a drink. At this point, he had loosened up, I think it was the three gin and tonics he had during dinner, so I was happy to con tine on with the date.

The second half of the date was sooooo much better than the first half. He finally came out of his shell, showed his sense of humor, was really talkative. Asked me tons of questions about myself, we were having a blast. I still can't don't know whether it was the booze that made him more outgoing or perhaps he was just nervous to meet me, which I can totally understand. So the verdict is still out on his personality.

Towards the end of the date something odds happens... or maybe it's not odd and I'm reading too much into it. His phone rings and he looks at to see who it is. I make a joke about it being a friend checking up on him ,to make sure he's ok and that I'm not some crazy chick who he can't escape from. He tells me no, it's this girl who I party with sometimes, she's probably out at a club and wants me to come meet her and her friends. I figure, oh he'll just ignore the call and let it go to voicemail. Nope, instead he walks away and takes it! Hello, rude! Am I wrong here, ladies (I'm assuming none of guy friends read my blog)? It's not like it was an emergency or it was someone from his family. I was totally turned off and offended. If it had been the other way around I would have waited until I went to the restroom and then checked my voicemail or just ignored the call entirely until I got home. He comes back and proceeds to tell me that his friends are all at this hip club and he's thinking of going to join them. I'm baffled at this point, is he trying to get out of the date cause he's having a bad time? Was that his Plan B? More importantly, why is he even sharing this with me? If he was smart he would have ended the date with me somewhere down the line, we would have said our good byes and he could have gone and meet his friends without me knowing a thing. So remember those brownie points he had gained in the beginning, he lost them! The night starts to wind down after this little incident as the restaurant is closing down so it was time to go home. At this point I've had quite a few glasses of wine and am tipsy, I've also missed the last tube home. Mr. Gucci decides he wants to make sure I get home safe, which I take to mean, he'll get me a cab. But he insists on paying for the cab and coming with me to make sure I get home ok. Now I'm thinking, ok well maybe he's redeemed himself a little with this kind gesture. While we're in the cab on our way to my house he decides he is going to meet his friends at the club. Turns out the club is right around the corner from my house. I end up deciding it made more sense to have the cab take us to the club and I would just walk home from there. I had no problem doing that but part of kept wondering why wasn't he asking me to come to the club with him? The odd thing is even if he had asked I would have said no, but I wanted him to ask. And we wonder why guys think we're crazy!!!

So, we part ways outside the club, do the whole British kiss (peck on each side of the cheek) and then somehow we kiss, kiss. Honestly I barely remember it, it's a blur, I was still pretty drunk at this point.

I'd probably give the date a 6 or 7. While the physical chemistry was there with Mr. Gucci I wasn't feeling like we clicked personality wise so much.

On the flip side I definitely clicked more with Mr. Teeth in terms of personality but the attraction level was lower (again no explanation needed).

Since the date Mr. Gucci has been in touch quite a bit. Lots of text messages, few emails and he's already asked me out again. He wanted to take me to dinner last night but unfortunately I ended up working pretty late and was exhausted when I got home. But in all honesty, I probably could have still meet up with him but I wasn't that interested in going because I"m not sure if I've really into him. Mr. Teeth on the other hand hasn't asked me out again but we've emailing constantly.

I wish there was a rule book on this whole process work, it's hard!!! Stay tuned.

San Francisco Meets London

Having Meera and Gautam here last week was so great! I wish they could have stayed longer. We always have such a great time together and this time was no different. Even though the day after they arrived it snowed the rest of the week they got great weather, which really enabled them to see all of London. Except the hail storm they encountered for a couple of minutes of Friday but we're not going to really count that! Neither of them had ever been to London so they had their list of places to see and they accomplished almost every thing on there list. Not to mention going to another European city, per my previous post.

These two were the ultimate tourists... While I was at work everyday they were exploring all of London. They toured Westminster Abbey, saw Big Ben and Parliament. They toured the Tower of London, went to St. Paul's Cathedral, although they had a bit of a hiccup the day went to the tour the cathedral due to the arrival of the Duke of Kent. They went to Harrod's found it to be a little too much, I can relate. They shopped in Oxford Circus, walked through Hyde Park, and took in Buckingham Palace. Of course, I took them around my neighborhood as well. The list goes on and on. They are such city people having lived in San Francisco for the last couple of years so they were really appreciate what a city like London has to offer. By the end of the week Gautam had the bus system down to a science and was giving me lessons on how to navigate around London, priceless! On somewhat of a side note, Meera is an amazing photography and she took a ton of pictures while she was here. I can't wait to see them and I will definitely post some of them on the blog once she sends them to me.

My only regret was not being able to spend more time with them during the week they were here. My work schedule was not as flexible as I would have liked so my interactions with them were limited to only evenings. But I made the most of it. One of the great things about Meera and Gautam is the three of us share a passion for fine dining. So, I took them to some great places to eat every evening for dinner. We had amazing Indian food one night at my favorite Indian restaurant, pan Asian fusion another night at Cocoon, a traditional pub dinner, where Gautam had the best fish and chips of his life and on their last night, we had a to die for dinner at an Argentinan Steakhouse. My future roomie Sima joined us that night as well, she happens to work for the restaurant company and wanted to try a different location than the one she works at. The location I chose was an area of London I actually never been to;Richmond. I had heard great things about this town. It's right alongside the riverside and is very much like a new England town. Charming, quaint, colonial homes alongside the river. It was like being in Maine. It was the perfect end to their visit.


I was really bummed to see them go on Saturday, the house felt so empty without them but something tells me they'll be back. If you guys are reading this, I love you guys and hope I can make it to San Francisco in August!