Wake Up Call

I've heard the old adage; "looks like you brought the weather with you", but I don't think I've ever heard; "looks like you brought the earthquake with you".

Most mornings I'm woken up by my incredibly rude neighbors (the count and countess) upstairs, walking around their flat in high heels or vacuuming the shit out of their floor or moving furniture. That's a whole 'nother story I will share one day. This morning I was woken up by an EARTHQUAKE! Yes, you read that right, a frickin earthquake. 5.2 to be exact!

I was shaken out of bed (not literally) and my first thought was,"oh , that was an earthquake", quickly followed by, "um.. that's not possible, I'm in England." Since my mind wasn't willing to accept the possibility that an earthquake could hit England, panic set in. I began thinking of all the potential causes for the shaking I had just felt. Like the foundation of my flat falling apart. The walls caving in and my roof collapsing due to shotty workmanship. My neighbors engaging in some rough nighttime activities. Any of those seemed more viable than an earthquake. Had I chosen to accept that an earthquake had just occurred I would have been much calmer, and being a native Californian, I would have known how to handle it. Stop, drop and roll. Oh wait, that's if you're on fire. Well, I would have gone under a doorway at the very least. So, after a couple of hours staying awake hoping my flat was still in one piece I slumbered off to bed.

I woke up this morning having completely forgotten about the incident until I got into work and read on Perez Hilton, of all places, that an earthquake had hit England.

I guess there's some things you never leave behind :)

Sunshine Day!

Talk about a nice change in the weather... over the last week the sun has been shining, the skies have been blue, and not a single drop of rain has fallen. It's been such a joy to see London come out of the dark. It's like seeing the city in a whole new light; literally. As I've been told many times, looks can be decieving and that my friends holds true for weather. So, while my first inclination was to bring out my summer clothes from under the bed I soon realized that was not going to happen. How can the sun be shining and it be 24 degrees? It's the oddest thing but I'm not complaining. I'll take this weather anyday over what I've had the last couple of months. By the way, I know I'm becoming a true Brit when I've devoted an entire blog to weather since all people can talk about here is the weather.

In the spirit of this great weather I took full advantage of being outdoors this past weekend. That equates to hitting up all the outdoor markets in town. My friend Sonia, who some of you may remember from my christmas photos, came into London to visit this weekend. She lives outside of London in a place called Norwich. Apparentely it's the sticks hence the need to come into the city.

First stop was Borrough Market. It's London's biggest outdoor market. Think of your typical farmers market but on crack. There were stalls of fruits, vegetables, cheese, spreads, oils, poultry, ostrich (gross!), bread, wine, etc.. Sonia and I ate our way through the market via samples, it was like Costco on a Sunday. Then we settled down on some benches in a park for some Egyptian food and falafel.

Brownie anyone?

On Sunday we headed to Camden town. Although I had been their already with T, Sonia wanted to check it out. Plus, both of us were curious how the markets had changed due to a massive fire that occured a couple of weeks. Not sure if anyone back in the states had heard of about this? We took some photos and did a little shopping.

I'm pretty much marketed out, if that's even possible but glad I got to check out some new places.

SAD (singles awareness day)

That's what I refer to as February 14th. Clever, huh?! I can't take all the credit though. I stole it from my man Ryan Seacrest but I like to pretend it's all mine.

Everyone is always telling me I should try new things, so I have and continue to do so. A little piece of advice, don't do that on V-day. It's depressing to begin with.

When I first got to London I joined this group online through a website called Meetup.com. It's called Expats in London. It's essentially people like me, Americans who have moved to London and are looking to meet other Americans. The group meets about once a month and participates in various activities; usually they all involve drinking. So far, I haven't been able to attend a single event due to conflicts in my schedule. So, when I got an email notification last week that an event was taking place today, February 14th I jumped right on it and rsvp'd yes. Let's be honest, I was free and I had nothing better to do. The event was a simple pub night and looked like lots of fun.

I dragged Tenielle and my friend Sima with me with the hopes of meeting lots of Americans who could turn out to be potential friends. I figured the group had over 1,000 members, my chances of meeting people had to be good. WRONG! What I got instead, was four people over the age 50. Needless to say my night ended early.

And that ladies and gentleman is another year gone by where V-day continues to disappoint and I am now convinced more than ever it should be re-named SAD!

Up next speed dating.. geez, this trying new things is really starting to get painful. Stay tuned!

There's No Place Like Home

If it were only that easy, a click of my heels and I could go home anytime I wanted. Oh well, I'll guess the 11 hour flight on British Airways will have to do for now. My trip home was fantastic! I got to see almost everyone, including all those new babies who were born, eat at all my favorite restaurants (that's a whole 'nother story), spend a lot of quality time with my mom and most importantly shop to my hearts content since the dollar isn't too hot right now. Being home was so surreal. It's funny how things I never noticed before or paid attention to were such a big deal me during my visit- like being on a big freeway, driving a car, watching American TV or lack thereof this time around, even people's accent. Yes, we have accents people, its something I've had to come to terms with as well. Now, even though this was supposed to be my vacation their were times it felt like I was running a marathon. Don't get me wrong I wanted to make the most of my time while at home, but by the time week 1 was over I was exhausted and had gained 10 pounds from all the meals I had eaten out. So lesson learned, next time I am renting a house on the beach and having everyone over to see me with lots of home cooked meals! Speaking of next time, it will be awhile till I'm back home so leaving yesterday was really hard for me. Even though I love being in London and it's an amazing adventure, I really miss my old life, especially being able to hang out with my old friends, going to my old job, living in a beautiful place like the OC. If I could take all those things and bring them to London everything would be perfect. But that's what makes going home so special, right!? Now the one thing I ask is next time I go home the weather better be phenomenal. I couldn't believe it rained almost everyday while I was there and here's the kicker, it was sunny and dry in London. Cruel, just cruel!

Now it's time to get back to my life in London. I have some exciting things planned in February which I look forward to posting about. In the meantime here are some photos from my trip home including some of the new babies.