World Cup Madness - USA vs England!

I'm going to admit up front that I know absolutely nothing about soccer (or I guess I should start referring to it as football...) but people get so into it over here it is hard not to get all wrapped up in the excitement! - Plus with no baseball here I need a sport to entertain myself for the summer :) For the big game we headed to a Canadian bar with a group of Americans to go cheer on the good 'ol US of A - we sported as many American flags as we could fit on our bodies and took all the harassment as we walked through the streets of London. Great time though, and a tie made the after game that much more fun, because the English fans couldn't get too aggressive with us and visa-versa. Great time for sure!

Club Openings, Blues Bars, and of course - More Markets!

Perfect weekend - we'll just say it started on Thursday...and is still going actually :)

Anyway, Thursday I met with a guy to get the job hunt rolling, I'm super excited to start looking for work and really ready to start working again, if nothing else to gain some financial independence back! So Thursday night we went out for a pint with some friends, actually discovered the bar has Blue Moon! Seriously?! Blue Moon in London? Awesome! London is quickly gaining more and more credibility.

Friday was amazing - gorgeous hot sunshine, a visit to Greenwich Park, lunch with the bf sitting in the grass at Canary Wharf, and a club opening that night. The club - Salon D'Ete was really cool. It has a fun colonial summer theme and we dressed accordingly. The place almost has a tropical safari vibe to it, waitresses dressed in character, and to top it off a live band and cabaret/burlesque show!

Saturday we did the usual yoga and Borough Market thing, but that afternoon we went up to Denmark Street to look at guitars and hang out. After some playing (I still watch at this point) we went to the brand new CHIPOTLE that just opened! Yes, you heard right, Chipotle is now in London! Okay, so on top of the Blue Moon, and Chipotle, London pretty much has everything you could ever need/want! After a delicious dinner we went to the bookstore and started doing a little planning for our upcoming trip to Greece this fall. Sailing around a few of the islands for a weeks - can't wait, it looks so amazing and I am so excited to go sailing! Then we hit up a great blues bar - Aint Nothin But the Blues for some awesome live music to finish off the night. And to top it off, we got to see some Brazilians dancing in the street on our walk home - life is good!

Sunday was completely amazing weather again! We walked up to Columbia Flower Market after a nice brunch on the balcony. Grabbed a Pimms and hung out in the sun with some Americans we met (we attracted Americans like crazy this weekend). Then we headed back down Brick Lane, ate some Japanese Pancakes at the food hall, hit up another guitar store, checked out some vintage clothing shops and went by Spitalfields Market. Grabbed a smoothie and laid in the park for a while, really great...

I am so crazy about London, the more I am here, the more I want to be here, I can honestly say I am no longer homesick at all! Now...I just have to find that job...well, you know what I will be doing all week! :)

Heels vs. Flats

So anyone who knows me at all knows how much I love shoes...not just any shoes, but skyscraper heels. So you can imagine my dilemma when I moved to a city where girls only wear flats. I am not exaggerating, even in the evening when everyone is going out to the clubs etc, they are all wearing flats! Obviously it does make quite a bit of since considering that you walk so far to get anywhere, and there are some cute flat shoes out there, but I just cannot determine if I am ready to give up on my closet full of heels!

Oh, the decisions we have to make in life...if only they were easy... :)

Some funny stories, London style...

So I am WAY behind here...haven't posted since the Brazil posts, but we have had so many fun nights out since I figured I would give a quick rundown of them - because seriously, London has more to do than you could ever imagine. I would think only an extremely boring person could ever actually get bored here - with parties that last all night and the entire next day, amazing hidden pubs with great scenery and even better beer, great markets to feed a hangover, and a great mix of people that I have never seen in any city I've ever lived or even visited.

I actually have had the chance to spend a lot of my weekends since Brazil on my own (well, at least minus the bf due to his busy schedule and his getting certified to sail) which is always the best test to see if you actually like a place. And I have come to the conclusion that I couldn't even imagine having to move back to a 'small' city anytime soon, I always had fun in Denver, but there is just nothing to do compared to London! I'm sure there are other cities that offer much of the same, but I can honestly say that over the last few weeks I have been falling in love with London more and more...

Things I've done in the last few weeks that probably don't happen in most places: (okay, some would, but the ones that could would take a very special combination of people...ie: me and the bf types)

-I've learned how aggressive the drunken British are - I was actually just walking home from the gym one Friday afternoon and a guy was hitting on me, I told him I was heading home to my bf and he was like, okay, then when we went to say good bye he leaned in, I just thought he was going to do the double cheek kiss...but he actually kissed my neck! Lol! God, it was so funny, and a little disturbing! But really, who can get angry at such a colorful culture, I mean, where else in the world do people have a pint at 11 am on a Monday?! This is just one reason London is so great!

-The next night while the bf was studying, I took my Brazilian tanned legs out with some girls for some dancing at a nearby bar/pub...well, of course, me being me, had on skyscraper heels and a teeny-tiny skirt...girls around here typically wear black tights with everything and flats, or skinny jeans and converse sneakers...so I won't lie, I stood out like a sore thumb! Anyway, my friendly self managed to get groped by an adorable Brazilian (I know, my Brazilian tan must have put out the Brazilian vibe), a crazy (not kidding here) Portuguese man stuck his hand up my skirt, and I had an Italian, and two different Irish men ask for my number...ah, being a foreigner, so much fun :) Funny thing is, I was happy when I finally crawled into bed with my cute sleeping boyfriend at 5am...who knew I would enjoy monogamy :)

-The following weekend, while the bf was gone sailing for the weekend, I went to an authentic Italian dinner with 8 authentic Italians...after some great food, some whiskey and cokes, a lot of wine, and some weed later we decided to hit up Fabric - very cool, absolutely HUGE nightclub here in London. I managed to dance the night away, when we finally decided to head home, we walked out the door to daylight...yes, on further investigation it was already 8 in the morning and the club was still packed!

-Monday night I was so happy when my bf came home, as much fun as time apart is, we have so much fun getting into trouble together that it is always fun to see him. We hit the town despite the fact that it was a work night (well, ya know, for him, not me :)) Managed to drink at some great new pubs we found, on in particular, 'George and the Dragon' was super cool! I will ignore the fact that my bf got hit on by 3 attractive gay men, and I was hit on by no one for the time being...can't win them all I guess :) But after a few lemon tops and vodka shots on top of all the previous pints, we were feeling a little crazy...so we made a quick trip by the local church courtyard for some unholy activities :) - Hey, he had been gone for a 3 day weekend, no judging! Lol! A nice walk down Brick Lane to get home and you have yourself the perfect Monday night...

-Last Friday night was another adventure, as usual. It started out as a harmless Friday night out for a few drinks...which turned into a lot more drinks, then meeting up with some great new friends to do some dancing and clubbing with. Well, as the club was closing down around 3, we were trying to decide if we should head home or hit up another place that was still open, when, while standing in the coat check line we met this very cute Sweedish girl. We were talking to her and she wanted to meet this guy, so my bf went up to the guy and was trying to talk him into coming out for another drink with all of us while I entertained her. Well, turns out she was nice to us because we (as always are way to happy and laugh all the time) but anyway, she assumed we were on meth! Seriously??? Anyway, turns out she is nuts...completely. Well, by this time she has attached herself to us, she keeps stroking my hair, and bitching and everyone is kind of like, don't piss her off! We decided we really just wanted to run off, but she was glued to us. She managed to pick up some crack head on the way to the bar luckily, and once we got them in line we slowly moved to the back, then my boyfriend took off sprinting! Haha! OMG! I didn't know if I should run or laugh, it was just way too funny, so in utter fear I would be trapped alone with the crazy meth addict Sweede, and the crack head, I took off running as well! We looked completely crazy, but after a few blocks we determined we had shaken her, hopefully forever :) Good news was, because of this detour, we were still up for the bagel shops to open (4 or 5ish?) So we got our fresh out of the oven bagel with lox for the walk home, yet another plus for London...Now, I must admit, my Saturday morning yoga class was hell the next day, inversions and a hangover don't mix...but nothing a prime rib sandwich from Borough Market can't fix :)

-Saturday night we went to a birthday party at this very cool, members only (the girl who's birthday it was is a member - obviously I'm not a member of anything but the unemployed :)) club. It is called Hospital Club, very artistic, and very trendy. The night was slightly more mellow than the previous, had a few 'British Summers' - if you have never had one try it, amazing, gin, cucumber, and some other delicious add ins...

Okay, I'll leave it at that for now - should fill you in on all the exciting news for now! I'll blog about the more boring (and important things) like finding a job later! xoxo

Rio Round 2 - Thanks to a Volcano in Iceland...

After our adventure from Ilha Grande, we were so late we figured that we wouldn't have much time to enjoy Rio as we were to leave the next evening...all before we learned that volcanic ash had shut down Heathrow and there were no flights to London! Yay! We actually gained another 5 days there - and I couldn't think of a better place to be 'stranded'...

So we made the most of our stay, more of Ipanema beach/swimming/tanning time, hit up Sugar Loaf Mountain (The Christo was closed due to all the flooding from our previous stay there) and got a great view of Rio! Absolutely stunning from up there! We made it to Lapa - a very cool part of Rio as well for some nightlife - the clubs there are total meat markets though, I was just in a tank top and capris and flips flops and got groped by more men than I could even count!

And we also got to do one more thing we really wanted - see the inside of a favela - Rocinha to be exact. We met a guy who worked at a bar we frequented who happened to live there, so one night after a few caipivodkas and beers we convinced him to let us tag along on his ride home - at about 2am. You actually stand on the road and just wait for these crazy vans driving by to swerve over and yell the name of the place, then you give them a few reais and you are off speeding crazily towards your destination. You actually have to go through a police checkpoint to get in (to try and stop drug smuggling) and then you are there. They are built on really steep hills, and everyone rides street bikes and carries some sort of weapon...we are talking huge M16's and things of that nature...crazy. Guys just sit at tables with tons of drugs laid out, you have a weed table, and next to it will be a coke table - just nuts! We thought we were perfectly safe, later many people told us we were insane for going in here, especially hanging out there until about 4:30 in the morning...but we were just fine, nothing crazy happened, just had some pizza and beers with the people we went with and after a chat with one of the dealers we were on our way without incident.

The next night we just laid on the beach and enjoyed our purchase and laughed for about 2 hours straight - perfect way to spend our last night in Rio :)

On Wednesday we called our airline (we had been doing this every morning since Saturday) and found out we were confirmed on a flight back to London that night! We spent the day with a friend of a friend that lived down there in Rio, he and his girlfriend showed us around some of the beaches, we had a few Skols, some Coconuts, and one final Acai berry smoothie with a banana...

Ilha Grande = Beautiful Beaches

Ilha Grande was amazing! It is a huge island (or should I say 'grande'?) that you can see from the mainland. The coolest thing about it is there are no cars! Only a couple emergency vehicles, but everyone walks or rides bikes there. If you are extremely lazy there are even guys who will cart all your luggage to your pousada for you! It is definitely different to the extreme from crazy busy Rio and Sao Paulo!

We of course managed to find this great little pousada with an AMAZING woman that ran it, she could cook like you would not believe! She would cook every night for us, delicious!!! We only had two nights there, but the first day we hiked from the main town to a couple different beaches. The first beach has a few buildings and is very beautiful. We actually ended up saying there for a few hours. My boyfriend met a couple of Brazilian nomad type musicians and although they couldn't speak much english, they all played guitar together and sang for most of the two hours. Then we finished our hike at Lopez Mendes - one of the top ranked beaches in South America apparently! The sand feels like powdered sugar and is absolutely amazing. The beach is huge, and there are no buildings or boats to be seen! So the second day we were short on time, we took a boat to a nearby drop off and went back to Lopez Mendes - we just couldn't get enough!

So we had to leave Friday afternoon to get back to Rio to hang out with the wedding party group...so we booked the 'Speed Connection'...well, first they put us in some crappy fishing boat like the one we paid 10 reis to ride over (I think the trip was like 60 reis a person) so we asked them why we were going in a slow boat and they assured us it would be just as quick...well we no more than were 5 minutes into our journey when the engine started smoking like crazy!!! A few guys just stood around staring at the engine smoking and drinking beer - kind of funny actually. The next thing we know a few small power boats pull up and all the locals start hopping off and going with them...so the few foreigners that were still on the boat sat and waited until an ever slower, crappier boat showed up to take us on. Well, we finally make it and get on our bus that was part of the 'Speed Connection' package and was to take us to our hostel. We stopped about twice on the 2.5 hour ride, then all of a sudden in Rio the bus pulls over and the driver is acting like he is having chest pains! They tell us all to get off and we have to find our own way because the driver is having a heart attack and the medics are coming to get him! We all get off worried, get our stuff, and then the driver and his buddy hop back on the bus and drive off! We were completely scammed! The good news is they dropped us at the bus station, so we managed to find a taxi (the craziest driver I have ever had for the record) and made it back to Rio...

Party in Paraty!

Okay, so Paraty was less of a party than anywhere else we went, but it was amazingly relaxing and fun!

We got in at about sundown and while we were standing at the bus station trying to figure out where we should stay for the night a car pulled up and dropped off a flyer with an ad for a hostel down on a beach that was connected to town by a bridge...they said they would pay for a cab there so we took a chance and it paid off big! Great place, just across an empty street from a great beach!!! It is called Sereia do Mar if you ever get down there. Very affordable and amazing staff, and in the evenings they would have bonfires on the beach...oh, AND everyone in Paraty knows them for their great pizza! A definite plus! Anyway, they had a beautiful courtyard as well and it is a beautiful quick walk to the downtown area with restaurant and self serve ice cream shops! :)

We had a great relaxing beach day, as well as a day of sailing around between islands, snorkeled, tanned, saw some amazing beaches, had the boat's photographer follow us everywhere with his camera, lol! It is so beautiful there, very quiet, islands all over, you just see them on the horizon, some tiny ones, and some pretty big with beautiful beaches...wow, thinking about it I am ready to go back right now! :)

We honestly couldn't decide if we should head on to Ilha Grande, or just stay put since it wasso great...but in the end we decided to continue on!

Sao Paulo and a Buri Wedding

Well, we got into Sao Paulo, and the airport bus apparently drops you off at a huge mall! Perfect place to do some camera shopping - or so we thought...turns out that electronics in Brazil are a lot more expensive than the US and even the UK! Anyway, we managed to get a new camera so we could document the craziness...

After we got our camera, we took a cab to our hostel in Sao Paulo, we pulled up to the gate, I sat there trying to figure out how to open it for a minute, then we went in...about 5 minutes later a guy ran in and said he had just been mugged right outside! Crazy! He was getting out of the cab, the cab driver was still sitting there, and then a guy came up on a motorcycle with a gun and took everything he had! Poor guy, it was his first day in Brazil...but I guess on another note we were pretty lucky it wasn't us.

Friday morning we took the metro to the airport where our bus to Buri was leaving from, very cool to see their public transport system, just massive amounts of people and I couldn't believe how HUGE Sao Paulo is, there is no describing, but miles and miles of really tall buildings...

We stopped at a roadside churrasco (a Brazilian BBQ and buffet where they walk around with the skewers of meat) - then on to Buri! The town is fairly small, a very cute little place. Our hotel was very quaint, to plug the fan in you actually just put the wires in the outlet and hoped you didn't get electrocuted - not kidding! The first evening we went to the farm for cocktails and dinner - the views over the farm from the farmhouse were amazing, great caipirinhas (try one with maracuja otherwise known as passion fruit, pretty amazing!) and then on to a campfire and wood fired pizza, homemade! Delish!

The next day was the wedding, it was outside in a barn, very cool, straw bales for seating - the whole ceremony was in Portuguese and German though, so I really had absolutely no clue what was going on! :) We hung out at the farm afterward, had cocktails by the pool, rode horses, and had a great time! Dinner and dancing followed - absolutely beautiful wedding!

Then it was on to Paraty!

Rio Round One

Well - I guess that first Tuesday night in Rio we lost our camera...and I know you all are thinking that we were drunk and crazy and it is obvious it would get lost...but in reality it was a totally sober night and we let it fall out of a pocket in the cab or left it on the restaurant table...needless to say some great pics (and a few fairly indecent ones as well) were lost...and whoever found that camera probably enjoyed flipping through them at least :)

It finally stopped raining for a while on Wednesday morning - so we hit the beach for some sun...my boyfriend actually made fun of me for putting on sunscreen because you could see the clouds rolling in (later he would encounter the craziest sunburn I would ever see from not putting it on) Anyway, we caught a little sun, watched the HUGE waves from the storms that had been through, and attempted to swim in the crazy waves. Every guy loves to untie a girls top as she heads into the water, but my bf thought it would be hilarious to grab a string from my bottoms as well...the waves were huge, the undertow was super strong, and it was all I could do to hold onto both fabric scraps as the waves pummeled me! Hard enough to try and keep everything covered, but to also attempt not to drown was nearly impossible! At one point I was just hanging on for dear life, and my bf decided to come try and help me - he was holding my top so I could try and get my bottoms on, all while kind of staying underwater so I didn't scare the kids, and then a big wave came up from behind and I did a complete summersault, ass-over with bottoms around my knees...for all Ipanema beach to see...awesome...

We decided to hit the town with some people we met at our hostel, so we started out at Blue Agave - a great bar near the beach that is owned by two Americans. They actually have a brand of beer in Brazil called 'Colorado'! Anyway, a few beers in there we decided to go to one of the little local bars - they are basically a hallway with some food and booze, no seating, you just go stand and drink and eat - can't remember the Portuguese word, but basically a Brazilian friend told us it translates to 'dirt food'...but we did some cachaca shots - which were more like triple shots and ordered some wonderful rice and beans (amazing food btw, and even better with some hot sauce on there!) We also learned about the Swiss party game of nose fucking, drank some more caipirinhas, did another shot or two maybe, and then things got out of hand, my bf ended up with and acai berry smoothing rubbed over his entire sunburned front side, I ended up being thrown in a pile of wet, soggy trash, and he got a rubber flip flop welt on his belly from it...basically the night went downhill fast...somehow we made it to bed, only to wake up to caipi hangovers and a bf that was encrusted with day old acai berry over his front side...(ps - it does not taste nearly as good the second day...)

Ah Rio - fun time - but it is off to Sao Paulo, Buri, and then wherever we decided to go...

Some fun in Rio...

So tons of great stories are coming, but require more time than I actually have at the moment, so I will be posting them as well as pix when I have time and am back in London...but a quick highlight...

Currently we are stuck in Rio - that is right. Thanks to the volocanic ash we have no way back to good ol London! I can´t think of a better place to be stranded or a better person to be stranded with though, so I won´t complain!

So far we have lost a camera, almost been mugged in Saõ Paulo, rode horses on a ranch in Buri, sailed around some killer islands in Paraty, discovered selve serve Sorvette (ice cream) stands, swam/laid on one of the top 6 beaches in South America, been on an express trip from an island where the boat´s engine caught on fire, the driver faked a heart attack and we had to find our own cab into Rio, had a little too much fun on a swan paddle boat, and now are stuck in a crazy party beach city!

Overall I´m going to have to say an awesome trip!!! I´ll post stories and pix as they come to me over the next week or so!

xoxo

Raining in Rio

So we made it to Brazil...despite missing our flight from London...but we are here in Rio De Janeiro! Rio is absolutely beautiful - huge beaches, super friendly people, amazing sushi...the first day here we just lounged on Ipanema beach working on our sunburns :)

We went out for a traditional Brazilian BBQ meal the first night, the food was good, but I think we ate about 4 steaks a person...then passed out from a food induced coma...the next day it was Easter - Copacabana beach had some big swimming race, we walked down there a while, found a great little breakfast place off the beaten path, and hung out at the beach the rest of the day - kind of overcast but so warm it didn´t matter in the least! Just laid there with the guitar (I obviously only listened) By that night it had started raining some...after my tradition of having my Cadburry egg for Easter, we decided to go out on the town and do some heavy drinking - some caipririnhas, we found a beer called ´Colorado´, and ended up at a sushi restaurant. Apparently there, when you order saki, they proceed to bring you and ENTIRE bottle...so needless to say, neither of us have a clear understanding of how we made it home that night...but we survived :) But if I remember correctly, the sushi was amazing!

Monday the rain started...we took our slightly hungover selves to this cool outdoor gym right on the water, between Ipanema and Copacabana beaches - all the equipment has been made out of random items, but it is so cool that anyone can go workout there and enjoy! Beautiful (I´ll post pictures when I have access to a SD drive) Then on to our breakfast place, and the beach...until the wind and rain picked up...We decided to go out to dinner at another sushi place we had heard about over in Leblon - thought it was a fine idea to walk that far - okay, honestly I just thought it was a lot closer than it was - but then the rain started dumping down...of course we had no umbrella, we did get one which promptly broke...and continued to the restaurant. It dumped rain all night, and all day yesterday too, I have never seen so much rain! When we were walking, we actually had to wade through some puddles, we saw a rat swim through one, and a bus drove by and sprayed me completely drenching what was possibly still dry on me!

Yesterday was a lot of reading in a cafe, reading at the hostel, and eating at a couple restaurants to kill the rainy time. Apparently they are some of the worst rains here in a long time: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/brazil/7561101/95-dead-in-Brazil-floods-after-heaviest-rain-in-decades.html

Today it is now 7 am...and it is raining again...I´m going to cross my fingers that hopefully it will slow up so I can get some more beach time before we head to Sao Paulo...but we will be back through here next week, so I guess worst case I have spent some time in a super cool city, and maybe round two we can hit up some of the sites we are hoping to, such as Sugar Loaf Mnt, Corcovado, Ihla Grande, etc.

But despite the rain, it is warmer than London, warmer than Colorado, and we are a couple blocks from a gorgeous beach and some of the coolest mountains I´ve ever seen! Perfect!

And pictures will come soon...promise! xo

Oh, and PS - this keyboard is Brazilian, and spell checker says every word is mispelled due to the fact none of the words are in Porgugese, so I apologize for all the poor spelling and will also check that when I am back on my computer :)

A sunny day at last!!!

It feels like all I have seen the last several days is gray skies, and rain...not normal London rain that just comes and goes (not that I know what is normal for London), but cold, drizzly rain that actually gets you wet!

So when I woke up today and saw beautiful blue skies and sunshine I couldn't have been happier! :) I decided to explore more of the area around the river - made my way to St Katherine's docks, some of the surrounding docks (I think they all had different names) walked along the Thames path, made my way across Tower Bridge - which despite all the tourists is super cool to be on, wandered around some area that I have no idea where/what it is called south of the river, found a cool park or two, and managed to find my way to Borough Market for a delish veggie sandwich! It only took 5 hours to do all this! Lol!

Pics coming soon, sorry, I totally didn´t have time to upload and resize them yet...but I will soon, like after Brazil :)

Great things happen when lost

Last week was definitely tough, the unpacking was done, the newness of the situation had faded, and I realized I had made a pretty big move...(yeah, it took me that long, don't even ask)...and I won't lie, I was pretty homesick, lonely, missing my friends, missing being able to pick up my phone and text/email/call whoever I had a story for, etc. It is really hard to meet people when you are not working or in school somewhere new, those are your typical social starting points, and without them I was feeling pretty frustrated.

So during Saturday morning yoga I devoted the entire time to devising a plan. I am going to hunt down a good running club here (like the good 'ol Snug in Denver - none of this running 20 miles a day shit, just a nice little 5k with some booze and good socializing at the end) and hopefully find somewhere cool to volunteer a couple days a week. I've been doing my research, so as soon as we come back from holiday I'm planning on getting started! I'm also going to start meeting people about potential jobs within firms and hopefully meet some people that way and eventually find a job that I like.

With a game plan in place, I completely enjoyed my weekend! Going out, cooking with friends (we made our Guinness breakfast for a couple friends - and I have to say it was a success!) We also took a Capoeira class in honor of our upcoming trip to Brazil - I highly recommend it! So much fun, and a great workout! We completely lucked out too - we were the only two people who showed up Sunday, so we had some great one-on-one with the instructor. It is such a beautiful sport: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capoeira
Sunday night we went to Notting Hill. Great part of town for sure, very nice and clean and a totally different demographic. But I still am digging the east London scene, just more trendy and gritty - so I guess I'll have to get over there and do some more exploring before I can make my mind up!

Monday was a great adventure - spent the morning working on my portfolio (in keeping with the plan), hit up a great spinning class at the gym, got lost heading home from the gym, which led me to a cool little street/bridge area with a fun looking pub below (it is on the list of places to try) Then I headed out to Denmark street in search of some guitar strings...after tracking those down I decided to get myself lost. I managed to find all kinds of great things/places/people in the process! A group of guys from Belgium asked me to take their picture in front of this theater somewhere in Soho - after I did they kept telling me they wanted a picture with the 'sexy lady' - haha! I of course obliged! Afterward we all went and had a pint...okay, so technically I met some new friends...but they were leaving the next morning...and I think they all just wanted to date me, but hey - I got a pint out of the deal! :)

After a pint with my new found friends, I kept wandering, ended up coming across Chinatown, Piccadilly Circus, and who knows where else. And then, I was hunting for a coffee shop near Piccadilly, when I turned a corner and there was a Whole Foods!!! Totally made me happy! Not quite what I'm used too, but still made me happy and feel a little familiar with something! And finally a place to buy decent peanut butter! :) So my day of being lost was a huge success - and I actually am starting to feel more and more at home here, which is the best feeling ever...

Photos: From Top - Me and my new friends; Cool bridge I found in my hood; Chinatown; Piccadilly Circus

East London Style 101: The perfect jacket

So in moving to London, I have been keeping an eye on how British girls dress...and as it turns out, there are absolutely no rules whatsoever! Amazing! They wear exactly what they want, where they want to, and how they want to...it is perfectly acceptable to wear cat-eye eyeliner at 9am and Converse sneakers and skinny jeans to a club. You have to love a place that no one is judging your clothing, and you have complete freedom fashion wise!

But I have noticed, the major staple of the East London crowd is the funky, trendy, black leather jacket. Think a mix of motorcycle jacket and hoodie...much like the one Kristin Stewart is wearing here (and bonus - she obviously knows what she is doing since she is dating the hottest man in London!)

So Friday I set out on my quest for this ever important clothing item - when it is rainy and somewhat cold, you can never have too many jackets, right?!

I decided to focus my search for my new jacket in the funky, cool, Camden Town. Super trendy, a little over the top (okay, a lot over the top) and has some super cool second hand and vintage shops (among a million other cheaper clothing and jewelry booths) and I was thinking that a second hand coat might be just what I needed - already broken in and well loved so I wouldn't look like I was trying too hard...

I hunted through about 15 thrift shops, went into a ton of leather stores, and came up with nothing...I wanted real leather, of course, and all the side booths had fake leather knock-off of the jacket I wanted. The second hand shops' jackets were either kind of dingy and dirty, didn't fit right, or a little too old school for what I needed. Then I found it! Perfection, in a vintage shop, only 10 pounds! Put it on...and of course, just a little too small... :(

Finally I admitted defeat, was starving, needed a coffee, and was tired of sales guys trying to lure me into their booths and sell me things I had no desire to own...so I set off to find the tube station (an adventure for me in itself)...as I was walking along the street to the tube stop, I passed a shop that said leather...so on a whim I walked in to see what they might have. No expectations whatsoever...and voila! There were about 3 that fit the bill, were real leather, and on sale!!! (okay, in reality they are probably on sale every day, and the cute Turkish salesman was very charming) But after much deliberation I managed to locate the perfect one, the perfect fit, and maybe not the perfect price, but at this point I was desperate and a jacket lasts forever, right? :)

Now I am a content girl...great jacket to rock out the days and nights in...pair it with a gray hoodie, jeans, and boots for a laid back look, or a mini skirt for a hip trendy look...I'm in love...too bad it is almost spring and soon it will be irrelevant for several months! :)

Photos: Kristin Stewart rocking a great jacket; Camden Locks; Camden Town Stables; Bridge across the canal at Camden Town; My new jacket!

Blacked Out

Last night was one of the craziest dining experiences I've ever had...we went to this great restaurant - Dans le Noir http://www.danslenoir.com/london/

Such a cool experience, the concept is you experience your meal as if you were blind! The dining area is 100% completely black, the waiters can't see either...So first things first, get there and choose your food. Well, kind of. There are just four choices, Surprise, Fish, Vegetarian, and Meat. They don't tell you what the actual food is, just that. So we were all feeling adventurous, and went with the surprise, including the surprise wine.

Next we were led back to the dining room by Derek, our server for the evening. You hold onto each others shoulders, and follow him into the blackest room imaginable! He seats each of you, tells you what is in front of you (your silverware, glasses, etc) Then hands the bottle of wine to one of you, and you are responsible for filling your own glasses! Amazing, try pouring wine without spilling in the complete blackness! You get creative for sure. The starter came out first. Some sort of meat with cheese rolls. We all decided it must be pork (or as they call pork here, bacon). It was very good though. Next came out the main course, three types of meat, some mashed potatoes, a few veggies. It is so crazy difficult to eat with your fork when you don't know where/what you are forking up! So I resorted to feeling around with one hand, then stabbing with my other hand once I found what I was going to eat - probably not the best table etiquette, but the only way I could figure out what to put in my mouth! Insane how hard it was to eat, but it was so incredibly easy to find/drink my wine!!! :) Last was dessert - a rice pudding thing with some cookies and chocolates around it. Delish!

The best part of the experience is you have no idea what people around you are doing...for example my ever romantic boyfriend handed me his underwear! Lol! Awesome - so I in return gave him mine! Later they were passed to our friend, who wasn't quite as excited to receive them as I had been! She actually snuck up behind him and put them on his head! Lol!!! He thought it was our waiter, then got pretty freaked out when they started coming down over his face, he thought Derek was trying to suffocate him!!! It was absolutely hilarious! Also a great way to get to know new acquaintances, much easier to discuss sex, sex, and sex when you don't have to see the expressions on peoples faces...highly recommend it for shy people.

At the end of the meal, Derek came and led us from the room just like he had when we were brought in. Once we got outside in the light, we all got to see my bf wearing my bra, and also got to see what we had eaten! They have pictures of what the food looked like, and what it was. The starter (we had thought was pork) actually was goose breast! The main course had been Shark (so we were close on the fish!), Kangaroo steak (I had thought it to be steak), and some sort of African Antelope! Crazy, would have never ordered most of that on my own, but super fun to realized you had just tried 4 things you've never eaten before!

After the restaurant we decided to make the most of our Thursday night, and headed out to a karaoke bar. Along the way we had a Clive Owens spotting (I'm still not exactly sure who he is) And we proceeded to drink as many types of alcohol as possible, listened to some lovely and not so great singers, and I managed to find some new friends from Wyoming. Yes, I came all the way from Colorado to London, and managed to find some guys from Wyoming...apparently my redneck radar is still working quite well :) Weird, but running into someone you share even the smallest thing in common with from back home, can temporarily cure your homesickness! I had been feeling pretty sad all day and for some reason, it just made me feel better! :)

Okay, I'm going to figure out where I can get a nice Kangaroo steak to grill up for dinner...xoxo

Photos: Top - Me and one of my Wyoming buddies - his dance moves and spinning moves actually resulted in some bruising when I was flung across the dance floor! Bottom - My new roommates singing it up!

Bike + 'The Highway' = Near Death Experience

So I experienced my first near death experience on Honey last night...I knew it would happen, just didn't realize it would happen quite so fast! So I was riding down this street called 'The Highway' on my way to Canary Wharf, it was dark, and a little wet since it rained all afternoon, I had put on my last clean pair of jeans and favorite coat, done my makeup, the works. Anyway, I was riding on the sidewalk, and decided to do the proper thing and ride in the road. So I was riding along, and the road got kind of narrow so I was between a wall and traffic. In reality there was probably plenty of room, but a truck went by really close, and I freaked out, put my feet down (the truck was already passed) and caught my tire on the curb. I went down big time...right in the road. Luckily I have quick reflexes and had a lot of adrenaline pumping, so I grabbed my bike and got out of the way, and made my way up to where you could get back on the sidewalk. My gloves ripped right through the palms, I had a huge chunk missing from one of my palms, with some nice asphalt in it, I was wet and muddy, and hurt my hip pretty good! I felt like a complete idiot - and even more embarrassed when a car stopped to ask if I was okay (they were probably laughing so hard when it happened - after they realized I wasn't going to get ran over...) but it was actually really funny after it happened! I got on my bike, and remained on the sidewalk the duration of my trip to the wharf, laughing every time I relived the incident...so I didn't let a little wreck scare me off for good! Having road chunks dug out of my hand with tweezers was not fun, but I think a full recovery should be expected...well, until my next stupid biking mistake! :)

Bikes, Rockabilly, and kickass Jungle Sandwiches

After my 2 days worth of jet lag wore off, the fun began! (Not that it hadn't the minute I stepped off the plane:)

Friday we spent some time getting everything lined up for our Brazil trip in April - and amazingly enough, I think it all went through the first time! I know! Hard to believe I didn't screw something up...

Saturday was yoga and getting a gym membership (crazy cool gym) and then off for my favorite veggie burger from Borough Market...pretty much worth the move to London alone...Then it was on to find my new wheels...that came in the form of an awesome bike, a copper colored cruiser named 'Honey' :) - Still figuring out how the heck you ride: a) in traffic and b) on the left hand side of the road! I'm sure there will be many stories of near death in the future...but the bike is sweet!

Saturday night we went to a super cool club/bar called Gypsey Hotel - it has a really cool rockabilly vibe and crazy freak show type thing and great musical acts. There was a guy there that actually was playing like 3 instruments and singing all at once - and to top it off was really good! Couple burlesque style acts to add a little flavor and it was a party :)

Sunday started perfectly, we invented (or maybe just perfected it) the Guinness and walnut pancake, complete with Irish Cream poured over top, some Guinness and Irish Cream Scrambled eggs, and the Guinness and OJ mimosa...every Sunday breakfast should start with a mimosa, right?! On to Spitalfield Market - super cool market with tons of food and cool little stalls selling things - where I was introduced to the Jungle Sandwich...if the veggie burger from Borough wasn't enough to initiate a move, then this definitely was!

Definitely couldn't be happier, completely loving the city and so excited to spend this week exploring and getting to know it better! (and I'm not going to lie...can't wait until next weekend for another veggie burger and jungle sandwich...)

Photos: Honey (my bike), Gypsey Hotel acts, Making a very Guinness breakfast, Enjoying some jungle sandwiches.

2010 - A New Year, A New Adventure

Who would have thought that my third New Year's kiss would lead to this?
It started with an invite for fish taco's, that led to the greatest 1st date of all time: Fancy wine bar, to divey jazz bar with Mexican food on styrofoam plates (Wahoo's was sadly closed), to a country bar for some two-stepping, to another dive bar (where a random guy flashed his penis in an attempt to attract a female), to the Gin Mill for a triple shot of Crown...

I guess all love stories probably begin with at least some of these elements...

Turns out after a second date that included the promised fish tacos and some more dirty country dancing, we realized that we wanted to see each other again...oh, but did I mention this crazy cowboy lives in London...I live in Denver...

So after a sad goodbye trip to the airport, and thinking I would never hear from him again, I was so happy to get a text telling me he couldn't stop thinking about me! :) A week of emails later we had decided a trip to London was perfect for us to celebrate our February birthdays together...and what better place for a 3rd date than London???

A month later I was in London to celebrate Valentine's Day, my birthday, his birthday, Carival, oh, and let's not forget National Pancake Day there! Sometime during the crazy partying, eating, drinking, pancake making, a trip to Berlin for some more wild partying, clubbing and eating, I realized I had fallen for him...and I guess he had for me as well...

My moving out there in the future was mentioned, but not dates were set. I figured if it actually happened it would be months away and take some serious planning.

But the first night I was back, I knew I just wanted to be back there with him, so we threw caution to the wind, and decided to make it happen! I listed my house for rent on Craig's List, told my parents I was thinking about moving (not the easiest discussion due to the fact they still don't think I know him), and started looking into a visa. Little did I know that my house would be scooped up immediately, so I walked into work a mere 8 days after my return to the states and put in my 2 weeks notice, bought a ticket to London for the 17th of March, and started packing! That is right, an 8 day turnaround between deciding to move, and actually making it all happen!

Who says you need to think about these things anyway???