London Days 7, 8 & 9

On Thursday, the 28th: Harrods was a lot of fun. The store is a feast for the eyes. It is so beautifully decorated with different themes in each room. I split off from the guys. I wandered through the jewelry section where they had some beautiful and inspiring jewelry. I also visited their homewares section. It is so vast, room after room, it is easy to get lost in there. I wanted to look at clothing too but by that time the guys were feeling overwhelmed so we left and had lunch at the Bunch of Grapes Pub which is right down stairs from the flat. We walked down to the Victoria and Albert Museum afterward but were too tired to really explore it. We tried a tour with a docent but she was super boring so we ducked out of the tour.

On Friday, the 30th: James and I got up super early in the morning to go to the Bermondsey flea market. I was surprised that James wanted to come with me. I thought I would be doing it on my own. It was nice to have him along. It was dark when we got lattes and headed for the tube station. I enjoyed seeing the early morning commuters reading their papers. The streets were pretty in the sunrise. The flea market was a lot smaller than I thought it would be but I managed to find some great deals – some old buttons for rings, Siam silver pendants, gifts for friends, beads, old silver coins. We spoke to one vendor who told us she’d been coming to the market for 40 years. She had a great selection of vintage jewelry. She had a beautiful Victorian Souvenir Brooch of the Eiffel Tower. James bought it for me.

Afterward we came back to flat to pick up Forest and head over to the Science Museum where they had a cool exhibit on computer games. Before we went to the exhibit we saw the ocean movie in 3D on their Imax screen. It was so great! James and Forest had fun at the games exhibit. They had actual copies of games from 1952 (I think) up to the present game box that had people lining up around the block a couple of months ago. The guys played a lot of games but I only played the Ms. Pacman game. I kind of rock at it.

Saturday, the 30th: James accompanied me to Portobello Road. Forest stayed home to rest for the day. We had so much fun. There were booths on the street and many stores that had booths inside them. I found quite a lot of old jewelry to use in my work and talked to a lot of interesting characters. It is amazing how knowledgeable the vendors are about their product. It was starting to look stormy so we ducked into a Thai place for a yummy meal and a few glasses of wine. Afterward we walked through the rest of Portobello road which changes from antiques to stalls that sell very hip clothing and jewelry. The street is so different from one end to the other.

On the tube we decided to get off at Sloane Square stop and walk a different way home to see some other areas of London. We had read a funny article in the newspaper that morning about Sloane Rangers so we were curious to see the area. It was very posh with tidy little brick lanes and emaculate doorsteps. There were private gardens which you had to have a key to enter. It started pouring rain on us. We were running through the streets. Looking into the private gardens, through the gates, in the rain, they seemed really magical. The rain was crazy. I couldn’t stop laughing.

The winds have been very strong the past two nights. They rattle the windows which make noises like chickens clucking. They howl! They wake me up and make me worry!

London, Days 5 and 6

It is hard to believe we are just half way through our trip. It is so nice to take such a long vacation. On the 26th, Boxing Day, the 5th day of our trip, we took Forest out shopping. He had Christmas money that he was excited to spend. He wanted to buy some clothes. James is such a great guide on vacation. He does the research and finds the best places to go. He took us down to Oxford Circus and led us directly to a place called Topshop which was perfect for Forest. There were throngs of people there shopping. This is the time of year when all the stores have massive sales. It was hard to even move around in the store but Forest managed to find a hoodie with a sort of Bauhaus design on it that he really liked. I was surprised to find that the store also had a vintage clothing section. The crowds were too thick to really do any intense shopping. Seriously, I have never been in such a crazy shopping environment. It was neat to see all the hip young kids in there shopping. I found a shirt I liked but didn’t take the time to try it on because it was just too crazy.

After Topshop we ate dinner at a pub called Argyll Arms and then walked down Carnaby
Street where there lots of cool little shops, half of which were open. After shopping we had tickets for Mousetrap, an Agatha Christie whodunit that has been playing for 55 years. It was a really good classic mystery play.

On the 27th, the 6th day of our trip, we set out for Harrods to do some shopping only to find out they weren’t open yet so instead we walked the other way down the street to the Natural History Museum. I am finding so much inspiration here! There is so much beauty all around in the buildings, metal railings, lampposts, etc. Everywhere you look there is some beautiful thing to make you happy. Even at the Natural History Museum, the building itself was so ornate. There were carvings of foliage and animals on every corner. The ceilings were covered in paintings of trees and vines. There were stained glass windows with organic designs. We saw a dinosaur exhibit. They had an awesome ecology exhibit stressing the cycle and interdependence of all living things. I loved the bird exhibit. We took a break and had tea and scones mid afternoon. So British! Ha.

We are having some strange luck with our electric appliances. We have burned out Forest’s ipod charger and my battery charger so far. Smoke, popping noises, etc. It is kind of scary! Fortunately the laptop has been fine! But if I suddenly drop off, you’ll know why.

In the evenings we have just been lying around, tired from all the walking, watching television and eating our snacks from the grocery store downstairs. I am really enjoying watching tv here. There are four chanels on the television in the flat and they are all pretty excellent. On Christmas day there was a great program researching the coverup of the family of Jesus Christ. Just try to find that on American tv. We have seen shows with Ricky Gervais interviewing Christopher Guest and Gary Chandling. Last night they had a great show on about the Cirque de Soleil show, Love. There have also been a lot of great gameshows on. I love watching tv in another country. Also, they can say the f word on tv here. Scandalous!

Today we are going to try to hit up Harrods. I am really in favor of putting it off after our experience the other day but James and Forest want to check it out and if it is too crazy, just move on to Tower of London. We will see what happens!

London, Day Three

Today was full and great. James and I powered through while Forest went back to bed around 6 AM. We woke him at 9:15, 9:30, 9:45 and then went back one more time to find he was finally up and getting ready. We had ham and cheese croissants and lattes from the Patisserie Valerie and headed out to see the London Tower. When we got there we found it was closed so James quickly devised another plan. We walked across the beautiful Tower Bridge and went to the London Dungeon which was way more entertaining than I thought it would be. It was a really creepy tour of all the foul things that have happened in London’s history – plague, jack the ripper, the great fire of 1666. They led us through dark, scary rooms where actors entertainingly told us about London’s history. Really fun! The best part was this dark room they left us in that had all these mirrors, you would walk in a direction and see twenty of yourself. We got really turned around!

Next we walked around the St John's Wood neighborhood where James’ family lived when he was little. We walked by his old school, his house and Abbey Road Studios. We had lunch and then came home. We were feeling pretty tired.

I took a nap and then we went back out to see Borat at a theatre in Piccadilly Circus. I have to say the movie made me laugh pretty hard. It is a little painful to watch in certain scenes and it is also kind of weird to watch it in another country and to think the people in the move are representing Americans to the rest of the world.

Now we are back for the evening and looking forward to lounging around tomorrow. Everything will be closed down. We are not really doing anything special for Christmas. This trip was our Christmas gift to ourselves so it’s really not necessary to do much more. Before the trip we each bought something to serve as our Christmas presents. We are going to give Forest some spending cash. He wants to shop for clothes here. He also has cash from both his grandparents so he should have fun in the next few days. We are kind of looking forward to the after-xmas sales!

Goodnight and Merry Christmas!

First two days in London

Hello from London. We are really on a weird sleep schedule! It is 5 in the morning of our 2nd night and none of us has been able to sleep since 2. We are just waiting on the sun to come up so we can go out. Today we are going to force ourselves into a schedule! Yesterday we slept until 3 in the afternoon – 12 hours. Very strange!

Here is a little synopsis of our trip so far… arrived at 7 am on Friday morning (midnight our time). We went down to a little place called Patisserie Valerie where James and I had eaten many breakfasts the last time we were here. We all had English Breakfast which is basically baked beans, sausage, egg, tomato and toast. It was so yummy! We were so tired we took a long nap and when we woke up the sun was already down. It goes down here at 4 PM. We went out to see the Christmas lights near Piccadilly Circus and walked over to Leicester Square. Lots of people were out having fun and partying. We ate dinner in a little café and then came home. On the way home we went to a grocery store and bought food for the flat. James stocked up on British candy like Double Decker candy bars, Maltesers (like Whoppers but better says he), Fruit Pastilles and other stuff. James has a fondness for British candy because he ate so much of it growing up here! Anyway, it is kind of fun to grocery shop in another country.

Saturday after waking at 3 PM, we made reservations and took a ride on the London Eye. It’s this huge ferris wheel that was built for the millennium celebration. It has glass capsules from which you can see a panoramic view of the city. Since we went up at night it was very nice to see all the city lights below. I thought I would be a little scared of the height but it didn’t bother me. After that we walked across the bridge past roasted chestnut vendors, by the parliament buildings and up to Trafalgar Square where there were carolers. We had dinner in a pub and Forest had a pint of beer! James and I had Pimms which were really good and seemed very festive and seasonal. We came home and I relaxed and read my book, The Namesake, which is very good so far. Oh, one cool thing – in the pub there were these books stacked by the door that said “free” so I took two of them, Sue Grafton novels, I have never read her stuff but my mother-in-law likes her and I used to love reading mysteries! Anyway, they are part of this program called Book Crossing in which books are read and released to be found by another reader. You can go on the website and log where the book has been and see its history.

So far it’s been fun and relaxing but I really hope to see London in the daylight today!

Worn out.

I am so tired! I can barely think. I just have to push through one more day of errand running and packing and then I am homefree for two and a half weeks of lounging around the flat, reading my new Jhumpa Lahiri novel and also my collection of Alice Munro stories that I have been saving up. And also walking around a foriegn city and being inspired and excited by new things. Also, gong to flea markets. And, going to Harrod's down the road and getting yummy cheese and crackers from their fancy food section. And, visiting the Tate Modern. And going for walks in the park. Also, pub food and pints. And then finally going to Paris and shouting "I'm 35" from the top of the Eiffel Tower! And then coming home and getting down to all the goals I have for 2007. I am just saying all this to help me remember that this horrible part of the year is almost over. I am so freaking tired.

I am taking the laptop so hopefully I will be able to blog and upload pics from the trip.

BG has been so great. The other shows were good to me. I am almost out of stock. I am getting a shelf at Parts and Labour. The museum store has asked me to do another trunk show in the Spring. I am excited to work on metals in January. I am excited to do new things in the next year. I guess this part of the year is not so bad because it is also when you start thinking about all the new stuff you want to pursue. I take New Year's Resolutions very seriously.

But for now I am about to fall out of my chair...

Time is flying by.

Holy crap, did another week go by? I am in show mode right now. Trying to stay very focused on keeping the minimal amount of housework done and getting ready for shows. Last night I set up for bg. I am pretty happy with my booth. In my display I am using this whatnot shelf that my grampaw made for me when I was little. It has my name carved in the top! Today I am going to set out all my jewelry. I also have shows Thursday through Sunday. After that I will have about a week and a half before we leave on the trip. I plan to try to spend some evenings up at the bg show to meet and greet customers. And, I will have to be figuring out what to pack. I really hate packing. It comes with so much anxiety that I will forget something important - no matter how many lists I make. I think we are all ready for a vacation around here! My show up in Dallas last week was successful, if not a bit of a debacle due to the weather. It was freezing the night of the show so it had to be postponed. Fortunately I got word of it before I started driving. They just had it the next night and the turn out was fantastic!

Also, coming up next week is Forest's play - he is taking a class at a local theatre and they are putting on Othello. Forest is playing Othello! I have been running lines with him. I am amazed that he can memorize so much.

Better get back to it. Just wanted to log in and report. I feel so isolated, haven't seen many of my friends in a long time!!! Could use a little girlfriend time but that will have to wait until January!