I've got my Eye on you...

This past weekend, in addition to moving into the new digs, my dearest Jordan came down to welcome me to London. She’s been living in Dublin for the last few years. It was hard when she was so far away, but now we’re so close!! She was a Godsend this weekend...my little packmule. Helped me get situated in the new flat and taught me how to use a gas stove. Bless her...

As a treat, she welcomed me to London with a Champagne Tour on the London Eye.

I highly recommend doing the Champagne Tour if you’re going to do the London Eye. It’s a short ride, but having the champagne toast on top of the city is amazing. Yes, we did look a little like a recently engaged lesbian couple (“She’s quite a catch!”), but no matter...the views are worth it.

And who says no to bubbly?

I'm Sorry...

...I totally suck at writing a blog! I realize this and will try to be better in the future. Thank you for your patience with my fledgling attempt at being creative and tech savvy...

I’m sitting in my new flat (yay!) waiting on Fedex to arrive with my boxes from the US. Very excited, although I’m looking around this place now wondering how on earth I’m going to store everything. Yikes! I definitely had rose-colored glasses on when I was looking at apartments. Now that I’ve actually spent a few nights here, I can see some glaringly obvious oversights on my part. For one, there is only 1 closet!! How did I miss that?!? It was even something I noticed in other places as good/bad/whatever. So, how did I miss it this time? I’ll tell you...

The charm in this place is intoxicating. There are pretty little touches like beautiful stain glass windows in the kitchen and bathroom. There are fireplaces in the living room and in my bedroom. The natural wood frames of the doors and windows make a nice contrast to the whitewashed walls. It’s charming, plain and simple...

But it still doesn’t help me find a place for my clothes!

Once the boxes arrive, I’m off to search for storage. Here are some shots of the “charming bits” of the flat. More to come soon...

(They really use keys that look like this!)

(My tiny kitchen...good thing I'm not a gourmet chef!)

(Pretty blue stained glass in the bathroom)

(My bedroom window)

(My bedroom so far...and yes, I have a teddy bear!)

View from a Window

So, I'm feeling a bit nostalgic about leaving my "temporary apartment" on Saturday. I've only recently discovered the gems of Borough...namely Borough Market!...and it is sad to think that this eclectic little area will be several Tube stops away from my new home.

Now, I'm still VERY excited about my new place...and I know Putney will have gems of her own for me to discover, but still...with views like this, what can I say?

(clear as a bell)

(garden delight!)

(watching the clouds roll in over the London Eye)

(all's quiet - the London Eye is bright against the dark sky)

I LOVE Borough Market!

Borough Market is a bountiful open-air market near the South Bank. It's colorful, great for people-watching, perfect for grabbing a snack, or even doing your weekly grocery shopping. Everything is here: produce, fish, beef, chicken, sausages, pastries, flowers...you name it and you're likely to find it there.

Now, this place isn't for those who don't like crowds. Because the market is only open 3 days of the week - people flock here in droves, locals and tourists alike. And because today was (yet again) a lovely sunshiney day, I imagine it was filled to the brim.

Here are a few of my photos from today. (Wish I'd taken more but I'm one of those people who don't like crowds, so my patience was limited...)

(my first stop)

(gorgeous fruits and veggies)

(preserves and spreads)

(a pretty flower shop just outside the market)

(this is Southwark Cathedral...very beautiful)

(a view across the Millennium Bridge to St. Paul's Cathedral)

Rude Awakenings

Woke up this morning only to discover the water in my building has been turned off!?! What?!?

Thankfully, I had a bottled water in the fridge and could at least brush my teeth. So, I then decided to pop down to the little convenience store downstairs and get some breakfast. Imagine my delight to find they carry Diet Cherry Coke!! (I know - healthy breakfast...but I was swayed because DCC can be hard to find in the grocery stores back home and thought I was in for such a treat!) I picked up a few other little items for the week and rushed back up here to write this entry and enjoy my precious drink. Yep...it's not the same. It's not at all the same sweet deliciousness as back home. In fact, it stinks!

One pleasant surprise (and believe me, I had my doubts) was that hummus, or houmous as they spell it here, is great!

So, no banking progress as of yet...but I'm taking my stinky, no shower self off to explore Borough Market today. V. excited! :)

A New Start

The Search is Over!

I found a place to live! Hooray!

I found the most charming little apartment in an area called Putney. It’s in a great little residential neighbourhood and even has a sweet little garden in the back. So, move in date will be next weekend...which is great for me. Plus, it’ll be just in time for the annual Boat Race between Oxford and Cambridge, apparently a big party along the river towns. And, of course, my sweet friend Jordan's visit will be just in time to help me get settled!

Now, this wasn't necessarily the easiest thing to do. Let me give you a brief overview. The place I thought was picture perfect – wasn’t. It was in a great location and did have some charming features (brick fireplace in the living room was nice)...but it just didn’t feel right. So, I put foot to pavement and walked all over town Friday & Saturday. I swear I must have seen 40 + apartments, some were good but some were just awful! (The kicker was an apartment in a nice area which was literally the size of a shoebox! I was shocked considering the neighbourhood and the rental price. But even the cute guy living across the hall couldn’t persuade me to take the shoebox!)

So, now on to tackle the next challenge - opening a bank account!