My Shoes

Today it snowed for the first time and it was wonderful...I felt like a kid at Christmas, way too excited for all the locals who see snow as more of an inconvenience than a thrill.

When I walk to work to the train station and then to work I wear some very warm and unprofessional boots so that my feet can stay warm and happy and to avoid any incidents that may occur due to icy conditions and an unbelievable number of cobble stones that can be found around the London streets.


I took this video to show you what I stepped out into this morning, you will notice an appearance from my wonderful Monet umbrella once again, please excuse the language when I realised that my black work wedges were still in the bedroom and not in my handbag.

Puzzle pieces

You can put a whole pumpkin in the oven!

Second week down and we have officially had progress.

Most exciting news is that we found a house!

It is a double story flat just around the corner from Angel Station, within 5 minutes to Fitness First AND Virgin Active (I think the latter one will become mine), 15 minutes walk to work, what can I say the location could not be better.

What I come home to, Nick is a good boy.

We will be living with an Australian couple who are the same age as Nick and I and they seem really nice.  Both the bedrooms have an ensuite and there is a spare room for visitors!  Another plus is that there is a massive paved back courtyard which will be the venue for many a BBQ in summer.

I just cannot wait to hang up my turkish water colour and buy some bedlinen...not to mention a big fluffy wool high GSM doonah to combat these freezing conditions.



mmm dead skin cells



Move in date will be Dec 10th, the place will need a good once over before we get settled so it is going to be a big weekend.

Wish I had the dyson.

 

As you can see I have been doing alot of baking.  It has become my weekend activity and I am really enjoying it but as you could imagine the consequences, a gym membership could not come soon enough.

 

I have become very good at peeling of a face mask in 1 piece



I got "the hump" (translation = the shits) with Nick when I made the carrot cake.  I spent a good few hours in the kitchen, grating carrots, mixing, sifting, beating....there were no beaters in the house so I had to do everything by hand which was exhausting in itself



I think I was dancing, not pretending to be in pump class



The mixture was too much for the tin and when it was in the oven it over flowed everywhere which meant all my greasing and flouring was of no use and it was well and truely stuck in there.  Nick being a foodie said you go sit down and ill fix it.  So I do, but when I return to the kitchen peeking through my fingers waiting for a vision shredded carrot and walnut covered walls I am presented with Nick, with my cake, spreading icing all over it.



First was the relief that the cake had come out in one piece.  Then the realisation that;

1. he was icing my cake (the best bit of he whole process)
2. he had not added the walnuts to the icing prior to spreading as the recipe stated




A boy can dream


3. he was icing the sides of the cake!



"wow, thanks...honey".  I couldn't hide my disappointment and he straight away understood that I was slightly shaken by the blatant assault on my work of art which I was so looking forward to impressing everyone at work with.



But it still tasted fantastic and I think the icing was so yummy everyone loved that if you got a corner piece you got three whole iced sides.  How can you stay mad at a man who greets you with garlic bread, roasted Mediterranean vegetable and walnut salad  and a glass of New Zealand Sav Blanc after a hard days work.

Last night work friends, Nick and I went out for a few games of pool at a bar called 1920 which has incredibly rude wallpaper and then went to a bug called The Gate to see colleague and friend Chris play a gig with his mate Paul.  Lots of fun, the boys did great and it was all up a great start to the weekend.



Tonight we are going into town where I am going to meet Nicks friends for the first time (I have a face mask on as we speak) and then tomorrow he is working at his friends pub for the day because his friend just had a little baby!

Which leaves me with no choice but to go shopping of course.  I need snow boots.

News flash, just got a call from my girl Tia back home, she and Nat are partying it up at my favourite club CQ, oh the memories! 

 

 

Chop Suey

Blunt Rhianna

Opinion please, how should I get my hair cut next week? Vote above...

Cutie Katie

Short Becks

True Blue Natalie

Whinging Poms

First week of work down and I can finally say "Hello Weekend!"

So far so good everyone at work is incredibly lovely, a genuinely fun and easy going group of people that have minimal interest in the rat race and maximum interest in enjoying their work.  Hit the Jackpot...

Throughout the week I got my first Oyster card which was exciting and I must say is quite a simple theory yet works incredibly well and I cannot fathom how our transport sector back home managed to screw up so much back home.  I wonder how they are going with that...

I did have a rather horrific experience on the weekend when I was shopping for my stealth gear, coming home after a long day of shopping with bags hanging of every arm, leg and ear lobe that I had available and for some reason they decided to shut off one the the major lines that I would have used to get home.  No problems, I will use a different station.  No actually I will not because that particular station is also closed because there was too much congestion (as the idiots shut the line so everyone had to use the same station to get to where they wanted to be, gee couldn't see that coming).

It was twice as bad as this

So I got off at some station perhaps Tottenham Street or something and there were SOOOOO many people at that one platform it was like being in the Spice Bazaar in Turkey, squashed from every angle.  This I could handle but the fact that there were so many people moving in the same direction meant that you could move 1 meter every 30 seconds, it felt like being forced into a gas chamber (no offence intended) and took about 35 minutes to get from one platform to the other.  If you were any more claustrophobic than I am you would have freaked out, you see the tube is quite far underground and from an interiors point of view the feeling of space, light and airiness was not high on their priority list when they built it.  So eventually I got home in a huff and good old Nick had a glass of Vino at the ready and food on the stove which always makes everything better.

Now onto the topic of whinging  poms.   They are stereotyped as being a kind of people who bitch and moan for a substantial percentage of their time on this planet and the obvious contributing factors that I could see are as follows:

Low exposure to sunlight

Go on, sing it.

• At the moment the sun rises and sets about bang on when you start and finish work
• Dense cloud coverage prevents UV rays from reaching anybody
• If the sun is out you are wearing too many layers of clothing to absorb even an iota of Vitamin D

 Low intake of Vitamin B

• Vegemite, and Australian staple is very high in vitamin B which is essential for Energy Production, Healthy Nervous System, Good Digestion and maintaining healthy skin, hair and nails.  The British have an underdeveloped palate and therefore do not enjoy this delicious and versatile spread.

These are valid reasons as to why they are a nation of moaners but I have recently discovered some more factors that I believe are a key part of this epidemic:

Annual Leave

• For some reason here in the UK you cannot accrue annual leave.  If you do not use your annual leave it disappears.  You don't even get paid out for it.

Gyms

• To be a member of a half decent gym over here is will set you back about 80 pounds a month.  That is about $130 dollars when the exchange is good.  Everybody knows exercise is good for the body and mind but it seems a little inaccessible at that price.  At the moment the UK is ranked 3rd on the percentage of Obesity list beaten only by, you guessed it the US and Mexico.  Australia is ranked 6th which is my favourite number but is still a little disturbing.

Banks

• You know Barbara?  She lives here.  She has bread like wild fire and here spawn have taken over.

Let me explain.  So, I had a blond moment and left my debit card at a Tescos (equivalent of safeway/coles).  Rang up the shop, yes they have my card I will pick it up on Monday because its around the corner from work.  I go into the bank today with two objectives;

1. To withdraw cash as I have none and will need some before Monday.
2. To see if I can upgrade my account.  

You see when I first created the account I was jobless so they have be a "cash account" something that is generally suitable to bogans/pikies on welfare who make their money off my hard earned taxes by supplying society with a new generation of uneducated and uncivilized shits that, like their predecessors take more than they could ever give to society.

Now that I have a wonderful job as a secret agent I wish to upgrade my account so that I can withdraw MY money from more places (at the moment it is very restricted) and there are other little perks of course, all for about 7 pound a month.  I can live with that.

but NO!  I cannot upgrade my account, I will need to wait 6 months to see if they decide that I am worthy of paying them money to access my money.  Are you frekin serious?  So I say "well how hard is it for me to cancel this account and go next door to your competitor and open a superior account there?".  They said "Easy, you just need to fill out this form".  Idiots.

So I leave that subject and try my other objective with "well at the moment my priority is to withdraw some cash as you know I do not have my card with me, it is at Tescos and I will be picking it up on Monday".

NO DEAL!  They cannot under any circumstances withdraw cash without my card.  This was after she went through and tried to upgrade my account in front of me without asking for ID or anything.
My options were to either wait until Monday to get my card OR lodge the the card had been lost/stolen then they would be able to manually get cash out for me and it would take 1 week to receive my new card.

Electrons - a sub atomic particle carrying a negative electric charge which has no known components or structure.  Such a simple thing but even an electron knows to take the path of least resistance.

So now I am sitting on the sofa by myself contemplating whether or not to go to all the way to old street to get my bloody bogan cash card.  Nick is watching football with some friends so I have the house to myself and quite fancy the idea of running a bath puttting on my "100 most relaxing classical songs" cd and getting back into the sequel of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

Decisions Decisions.

All Saints Night Florals Karin Dress

All Saints Night Florals Karin Dress

At Laaast, my love has come along,
My days in Top Shop are over,
and life is like a song....oh oh,

At Laaast, I have found something new,
that makes my credit card run for cover,
but I am so glad that I found you....

Dogs in pubs

Evidence

I am sitting on the couch looking for flats (something different for a change), nick has fallen asleep with a pillow on his face and a hand down his pants.

Watching LA ink, again.  Don't tell my mum but I am moving ever closer to my next piece of work, hopefully before my birthday..


Tomorrow I am heading to Westfield, yes the company is everywhere.  I start my new job as a secret agent on Monday and have no stealth gear so intend to go on a good shop, especially at my favourite new shop All Saints.
Speaking of work I went to function last night where I met some colleagues and clients and had the best time, everyone in the industry seems wonderful and I am so excited about starting (with my new outfit of course).

Nick where he belongs, in the kitchen with beautiful Anna

100 pounds at Sainsbury's later

The only thing that bothered me about the whole occasion was the fact that Nick did more networking than me, man that boy had the gift of the gab.

  A few nights before we had a fabulous dinner at a friends house in Angel which I have decided is where I want to live and no not just because it means I can say I live in Angel but it helps.

Dogs in pubs, another plus of this city

We have just decided that we are spending the next 4 hours watching New Moon and then that movie that scares everybody senseless, Paranormal Activity.  I know I have promised some of you that I would never watch that movie because of how it affected your ability to sleep, eat and think but what choice does a bored woman have at 7pm on a Friday night.

After what happened yesterday I don't think I can experience fright quite like that again.  Sitting on the sofa about where nicks feet are on the photo above, minding my own business on my laptop and a man wearing black jumps right in front of me screaming "give me your money arghhh something something" by this point I had pee'd myself a little thrown the laptop and gone into the foetal position.  I had realised it was nick and he had realised that he had perhaps gone a little too far because his face dropped as he saw my face.

I was so scared I couldn't help it, I cried before running into the bedroom and hid under he doonah.  Poor Nick was so sorry he didn't know what to do, but I can assure you he will never do anything like that again.   Now we laugh.

Sweet November

5:32am.  That is what time I woke up this morning.  Now I understand that it could definitely be worse, but let me tell you that after 10 weeks of no work (I hear your "awe" in sympathy) alarm clocks are not well received, especially before sunrise.

But I hear you ask, "what is the reason for this madness!?".   I can tell you that I went for a job interview which I am extremely excited about but for your own safety I cannot enlighten you as to what job it was for.  Secret agent stuff, you know the drill.

Small things....

...make us laugh...

like cardboard boxes.

On other news it is official, there is no such thing as a drought in London.  I was able to use my umbrella this morning on my way to the top secret interview and I was impressed that I was able to walk about 300m before the damn thing turned inside out.  It was freezing.  Utterly icy, windy, rainy, and to top things off the other night on the way back from a night out on the town with one of Nick's friends I lost one of my new leather gloves.  I will bet to that a bit later.



The weekend past was lovey, as I said we hit a part of the town called Soho (red light district) with one of Nicks friends Nathan who lives in Sweden which was interesting.  Lots of gays, Nick got more attention from the boys than I did which isn't good for any womans ego.  After a few drinks it was time to catch the last train home and on this journey Nick and I thought it was absolutely hilarious to take my gloves and slap each other on the face in time with saying in an evil Russian-esque accent; "zie are vayz of mekin you talk!"  Hence the missing glove...

I just checked the current temperature in London an it is 5 degrees celcius, but I quote "feels like 0 degrees'.  In what other country does 5 degrees disappear and no one blinks an eye about it.

Tangent - Binge Drinking.  Australia you though we had it bad, the people (mostly women) here are out of control.  Sitting on the train waiting for the last train and it seems that everyone is leaving the carriage, I can't undestand why but I am bopping away to my Ipod.  Then Nick point out a girl about 6 seats down who has chundered all over the floor.

WARNING: do not read if you have a weak stomach

 
It was a fine spew, red in colour, chunky like Dolmio but disappointing projectile.  After shifting slightly away from the evidence she collapsed in a heap.  From now on I am carrying my Polaroid around with me on the weekends so if I ever see anyone like that again I am going to take a photo of them and put it in their pocket so they can be utterly disgusted by themselves when they awake with a cracking headache and have conveniently "forgotten" everything from the night.  It's just not very becoming.

Bald head = cold ears = woolen accessories

So, the following day was lovey and sunny, we went to a local pub where everyone knows everyone for a meal with some of Nicks family and friends (and Bluey, the red setter who got a little exhausted by all off the excitement and needed a little nap, thankfully I had my sleeping mask on hand).

The Mother Country

And so it begins.  Well not quite, after a few long and surprisingly sunny days in Peterborough we high tailed it to Portugal for 4 nights of sun and beer, like I hadn't had enough.  In all seriousness there was a perfectly valid reason for this frivolous behavior, my winter clothes that were sent via Aust Post had not yet arrived and the bikinis and sundresses were not cutting it.

Spare time?  What are you talking about.

Portugal, I wish I could say I know you but I don't.  We were evoking the ultimate "ignorant tourist" within us and after I got over the guilt of not knowing how to say hello or goodbye in the language and only leaving the hotel grounds for food and drink I actually enjoyed myself.  Not so many memories, although what stands out was that I finally finished my course of suppositories.  Ill drink to that.

Back to the mother country, in another bloody long immigration que, I still get nervous when they question me.  Hello London!

A pelican on its nest on a chimney.  Fancy.

Look right, doesnt Nick look like a dirty Mexican?  Not that Mexicans are dirty, I swear I am not racist.

So we returned and then it dawned on me, why the hell is the sun shining???  That doesn't happen in the UK we are all taught that back home just like you poms learn about us traveling to school every day on Kangaroos with corks flying around our faces.  Ridiculous, really guys.

When the raindrops were not falling on anything

This squirrel stayed like this for me for at least 3 minutes, poser.

St James Park

No shit it has been the most wonderful weather.  Sunny and fantastic, very picturesque.  I am very impressed but slightly dissapointed.   You see during the last 3 weeks that I have been staying in London (rent free thankyou Denis) Nick and I have been slightly bored.  Unemployed, looking for work I swear, and looking for places to stay but with no luck so far.


Before you go getting the tissues out for me let me assure you that there is hope.  Nick smashed it in an interview yesterday so I am sure it wont take long for him to start bringing in some dough ;)

Leicester Square Fair

 ASOS.COM - please note all online retailers I paid 14.95 pound what is that like $24 for a 1 year membership.  I can order as much crap as I like, free next day delivery and if you dont like it you put it back in the bag they pick it up FOR FREE and refund you the money.  They may have bad teeth but they aint dumb these folk.

 So, online shopping.  I purchased and umbrella, no not just any umbrella.  A fold up automatic one, decorated with Monets Poppy fields.  $50 I know, its slightly extravagant but have a look at the video I am sure my horrible singing will convince you.

Little poser I saw in St James park

Anyway, boredom.  3 weeks of it.  I have noticed a pattern in what activities I do in all my spare time.  Watch Miami, LA and London Ink, research plastic surgery and online shop.   Not healthy.

Point of that long winded conversation was that I spent too much money on an umbrella and since then it hasn't rained once.

Just you watch we will now have a drought in England.

One of the houses we are considering renting.

This is what happens at 11:30pm.  Your car doors get frozen shut.

Some photos for your viewing...

Lovely little lake on the walk to Enfield

Sky traffic

Somewhere nick took me on a little exhibition, walked for 2 hrs then ate curly fries. 

Mug shot 1

Mug shot 2

 Pubs with colouring competitions, Eureka moment.

Greece, Croatia and Turkey

View from first dinner in Ios

The memories are becoming fainter and I am getting impatient with myself so the next three countries are coming at once.  Messy I know.

Can I just say Nick almost gave me a heart attack, I thought he was having and Epileptic fit.  Never actualy seen him move so fast.  You till never guess what just happened.  The "Spurs" just scored a goal or whatever they call point.  I have no idea who they are playing but I did my best to fake enthusiasm.

Back to the point.

45kmph of power between the legs

Athens, staying at Athens Style  How fitting I know.  First thing we did was go for an F. off greek salad and a bottle of white wine and may I say those were the juiciest cucumbers I have ever eaten.  Amazing location, but not for long.  Next morning, crack of dawn on another bloody ferry to Ios "the party island".  All up fun but slightly disappointing.  I dare say perhaps I am too old for starting a night out at 12:30pm and for the screaming drunken blond 18yr olds.  Was no helped by the fact that they played the same songs in EVERY club.  On the up side we did find our trips song (and dance) and as humiliating as that was it was worth it. 

The beauty of Santorini, and of course the scenery

White beach on mermaid rock

Brain flash....falling over.   By this stage I had already had mine.  It was in Egypt, sharing a room with Boz.  I was in the shower (shower over bath) sudding up, in between hair washing cycle so had my lovey satin pink shower can well adorned (thanks Clare) and all of a sudden the world moved slower than an Indian in a pool (sorry Dad not being racist but it is true).  I slipped, grabbed onto the shower curtain and fell.  I could feel the donk, donk, donk of the shower curtain pulling out of the shitty plastic rings as I went down and was waiting for some sort of shooting pain in some part of my body, toilets, basins, corners were all waiting to gouge into me.  Then it was over, the shower curtain around me like the wings of an angel and I am brought back to reality by a soft weary voice..."Lucy?.....Lucy?....Are you alright?"  Boz stuck her beautiful little face around the bathroom door to see me spread eagle legs over the edge of the bath looking like a stunned mullet (in a very fashionable shower cap) laughing hysterically on the floor.  Very lucky I was not to do more damage, a hospital visit in Egypt is something I would not wish on anybody.

The famous sunset in Santorini, I think its still a secret don't tell anybody!

So back to the story, in Ios we had two more of the team go down in the bathroom.  First was Tess.  It was slightly less dramatic but very much a "skweek-ka-thump" in the bathroom going down the steps.  Painful on the arse no doubt but she is a tough lady and laughed it of (with a glass of bubbly).  Then the second troop fell, Clare.  Same step, same bathroom, same bloody noise.  Stupid stairs.  Should have complained but always woke up too hung over to remember.  Franciscos?  I think that is where we stayed.  Nice enough place, more Aussies than you could poke a stick at though.

Only 2 days in Ios then to Santorini.  HELLO SANTORINI.  Instant Love.  Beauty, peace, serenity, oh the serenity. Stellios is where we stayed, everything you could want.  Go there please.  Seriously, I am pleading.

Croatian sunset

Santorini came and went in a gleaming happy mist, back to Athens and then we lost a leg.  It's name was Boz.  Boz went on an expedition to Estonia while Clare, Tess and I headed to Croatia.  It was hard walking with 3 legs.  Especially after a few bevies.

So the jourey began, two massive overnight ferries, one long day waiting and shopping and eating in Italy, then Dubrovnik.

News flash, Nick just gave me a heart attack.  The Spurs kicked another point.  Woo! Can you feel the excitement!

Of course I can drive a boat!

DUBROVNIK.  Bloody unreal.  Stay in the Old Town, thankfully the knowledgeable Clare told us to do so and she was entirely correct.  Absolutely beautiful.  If you have never seen a pigeon tornado this is the place to go.  Ask Tess to see the video.  The only video I got was of a drunken man talking to himself.  Bless him.

How to get to the turret bar, underwear is highly advised

Then begun Croatia Sailing.  Brilliant.  Island after island, day after day of crystal water, beer, horrible Croatian wine, sun baking, eating and dancing.  Made some great friends on this trip.  Tour was with Busabout, only go on the one way trip through, you get ferals on the round trips.  We discovered this on Pirate night didn't we girls.

View from the turret bar

Every bloody day, hard work you know.

Croatia was over way too quickly, or maybe we just drank too much.  Before you knew it we had embarked on 50 hrs of train travel from Split to Istanbul - Turkey.  Oh my god.

Girls you know how we said we would laugh about it when it was over, I am still not laughing.  
Note to self:  just because you are on trains for 50 hrs does not mean they will serve food or drink.  Thank god we had a lovely train conductor man who took pity on us and offered us some stale bread, grapes and some horrid crystalised peanut pate looking paste.  Also, Tess can vouch for this, BEWARE of randoms with foot fetishes.  They may strike at any time.

Acrobatics in a Turkish dungeon

The most beautiful Turkish woman I saw

Turkish Tessa

Hagia Sophia, only 1500 years old

So we eventually got to Istanbul with no expectations apart from food and water and our leg back.  I was pleasantly surprised.  Staying at Bauhaus Guesthouse was a dream, the guys working there were so lovely and helpful, brilliant area of town.  And did we go to town, hello shopping!  The Grand Bazaar, the Spice Bazzarr I don't even like Turkish Delight but that didn't stop me purchasing half a kilo of the wobbly powdery stuff.  Bags, clothes, art, lamps, sheisha pipes, it was on like Donkey Kong.

Day trip (5 long hours each way) to Gallipoli was incredible, again a great tour guide made it something else.  It was really interesting to hear the stories about how close the ANZACS and the Turkish army became so close and had so much respect for eachother even though at the end of they day their main objective was to destroy the each other.

There was a big plaque at one of the sites which had the following inscripton:

Anzac Cove

Those heros that shed their blood

and lost their lives...

You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country,

therefore rest in peace.

There is no difference betweek the Johnnies

and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side

here in this country of ours...

You, the mothers,

who sent their sons from far away countries,

wipe away your tears;

Your sons are now lying in our bosom,

in peace.

After having lost their lives on this land hey have become our sons as well.

ATATURK 1934

If nothing else during the trip, that made the eyes well.

News Flash, Tottenham scored another point.  3 - 1, a soccor game with 4 whole points.  Unheard of.

Anyway, Gallipoli was a long day but well worth the trip.

Before you knew it, the time to depart was upon us.  Just like departing my home town there were hugs, kisses and no tears until I walked away and lost my shit.

Hours later I arrived at Heathrow Airport, there was approximately 20m of clear sky between leaving the clouds and touching tarmac.  What have I done.