Movin' Time.

I'm very sorry blogspot, but I'm moving.

I've been whisked away in the romance and delight (and awesome features) of wordpress.com

It's been fun, and many memories were had by all.

Find me at:

mmkwrites.wordpress.com

It's 8:44AM Tuesday, December 1

Many new insignifica to report.

1. It's December. OH YES. I freaking love Christmas time. Lights, trees, decorations. cheery, holly, etc. JOY!
2. We got a new washing machine. Wohoo! In fact, our favorite handy man is installing it right now. He is so cute (the handyman) he is very short and nice and polish and cute. :) Always smiling and saying hello. ANYWAYS. That's besides the point. We're getting a new washer, which we are really hoping will actually wash AND dry things. The old one was I think close to ancient, and needless to say worked as well as washing it by hand in the sink. I'm not really sure anything really ever got clean. Eli is now reading the manual and pointing out all the things I did wrong during the test cycle.

Eli aquatinting himself with the new washer:

3. I have a four-day week this week and that makes me happy. :)

4. I am (slightly) considering moving to wordpress.com . They have many cool features and its nice and I'm being totally taken in by their mad marketing skills. No offense blogger, but you really need to catch up a bit.

5. It's officially winter here. It happened yesterday. All of a sudden it was cold. This morning 32 degrees! Seriously. I love winter.

Alright well, I'm going to go, because I have to prove that I am woman enough to handle the washer situation. More later.

Seeing More.

Has Been a really good, busy, fun week.

On Wednesday we wanted to get some good chinese food, and thought about going to China town, but looked up places at Time Out and found a well-reviewed place just around the way from us on Queensway. The food was excellent. Great spring rolls, lovely hot & sour soup, my main was so-so, but Eli's was by far the winner. He had crispy pork & duck with rice. Scrumptious, tasty, savory and deeeee-lish. It was a small place called The Gold Mine. Upon entering there is a man with a small machete chopping crispy duck in the front window. The place was filled, which says something, because there are probably 5-10 chinese restaurants on the same street, and this was the busiest.

Thursday my two Aunties Susanna & Dorothy arrived in London, so we all went to grab a quick lunch on Thursday before Eli and I had work and class. We had lunch in the Carnaby st. area, which I had never visited. Great area, lots of boutique shopping, cute pubs. Just south of Oxford Circus, I definitely want to go back and explore more of that area.

Thursday evening went out with some friends from Uni. and another american friend. Tried to go to a few different restaurants in Soho that were recommended, but all were packed, so we settled on a Lebanese place that had a table open. Soho is such a spectacle, everyone out to see and be seen. Soho is home to sex shops, and just around the corner to the west end theatres. It was a busy night out, but luckily we had a seasoned Londoner to guide our way. Food was good, but we were all enjoying wine and conversation too much to really care. Some mojitos and three bottles of white later, we were basking in the beautiful evening while stumbling our way to the tube. There's nothing better than coming home after a fun night out.

Friday. Surprise, surpise, a little worse for the wear from last night, but it's haircut day! I found a salon online that had a good review so I booked an appointment. I booked with a 'junior stylist' as my hair is not colored or really complex, so I'm not going to pay 60 quid for a trim, ya know? you know. So, I had my appt. set for this AM, and lucky me (!), they called yesterday, and said that there were no 'junior stylists' available at my appt. time, so I would be with the salon director, but at the 'junior' price. yipppeee. The salon, TaylorTaylor, is an uber-glitzy little salon in east london, about a mile from Liverpool st. station. East London is really a great area. The spitalfields markets, boutiques, with a hipster-vintage vibe. Definitely another area I want to explore. Perfect way to start the morning, gave me coffee, massaged my scalp and left feeling totally refreshed. Had a class to go to, then got a quick nap in before meeting my aunties for dinner.

Got home a couple hours ago after a wonderful meal at Gaucho just off Picadilly Circus. Gaucho has posh, glam interiors with lots of cow-hide and and vintage looking (you know they're really not) chandeliers. Food was superb. Really, it was good, melt-in-your-mouth steak with sweet potato fries and a lovely chocolate & orange cake with coffee cream for dessert. Yumm yumm yummmmm. Only downside was it was on the dim side, and there was a dj playing techno music (? totally unnecessary) which was not fitting for the dining atmosphere. However, the good food and good company made up for it, and a lovely time was had by all. Seeing family was reallllly good. It's such a nice, warm feeling to be with people you know. Familiar faces are always comforting in a far off place. After a nice stroll home from Paddington station, we are lounging lazily and recovering from eating a bit too much.

This week it has really been a treat to see some parts of London that I hadn't seen before. The more I see, the more I realize there is so much still to see. I love it. There is a rush of seeing new places that I hope never goes away. What a thrill.

The photo below is one I took tonight on the way home. I know it's dim, but for some reason it's my favorite London-photo yet. Enjoy.

Lazy Saturday Mornings

I am convinced my head no longer wants to associate with the rest of my body.

It probably had something to do with what toxins may (or may not) have been consumed last night. My eyeballs feel like someone is hammering on them from the inside. And for some UNGODLY reason, drunken me feels it NECESSARY to smoke ciggies. WHY, I don't know. But sober me hates drunk-smoker me, especially in the morning time. This morning after chugging water and 2 ibuprofen, and groaning for a bit, the wonderful and magnificent Eli offered to go to Starbucks to get some nourishment (preparing it ourselves this AM seemed somewhere close to astrophysics) in the form of espresso. Thank.God. Eli has now gone back out into the world of the living for thai take-away. Yes, I know, he is the best-est.

Last night we went to a bar called All Bar One . Right off Oxford Circus on Regent & Margaret st. Great wine selection, but we stuck with the house Rose. They keep the house wine in large vats which they use to fill reusable bottles. It's like buying a pitcher of beer, but wine, good too (and cheap!). After closing, we went to Moose a club off Oxford Street. In London, the pubs/eateries etc. close about 10-11, and then everyone goes to a club to continue drinking and let loose on the dance floor. Moose is pretty popular, so it was busy, but I had a great mojito, and Eli and I got to dance like wild drunk animals before heading home. Oxford street is all dressed up with christmas lights, and it was warm last night so it was a beautiful night for walking around. All in all a great time, but feeling it today sadly.

I promise to write a more intelligent and culturally significant post sometime soon. Seriously.