the flight over was one of my worst yet. we got delayed because of a british airways system crash. we had to remain grounded at the gate for 3 hours before taking off. and then there were 3 babies surrounding me in each direction that did not shut the f*ck up the entire flight. and i forgot my xanex. i wanted to strangle them, drug them, smother them... after being on that plane for 12 hours and having to endure their terrible SCREAMING i had no shame approaching them upon exiting the plane, and telling them what terrible babies they are, but with a smile. ugh.
at the airport, i went to an information desk to inquire about the weekly tube pass. when the man said i could purchase it there with him, i had a sort of defensive reaction that i acquired in india, where i asked if he'd be making a commission on it then. he laughed and said no miss!
it's so good to be back in one of my favorite cities in the world. the weather is not at all intimidating either, so i'm enjoying this midway transition back home. i don't have any plans to see or do anything in particular while i'm here. i just like to be able to relax and walk around and listen to the glorious accent in the streets.
it's nice to be back with my friends s&m (hehe). it's also nice to have my hair done again. i met s for lunch the morning after i arrived and then paid a visit to the notorious primark for some cheap, £3 sweaters. i'm loving the seasonal sales right now. at night, i arranged a really nice reunion with my springboard pals. we had an intimate turn-out of 5, and it was so great to see what everyone had been up to since the trip 18 months ago. one of the men is currently working on the athelete's village for the 2012 london olympics, brought me a 2012 pin, which i thought was so nice. we all just chatted away and caught up like no time had passed.
then the next day, i met my wonderful long-time friend from nyc, who is going to be living in beijing for the next 6 months, and was coicindentally here this week for work. it was so cool to be able to spend the day with him in "landan." i met him at his hotel in picadilly circus and we went off for an amazinggggg lunch at gaucho. i finally had a big, juicy, well-deserved steak and it was worth every pound and pence. we moved on strolling down bond street through all the ultra exclusive shops, and admired the diamond jewels displayed in the windows, that could easily be mistaken for paperweights. then all of the sudden, when we were stopped at a red light, i discovered the shop that i have been looking for since september--- penhaligon's. a true english perfume shop, one of only 2 that are left in england, and it is even crowned by the queen. everything in there smells so delicious and rich, and after first discovering penhaligons when i was washing my hands in a posh restaurant's restroom, i'm glad to finally able to pick up the soap and candle that i've been wanting. we experimented with some of their scents, and spent most of our walk through the streets of london smelling each others' wrists. despite there being incredible sales in the stores, i couldn't justify splurging on the mulberry bag after what i've just spent this past month. we perfectly ended the day of extravagance with some incredibly delicious macarons from la duree. we laughed about how easily we could get used to this lifestyle. i'i will miss him so much these next few months!! we are finally in great places in our careers, and i'll be sad not to have him around to witness the changes. we took a terrible photo, but it's a photo of us in london nonetheless!!
my friends have recently become engaged, so we had dinner at their favorite restaurant that could possibly become their wedding venue. i admit that we had a few too many bottles of wine and conversation may not have been the greatest, nor the most productive. then we were off to a club and i feel bad about this, but it was sooo funny to watch m dance. it reminded me so much of hugh grants' moves in love actually, really cute.
this morning we went over to bluewater, aka bloo waa err, a really nice shopping mall complex that is actually managed by my springboard pal from my former company. it's has some great grocery stores where we scoured the shelves for ingredients to make a fresh green curry, as s just returned from spending the holidays in bangkok and wanted to recreate some of the dishes she learned there. i have pictures of the exhausting efforts that were put into making the curry paste.
coming up is a sunday lunch, with s's family tomorrow. i think i'll go see the king's speech on monday, and then i'll be meeting another springboard pal for dinner mon night.
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