Ahhh London....

I love this quote from an article in February’s Vanity Fair:

I’ve been spending a lot of time in London lately, and it’s the perfect place to be. It’s as expensive as hell, the dollar stinks, but the parties are nightly, and restaurants are jammed, as are the theatres and the hotels.

I just read that and thought - “Damn right, and I live here!”

If I go back and read my very first entry in this blog, it makes me remember how excited I was to come here. Sometimes in the everyday grind, it’s easy to forget that I am actually here. So lately I have tried to look around a bit more, and really witness where I am. It’s so magically different from the west coast, and it really is pretty amazing. I love the buzz here. It’s like the fantasy and sophistication of NYC combined with the more charming and everyday British sensibility. I love being on the cutting edge, in a city that is at the peak of it’s game, but still being able to live a normal life.

I love going down to the local coffee house on Portobello Road on Saturday morning and watching the tourists and thinking “hell yeah, I am a local!”

I love the fact that I am used to hearing an English accent, to the point that an American one jars me a bit. I love reading the free papers on the tube, and checking in on the latest with Kate Moss/Girls Aloud/Amy Winehouse/etc…

I love my job in the London digital world…where people work hard and have a lot of passion, but also know how to have fun and seem to prize the fact that I am eclectic. In fact, I think I really like being the crazy/eclectic/outgoing/sassy American. I probably enjoy standing out a bit, but also feeling like I belong.

That’s how I feel in London.

2nd LRG Bout!

Tomorrow is the second London Rollergirls bout, and I am pretty damn excited! My usual experience is that on a second outing, the attendance tends to go down a bit. But momentum in London is obviously rolling, because we are pretty much sold out already! I think we are going to surpass our capacity from our first sell out bout, and have to turn away people at the door. We need a bigger venue!! Our capacity right now is 499, which includes crew and skaters....I think ideally we need something that fits twice that, but London real estate and venues are just madly rare and expensive.

Anyway I am having anxiety dreams and making lists in my head during the night in prep...and I am not even skating. Since my knee is still on the mend, I decided to sit this one out and instead I will be announcing the bout and acting as press liason. Yeah, big stretch I am sure.

I can't wait!!

Need some warm sun!

So I basically had the flu all of Christmas. I managed to just about make it to 10:30 on Christmas day, at which point I collapsed into bed with the shivers and shakes. At least I had a nice Christmas dinner and a whole ton of champagne first. Dating Tom has made me a champers girl....how very London City of me...

Anyhoo....I managed to drug my way through New Years eve, and then spent it on the couch with a relapse. Another great NYE. Oh well.

And now I am back in the office, having started my new job! That's right, I just officially became a full time employee of Grand Union, which is where I have been freelancing until now. They lured me in with a new position/promotion: Group Project Director. So now I have a new title to add to the old resume. I am pretty excited actually. I think it will be a great new challenge, and I really love the people here, so it's a good environment. Plus we are moving to swank new office right near Oxford Circus in a few months, so that means major shopping opportunities at lunch! (Bonus, of course!)

But all that aside, I am definitely looking forward to a visit to LA in February. Thankfully logic has won over, and instead of going to the snow in Bend, I am now going to Mexico for a week. Hooray! I need some sunshine bad....

It will be fun to show Tom LA too...and make him eat spicy Mexican food, which as a true Englishman, he will probably hate.

:)