a great feeling

I think one of the best feeling in the world is when you walk into a room, and are greeted by the grinning faces and chirpy giggles of two 14.5 month old sweeties.  One of the best feelings ever.

minor update

Just a minor update to say I'm still alive, still unemployed, and still enjoying life.

Over the past couple weeks it has been interesting how many random people in my life (my shoulder doctor, my dentist, my uncle) have all told me how relaxed I'm looking. I guess school + stress = haggard looking Lauren?  It's nice to hear I'm looking better! ha!  Also nice to hear that there is a noticeable difference between stress Lauren and happy go lucky Lauren.... :)

I've spent a lot of time recently with the niece and nephew - perhaps all their childish energy is rubbing off? They are such dears, I love them to bits. Good for the soul.

Still nothing from the NCA (aka the people who decide my legal career fate in Canada). Am getting nervous on that front, but it is literally out of my hands.

But I have officially recieved my LLB certificate. I must say, the certificate itself isn't all that fancy - SFU and RRU's certificates are artwork comparatively... But I've ordered a nice frame and when that arrives it'll be nice and impressive up on my wall. And, to be honest, when I look at that paper, I see 3 extremely hard years, full of pain, stress, and tears - and I'm darn proud of it. No matter what happens with the accreditation, or where life takes me, I achieved that paper, teaching myself the law of a foreign country. ROAR!!!!

ok, enough from me for now.

whoops! my bad....

So apparently I'm terrible at keeping my promises... or at least at keeping the 'I'll update my blog asap' promise...  I do have a bit of an excuse (or two...) - when I came home from HK I caught a cold from my nephew and/or niece which evolved into a nasty sinus infection, which I am just now finally getting over.... that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!!

Ok, so a brief summary of the last half of my HK trip... went to the Red Bull Flutag - that event where people build 'flying machines' and run them off a ramp and the person who goes the farthest wins.. you will have seen it on TV/ online - it is rather hilarious.  Another day we rode transit out to a village on the other side of the main city. The village was called Stanley, and it has a pretty cool market which got some of my money - I bought 3 lithograph art pieces which were framed in the shop while I waited, as well as some more traditional 'Lauren' type souvies - a silk table runner, some pillow cases etc.  Also another night we went up to the Peak - the top of Hong Kong and got some great views of the city by night - lovely!  Otherwise there was lots of 'ex-pat' living, enjoying the heat (the sun finally came out for my final two days), getting chilled coffee type drinks, enjoying the Marina etc etc.  Overall I classify the visit as a success!

Otherwise/ In other news, well, I've been sick, so sitting on my duff watching TV and trying to get better. The bright side has been that I got the cold from the babies, and therefore was not on quarantine from seeing them - so I've been doing that ever few days - they are such a joy!

What's next for me? Well I have a LOT of stuff on my to-do list here at home - basically everything I've put off for the past 3 - 4 years has come up to be done NOW. I'm also still waiting on hearing from the Law Society about my UK LLB - I need their judgment before I can work in any legal capacity in Canada.  I am looking for some kind of part time work, but am rather specific in what I am looking for - something which will help my career/resume/be interesting etc etc etc. But I will also admit, it is nice to actually have some time right now where I don't feel guilty staying up late or what not - it's the first time in 4 years I've been able to properly slow down, reassess and do a few reality checks. All is well!

ok, back to whatever I was doing before I remembered this blog!

HK so far...

So I'm half way through my time in Hong Kong and figured I'd do an update...

This city is crazy. It's like New York on steroids - everything is increased here from buildings to numbers of people to smells to land mass...  in some ways it is a very attractive place, but when you take a closer look it is really rather dirty and scattered. the rich place where the ex-pat's live are like any resort around the world - really fancy, well made, expensive looking... but if you peal away a layer, it is similar to mexico in it's poor regions.  huge disparity between rich and poor here.

I've been doing a mix of touristing and hanging with the locals, so to speak... Adam has a rather large circle of friends who we have been social with, which has been nice as I've been seeing what the local 'ex-pat' population does when they live here. But Adam has been taking me around the sites as well, so I'm feeling pretty good about the trip!

Seen:
Big Buddha, Po Lin Monestary, Ning Pong village, So Kwan Wat village and Reservoir, and sites of Hong Kong city itself: Govenors House, Hollywood Road, Man Mo Temple, South Lancar Street, IFC Center, Star Ferry, Peinsula Hotel, Nathan Road and loads of views of the various areas of the city... HUGE place!!

Still lots more to come, so will update again later... photos are up on Flickr...

Next Adventure - the East!!

My current joke: I'm headed so far west, I'll be in the east... ha ha!

So if you recall, a few months/posts back, I had dinner with my half-brother Adam, whilst in London. During that vino-entrenched visit, there was talk of a visit to Hong Kong, where Adam lives.

Much to my happiness, this has actually come to fruition. A couple weeks ago Adam contacted me about potential dates for a visit, and I send along my availability. A short while later, I recieved an email from Cathay Pacific - a ticket had been booked for me! OH WOW!!!!

So I leave tonight, or rather, extremely early tomorrow morning. My flight leaves at 02:45 and goes direct to Hong Kong...the flight is 13.5 hours, but with the 16 hour time change, I end up landing in Hong Kong at 7am on Wednesday! 

Not sure exactly what I'll be doing for the week I'm visiting, but I've bought a guide book and have quite a few ideas. If I have time and internet access I'll update as I go, but otherwise will post an epic entry upon my return!

Horrah! I get to add a new country to my list! WOOP WOOP!

Hope everyone is well, wherever you are!
L

Summer Wrap-Up

It's been 2.5 weeks since I left London. It feels like it's been 2.5 months. Hard to believe.

It is nice being home, nice to catch up with friends, see the family, play with the babies. But I do miss London, particularly my new friends there. If only the two places could somehow mesh! Although, I suppose, the charm of each side wouldn't be quite the same then...

When I left London I flew to New York for 4 nights exploring. My friend Colleen flew out from Vancouver to join me. We explored the city top to bottom, seeing sooo much. We did a hop-on hop-off tour that took us all over the City for 3 days - Manhattan, Brooklyn, Harlem. We did a boat tour which went around the entire Manhattan island, and from there we saw Queens, the Bronx and parts of Manhattan which I'd not realized existed.

We also did a LOT of walking, explored Central Park, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and went up both the Empire State building and the Rockafeller Center. We saw two Broadway shows; West Side Story and Wicked. And, of course, did some shopping!!  Needless to say, we had fun!


Then we flew home and I picked up my car at the airport and instead of driving home, I drove down, back into the States, to Birch Bay in Washington, for our annual Elliott Family Weekend. It was quite the home coming - driving up and spending the weekend with pretty much my entire extended family who are in Canada!  The only downer of the weekend is that a stomach flu hit and decimated the ranks... ah well!

Since then I've been spending my time first getting over jet lag, then getting used to being back home. I've caught up with a good chunk of my friends, hanging out, getting meals, watching movies. I've got loads of plans in mind with how to fill my time... I suppose time will tell how many of them I'll accomplish!

I've sent in my application to the National Committee of Accreditation (aka the people who will make or break my future), so now I get to keep my fingers crossed that they look kindly upon my LLB and earlier education... I wont hear for months though - sigh!

Today is my niece and nephew's birthday... I can't believe they are a year old already!!! crazy!! They are such a joy in my life... and apparently I'm a gym for them... cuties!

Anyway, that's whats up with me!

last days in London

I'm so sad to be leaving!!! I've had such a good summer this year, I've done so much, met so many great people, and I've really gotten into the swing of living in this city. I'll be glad to see home, but I'm not ready to leave here yet. Fingers crossed I can find my way back across sometime soon.

These past few days have been rather busy - it's good!! Since my Maple Leaf Pub celebrations I've stayed on my high of passing my LLB (dang it my paper results better mimic what the online results said!!). I did take it easy on Wednesday night, chilling at my flat - hadn't done that in quite a while so it felt great!! On Thursday I treated myself to an exciting event - seeing a Shakespeare production at the The Globe! I've always wanted to see something and I just went for it! I saw The Merry Wives of Windsor, a comedy which I rather enjoyed. Something about the open air theatre, pooring rain, and Elizabethan speach...oh it was cool!

Friday was my last day working for WilmerHale this summer. It actually was a bit of a non-event at work, but I suppose it was the last friday before a Bank Holiday weekend, so people weren't too focused on the random intern LOL!! I did go out for dinner and drinks with Simran, one of my friends at WH from last summer... bit of a bender night, but did manage to catch the last tube home LOL!!

Saturday was a proper tourist day. I went to Westminster Cathedral (not Abbey, Cathedral) which is about 100 years old, but actually really cool. Great views of the city from the top of the tower (if you build it, I will climb it... except when you install an elevator, then I will ride it....). I also went to see the Secret War Rooms of WWII, where Churchill ran the war effort from 1940 - 1945... pretty cool stuff in there!!

Later I met up with Marta and her Texan friend for a bit of tour-guiding - took them around Buckingham Palace, St. James Park, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Westminster Bridge, SouthBank etc (just walking). We grabbed some snacks by the Royal Festival Hall... lots of walking, lots of fun!

Sunday I went up to Kathryn's place for Brunch.. it was more a brunch party, as it was the pre-party for going to Notting Hill Festival, the largest street festival in Europe. So we ate croissants and fruit salad and drank bubbly, and then eventually made our way into the festival. WOW crazy madness. Cool to see, but not really my scene. Parades, sound systems, booze, and about a million people.  we hung out there a couple hours, then slowly made our escape.  Then last night, sadly, I began packing.

Today I've mostly completed my packing - just a few last minute things to go in for the morning. This afternoon I'm meeting up with a friend to go on a walk in the Putney area, along the Thames. Tonight I'm having my final London dinner with Kathryn in the heart of the city to say farewell. 

I fly tomorrow to New York for 4 nights sight seeing with my friend Colleen. Then I fly home and go directly to a family reunion... so after tomorrow morning, no more internet or contact from me until after Sept 6...

Oh London, you have been sooo good to me. I will miss you.

The Fate of the University of Orkney.....

Well, I am pleased to announce that after months of waiting, hoping, crossing fingers and sacrificing mars bars to the examiner gods, I have my results.

I'VE PASSED!!!!!!

I have my LLB! I have my law degree!!  HORRAH!!!!!!!

There is still a long road ahead before I'll be a fully fledged/robed & wigged lawyer, but this is one pretty monumental step to have behind me!!

If anyone has been following this blog the past 3 years, you will know the trials, tribulation and extreme self doubt that has been my life.... it is such a relief to have it over!

As I take my next steps, I'll be sure to post about it! :)

last couple'a weeks

I've been rather naughty with my blogging... I realise I haven't posted anything in weeks!! My sincere appologies!

What have I been up too... hrm....

Well two weekends ago I was a 'market' tourist - I visited Borough Market, Portobello Market and Greenwich Market!! each were so very different from each other, I couldn't get over it! I think my favourite was Greenwich, as it had the most crafty stuff, whereas Borough was just food (yummy yummy food) and Portobello (Notting Hill) is just packed with people, antiques and food.

I actually went out clubbing on that Saturday night with some work friends, and while I did have fun, I know I'm not a die-hard clubber. Not much to report from it.  The Sunday I spent with another work friend out in Greenwich, strolling around, having a drink at a pub - all good stuff!!

Last week was a pretty typical work week (you know, working, hanging out with friends, seeing a movie etc), with the exception that I took thursday afternoon off as Mum was in town!! We went to see Billy Elliot (the Musical) - it was really good! I struggled with the Northerner's accents, but the dancing was fantastic!  Also got to show mum my flat, and feed her one of my Gor Met microwave dinners... LOL!

This past weekend was a very family oriented weekend. I met my Dad at Heathrow and hopped into our rental car (a golf!) and met up with mum... on Sunday we drove up to Leeds/Bradford, on the way stopping off at Kenilworth, an old but very important castle site (aka a Katherine Swynford/ John of Gaunt location). So cool to see it!!!

We were up in Leeds for my cousin Charlene's wedding! It was a lovely day.. or rather, the event was nice, Charls and Paul were both so happy.. too bad it was drenching rain, so the lovely out-door wedding had to be changed at the very very last minute to an indoor wedding. Still, Charls looked lovely, Paul was glowing with happiness, and everyone seemed to have a good time. It was a lot of fun to be submerged into the 'Brown' side of my heritage...!!!

This is my last week in England. I can't quite get over how fast this summer has gone. I mean, I left home in MAY!! I've got a pretty busy week going on - last night I was out at the Maple Leaf pub celebrating.. see my next blog post for why... tomorrow I'm giong to see a play at the Globe, this weekend is fulled up with 'good bye' events....

I honestly am struggling with the concept of leaving. I've really gotten used to living over here, it's really become a second home. I've made some fantastic friends who I am loath to leave and now there are even more temptations to come back!  Who know's what the future holds for me!!!!

(photos to come).

A weekend in Paris

Oh it is such a fun thing to be living in London and jet over to Paris for the weekend.... (owch! stop hitting me everyone!!).

Had a fantastic weekend in Paris. It really is a lovely city - the architecture is so different to the UK, it is rather refreshing. Although it was August, and therefore the 'quiet' time for Europe, there were still gazillions of tourists all around.  But Kathryn and I still managed to find lots of places to sit and relax, which was part of the point of the weekend.

We took the Eurostar over which was nice and efficient . Our hotel was right next to the Arch de Triomphe, and I have to say, it was pretty rough getting up every morning and seeing it. The hotel was remarkably really nice - quiet, roomy, comfortable, clean and, all things considered, cheap! I'd recomend it - Les Trois Courennes (3 crowns).

On Saturday we went straight to La Isle de la Cite in search of breakfast (pain au chocolat) and to get in the line to see St. Chappelle - you need to get there early or else you are waiting forever. I am pleased I'd seen this before, as the marvelous cathedral had a lot of scafolding inside, ruining it's kalidescope effect. Can't always win. We also visited la Concierege, which was both a royal palace, and the main prison during the Revolution.

We said 'hi' to Notre Dame and strolled through the gardens, and ate a baguette sitting on one of the bridges crossing the Seine, people watching. There was some sort of summer festival going on, and I swear Ashley McIssac was playing...

After lunch we strolled down the Seine a bit looking at street art, before heading over to the base of the Eiffel Tower to catch a river cruise. Again I'd done this before, but it was a lot nicer in the sunshine!! (plus I got a bonus sun-burn!!).

That evening we went to see the Moulin Rouge!! It was really expensive, but I am pleased I've seen it. I was a little disapointed at it's lack of historical references - it was bascially a vegas/cruise ship style show - but being in the building, drinking champagne (the real stuff) and watching the spectacle will stay with me always.

On Sunday we ate breakfast at the foot of the Arch before climbing to the top of the for some wonderful views of Paris (despite the clouds - sigh). We then walked down the Champs Elysses, admired la Place de la Concorde, and into the Tuilleries, where we found some chairs and hung out people watching for a chunk of time. Nice and peaceful, despite the throngs of tourists. 

We then crossed the Pont Royal by the Louvre and found another Boulangerie and bought some Brie Baguettes. We found a low road right next to the seine (pedestrian only) and took of our shoes and relaxed, watching boats and time go by. It was perfect.

Then we walked down to les Invalides, but elected not to go in as time was getting tight. Instead we went into the Rodin museum, which I loved back when I was 16. It is still lovely and the house and garden is amazing!!  Then we rushed back to our hotel and started our epic journey home.

 

Epic? you ask... well, it was supposed to be a quick flight home but unfortunately due to a number of delays (human and train), we got to the airport check-in counter 1 minute after they closed check in, and they had already reallocated out seats to standby passengers. So instead we had to scramble around (making some international phone calls) and booked some more tickets with a different airline to get us back to the UK. It sent us to Luton, which is north of London, so once we actually got to England we had to travel back into the city. I was supposed to be home around 8:30, instead I got home at 1, and significantly 'broker' than before.

Despite the bad end, I had a really lovely weekend! Thanks Kathryn!!

Black Pool

DUBLIN!!!! oh Dublin!!!

I had a great great fantastic fun time in Dublin!!!

Quick summary - went on a walking tour which took us ALL OVER the city - in to the Castle, by the Church, down some important lanes, by another church, through Temple Bar, over the Liffy River, into Trinity College, up Grafton Street (shopping galore) and through St. Stephens Park.. really lovely! Only bad thing = extremely temptermental weather.. grrr!!!.

Post tour we went to see the Book of Kells (wikipedia is your friend, this is a very important manuscript), and then went back through the heart of the town and into Christ Church Cathedral (where Strongbow is burried and where most church scenes of the Tudors were filmed)..

Then we hiked and hiked and got to the Guiness Storehouse, THE place that Guiness was invented and is brewed to this day. We did the full tour there, seeing all the old factory sections along with the new, and Kathryn learned how to 'pull' the perfect pint... and I sampled my first Guiness...ewwww!!!!

That night we went out for dinner in an area which a bar-tender (from earlier in the day... we were in Ireland..).. told us that the real locals went to - and got to listen to a local guy sing at the piano - really nice. Then we went up to Temple Bar for a glass of overpriced Champagne... and then retreated to some other areas for dancing and a generally fun evening!

On Sunday Kathryn wanted to attend Mass at the main Catholic Cathedral in Dublin, so we hiked to the northern side of the city for that. Then we caught a train out of Dublin! Yup, I left the city to see the country, to feel like I'd actually done a bit more of Ireland. We went to the seaside resort of Bray - lovely little town, so nice to be by the sea again. We went for a sunday roast and then a coastal hike.

Then we made our way back into the city and did some shopping on Grafton Street before slowly making our way back to London....

oh it was fun!!!

This week I've started at my new/old office... I'm back with the Corporate Department of WilmerHale (I spent the last two months with their International Arbitration department across town). Now I'm back where I was last summer, working right next to St. Pauls Cathedral. It's amazing how familiar everything is - felt like coming home a bit.  Different work over here for sure, but nice.

No huge plans this week - will probably go to a movie with some 'Park Lane' friends (other office), maybe out for a drink another night.  I'm saving money, and energy for this weekend....

I'm off to PARIS!!!!

Look at me go!

Long time no post...

Whoops!!! Forgot to post last week and this week is half way over! yikes!

Hrm. What has happened?

Well I went over to the Island of Jersey, which is between England and France. LOVELY!!!  I met up with a friend from school (Cambridge buddy Jane) and we toured the island and went on hikes and went to a BBQ and overall just had a great time. Nice to be in the heat as well, and be by the proper ocean with proper waves! oh! Lovely!

Last week was another typical week - working and being social. On Thursday night I managed to fulfill a life-long dream - I saw a ballet at the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden!! OH!!! I was just giddy with excitement. I bought myself a glass of wine and explored all over. The theatre is lovely and even though I was up in the nose bleeds (expensive nose bleeds at that) I still had a great view.

This past weekend I was up in Bradford (near Leeds/Manchester) for my cousin's Hen Day. What is a Hen Day you ask? Well it's our version of a Bridal Shower combined with a Bachelorette party... except focused on the kitchen. Or at least Charlene's was - it was a Kitchen Tea - all the gifts were for the kitchen/ kitchen themed. It was actually loads of fun! We went to a pub in the evening for some drinks, but it wasn't a wild night.  On the Sunday I spent time with family (went to their church) and had lunch at Trafford Center, a major shopping mall for the north. Crazy.

This week is my last week at Park Lane - I move over to the City next week to do more corporate work. To top off my star sitings at the Dorchester, yesterday I saw the cast of the new A-Team flick - lots of fun!! No huge plans this week - meeting up with some friends on Thursday night, possible intern drinks tonight.

This weekend, however, will be fun. Kathryn and I are off to Dublin!! WOOT!! We are going to do all sorts of irish things - Guiness Factory, Trinity Chapel, Cathedrals, Temple Bar area... I'm very excited about it!

I'll try update properly next week! Hope everyone is well! I'm really enjoying my time over here this year - footloose and fancy free! :)

half way..

I just realized I'm at the 'half way point' of my time over here... that's scary!! I've got so much more to do before I get home, I'd better get moving!!!

Busy Bee

I must say, since my last post I've been a busy little bee!  And not with work! Well, no, work has been busy, but I've also been rather social...

My land lady is out of town, so last wednesday night one of her friends looked in on me and took me out for dinner to 'make sure I was eating right'.. cute. Had a nice steak dinner on their tab, which is always a bonus.

Then on Thursday I had dinner with my half-brother Adam. He lives in Hong Kong but was flying through London (he's a pilot) and we met for a few hours of reconnecting. This was the third time in my life meeting him. We had a lot of fun and a lot of wine... connected?  Anyway, nice to catch up!

Over the weekend I went visiting more family - my Mum's cousin Anne and her Husband Mike. They live down in Southampton near the coast. We spent the weekend driving around Hampshire, visiting lots of little villages. We went to the church where Florence Nightingale is burried, drove through an 'Area of Outstanding Beauty' (official title, but well earned), and poked around the shops of a small village called Selborne. On Sunday we drove down to Bornemouth via the New Forest and visited the Russell-Coates museum and gallery, which I must say was pretty insane - so well stocked!!!

Last night a group of interns celebrated one of their birthday's - we had drinks in Hyde Park and then dinner at a Lebanese restaurant. Tonight I'm having dinner with an acquaintence from home, and tomorrow night I'm meeting up with my new Kiwi friend to watch a movie!!

Very exciting will be this coming weekend - I'm catching a flight over to Jersey, one of the Chanel Islands between England and France. A friend from my law degree (met at Cambridge) lives on the island and invited me to come stay... so I'm leaving work a tad early to get out to Gatwick and will be MIA all weekend... I'm really looking forward to it as I've heard Jersey is really nice.

How is everyone at home? I hope well. Dunno if anyone is actually reading it... if you are, please end the radio silence because even though I'm having fun, it's nice to hear from home!! (begging much?!?!)

quick update

I'm sorry, I've been bad, I haven't updated in a while...

Nothing much to report actually.  Work is the same, with minor changes - after I got sick I decided I was going to be more firm with the hours I was willing to work, so am not staying quite as late as before in an effort to get more 'me' time. The work itself has also improved - more complicated stuff, some actual real legal research. all good stuff. 

On Monday 6 new interns joined the firm, making our total up to 12 now. A real mix bag still, all from various parts of the globe. I haven't interacted with them much, so can't really say too much about them.

Last weekend I went to Maidenhead to visit my Aunt and Uncle. Oh so nice! Didn't do a whole lot, which was just what I needed. Relaxed, slept in, watched some football, went on a country walk and a country drive through Ascot and Windsor, had an afternoon tea - all the good casual English stuff.

Have some exciting weekends on the horizon tho.. but I won't drop hints, I'll just say... stay tuned!

from Pall Mall to Park Lane

I am writing this from my new offices - the firm moved to new diggs on Park Lane, right next to the Dorchester Hotel, one of the most expensive in London. If I went and looked out the window, I'd see some Bentleys, Lambourghinis's... you know, that sort of thing. We are right across from Hyde Park, so I've gone to each my packed lunch there already. The new offices are really nice and fancy - all white and glass and modern, very posh.

Hrm, what have I been up to the past week or so? Well last week at work had some very late nights (post midnight) due to a brief submission. I got pretty run down with it all, and by Thursday knew I wasn't well. Fortunately due to the office move we Interns were given Friday off, so when I woke up feeling ill I didn't have to phone in sick!

But being the consumate tourist I am, I didn't let a little thing like a cold get in the way of seeing the countryside! On Friday I took a trip out to an old manor named Knole, which is in the heart of an ancient deer park, where the Kings used to go hunting. It was soooo lovely!! I really enjoyed it. The weather in London has also been fantastic recently - every day has been between 27 and 30, so there was some good 'bone warming' time in teh sunshine.

Saturday I joined up with other members of the Katherine Swynford Society for a walk around London looking at what remains of the 14th century. Not many (but some) of the buildings exist anymore, but we were still able to use our imagination, and I got to learn a few new areas of the city which, remarkably, I hadn't discovered yet. If you are interested, check out my Flickr site for photos, and if you are interested, look up Katherine and become as obsessed as me!

On Sunday my new friend Kathryn and I went on a journey up to Hatfield, where Elizabeth I was raised and later imprisioned. It is also where she found out she had become Queen, and she later gave the property to her Prime Minister - Lord Burley (Cecil), and it has remained in his direct line ever since. It has always been a dream of mine to see Hatfield and it really lived up to my expectations - it was fantastic! After our visit we stopped off at a local pub to watch the tragedy which was the England/Germany football match. I have a feeling the curse I have with hockey has transposed onto football, as I had a England jersey on me for the first time and they got thumped... so who should I go for and who should I officially support, as we move forward?!

No big plans for this coming week, other than to go to Trafalgar Square on Canada Day... I'd really like to get over the cold I've got - I lost my voice completely on Saturday and have sounded terrible ever since. I'm not sick enough to hit up a doctor, but am still sick enough to not feel great! Stupid foreign colds!!

hugs to all back home. hope you are well.

The Past Week

I've been trying to come up with some sort of exciting blog update for the past week, but I don't have much to say about it.

Work kept me late every day of the week, average again being 8pm, sometimes later. The work itself isn't too strenuous and it's not 'full on', because the work we do has to be reviewed before they send us more work, so there is down time as well. Still, working so much puts a real downer on the extra curricular activites (like running....) because it takes an hour to get home.  Ah well.

Interesting things:

On June 18 it was the 70th anniversary of Charles de Gaulle's French resistence speach, and because he'd set up his french resistance at my work offices, we had a visit from the President of France - Mr. Sarkozy and his supermodel wife Carla Bruni, and Prince Charles. The security for it was interesting - we weren't allowed out on our balcony but were able to open windows... After all the important people left us Interns were allowed downstairs and I took some photos of the boardrooms etc - I've had meetings in them already, but it felt cooler now that the people had been in them LOL!



On Saturday I went out to Newbury, in zone 4, to have a BBQ with the interns at one intern's home. It was pretty fun, all things considered... our grill was pretty epic:



My half-aunt Terri was back in town this weekend after a 2 week whirlwind tour of Europe, so I saw her both on Friday night out in Richmond, and then on Sunday.  That day we took a Thames River Cruise up to Greenwich and spent some fun hours in the market and sitting on the grass outside the Observatory, as well as getting the standard 'feet on each side of the meridian' photos.

This week my Firm is moving from Carlton Gardens to Park Lane, across from Hyde Park. I'm not sure how the week is going to be, work wise, as most of the office is getting packed up for the move. Next Monday I'll start a new commute!

Hopefully this weekend I can do some real tourist stuff! :) Hope all is well with everyone back home.

photos online

I've managed to post my photos (to date) up on Flickr, so enjoy if you've got some time.

I have a generic 'London' set, which will have every photo taken in it. It's manageable right now, but may get big as the summer goes.

To manage that, I'm going to set up 'special' sets for things I do to make it easier for the casual observer...  They will also be in 'better' order, as if I take any video, they don't mesh nicely with the 'sort by date taken' requests.

anyway, that's that. back to work.

A Royal Day Out and then a Royal Home

So this past Sunday was the Trooping of the Colours, part of the events recognizing the Queens birthday. I went down to the Mall to watch it all - wow was it super cool! I saw gazillions of marching bands, red-coats, all sorts of pagentry and 'britishness'.  Also got to see quite a few of the Royals!!! I saw the Queen, Prince Phillip, Prince Charles and Camilla, Prince William, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenies, Prince Andrew, Princess Anne, and then probably some others that I don't know their name. It was AWESOME!!!  I also got to participate in that epic sceen from TV - the crowd spilling into the Mall, going down to the plaza infront of Buckingham Palace, and cheer when the Royal Family comes out on the balconey to wave and watch a royal fly over by the military.  Oh WOW was it cool!!!!

I also watched the USA v England football game at a pub near Kings Cross.... with a bunch of Americans... man was I playing with fire!!! But it was all good-hearted fun (probably because of how the game ended up...)

On Sunday I went out to Hever, the birthplace and home of Anne Boleyn and divorce settlement home of Anne of Cleaves, as well as the later home of the famous Astor Family.  The park land and house were just lovely!!! I definitely reccomend it, even though it took me 4 trains to get to it (not a regular tourist attraction from London, but lots of coach tours go there).

Otherwise London is treating me well. I'm starting to upload on to Flickr, so check there for photos if you wish.  I'm working most nights until 8pm, sometimes later. This week we've been told to clear both work and personal schedules as there is a major brief which needs filing. I think that means I'll be at work until midnight most nights, but nothing is confirmed yet. 

I hope everyone at home is well. Feel free to send me an email or whatever.. I also accept care packages!! heheheeheh!!!!

ok - some photos...

Princess Anne

Dutchess Camilla and Prince William

Princesses Eugiene and Beatrice and Prince Andrew

14.5 years later...

I haven't seen my half-aunt Terri since she was 13 and I was 14, when I went to South Africa (only time I've been back since coming to Canada)...

So here we are, in London, each having flown half way around the world, to meet up in a pub called the Bountiful Cow..... I'd come straight from work (left work at 8pm... the new London life).. and she'd just landed 3 hours earlier!

some pics

A few pic's from today - we had sunshine so I whipped out my 'purse' camera...

my desk at work:

me just outside my desk area

and a better view of what I look at while eating lunch...