That's Childish Behavior, Julia

I made two friends today, the first is the painting lady, Loraine, with whom I shared a cup of tea and fruit scone with while discussing 7/11(she meant the World Trade Center bombing, which happened to be 9/11 and not a chain convenience store), the second friend is blanched asparagus. 

Those who know me well may also know that cooking has not been my strong point in the past(i.e. salt cookie poisoning 99',  several soggy mystery concoctions, frequent explosions via microwave, brick cupcakes, etcetera, etcetera). But to all the naysayers out there, I would like to announce that I am becoming a master chef(or at least working on my cooking skills).  A photo of delicious vegetarian cuisine I personally created last night is now posted, so there. 

Pictured: Blanched peppered asparagus, lemon seared quorn(faux chicken)salad with red, yellow and green pepper, mushrooms, rocket and spinach, blackened herb courgettes(zucchini) and sweet corn. It was actually really good and almost all the food was organic. 

Take that Top Chef! Sure Loraine may not be around anymore due to the hallway being completely lacquered, but at least I have more asparagus. 

Please Mind the Gap

When a person hears "Please Mind the Gap" it doesn't mean obey a chain clothing store in the mall, no, not at all; it means to be careful of the space between the pavement and the underground train car. Noticing this, I have documented a few other signs I saw around London that are sure to be misunderstood or are in general, odd.

Does this mean the zoo expects the lions will be escaping anytime soon?

Normally, one would think the zoo would have a large sign made with bold print letters communicating this, but I absolutely love the illustrations that were created. 

I was sure to magically make my food and drink invisible for this place.

London, People.

Last weekend I decided to take a few quick pictures as a small token to remember rare beauty found in the illustrious city of London.  

Enjoy!

Tween Mullet; Business in the front, party in the back!

This is George. He volunteers at the zoo and knows a lot about tigers. 

The Police are very serious here.

This man was hiding inside the exhibit. 

Think this beard is an impressive accomplishment?

Check out this rare gem!

Even more impressive and the official winner of Beard Spot London is...

Santa's cousin, Simon the professional bird-feeder. 

 

Scotsman playing bagpipes in Underground.

This City is a Zoo.

I went to London Saturday and met up with my friend Miranda and her mom, Sherri, who were visiting for a few days. We went to the London Zoo in Regent's Park, then had dinner and went shopping. I took a train from Hook to Waterloo Station, hopped on the Underground Bakerloo line, then walked past Madame Tussaud's, through the park and arrived at the zoo. Needless to say, the maze isn't too difficult if you have a map and know what you're doing(not that I did, but now I do).

These are the window mannequins at a store called TopShop: to those who have made fun of me for wearing dark tights, please take note- everyone wears tights or leggings here, with shorts, dresses, skirts, and overalls, so now I feel vindicated.

My inner city shopping radar leads me to Urban Outfitters no matter the state or country; this UK store is huge, we barely had time to get to the fourth floor.

Regent's Park; 410 acres of park that is home to ponds, sports fields, picnic areas, cafe's, an outdoor theater and 30,000 roses(400 different types). Henry VII choose the spot as his hunting ground but it was later turned into this amazing park.

Here were are on the Underground.

The carousel at the London Zoo. 

Here we are at a nice italian cafe near Oxford Street.

And YES ! All this weekend fun could be yours if you only come and visit me. SO there.

Might You Like Some Marmite?

Marmite, this is Sandwich, Sandwich, this is Marmite.

Nice to meet you both. NOT.

Have I tried Marmite? No. You wouldn't either if you got within twenty feet of its smell, which is terrible and similar to burnt rubber/week old roadkill. Its apparently made from yeast extract, or basically, the leftover junk from beer brewing. You do the math.

 1 + 1 = thick and nasty.  

This all spurs from making a sandwich with said appalling substance, and accidently putting what is considered way too much on it.

Recipe for a Marmite sandwich: 2 pieces of bread, buttered, then slap with a thin amount of Marmite, crusts cut off. Bannana, cucumber or cheese optional.

Result: Repulsive.

Stranger Danger

Apparently where I'm living has a high crime rate and the crimes that are committed are very malicious. I saw this sign posted in the main shopping area of the village and began to worry. 

Also, there is a different sort of classified ad system on the window of one of the little grocery stores; people are very clear with their listings:
Actually the area I'm in is pretty nice and there is very rarely a junky car, there are mostly BMW, Mercedes, VW and smart cars.

Vomitar:to vomit-Look, you know Spanish already!

This morning I woke up to a splitting headache and a spinning sensation that was really fun until five seconds after it began and I started vomiting. So, I've been resting all day and am feeling a bit better but wish I could pinpoint where this began - I blame lack of sushi...  

Those are real flowers.

The room is a pretty light yellow color but you can't tell from the pictures.

I haven't attempted to figure that Tv/dvd thing out, but there are some nifty electronic curtains in the skylights of my room that are intensely entertaining.