I love this! It was massive. I couldn’t really capture the scale of it, but I think it must have spanned 2o feet! Another shot from the Camden Market in London. Gee, should I do a PR campaign for the market?

Look at the amazing texture of these trees hanging over the Camden Lock in London. Absolutely beautiful! There is a great outdoor market in Camden with stalls of all kinds of things. Steaming, colorful food displayed in big clay pots, Original art, Vintage clothing and trinkets, you name it, it’s there. It was a really inspiring spot, but I can’t get over how beautiful these trees look and I wish I had caught a photo of the lock itself, all of it was just really cool.

from_sherlock

Originally uploaded by FunCupcake.

It would freak me out to think somebody was taking my photo while I was innocently perusing magazines at my local bookshop. I can’t believe I am admitting that I took this girl’s photo, and now am posting it. Some people would say don’t have such a conscience! I blame it on the trip to Puebla Mexico I once took, and at a club I tried to take a photo and an angry, drunk young punk Mexican ran at me and said to me with the angriest face “no photos! you cannot steal our soul by taking our photo!” An old myth. And it shouldn’t bother me, because he was just a drunk kid trying to piss off the American tourist, but it affected me!

Anyways, well, truth is I just couldn’t help myself as I came down the escalator from the loo in the Borders on Oxford Street in London. Style, people, London’s got style. I vascillate back and forth between “who has this much time, energy and motivation to make so much effort to be so freaking trendy, cool, punk rock, whatever” and “oh my, what is it like to be like these kids who make it a priority to be so cool and/or trendy.” What do you think, could I rock this platinum blond hair? I have absolutely zero loyalty to any hairstyle, and pretty much zero patience to maintain any look either. Maybe I took and posted her photo, to get over my bad experience back in Puebla. Anywayz.

London was great. It is such a cool place. I could talk about how quaint, how European, how rainy, how delicious, how expensive, how British it is. But I will just say, it is so cool. The style, the architecture, the vibe. Unfortunately, I didn’t take very many photos, because I was busy, working, and hanging out with Salvi, well and enjoying myself. Salvi was a champion escort with me on my work errands, and an exquisite date, as always! xoxo

If you check out my UK photo set you’ll see the few photos I did capture and the difference between last months weather (still sunny, warm) and this months weather (cool, rainy, overcast.) The Camden market held a lot of interest for me, especially this bag vendor. These bags are just one silhoutte, a simple canvas bag with a variety of screened prints, but how happy they make me. I brought a couple home for just a few pounds, yeah, my bag collection increases weekly (but I’m not a luxurious bag collector, some of my favorites are from the goodwill.) Anyway, what I realize now, is this DISPLAY makes me happier than the BAGS themselves do! I think I need to be in visual merchandising. I love stores for their filtered, curated merchandising. Think of how effective endcaps are in making you notice products. Think about it, wouldn’t you rather buy a box of cereal from a small, carefully selected display of 10 boxes rather than the long-ass aisle of 3000 boxes? Tell me, you are like me, and too much stuff overwhelms you. I know it does!

Anyways, London is really cool. Virgin Airlines has campy flight attendants, but good movie options. I watched 3 movies on the way home. Not to mention the Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie, which we watched while in London. I love me some cinema. If for nothing else then to shut off the rest of the world for just a few hours.

I’m so excited I will be going back to London next week, for a long weekend! I am going on a top secret mission for a top secret project, and I will actually be working while I’m there, but of course, will find a way to …. “enjoy the pleasures of life” since I have that unique gift and all. See, I knew there was no need to try to squeeze every little thing into that last trip, somehow I knew I’d be back! Salvi I will see you at Paddington station!

Accompanying this photo from the gardens of the Victoria and Albert museum in London, is a synopsis from a free numerology report that I got online. In a nut shell, let’s just say that I’m glad that if all else fails in my professional life, it’s reassuring to know that I can just be a professional enjoyer of life and a fine conversationalist. What? Not everyone is born with the special gift of the ability to experience great delight in the pleasures of life? What happened to those people who don’t just naturally see and feel and experience the pleasures of life? Hmmm. I thought we all were born with it, but that some of us are just more responsible and spend more time focusing on how to make things happen (like by being disciplined and thinking in a linear fashion… e.g. I want this to happen so I will do that.)

So this part of the (long) report seems to efficiently articulate why I like having this website; a dedicated place to express my delights (and sometimes cynisism) in the adventures of life! Don’t worry, it wasn’t all roses! The report also eluded to one of my downfalls, my tendency to be involved in too many different activities and to be a bit scattered and unfocused. Yeah, I have made it a goal to try to be more action and less talk. I am trying to be more productive, which sounds rather responsible and dare I say… disciplined… yuck! I said I’m trying. I didn’t say I would do it! Hah! Anyways, read it…

“You were born with a special gift, the potential to experience great delight in the pleasures of life. You sometimes affirm this delight with exhilarating enthusiasm, sometimes savor it with intense but quiet pleasure. You may choose a line of work in which both your social and creative skills can be developed. You have a lively imagination along with your considerable creative ability. You may spend a great deal of your time enjoying your creative pursuits. You probably express yourself well verbally and it wouldn’t be surprising if you involve yourself in activities related to your voice or to words. You may have some singing or acting talent, or you may enjoy writing or lecturing. Since you instinctively know the best way to present material and information, you could be a natural at teaching or selling. You would probably also be a fine conversationalist.”

I had a really fabulous trip to London! I just kept thinking everything is really European here… It is as you would imagine, the accents, the tube, the beer, the weather, the history! We stayed in the West End in Notting Hill, shopped on Oxford Street, checked out Carnaby Street, visited the Victoria & Albert Museum, stumbled upon a Spanish festival, hit Spitalfields Market and Brick Lane in the East End. Ate and drank in 4 days more than I think I usually eat in 2 weeks, and met up with some old friends. We rode the tube around and walked a lot. The sun was out most of the time and the weather was really mild and wonderful. I put together a shopping trip report for work and took photos of shoes and fashion that I saw. You can see the rest of the photos by clicking on the UK set on flickr. Thanks for a wonderful trip Salvi!! xoxo

portobello_hotel

Originally uploaded by FunCupcake.

And this is the Portobello hotel. Comfy and restful and very nice, especially the warm croissants with marmalade in the morning.

stanleygardens

Originally uploaded by FunCupcake.

This is the street of the Portobello Hotel where we stayed in London. After all that talk about bright color accents, we stayed on an almost all-white street! But across the street, there were a few brightly constrasting doors. I think I will put together a photo montage this weekend so I can do one post with little thumbnail photos and write about the highlights. Or do you like daily, digestable photos and posts rather than one big one?