Othello

A Week of Firsts

I had my first ever studio shoot on Friday at LCC. I had my lovely new Harrods friend Tom pose for me. The feel of the shoot was supposed to be a swingin' suited jazz crooner. I think he did very well as the model, and I'm very happy with the results. Fala was my lovely assisstant and DJ, spinning the Macbook tunes and bouncing ideas back and forth with me.

Heath arrived for the weekend literally right after the shoot. We went to a lovely little place in Farringdon called To A Tea for a relaxing cuppa, then headed over to Chinatown to go to my new favorite little hole-in-the-wall, New Fook Lam Moon. They do an amazing little duck pancake appetizer for only 9 pounds, and paired with a heaping basket of prawn crackers, its the perfect little meal. Heath had some "prown" fried rice and mandarin spare ribs. I was convinced that the man tree tables over was Jeremy Clarkson from Top Gear and my eyes kept darting to that table over the top of my wine glass. It turned out he wasn't, but for a good half hour I was convinced I'd had my first London celebrity sighting. Oh well.

Saturday was a bit of a cock up. I was supposed to work, but got pretty sick about halfway through the shift and had to ask to leave. My manager did not seem very pleased... prospects of me staying after my temporary contract are looking grim. I hibernated throughout the afternoon and then Heath and I went and saw the new Harry Potter movie, which is AMAZING, and I cried when Dobby died. I attempted to hide it, but it happened, and I think I maybe have seen Heath give a sniffle too.

Today was just a lazy morning filled with cuddles, buttery crumpets, tea, and blowing bubbles at the kitten. Before going to St. Pancras to catch his train back to Leicester, we went to our favorite Jen Cafe for some bubble tea. The review there on Time Out is very harsh, and I can tell you that the dumplings are in fact delicious, and bubble tea/dumpling trips to Jen Cafe are definitely mine and Heath's new tradition. I would very much recommend it.

Now I'm packing to head to Leicester tomorrow for another first - my first fashion show photoshoot! Heath's flatmate is in Contour Fashion, aka making bras and panties, and every year they put on a full-on fashion show, and I've got a nice little place at the end of the catwalk to take pictures. Hopefully I'll get some good ones for myself and for the ladies at DMU.

Abandonment

So.

Once more I have tried to have a blog, and completely failed at keeping up with it. I cannot possibly catch up with everything that has happened, but I will attempt to make a short list of the highlights.

September 6th - First day at London College of Communication

September 20th - Heath and Kate's 1 year "know-a-versary". We met a year ago at Oktoberfest. We had a nice skype date with mini bottles of champagne.

October - Applied to many, many jobs at EAT, Pret-A-Manger, Topshop, The Body Shop, ASOS, Harrods, etc...

November 3rd - My first interview at Harrods.

November 4th - HR from Harrods calls me while I'm on the Tube to invite me back for a second interview. I freak out.

November 5th - Second interview. They call me that afternoon to say I have the job and to come for training the next Wednesday.

November 10th - Harrods training day 1.

November 11th - Was supposed to be Harrods training day 2, but I lost my wallet in the Westminster Tube station bathroom on the way to work. When I went back it was gone. It got turned in later that day at a Natwest bank on Oxford St. Minus the 400 pounds in cash that were in it. Bad day.

November 12th - Harrods training day 2.

November 13th - First shift at The Diner in Harrods. Its hectic, fast-paced, and I love it. Tips aren't too shabby either.

I've had 6 photo projects for school, with the last two for the semester being assigned this week. I've made some wonderful friends.

Mia got a kitten.

I bought a Pentax manual film camera. I've become addicted to prawn crackers, milky tea, and crumpets. I am adept at navigating the Tube system. I have a job - at Harrods!!

I've visited Leicester, Southend-on-Sea, and Stroud, and hope to make many more trips around the UK whilst I'm here.

I'm taking a ballet class.

Kaylin visited me in London;

Mom visited me in London.

I introduced England to the dirndl for Halloween.

And currently? Well, projects for school. In addition to the new ones, I have to finish the workbooks and final photos for all the old ones. Its all due December 13th - I've really got to put my nose to the grindstone at this point. I also have UCAS applications to do (I'll do a post over that later). Heath will be here this weekend after three long weeks of not seeing each other. Then I will be heading up to Leicester on Monday to shoot the De Montfort Contour Fashion show, and running back down to London on Wednesday to make it to the ExCel UCAS Fair. Busy busy busy!

Oh, PS, I saw my first fox.

Sensory Overload

SO much stuff to do.... there will be so many updates soon enough. But for now, there is no Internet at the house and I have to sit in Starbucks and pay out the nose for it.

Updates soon! London is awesome!

Of Guineas and Goodbyes

Today is a very sad day for me. I will be saying goodbye to both of my sets of kids: the human ones and the little, furry, wheeky ones.

This morning was my very last morning getting up at 7 am; putting out two jars of breakfast cereal, 3-4 bowls and spoons, and milk and yoghurt; peeling and cutting up various fruits for the breakfast mix; and making two snackboxes for the kids. Every. Weekday. For. A. Year.

So glad that's over.

The kids were all packed and ready this morning when I got up - Silke had done it all last night. They had their little kiddie Samsonite suitcases and their little kindergarten backpacks stuffed full of everything to go to Ireland. I have to admit, I'm a little jealous of these guys. Leah is 3 and Samuel is 5, and they've flown and traveled more often and to more places than most Americans do in a whole lifetime. Plus, they're going to Ireland before me. They can't even drink Guinness and appreciate the hot accents yet! Totally unfair.

I'm not very good at goodbyes. I remember this very day last year as I stood in the hall and watched Meredith, the former au pair, squat down and hug both the kids tightly, smiling and promising to send M&Ms from California. The kids seemed sad to see her go, but in the delightful way kids have, they'd recovered in about 2.5 seconds. And that's how it was with me. I did the same scene, sitting back on my heels in the hallway, and hugged them each tightly for a few seconds. I wished them a good trip and told them I'd send them goodies from Britain. And then they got in the car and were gone. I don't know what I was expecting - a long, tearful goodbye? These are kids. They've had 3 au pairs before me, and they already know the name of the next one (Clara). They move on fast. I'm relieved for this job to be over, and to be starting school and moving - but I don't think I'll get over them quite so fast.

As for the guinea pigs, I spent a little time this afternoon washing the cage floor and getting everything nice and clean for Ken. I'm really, really grateful that he's taking them so I didn't have to give them to the tierheim, or someone I didn't know. He has shown interest in having piggies before, and is a good guy, so at least I know they will be well cared for. So we set them up in their new home, and they both went in their little house in the corner, curled up, and lay down for a nap. I think they will be ok.

All ready to go

Fortinbras

Cuddly pigs

Enjoying the sunshine

Amadeus browsing teh interwebz

It's like, trippy, man...

My room seems that much emptier now without the piggy cage in it, although the four ginourmous suitcases in the corner might make up for it.

Four days!!!

PS - Yes, I have a lot more pictures of my guinea pigs than of the kids. Now you understand me that much better.

Packing is driving me crazy

PACKING! AGH! It's been fairly easy bringing stuff to Germany, because I've made two trips home since I "moved" here, and was able to bring things I wanted over here in small amounts. But now, all the clothes and stuff I've brought over/bought here must be packed into suitcases and boxes and shipped to England. You will never truly know how much stuff you have and how much clutter in your life you can get rid of til you have to move countries! I swear I have thrown away just as much as I've kept, and given away about 6 large shopping bags of clothes to the secondhand stores. Still, I am shipping two very large boxes, checking 4 large suitcases, and carrying on two backpacks. Phew.

With the clothes I've left in my closet to wear for this week, plus various toiletries, it will definitely be a tight squeeze on Monday afternoon sticking things in every last bit of space I can find, whilst still trying to stay under the 25 kilo weight limit. This is harder than I thought it would be.

New House

Things are happening very fast! It's all rather exciting.

I was supposed to be moving in with Mia in Wood Green, but she wanted to find a house for just her, me, and Tyyne, without the roommates she currently has, who are apparently a bit of a nightmare. To her endless credit, she got out there

and searched, and she has found a new place! It is a 3-bedroom house in Stratford, with a nice old landlady who is being very accommodating to us. Tyyne is unsure how long she will be living with us, but the landlady said that it's ok, we only pay for the bedrooms we inhabit.

I will be getting the mid-sized bedroom, and believe me when I say I already have this thing fully decorated in my head. I am so, so pumped about getting there and nest-building.