London living is tiring… and time consuming. That’s no real excuse for not updating in about a month but I thought I’d throw it out there anyway.

So where to start? I’m really not too sure…

I love London. No really, I absolutely adore it. Yes I know this is me, the girl who vowed she’d never go anywhere near the big city but now that I’m here I can’t get enough of it. The trick with London, or so I’ve found, is not to think of it as one big city. Instead, it’s a group of smaller villages and towns that are grouped together both underground and overground. I’ve become a master of the underground system. I seem to have a knack of arriving at the platform at the same time as the train so I never have to wait around too long. Although rush hour isn’t too pleasant. I never get the cute guy pressed up against me with an apologetic smile. Oh no. I get the fairly large, fairly smelly business man who glares at me for daring to be in his presence. The fact that his presence seems to radiate from him with some rather pungent odours seems to completely escape his notice. Here’s a tip: If you’re gonna use the tube, take a shower first! It’s really not that nice for the rest of us. Escaping in to the smog filled air of central London is almost a blessing.

Actually, I’ve not really noticed any smog as such. My area of work seems to be quite clean and I get the most spectacular view of the river, St Pauls’ and London Bridge whenever I step outside. It amazes me that most Londoners seem to spend all day walking with their heads down, shrouded in black coats of anonymity, rushing to be wherever they need to be. This is a beautiful place to be… but nobody seems to notice. As soon as I have the money I’m going to buy a bright red coat. I don’t want to fade in to the crowd with my head down. I want the wind in my hair, the colour in my cheeks and my eyes shining with the wonder that is being almost truly independent. Plus I like red, it’s a good colour on me.

Not that I intended this post to wax lyrical over the wonders of London Town, it was just as good a place to start as any!
I’ve settled nicely in to my new abode. The two ladies I’m sharing with are fabulous and we have a good giggle. Slowly but surely I’m turning my room in to a place that is definitely my own (so far I have fairylights, gorgeous bedding, pictures of my boy and cat, and a few other things. I’m working on getting a noticeboard and big picture to go up behind the bed. Yas.) and I’ll eventually have enough stuff in the fridge, freezer and cupboard so that I don’t have to panic about going shopping for a while! The room is … cosy. Snug could also be applied… as could compact. My darling mother came for a visit last week and watching the two of us work round one another must’ve been fairly amusing! We managed though and she seemed to have a good time. I think she’s now definitely happier about me being here as she’s seen everything she needs to, house work etc.

I love my job. I’m learning so much and going through training programmes which mean I’ll be earning a little bit more than i do now (which really isn’t that hard. It’s not the best paid job in the world but everybody’s got to start somewhere!) and there are lots of incentives to do better, including a possible trip to champagne! Woo! The guys i work with are all so much fun, and some of them have become good friends as well as work colleagues, which is what I needed. My social circle is expanding slowly and seeing as they’ve been in London longer than me they’ve taken to showing me around. One such venture included dinner in China town, which I instantly fell in love with. It’s like you’re stepping out of one city and in to another. Really rather weird.

I’m going to do a list, I like lists. Over the last month I have:
-found a gorgeous cocktail bar in Richmond where during happy hour if you order a cocktail, you get a second one of the same free! Hooray!
-seen the new James Bond film and fallen in love with Daniel Craig all over again.
-learned more about Absinthe than I ever thought was possible.
-rediscovered why i love Covent Garden so much.
-gone through leicester square and not seen anybody famous.
-had dinner with somebody I haven’t seen for 2 years. We proceeded to get horrifically drunk and I had to work the next day. Yeuch.
-got drunk again with work but this time i was on red wine. the next morning I had to taste approximately 22 bulgarian red wines. i wanted to cry.
-shown my mummy just how capable I am in London.
-seen The Producers (so so good!)
-had lunch in Fortnum’s with the parents and then looked for fortnum’s marmalade (as you do). I also have some of their matches. I’m a classy bird me.
-brushed passed Bill Oddie in Oxford street, it was a wonderful moment.
-seen Wicked (finally!) I think i’m a wicked groupie. I love this play so so much! Think I’m going to go again…
-Had screaming girls claiming that Matt Damon was in the theatre watching wicked too. I didn’t see him so personally I don’t believe it…
-got my bedroom back to myself only to fall down the stairs on thursday morning. This resulted in sprained left wrist, sprained left ankle and a massive bruise on the right-hand side of my bum where i landed on my phone which was in my back pocket. Ouch.
-gone for a romantic dinner with my boy in Chiswick where we proceeded to drink away the pain of my injuries. I think he drank it away more than I did!
-booked tickets (or at least The Boy did, I love him so much!) to go see the Barenaked Ladies in march when they tour in England.

That just about brings us to where we are now. I need to think about Christmas shopping and I’ll be flying back to the island on Christmas Eve only to leave again on the 27th. It’s gonna be a short break!

Now my wrist is hurting from all this typing so I’m going to go away again. But don’t panic, I am still alive, I miss everybody and I’m coping with being on my own. Who’d have thought it?!

Much love and squidgeable hugs,

AxXx