Nov 23, 2007

Picture Posts

I finally got fed up waiting for the Blogger problem to clear up so I uploaded the pics again. The following posts are fixed:

Nov 14, 2007

Scam Alert

Sometimes all we have is our little tiny voice. But maybe that voice can be aided by the help of a microphone...well then it could get a whole lot louder.

I'm trying to sell my car, and recently was contacted by www.buygreatautos.com. They are a financing company who for a small fee of $299 will list your car on their website targeted at people with bad credit. And they would refund the ENTIRE amount if your car doesn't sell within 90 days.

Now he said he already had buyers in my area that would be interested in looking at my car. The man, Brian, sounded nice but pushy. So pushy in fact, he wanted me to pull over and give him a credit card number while I was driving. I used driving as an excuse and called me back when I arrived home. I made some excuse about having to check my credit card before I charge it and then went online and googled them.

Turns out, it's ONE BIG FILTHY SCAM. So next time he calls me, he's going to have to hear how disgusting I think he is, or the pansy will just hang up as I am speaking. I can't stand people who try to scam you for money. They are low life, no good people...I could go on...but I wont. I'll save it for Brian when he calls me tomorrow. Ha ha ha.

Nov 9, 2007

I Wasn't Suppossed To Shop...


A "Super Drug" on Kensington High Street caught my eye so I went in. The way all the products were arranged and neatly packaged I knew it meant trouble. Under the advisement of Lady Catherine, I was en route to visiting B Never Too Busy To Be Beautiful and knew I would probably spend money there, so I quickly exited...and wisely so.

I visited the location of Carnaby Street. Carnaby/Oxford/Regent Streets are all good streets to shop - if you're looking for a one stop shop kind of deal. Perfect if you don't have a lot of time. They have some tourist shops, but have the necessary basics such as Next, H & M, Super Drug, a Victoria's Secret equivalent "La Senza" and even high end shops. I bought a classic logo mug from the Whittard location there.

After taking another brief and childish stop at David & Goliath, I headed for the B Never cosmetic shop. And Gata was right - I definitely could not come all this way and not visit this place! I spent quite a bit of time there lingering, admiring the packaging and mostly figuring out what to buy because I wanted everything! The funky-girly packaging is all handmade in India (Fair Trade) and everything is natural and vegan which I love especially since my whole skin care line is natural. The carved wooden pots of glitter and jeweled eye shadow casings decorated as cakes made me feel like I was 16 and going through my glitter indulging time period and also like a child in my Barbie faze, but the cosmetic feature matures and adds the element of "woman" to the entire experience. Bottom line whatever mixed feelings you get, you could probably narrow it down to a completely womanly-girly thing, the sort of things any woman can indulge in.

I ended up playing with colors and had a multicolored left hand by the end of it all. I bought liquid cream eye shadows that you can use as a liner or smear and blend as a shadow. Mixing a light golden base with a purple or green was simple exquisite. And don't think you can just see a color without trying it. A color could look really bold, but when put on, it's iridescent tones soften it up. At the same time, to achieve really bold color (which I have to admit, scares me a bit) can be done by laying - first a cream shadow, sweeping the lids with a complementary shade of pressed powder and finishing with glitter. The look is really dramatic and looks Friday-night ready. On the flip side, the eye shadow can also be used lightly for a daytime look. My profession requires me to be in and out of corporate environments so I will be keeping it light. The quality and luminosity is just crazy-good!

In the end, I bought some as gifts, but ended up with 5 pressed eyeshadow powders, 2 cream ones, a glitter pot in Iris and purple hair mascara (one or two streaks framing the face is brilliant). Gata why did you introduce me to this place?!? They also had lotions and cleansers, bath products as well as fragrances but thankfully I'm all good in that department. Good news is, they are connected with Lush and will be expanding to North America starting in Canada. Their goal is to have one BNever store next to every Lush. I cannot wait, first of all to have access to one nearby, and second of all to be paying dollars instead of pounds!

Do You Know The Muffin Man?

It's been 7 years since I've been to London, and I don't think my last trip even included a trip to the Muffin Man. Last I remembered of this place, there was scafolding cluttering the area. Fond memories flooded me as I walked inside. I was starving and didn't eat breakfast so I had ordered scrambled eggs and a sausage. It was pretty good. Nearby there were various informal business meetings that I had the pleasure or displeasure of overhearing - yes I'm still not quite sure how I felt about that. Since I had nobody with me, everyone else's conversations were magnified. I was slightly disappointed at the almost burnt scones but the devon cream made up for it. I could eat tub-fulls of devon cream as gross as that may sound. After lingering around for over an hour and realizing that you don't get a bill, (you have to "pay at the till") I left full and satisfied knowing that I had at least had proper tea and scones. (I already had the full "English Breakfast" minus the blood pudding). As for tea in the morning, I bought black tea from Morrisons (the local supermarket) and amusingly it is exactly in every shape and form the typical cup of tea someone would offer to you at their house. Dark, slightly foamy with that distinct taste. I will make sure to bring it home so I can every now and then have a taste of England!

Travelocity STINKS - Beware!

I should have known better than booking my flight with Travelocity. The agent on the phone failed to advise me that on my connecting flight back home there would be an AIRPORT CHANGE. Not just JFK to LGA, but JFK to Newark airport on a Sunday night! Impossible! They do NOT provide a shuttle service. Plus I would have to get out, go through customs, pick up my bags, get a cab or somebody to drive me to NJ (on a Sunday evening mind you) check in my bags, go through security all over again and be at my gate in a couple hour's time. Not happening.

I tried calling Travelocity to change the ticket and they first were blabbing about some "change fee" but when they saw I had already flown to my first destination they said they could NOT CHANGE A THING DUE TO THEIR POLICIES. Da heck? They STINK. And I want everybody to hear it.

I hope that roaming gnome croaks!!!!!!!!!!!

Nov 6, 2007

Spinning Away...

I would write about my trip, except my head is spinning right now...just thought I'd share this pic in the meantime. :)

Pic Problems

I'm back...from Paris & Rome. Rome is my new love.

I don't know why I'm having problems with pics on my blog. For my next set of pics, I'll upload them to a google web album instead. It's a lot to see anyway. I'll go back and try to fix the others....stay tuned!

Nov 1, 2007

Taryn Simon, Thai Pubs & a Wandering Fox

En route to Leicester Square, I stumbled upon a photography exhibit and after seeing "Free Admission" at the door, I walked right in. It was an American Photographer from NY (not surprising) and her exhibit was based on things going on in America behind the scenes. The real title was "Taryn Simon: An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar"

It was quite interesting over all...seeing the confiscated food room in JFK Airport was cool, but one picture that sort of disturbed me was of a mentally retarded white tiger. The caption stated that in the US, all white tigers are inbred to achieve the white coat, pink nose & blue eyes. The one in the picture was a "bad product". It had a smushed in nose and due to that, it had problems breathing and closing it's mouth. It's forearms were deformed so it walked with a limp. The others in his litter were not considered good either. I thought that was awful. Why do they have to breed the tigers? Either import a natural one from abroad, or don't have any at all! Does America have to have everything? Poor tiger freak!

On a better note, I went to dinner last night - had Thai food in a PUB. Yes, that's right - this is England of the future! Pubs serving Thai. The food was good! The other night we had walked from Liverpool Street over London Bridge to experience Wagamama's. An Asian noodle joint. It was a good experience. Only thing that was slightly annoying was the picnic tables. But we were seated next to a wall so it was a little more private. And I love the fact that over here we don't have to tip as much. Back in US, I don't even want to go out due to the extra money spent on tax & tip. If you ever do go, I'd say visit the London Bridge location, it's built under a rail bridge and is a really awesome spot, with the dark, windy, small cobblestone streets and packed pubs at every corner.

Another weird animal sighting - You know the other day I saw Parakeets in a tree, well last night we saw a young fox wandering the streets. I've never even seen a fox before! What will I see next?

Anyway, I have to get going now. Tonight we are going to Paris via EuroStar and I have to pack a few things. We are going for 4 days. We're actually going to try to book a sleeper rail to Rome and use 2 of our days there. We'll see what happens. If not, 4 days in Paris is still good!

Shops...

Covent Garden



These "people" umbrellas (Above) were in Octopus...a cute store with funky colored useful items (I think from France). The workers inside the store were interesting looking themselves...although I think they were dressed for Halloween. Anyway, back to the umbrellas. The handle is "boots" and they have heads. So folded, it looks like a doll or something. The one you can clearly see is the Alien, but the one I want is the red one, the head is decorated with black flapper hair and red lipstick. Real cute. I didn't impulse buy, it was 12 Pounds, so I decided to wait until towards the end of my trip to pick up some cutesy things. I already got a small change purse from Accessorize and a large prop up travel mirror from Boots.

Another shop I fancied (hee hee) was David & Goliath. I know we used to sell some of their stuff in Lord of The Fleas back in the day, so I refrained from buying anything. I later checked online and saw loads of things on sale, so I indulged a bit. Hey! At least I wasn't spending Brittish Pounds!!

Liverpool St, Cont'd...

An English Newsstand

Inside the station - you can catch the tube or rail from here.

During rush hour, it's simply madness.

Just for you Gata, Tiffenbites and Pret A Manger...

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Liverpool Street

An Outdoor Market near Liverpool Street...
A Cool Building
An outdoor public toilet you PAY for. They couldn't pay me to use one.
Just walk into a Mc Donalds or something!

Liverpool Street Station