Arm Update
It's been about two weeks since my running-slow-but-still-manage-to-get-injured injury and I'm almost 100% better. Not gonna lie, those first few days were pretty brutal - I couldn't really lift my arm, needed help putting on a bookbag or a jacket, needed to prop it up while doing mundane things like shampooing my hair. I also found out that laughing really hard and sneezing were both very painful, not only in my shoulder but even in my shoulder blades and the whole left part of my upper back. Yeesh!
Lots has happened since I last posted, which is why it's been so long since I last posted :)
Dover
The day after my boo-boo, Alex and I hopped on a train east to the town of Dover, famous for its white chalk cliffs. I was not a fan of the weather (it was rainy and my shoes where soaked through in just a few minutes of leaving the train station), and we took the most indirect, arduous hike up to the cliffs (involving hiking up an inhuman incline to Dover Castle, only to find it was really expensive, and then walking basically around the entire hill to get back to the other side). I was also dubious because...like...how do you see the cliffs if you're standing on the cliffs?
However, once we got to the main area, you indeed can see the cliffs rising up above you and a little bit around the bend, and it was so majestic and made the whole trek (almost) worth it. A few things we discovered: the cliffs of Dover are populated with lots and lots of snails, beware of crumbling bits of chalk, and standing at the edge of England and the closest point to France was really breathtaking.
Chilling with Wills & Kate & George & Charlotte & Uncle Harry
The next day, we continued our exploring at the Tower of London, where we'd both been, but we figured we live literally 10 minutes away, so why not. We saw the usual bits: the Crown Jewels, the ravens, the Beefeaters. Then, we hopped across town to Kensington Palace. One thing I had kind of known in the back of my brain somewhere but didn't immediately register was that THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF CAMBRIDGE ACTUALLY LIVE HERE. Okay, so when we were there, I think they were in Canada, but how cool is that?!
One of the best things we stumbled upon in the palace was a tour guide (who looked a bit like Leslie Odom, Jr.!!!) telling a brilliant story of British history to an enraptured audience. He went through like 600 years of history in minutes, not only reciting speeches and formal recorded prose but also throwing in jokes and impressions. I would invite this guy over for a dinner party and just let him talk for ages.
Oh, Also Paris
Last Friday, we went to Paris - nbd, right? ;)
We booked everything fairly late so Eurostar was expensive and the only other choice we had was to take the earliest flight. That involved waking up at 3:45am, walking over to Blackfriars Station, taking the train to Gatwick, waiting 2 hours in the airport...just to take a 40 minute flight to Paris. The flight time was literally shorter than my commute from Brooklyn to Manhattan.
Also along the lines of booking late, we hadn't really planned anything except to a) meet up with Alex's aunt and great-aunt, both of whom were going to be there that weekend and b) meet up with Alex's old coworkers when he was an intern in the Paris office way back when. We got off the plane with kind of no idea what to do or where to go (#firstworldproblems #beentoparisbeforeanddidallthetouristthingsproblems) so we wound up wandering, which honestly is most of the fun of travel anyway. We found our way to Le Marais and had some of the most delicious falafel at that famous place that's always got a line down the street (I was afraid it would be overrated, but no it is bomb). The unfortunate part was that it started pouring later in the day, and again my shoes had soaked through so badly that I thought I had two sponges strapped to my feet. Sadly, I've since had to say goodbye to my beloved Keds (well, they're sitting in a garbage bag in the apartment - I haven't had the heart to throw them out out, but they've got to go). I traipsed through all of Paris on these wonky wet shoes. In the evening, we met Alex's former colleagues for drinks, who were so sweet and welcoming, and I had a great time. We left the bar pretty late, realizing we hadn't had dinner, so we hopped on the metro back to our hotel to try this place that my best friend Jackie had recommended when we were all here together last year (em, the Engagement trip hehe) but never got a chance to try: L'Office. Turns out it was the best meal of the trip, the best meal I'd had in a long time.
~Veritasty Crossover~
Luckily for us, L'Office was literally two doors down from our hotel. We ordered with some difficulty (entirely French menu + minimal understanding of romance languages + slow-Internet stop-and-go Google Translate) and finally wound up sharing two entrees of fish and veal risotto.
The fish turned out to be line-caught whiting with a lemony spinach puree, thinly shaved almonds, and a fine crumble of crunchy potatoes. I could have done with a little less lemon in the sauce, but let's talk about this FISH! It was so succulent and plump, flaky and white - my tongue felt like it was, in the words of Liz Lemon, high-fiving a million angels. It was glorious.
Alex had a similar foodgasm with his dish: he proclaimed, "How do they make meat taste like this?!?!?!", but it was unexpected for me, for...it was not veal risotto but veal sweetbread risotto. As in, baby cow thymus glands. Regardless, still delish. I had never had sweetbreads until now, and the best way I can describe them is as fluffy pillows of meat, lightly seared on the outside and really tender on the inside.
We cleaned our plates so well that night that I joked to the waiter that they didn't need a dishwasher.
The next morning, we tried to find some wonderful farmer's markets around town, but all my attempts turned out fruitless (pun intended). We had to ditch the attempts in order to meet the aunts-in-law for brunch at a cute place near Bastille. We had a whole load of delicious, non-pretentious brunch food for a really good deal - puts New York City brunch to shame. I had a glass of fresh-squeezed lots-of-pulp orange juice, espresso, fresh baked brioche with French butter and raspberry jam, salmon with scrambled eggs, potato, salad, and finally an amazing banana-chantilly cream parfait. IT. WAS. HEAVEN.
And then all of a sudden, I was left in a state of alone-ness. See, Alex had to leave for two weeks of training in Florida, so he was only able to spend about 24 hours in Paris before flying back to London, packing, and then flying out to Florida. If Alex had his own blog, you could read all about his 8-hour flight delay and overall horrendous trip from London Gatwick to Florida! Thanks British Airways!
Anyway, I used my newfound independence to run amok across Paris. And by 'amok', I really just mean hitting up the fancy shopping areas where Alex would get bored in about 3 seconds. Now I realize why he resisted the department stores and high fashion boutiques: he has no phone data plan out here, so what's a guy to do while the girl shops?!?! Actually, my first stop was the Musee Marmottan Monet (say that three times fast) out west past the Arc de Triomphe. I considered this the last stop in the trinity of Monet sights in Paris, after Musee d'Orsay and L'Orangerie (where I had dragged Alex, Jackie, and Harry last year). I was so excited to finally get to see THE Monet museum. Like, Monet is in the name of the museum. There were some great bits, like the art obvi, but...
I was really disappointed that they didn't allow photography, and the guards were really mean about it. There was one exhibit that explicitly said no photography, but once I left that exhibit, no where else indicated the camera with the slashy line through it so I thought, fair game. All the guards there seemed to be pretty miserable creatures, with a vendetta against mainly me. Loads of other people were taking photos, but for some reason they only noticed me.
I sat in the main room of Monet works (there are decorative arts and other things in the museum too, but for some reason decorative arts is a snoozefest for me) and took it all in with my eyes, since I couldn't take it all in with my lens. I saw a beautiful Monet painting of roses that I had never seen before, among some of his famous and iconic water lilies. I just sat and sat and journaled and stared around for a good while.
When I left, I decided to walk halfway across Paris to the Galeries Lafayette. It took more than an hour of pounding the pavement in my "cute chic Parisienne" outfit (dress and tights and pointy black suede flats). I passed through some upscale residential areas, by the Trocadero and the Eiffel Tower, and then across the Champs Elysees. Even though it was a pleasure to be in Paris, I could have killed someone on the Champs Elysees. It's like the worst of Times Square, Rockefeller Center at Christmastime, and the Dominique Ansel Cronut line rolled into one. So. Many. People. Not walking, just stopping and milling around outside stores. The sidewalk is so wide you'd think it wouldn't be a problem but I was getting so much sidewalk-rage. Afternoon Champs Elysees is definitely not for me.
Galeries Lafayette was not as bad, but still fairly crowded. And, a funny revelation, it was crowded full of people who looked like me. Asians! The upswing of wealth in China probably leads to a whole lot of brand name shopping in major cities, and Paris was no exception. Everyone from middle-age men with dad bods (or...maybe the Beijing bikini) to fashionista young women were snapping up the latest handbags, makeup, accessories, whatever. All the different designers had Mandarin-speaking salespeople. This was my favorite: L'Occitane not only had a Chinese saleswoman, but they also staffed a Caucasian young woman who spoke almost fluent Mandarin. I was so flabbergasted when I heard the two staff chatting amongst themselves that I actually asked her, "wait, you speak Chinese?!" (Hello, I must have been the only Chinese person there who didn't actually speak Mandarin) She said she studied Chinese in school. That is probably a brilliant move for anyone who wants to get into the retail/service industry nowadays.
After my session of window shopping, I headed to the neighborhood near the hotel that Alex, Jackie, Harry, and I previously stayed, a little north of the Galeries Lafayette. I wanted so badly to have dinner at Le Petit Canard, a tiny restaurant that served delicious dishes featuring duck, but they were fully booked for the night, as were several other restaurants on that street. Eventually, I had to settle for a...burger joint. And not only that, I had a chicken sandwich at a burger restaurant. It was a pretty lame end to my evening.
The night was still young, though. I spent the rest of the night walking around the vicinity of my current hotel, which turned out to be in the theater district and right down the block from the Folie Bergere (which I only know about from the movie Anastasia, when she's frolicking in Paris for the first time). I wandered aimlessly and was content to get lost in the little backstreets. There were lots of people around since it was a Saturday night so I wasn't too worried. It was really cool to hover around the nightlife (albeit tame nightlife because we all know I can't do untz untz clubbing) and see the locals in their natural habitat.
The next morning, I woke up early and raced to Champs Elysees for a bit of window shopping before it got cray cray crowded. It was a good move, because there were hardly any people out on the streets and I got to go inside the flagship Sephora store relatively unhindered and not needing to elbow people out of my way. I again wandered my way back to Le Marais, where it was getting super packed with the Sunday afternoon revelers, but the big problem now was that my feet were absolutely killing me. At this point, I had walked two days of over ten miles in d'orsay cut suede flats that sometimes hurt me when I wear them just around the office, not to mention hobbling over the cobblestones of Paris. I even bought a cheap pair of flats at H&M which did the trick in calming my aching puppies for a couple of hours, but I was suffering bad. I wound up sitting in a Starbucks for a while to recaffeinate and soothe my feet, which kind of helped because I was able to make it all the way back to the hotel on foot, where I picked up my stuff and headed off to the airport. And that was it, my whirlwind weekend in Paris!
Hell Week
This work week and the previous one were pretty rough. I've been trying to sign on a little earlier than usual to get work done (my 12:30pm, which is 7:30am EST) and still wind up working until my 11:30pm or 12:00am. I know the upcoming weeks won't be any easier with the holidays coming up.
Hella Weekend
Today, I treated myself (one might say) to a beautiful day out walking. I logged more than 16 miles (and 39,700 or so steps...you have no idea how upset I am that I didn't hit 40k) from walking to Greenwich, and then around the West End area afterwards.
Greenwich was much more beautiful than I remember. My first time here was in a nasty downpour for my architecture class. The second time here was possibly during a hangover before I knew what a hangover was (Ivy, I'm looking at you girl <3 a="" amp="" and="" arms="" around="" at="" beautiful="" blue="" by="" chips="" clouds.="" college.="" constructed.="" couldn="" day.="" dotted="" down="" eautiful="" elements="" enough="" everything="" fish="" for="" full="" geographic="" get="" good="" guess="" had="" having="" house.="" house="" i="" ideals="" in="" inspired="" is="" kings="" late="" life="" lunch="" middle="" mostly="" my="" naval="" nbsp="" observatory="" october="" oday="" of="" p="" palladian="" photos="" puffy="" queen="" really="" reenwich="" royal="" s="" sky="" staircase="" streets="" symmetric="" t="" taking="" the="" time="" to="" tulip="" up="" walked="" wandered="" warm="" was="" white="" with="">
<3 a="" amp="" and="" arms="" around="" at="" beautiful="" blue="" by="" chips="" clouds.="" college.="" constructed.="" couldn="" day.="" dotted="" down="" eautiful="" elements="" enough="" everything="" fish="" for="" full="" geographic="" get="" good="" guess="" had="" having="" house.="" house="" i="" ideals="" in="" inspired="" is="" kings="" late="" life="" lunch="" middle="" mostly="" my="" naval="" nbsp="" observatory="" october="" oday="" of="" p="" palladian="" photos="" puffy="" queen="" really="" reenwich="" royal="" s="" sky="" staircase="" streets="" symmetric="" t="" taking="" the="" time="" to="" tulip="" up="" walked="" wandered="" warm="" was="" white="" with="">*Yo, I just re-read my post and I have no idea what happened here. Sorry, I really want to fix it but it's almost 1am and I'm supes tired.*
<3 a="" amp="" and="" arms="" around="" at="" beautiful="" blue="" by="" chips="" clouds.="" college.="" constructed.="" couldn="" day.="" dotted="" down="" eautiful="" elements="" enough="" everything="" fish="" for="" full="" geographic="" get="" good="" guess="" had="" having="" house.="" house="" i="" ideals="" in="" inspired="" is="" kings="" late="" life="" lunch="" middle="" mostly="" my="" naval="" nbsp="" observatory="" october="" oday="" of="" p="" palladian="" photos="" puffy="" queen="" really="" reenwich="" royal="" s="" sky="" staircase="" streets="" symmetric="" t="" taking="" the="" time="" to="" tulip="" up="" walked="" wandered="" warm="" was="" white="" with="">
<3 a="" amp="" and="" arms="" around="" at="" beautiful="" blue="" by="" chips="" clouds.="" college.="" constructed.="" couldn="" day.="" dotted="" down="" eautiful="" elements="" enough="" everything="" fish="" for="" full="" geographic="" get="" good="" guess="" had="" having="" house.="" house="" i="" ideals="" in="" inspired="" is="" kings="" late="" life="" lunch="" middle="" mostly="" my="" naval="" nbsp="" observatory="" october="" oday="" of="" p="" palladian="" photos="" puffy="" queen="" really="" reenwich="" royal="" s="" sky="" staircase="" streets="" symmetric="" t="" taking="" the="" time="" to="" tulip="" up="" walked="" wandered="" warm="" was="" white="" with="">I took the 188 bus all the way back to Russell Square, just so I could see the return trip in a different way. When I got off, I wandered around the old British Museum area, a bit around Chinatown and Soho, before having a quick dinner at Herman ze German for currywurst and pommes frites. Healthy day, no? After, I hit up Piccadilly Circus (also a mistake, I wanted to trample people) and Regent's Street for a bit of upscale window shopping. Sorry, Alex, I may or may not have spent all your money buying a perfume at Jo Malone that makes me smell like a strong cup of chai tea. Sorry, not sorry. And then I walked all the way home!
Tomorrow, planning on just relaxing (probably more walking involved) and visiting my coworker's place in Hampstead to play some board games and hang out with his bunny rabbits. And then we do this shiz all over again next week.
Cheerio loves!
It's been about two weeks since my running-slow-but-still-manage-to-get-injured injury and I'm almost 100% better. Not gonna lie, those first few days were pretty brutal - I couldn't really lift my arm, needed help putting on a bookbag or a jacket, needed to prop it up while doing mundane things like shampooing my hair. I also found out that laughing really hard and sneezing were both very painful, not only in my shoulder but even in my shoulder blades and the whole left part of my upper back. Yeesh!
Lots has happened since I last posted, which is why it's been so long since I last posted :)
Dover
The day after my boo-boo, Alex and I hopped on a train east to the town of Dover, famous for its white chalk cliffs. I was not a fan of the weather (it was rainy and my shoes where soaked through in just a few minutes of leaving the train station), and we took the most indirect, arduous hike up to the cliffs (involving hiking up an inhuman incline to Dover Castle, only to find it was really expensive, and then walking basically around the entire hill to get back to the other side). I was also dubious because...like...how do you see the cliffs if you're standing on the cliffs?
However, once we got to the main area, you indeed can see the cliffs rising up above you and a little bit around the bend, and it was so majestic and made the whole trek (almost) worth it. A few things we discovered: the cliffs of Dover are populated with lots and lots of snails, beware of crumbling bits of chalk, and standing at the edge of England and the closest point to France was really breathtaking.
Chilling with Wills & Kate & George & Charlotte & Uncle Harry
The next day, we continued our exploring at the Tower of London, where we'd both been, but we figured we live literally 10 minutes away, so why not. We saw the usual bits: the Crown Jewels, the ravens, the Beefeaters. Then, we hopped across town to Kensington Palace. One thing I had kind of known in the back of my brain somewhere but didn't immediately register was that THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF CAMBRIDGE ACTUALLY LIVE HERE. Okay, so when we were there, I think they were in Canada, but how cool is that?!
One of the best things we stumbled upon in the palace was a tour guide (who looked a bit like Leslie Odom, Jr.!!!) telling a brilliant story of British history to an enraptured audience. He went through like 600 years of history in minutes, not only reciting speeches and formal recorded prose but also throwing in jokes and impressions. I would invite this guy over for a dinner party and just let him talk for ages.
Oh, Also Paris
Last Friday, we went to Paris - nbd, right? ;)
We booked everything fairly late so Eurostar was expensive and the only other choice we had was to take the earliest flight. That involved waking up at 3:45am, walking over to Blackfriars Station, taking the train to Gatwick, waiting 2 hours in the airport...just to take a 40 minute flight to Paris. The flight time was literally shorter than my commute from Brooklyn to Manhattan.
Also along the lines of booking late, we hadn't really planned anything except to a) meet up with Alex's aunt and great-aunt, both of whom were going to be there that weekend and b) meet up with Alex's old coworkers when he was an intern in the Paris office way back when. We got off the plane with kind of no idea what to do or where to go (#firstworldproblems #beentoparisbeforeanddidallthetouristthingsproblems) so we wound up wandering, which honestly is most of the fun of travel anyway. We found our way to Le Marais and had some of the most delicious falafel at that famous place that's always got a line down the street (I was afraid it would be overrated, but no it is bomb). The unfortunate part was that it started pouring later in the day, and again my shoes had soaked through so badly that I thought I had two sponges strapped to my feet. Sadly, I've since had to say goodbye to my beloved Keds (well, they're sitting in a garbage bag in the apartment - I haven't had the heart to throw them out out, but they've got to go). I traipsed through all of Paris on these wonky wet shoes. In the evening, we met Alex's former colleagues for drinks, who were so sweet and welcoming, and I had a great time. We left the bar pretty late, realizing we hadn't had dinner, so we hopped on the metro back to our hotel to try this place that my best friend Jackie had recommended when we were all here together last year (em, the Engagement trip hehe) but never got a chance to try: L'Office. Turns out it was the best meal of the trip, the best meal I'd had in a long time.
~Veritasty Crossover~
Luckily for us, L'Office was literally two doors down from our hotel. We ordered with some difficulty (entirely French menu + minimal understanding of romance languages + slow-Internet stop-and-go Google Translate) and finally wound up sharing two entrees of fish and veal risotto.
The fish turned out to be line-caught whiting with a lemony spinach puree, thinly shaved almonds, and a fine crumble of crunchy potatoes. I could have done with a little less lemon in the sauce, but let's talk about this FISH! It was so succulent and plump, flaky and white - my tongue felt like it was, in the words of Liz Lemon, high-fiving a million angels. It was glorious.
Alex had a similar foodgasm with his dish: he proclaimed, "How do they make meat taste like this?!?!?!", but it was unexpected for me, for...it was not veal risotto but veal sweetbread risotto. As in, baby cow thymus glands. Regardless, still delish. I had never had sweetbreads until now, and the best way I can describe them is as fluffy pillows of meat, lightly seared on the outside and really tender on the inside.
We cleaned our plates so well that night that I joked to the waiter that they didn't need a dishwasher.
The next morning, we tried to find some wonderful farmer's markets around town, but all my attempts turned out fruitless (pun intended). We had to ditch the attempts in order to meet the aunts-in-law for brunch at a cute place near Bastille. We had a whole load of delicious, non-pretentious brunch food for a really good deal - puts New York City brunch to shame. I had a glass of fresh-squeezed lots-of-pulp orange juice, espresso, fresh baked brioche with French butter and raspberry jam, salmon with scrambled eggs, potato, salad, and finally an amazing banana-chantilly cream parfait. IT. WAS. HEAVEN.
And then all of a sudden, I was left in a state of alone-ness. See, Alex had to leave for two weeks of training in Florida, so he was only able to spend about 24 hours in Paris before flying back to London, packing, and then flying out to Florida. If Alex had his own blog, you could read all about his 8-hour flight delay and overall horrendous trip from London Gatwick to Florida! Thanks British Airways!
Anyway, I used my newfound independence to run amok across Paris. And by 'amok', I really just mean hitting up the fancy shopping areas where Alex would get bored in about 3 seconds. Now I realize why he resisted the department stores and high fashion boutiques: he has no phone data plan out here, so what's a guy to do while the girl shops?!?! Actually, my first stop was the Musee Marmottan Monet (say that three times fast) out west past the Arc de Triomphe. I considered this the last stop in the trinity of Monet sights in Paris, after Musee d'Orsay and L'Orangerie (where I had dragged Alex, Jackie, and Harry last year). I was so excited to finally get to see THE Monet museum. Like, Monet is in the name of the museum. There were some great bits, like the art obvi, but...
I was really disappointed that they didn't allow photography, and the guards were really mean about it. There was one exhibit that explicitly said no photography, but once I left that exhibit, no where else indicated the camera with the slashy line through it so I thought, fair game. All the guards there seemed to be pretty miserable creatures, with a vendetta against mainly me. Loads of other people were taking photos, but for some reason they only noticed me.
I sat in the main room of Monet works (there are decorative arts and other things in the museum too, but for some reason decorative arts is a snoozefest for me) and took it all in with my eyes, since I couldn't take it all in with my lens. I saw a beautiful Monet painting of roses that I had never seen before, among some of his famous and iconic water lilies. I just sat and sat and journaled and stared around for a good while.
When I left, I decided to walk halfway across Paris to the Galeries Lafayette. It took more than an hour of pounding the pavement in my "cute chic Parisienne" outfit (dress and tights and pointy black suede flats). I passed through some upscale residential areas, by the Trocadero and the Eiffel Tower, and then across the Champs Elysees. Even though it was a pleasure to be in Paris, I could have killed someone on the Champs Elysees. It's like the worst of Times Square, Rockefeller Center at Christmastime, and the Dominique Ansel Cronut line rolled into one. So. Many. People. Not walking, just stopping and milling around outside stores. The sidewalk is so wide you'd think it wouldn't be a problem but I was getting so much sidewalk-rage. Afternoon Champs Elysees is definitely not for me.
Galeries Lafayette was not as bad, but still fairly crowded. And, a funny revelation, it was crowded full of people who looked like me. Asians! The upswing of wealth in China probably leads to a whole lot of brand name shopping in major cities, and Paris was no exception. Everyone from middle-age men with dad bods (or...maybe the Beijing bikini) to fashionista young women were snapping up the latest handbags, makeup, accessories, whatever. All the different designers had Mandarin-speaking salespeople. This was my favorite: L'Occitane not only had a Chinese saleswoman, but they also staffed a Caucasian young woman who spoke almost fluent Mandarin. I was so flabbergasted when I heard the two staff chatting amongst themselves that I actually asked her, "wait, you speak Chinese?!" (Hello, I must have been the only Chinese person there who didn't actually speak Mandarin) She said she studied Chinese in school. That is probably a brilliant move for anyone who wants to get into the retail/service industry nowadays.
After my session of window shopping, I headed to the neighborhood near the hotel that Alex, Jackie, Harry, and I previously stayed, a little north of the Galeries Lafayette. I wanted so badly to have dinner at Le Petit Canard, a tiny restaurant that served delicious dishes featuring duck, but they were fully booked for the night, as were several other restaurants on that street. Eventually, I had to settle for a...burger joint. And not only that, I had a chicken sandwich at a burger restaurant. It was a pretty lame end to my evening.
The night was still young, though. I spent the rest of the night walking around the vicinity of my current hotel, which turned out to be in the theater district and right down the block from the Folie Bergere (which I only know about from the movie Anastasia, when she's frolicking in Paris for the first time). I wandered aimlessly and was content to get lost in the little backstreets. There were lots of people around since it was a Saturday night so I wasn't too worried. It was really cool to hover around the nightlife (albeit tame nightlife because we all know I can't do untz untz clubbing) and see the locals in their natural habitat.
The next morning, I woke up early and raced to Champs Elysees for a bit of window shopping before it got cray cray crowded. It was a good move, because there were hardly any people out on the streets and I got to go inside the flagship Sephora store relatively unhindered and not needing to elbow people out of my way. I again wandered my way back to Le Marais, where it was getting super packed with the Sunday afternoon revelers, but the big problem now was that my feet were absolutely killing me. At this point, I had walked two days of over ten miles in d'orsay cut suede flats that sometimes hurt me when I wear them just around the office, not to mention hobbling over the cobblestones of Paris. I even bought a cheap pair of flats at H&M which did the trick in calming my aching puppies for a couple of hours, but I was suffering bad. I wound up sitting in a Starbucks for a while to recaffeinate and soothe my feet, which kind of helped because I was able to make it all the way back to the hotel on foot, where I picked up my stuff and headed off to the airport. And that was it, my whirlwind weekend in Paris!
Hell Week
This work week and the previous one were pretty rough. I've been trying to sign on a little earlier than usual to get work done (my 12:30pm, which is 7:30am EST) and still wind up working until my 11:30pm or 12:00am. I know the upcoming weeks won't be any easier with the holidays coming up.
Hella Weekend
Today, I treated myself (one might say) to a beautiful day out walking. I logged more than 16 miles (and 39,700 or so steps...you have no idea how upset I am that I didn't hit 40k) from walking to Greenwich, and then around the West End area afterwards.
Greenwich was much more beautiful than I remember. My first time here was in a nasty downpour for my architecture class. The second time here was possibly during a hangover before I knew what a hangover was (Ivy, I'm looking at you girl <3 a="" amp="" and="" arms="" around="" at="" beautiful="" blue="" by="" chips="" clouds.="" college.="" constructed.="" couldn="" day.="" dotted="" down="" eautiful="" elements="" enough="" everything="" fish="" for="" full="" geographic="" get="" good="" guess="" had="" having="" house.="" house="" i="" ideals="" in="" inspired="" is="" kings="" late="" life="" lunch="" middle="" mostly="" my="" naval="" nbsp="" observatory="" october="" oday="" of="" p="" palladian="" photos="" puffy="" queen="" really="" reenwich="" royal="" s="" sky="" staircase="" streets="" symmetric="" t="" taking="" the="" time="" to="" tulip="" up="" walked="" wandered="" warm="" was="" white="" with="">
<3 a="" amp="" and="" arms="" around="" at="" beautiful="" blue="" by="" chips="" clouds.="" college.="" constructed.="" couldn="" day.="" dotted="" down="" eautiful="" elements="" enough="" everything="" fish="" for="" full="" geographic="" get="" good="" guess="" had="" having="" house.="" house="" i="" ideals="" in="" inspired="" is="" kings="" late="" life="" lunch="" middle="" mostly="" my="" naval="" nbsp="" observatory="" october="" oday="" of="" p="" palladian="" photos="" puffy="" queen="" really="" reenwich="" royal="" s="" sky="" staircase="" streets="" symmetric="" t="" taking="" the="" time="" to="" tulip="" up="" walked="" wandered="" warm="" was="" white="" with="">*Yo, I just re-read my post and I have no idea what happened here. Sorry, I really want to fix it but it's almost 1am and I'm supes tired.*
<3 a="" amp="" and="" arms="" around="" at="" beautiful="" blue="" by="" chips="" clouds.="" college.="" constructed.="" couldn="" day.="" dotted="" down="" eautiful="" elements="" enough="" everything="" fish="" for="" full="" geographic="" get="" good="" guess="" had="" having="" house.="" house="" i="" ideals="" in="" inspired="" is="" kings="" late="" life="" lunch="" middle="" mostly="" my="" naval="" nbsp="" observatory="" october="" oday="" of="" p="" palladian="" photos="" puffy="" queen="" really="" reenwich="" royal="" s="" sky="" staircase="" streets="" symmetric="" t="" taking="" the="" time="" to="" tulip="" up="" walked="" wandered="" warm="" was="" white="" with="">
<3 a="" amp="" and="" arms="" around="" at="" beautiful="" blue="" by="" chips="" clouds.="" college.="" constructed.="" couldn="" day.="" dotted="" down="" eautiful="" elements="" enough="" everything="" fish="" for="" full="" geographic="" get="" good="" guess="" had="" having="" house.="" house="" i="" ideals="" in="" inspired="" is="" kings="" late="" life="" lunch="" middle="" mostly="" my="" naval="" nbsp="" observatory="" october="" oday="" of="" p="" palladian="" photos="" puffy="" queen="" really="" reenwich="" royal="" s="" sky="" staircase="" streets="" symmetric="" t="" taking="" the="" time="" to="" tulip="" up="" walked="" wandered="" warm="" was="" white="" with="">I took the 188 bus all the way back to Russell Square, just so I could see the return trip in a different way. When I got off, I wandered around the old British Museum area, a bit around Chinatown and Soho, before having a quick dinner at Herman ze German for currywurst and pommes frites. Healthy day, no? After, I hit up Piccadilly Circus (also a mistake, I wanted to trample people) and Regent's Street for a bit of upscale window shopping. Sorry, Alex, I may or may not have spent all your money buying a perfume at Jo Malone that makes me smell like a strong cup of chai tea. Sorry, not sorry. And then I walked all the way home!
Tomorrow, planning on just relaxing (probably more walking involved) and visiting my coworker's place in Hampstead to play some board games and hang out with his bunny rabbits. And then we do this shiz all over again next week.
Cheerio loves!
No comments:
Post a Comment