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Lady of the Season
Blog: A Lady in London - 7 November 2009
With Christmas just over a week away and this being the first Christmas I will spend away from my family, I feel like I should write a bit about the holiday season in London.The first outdoor decorations I noticed were some massive lights on Regent Street. At first I mistook them for larger-than-life atomic models, but then I realized that they were supposed to be giant 3D snowflakes.
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Lady at the Zoo
Blog: A Lady in London - 7 November 2009
When I was five years old my family took a trip to London. One day my mother decided to take my brother and me to the London Zoo, so we spent the morning at the grocery store getting picnic food together. We chose sandwiches, chips, and cookies, and then headed to the beverage aisle for sodas. I remember staring up at the tall wall of cans, which were arranged by flavor. For some reason none of them had labels, so we just guessed what they were by their color.
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Lady and the Haggis
Blog: A Lady in London - 7 November 2009
Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face,Great chieftain o' the pudding-race!Aboon them a' yet tak your place,Painch, tripe, or thairm:Weel are ye wordy o'a graceAs lang's my arm.-"Address to a Haggis", Robert Burns, 1786
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Lady Goes to Market
Blog: A Lady in London - 7 November 2009
One of my favorite things about San Francisco was the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market. On sunny Saturday mornings the Ferry Building and its outskirts were packed with stalls selling everything from local artisan cheeses and fresh crusty bread to warm crimson strawberries and brilliant orange tangerines. Inside there were stores selling wild mushrooms, rich chocolates, perfect story-book cakes, and delicious gelato.
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Lady of the Castle
Blog: A Lady in London - 7 November 2009
On Thursday I made my way to Paddington Station and took the train to Windsor. My mother told me that we went there when I was five, so I arrived in town curious to find out whether my childhood memories would come flooding back. They didn't. It was just as well, though, because I love to explore new places.
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Lady and the Sarsen Stones
Blog: A Lady in London - 7 November 2009
My high school English teacher used to lead a trip to England every summer. He took students to see the literary highlights of London, the birthplace of Shakespeare, and the mysterious sarsen stones near Salisbury. Students returned from England raving about the sights they saw and the beer they imbibed, but the one facet of the trip that always piqued my curiosity was the day trip to Stonehenge. I made it a goal to go there someday.
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Lady in Bath
Blog: A Lady in London - 7 November 2009
My mother is visiting, so yesterday my boyfriend and I took her to Bath for the day. We got an early start, but still met with surprisingly big crowds on the train from London. I think I take it for granted that most of my UK train travel is done on weekdays when it's not uncommon for me to have an entire train car to myself. Nonetheless, we fought our way through the carriages and managed to find seats for the journey to the Roman spa town.
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Lady in Rye
Blog: A Lady in London - 7 November 2009
Yesterday I journeyed to the medieval town of Rye on England's southeastern coast. A two hour train ride from London, Rye is an intimate, picturesque town near the sea. I say 'near' the sea and not 'on' the sea because much of the town's history hinges on its relationship with the fickle body of water to which it owes its great beginnings and its historic preservation.
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Lady in Verulamium
Blog: A Lady in London - 7 November 2009
In all of my day tripping from London I have become quite fascinated with the history of my adoptive country. I moved here from a city whose history dates back a whopping 160 years and in which we consider a building old if it was built before 1950. From that perspective, being in a country where there are actual Roman ruins is pretty exciting.
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Lady Jane
Blog: A Lady in London - 7 November 2009
Today I ventured out to Winchester, a town I couldn't help but associate with the Winchester Mystery House, San Jose's bizarre tourist attraction. Upon arriving, it didn't take Winchester long to expunge my wrongful associations and imbue me with new impressions of England's once-premier city.
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Lady in Cambridge
Blog: A Lady in London - 7 November 2009
Today I set out on a journey to Cambridge. I've been to Oxford three times in my life, but have largely--albeit unintentionally--ignored its rival to the northeast. I set out this morning from King's Cross Station to rectify the imbalance.
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Lady in The Lanes
Blog: A Lady in London - 7 November 2009
On Friday I went with a friend to Brighton for the day. Before leaving we knew little about Brighton save for the fact that from the time of George IV it has been a town dedicated to partying, eating, and a general sense of conviviality. It wasn't hard to sell us on that idea.
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Lady in the Country
Blog: A Lady in London - 7 November 2009
Just as I really started to complain about the weather in London things warmed up significantly. This weekend temperatures have been in the high 70's and I could not be in a better mood.
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Lady at the Races
Blog: A Lady in London - 7 November 2009
The Tuesday before the beginning of Lent is a big deal in many cultures. Brazil has parties and parades for Carnival, Louisiana has beads and Bourbon Street for Mardi Gras, and Britain has...well...pancake races for Shrove Tuesday.
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Lady Ascot
Blog: A Lady in London - 7 November 2009
I love to people-watch. I do it at restaurants, sidewalk cafes and airports. I do it at events, parties and conferences. I do it wherever and whenever I can.
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Lady Lands the Prize
Blog: A Lady in London - 7 November 2009
This week has been a very surreal one. After getting scouted for a modeling competition for the Face of Ascot on Tuesday and selected as a finalist on Thursday, I headed back to Royal Ascot on Saturday for the judging.The morning was filled with champagne receptions and meetings with the judges. In the afternoon we were taken to a photo shoot, a fashion show, and a lunch. We had time to watch some of the horse races before heading down to the catwalk area for the televised announcement of the winner. I was a little nervous, but mostly just freezing cold.
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Lady-on-the-Wold
Blog: A Lady in London - 7 November 2009
After last weekend's otherworldly experience, I needed a trip that would bring me down to earth. And what better place to come down to than the beautiful English countryside? Yesterday my boyfriend and I set out to enjoy the charming towns of the Cotswolds.
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Lady Quixote
Blog: A Lady in London - 7 November 2009
I have had a five-weekend hiatus from traveling outside of England. That's not to say that I haven't been busy with moving into a new flat, winning a modeling competition, and exploring more of the English countryside. But. It still feels a little strange to have been in town for such a long time.
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Lady Returns
Blog: A Lady in London - 7 November 2009
As part of my duties as The Face of Ascot racecourse, I returned for King George Day on Saturday for lunch and a photo shoot.I arrived mid-morning with my boyfriend and two of our friends and headed up to the Parade Ring Restaurant, where we were welcomed with a glass of champagne. A friendly hostess showed us to our table, which was preemptively furnished with four bottles of wine and a bottle of champagne. Not bad for eleven o’clock in the morning.
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Lady in Stokey
Blog: A Lady in London - 7 November 2009
When I first started dating my boyfriend he was the proud owner of not one, but two gas guzzling SUVs. One was for the hour-long commute to work every day, and the other, a bright red 1972 Chevy Blazer, was for driving around San Francisco on the weekends. Country music required.One night shortly after we met, my boyfriend and I found ourselves outside of Harry's Bar in Pacific Heights at 2am with neither of his SUVs in sight and no prospects of finding a taxi.
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Lady at the End
Blog: A Lady in London - 7 November 2009
A couple months ago one of my good friends in Hampstead sent me a Washington Post article about off-the-beaten-path neighborhoods in London. Now that it’s summer and the tourist crowds are beating the usual paths in Soho and Westminster, my boyfriend and I decided it was time to explore another non-touristy neighborhood in our new city.To that end, the other evening we headed off to explore Crouch End, an area to the east of Hampstead and its sister neighborhood, Highgate.
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Lady and the City
Blog: A Lady in London - 7 November 2009
On Friday night I went to see the Sex and the City movie. I won't lie; I never watched the show very much when it was on the air. However, I still wanted to see the film just to know what all the fuss was about.While watching the movie I was a bit surprised at how little the film focused on "the city," i.e. New York. While the principal characters were based there, significant parts of the film also took place in Mexico and California. So much for the Big Apple.
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Lady-next-the-sea
Blog: A Lady in London - 7 November 2009
When I first fell in love with traveling a friend told me that I should always be careful when choosing travel companions. I was told of messy roommates, warned of constant complainers and scared by tales of people who had very unnerving ideas of fun. In spite of the dire warnings, however, I've always managed to find good travel companions, be they close friends, family members or significant others.
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Lady of Autumn
Blog: A Lady in London - 7 November 2009
The other morning I awoke to a beautiful autumn day with bright blue skies and crisp fall air. In other words, it was the perfect morning for a walk in Hampstead Heath.
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Lady y La Comida
Blog: A Lady in London - 7 November 2009
Every good Californian knows the cardinal rule of Mexican food: never eat it outside of Mexico and the states that border it. Even if one has been away from home for a long, long time and is lonely and desperate and craving a good helping of carne asada or tacos al pastor, one must be strong and not give in to temptation.
