Life and its little pleasures

You farm?

My dearest friend P. (I miss you babe!) from London decided a while ago that he is going to be a farmer some day. He plans to move to the country and become a master in the world of growing crops and handling live stock. When this will exactly happen, nobody knows as currently he is a successful suit somewhere south of the river in the UK capital.

To bridge the gap between his ultimate dream life and his current drunken nights out in the city, he has taken to growing his own garden. Because of space issues in the city (even though he lives in Wimbledon), his garden is situated on the 3rd floor and pretty much exists out of concrete. This will however not stop P. from eating his own produce.

Luckily for us, he has decided that to keep us all informed of this venture of his into the unknown via a blog: www.youfarm.org. Read all about the attempt to put up a greenhouse on an apartment terrace, the survival of the courgettes in English weather, the taste of the carrots and the demise of the rocket.

But don't only read it! If you are doing similar things in your home, whether it is a huge garden outside or a pot on the sil, get involved with the blog and share your stories with the rest of us. Any farming goes, so animals are allowed. Just use the form that you can find here to let P. know you are interested. I can't wait for the stories...

Countdown

4 more days in London. Today I will have to prepare for the movers that are coming tomorrow. This means packing my suitcases for the next 6 to 8 weeks because that is how long the shipment of the rest of my stuff will take to get to NYC (if I'm lucky). Although I'm quite used to packing for trips, I'm not really sure what I should pack for 8 weeks. Especially since I won't be staying in a hotel, but in my new apartment. Do I take a duvet and sheets? Do I take towels or just buy them new? What about kitchen stuff? And then I haven't really even thought about what clothes to bring. Since it is 1000000 degrees in New York, my (mostly male) friends are telling me to just bring a bikini. I however don't think the people in the office would be ok with that.
I organized some leaving drinks for my mates, both work and friends on Friday. I have a feeling I'm going to cry a lot that night. I really do hate saying goodbye. And the chances of me ever returning to live in England are quite slim, so some of these people, I'll probably never ever will see again... Sucks.

Flat

They have started showing my apartment to possible new renters. Sometimes the lady from the agency joins them, sometimes she asks me if I can just let the people in and show them around. Since I absolutely adore my (almost ex-) place, I find it very hard to answer questions like: What is not so good about this place? I just want to scream at them: "Nothing! This is the best place I have ever lived in in my entire life! Quick, get that lease signed, you will be extremely happy here!" But I usually just calmly say that the storage space could be a bit bigger...
I will miss my flat in London a lot. Not only was it a great location (10 minute walk from work, right in the heart of Shoreditch), it just was an amazing flat.
I guess the sad part of leaving a city has begun. And I haven't even started saying goodbye to people yet...

Kaisers

I just got four free tickets to the Kaiser Chiefs tomorrow in Leeds. As I was going up north anyway this weekend for Rach's birthday in Manchester on Sunday, I think this will be an excellent start to the Bank holiday weekend. I'm actually not doing anything for work on that official holiday. I think that's almost a first!

Now I only have to convince P. that the Kaisers are an excellent idea... Two tickets left! Let me know if you want to join.

O2 dome (formerly known as Millenium Dome)

Taken with the iPhone (yes, I know you are not supposed to use any electronics when landing...)

Spitalfield

If you ever come to London, do take the time on a Sunday morning to go to Spitalfield's market. It's without a doubt the nicest one in the whole of London (and conveniently located at walking distance from my house..). They have the coolest stalls with lots of young designers trying to sell their (sometimes extravagant) clothes. But hey, you never know, they might be working for Dior in a couple of years. There lots of nice cafes and restaurants around too and every now and then, you see something awesome on the street like this girl last Sunday:

Bridge

Tower bridge looks beautiful at night...

New flat

My decision to move in London was one of the best ones I ever made. The new flat is just awesome!

Some pics from late last night here. (lighting sucks, I know...)

BBQ

Last Saturday in Ipswich, my third venture outside of the capital. Fun. I somehow got really lucky and fell into this group of friends who treat me as one of their own (even though I had never heard of South Hampton Uni before...). Introducing the gang:

left to right: Jennie, Chris, Claire, Rachel & Matt
More of the gang on Flickr.

It's official

In 2 weeks, I'm moving! After a year living on the Isle of Dogs, I've decided to move to a more exciting part of the city. As of the 4th of August, I will be living in my new place right in the heart of Shoreditch, surrounded by shops, restaurants, funky bars and apparently meat. Can't wait!!!

I've been really happy in my flat close to Canary Wharf. I had everything my little heart could wish for, but I never really felt like I was in the middle of the hustle and bustle of a great city. Canary Wharf is, let's face it, quite dead in the weekends. Ok, after work, lots of people (mostly suits) were out for drinks there, but I don't work in Canary Wharf...

And if there is one thing you cannot say about Shoreditch, then it is that it is dead! Meneer T. will be my neighbor, so I will get to see him a bit more I hope and my stuff from Belgium (furniture) is coming over, so it will really feel like my home.

*excited* !!!