Got these at the Oxford Circus TopShop for £70, suede and braided nubuck!

My boyfriend tells me he just spent $70 on an Electric Organ and I’m pretty sure I’m gearing up to spend that much on shoes between yesterday and today alone. And this is not taking into account the 8 other pairs I’ve purchased so far this summer.

I shipped a bunch over to New York, land of no sales tax on shoes and clothing under $100, in his trusted custody. Oh dear.

And since I haven’t done one of these ‘minor details of what’s going on in my life,’ here’s a quickie!

Lately I’ve…

1. Been working quite a lot. I gotten a part-time job [though my current hours are edging dangerously near to full time] for the summer, and naturally, have already gotten tickets lined up ready to squander all my not-quite-earned savings away: yes, m’dears, I’m going to JAPAN for Christmas vacation.
2. Does anyone else find the Fantasmic Disneyland radio commercial song oddly catching? When it comes on I find myself humming along much too frequently.
3. Been slowly (not quite surely) putting up a few backdated posts about my Europe trip, which is more than I ever did for my China vacation last summer.
4. Also been trying to figure out how to compact all the shit stuff I want to get back to New York in late August packed into one under-25lb parcel mail box, a medium-sized suitcase, and 2 carry-on’s. I’m trying to stay away from a suitcase being one of those carry-ons.

It was a sunless day, though a typical one, for northern California beaches.

Went with a couple girlfriends down to Santa Cruz earlier this week, for a much needed respite from work. I’ve been working 6 days a week for the past three weeks, and I hadn’t been able to find time to hang out with my friends at a time that worked for all of us. Unfortunate, but this is what happens when one wants to vacation in Japan during the winter holiday: one must work one’s butt off to get money to do so.

Santa Cruz Beachfront, oh-so-California.

My boyfriend likes to remind that I’m from California whenever the modifier hella slips through. Usually he’s not appreciative of the fact, but this is a pale boy from New York speaking, so I like to think that all comments of his regarding my state are void and invalid.

See? Palm trees. That's my Jill-E camera bag in the front.

The dress I was wearing is now one of my favorites. I don’t know how many people have heard of Desigual, a Spanish design company that opened at least 2 storefronts in New York City in the past year or so (one’s in SoHo, it’s not difficult to spot). They sell these amazing coats and dresses made of a mish-mash of fabrics and patterns that just make me want to drop the $400 dollars the clothes are priced at.

Well, my dress (thank goodness) did not come from Desigual. In fact, I dug it out of a large pile of thrift clothes at a stall in the somewhat sketchy Montreuil markets in Paris and purchased it for the bargain price of 8 Euros!

The full front view of the dress.

Notice the zipper details and the empire waistline.

The patterns remind me of Ming vases.

Hemline.

Day 7 was the day of the bank holiday, which meant in clear UK fashion, most things were closed and people got the day off. General jetlag and tiredness were overcoming us slowly, and so we split into various groups and trickled out of the flat in small groups once again. My group left a little later than some others and had only one target: Camden Town and its markets.

I took no pictures today, being a little photo-whored out, but I did make most of my gift purchases that day and had an interesting sandwich at a very normal-seeming bar that served the very goth-based clientle that seemed to permeate Camden Town. Ladies, if you’re ever looking for old-style platform leather boots or corsets, this is your destination. Trinkets, and the usual market mish-mash are also relevant, but the former because it makes this place unique.

Things I got? A purse, posters, crystal soil, a wine-glass made out of a recycled beer bottle, cloth-wrapped bead bracelets, and a pocket watch that I will probably wear as a necklace in the future.

We were up a little earlier on Day 8. We decided to take a look at London’s infamous Soho, which is not an acronym, first thing in the morning. The girls and I almost decided to take a peak at one of their curious adult-themed shops, but turned back as soon as three heavy, gruff looking men exited their chain-draped door. Whoops.

This picture expresses Soho, London in a manner a little bit cleaner than some other picture might.

Instead, we found ourselves in a vintage magazine-meet ex-redlight district: lots of old Playboy magazines, some Vogue ones, tons of vinyl, and some crude postcards.

From there, however, we stepped up our class and headed for Kensington Palace, home of many princesses.

Queen Victoria statue on the far side of the palace, depicted in the background.

Waiting in line to be seated.

The day was cloudy as usual, and the line wasn’t too bad. We split into 2 groups of 6 to be seated, which all happened quickly, though the manner in which the host addressed us could have been a shade or so more friendly.

You don't need to purchase tickets for Kensington Palace to eat at The Orangery, a restaurant in the palace itself touting tons of deserts and teas perfect for high tea!

A sneak look at some of the other guests at the Orangery.

In a fitting manner, the centerpieces are little orange trees. Their specialty is Roobois tea, made out of oranges. Frankly, a bit strong and overpowering in the orange for me.

Next we continued our slow ascent into the flamboyant by looking up (and speed touring) Harrods, which has just changed management. Are the new owners as flamboyant as the old? The decor doesn’t seem to have changed, though I had trouble locating their touted 400,000 Pound [Sterling] rock (and I don’t mean diamond or weight) in the huge maze.

Since we couldn’t afford anything from the actual store, we went down to Harrod’s own gift shop and purchased a musical bear for our director’s new son, who was also the reason of his absence from being our chaperone.

Everyone loved the bar so much that they all decided to get one as gifts for family or friends with new babies!

Tuesday also happened to be student night at one of the clubs we looked up, Tiger Tiger. We made a mad rush to make it by 11pm to get the student discount price of 5 Pounds. If you ever visit the place, head downstairs immediately. I have a silly picture of me dancing in the awesome groovy-themed 70s discotheque that I will not be showing.

It rained a lot again on Day 9, but we were prepared because our company visit with Winterflood Securities, provided us with these awesome umbrellas. Unfortunately, though sturdy, these umbrellas were also bulky and heavy, and a great many did not make it out of the flat on the last day. Many towels didn’t either.

Let’s just keep moving on through the days as I make a power-post of the final few days in London. Day 10 was uneventful so far as the touristy goes, though we did visit KPMG, one of the Big 4 Accounting firms. As our final full day in London, we did some R&R before we headed off for, rather perfectly symmetrically, for Picadilly Circus once more, this time to catch our 7pm Les Mis showing, our 30 Pound rush tickets in hand.