Final Week of Freedom

I’ve actually just finished my first week of work (which I’ll share more about later), but first I wanted to post some photos from my last week before I headed back to the 9-5 world…

I make poor Alex (BF) take all the photos you see of me alone. I do ask him to be in the photo with me, but he deplores having his photo taken, thus I’m often the lone tourist.

This is outside Liberty of London. If you are not familiar with their prints, do your eyes a favor and explore now! Aside from their fabrics, the Tudor style exteriors and interiors are gorgeous. London does department stores better than anywhere else, I’ll take you ’round other department stores another time.

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Update on Life: I’m no longer unemployed, but I am still ‘homeless’.

Outside BBC headquarters

Well, that happened more quickly than I anticipated.

In rapid succesion I went from having an interview, to having a follow-up, to being offered a job. I thought I would be waiting on tables for months before finally having to take some mediocre position doing something I wasn’t remotely interested in. But rather, I now find myself going to work for an amazingly cool company, starting a career on the exact trajectory I’d always hoped for myself. When does that ever happen?

Starting Monday I’ll be working for a branding and marketing firm which also owns the magazine Monocle. I’ll be an editorial assistant on a project that will produce a quarterly lifestyle magazine for a client. For the most part I will be doing a lot of running around, organizing elements of the magazine and trying to keep up, but I will also have the opportunity to write a few articles on art, design or fashion. Which is exactly what I want to be doing in the long term (along with a few other things connected to the arts, but I’ll discuss that another time).

Update on Life aka Worst Blogger in the World

 

Well it’s been about 5 months since I last updated this thing. Does anyone other than my mom and a handful of family and friends care? Probably not. But I’m going to update whomever explaining why I have been so terrible and vow, yet again, to be better at keeping this thing up.

This past summer I’ve been traveling, researching and writing my dissertation and working part-time as a waitress in an attempt to save money and move to London. Which is where I am now; unemployed and technically homeless with nothing but dreams (slightly delusional) of working in the art world, or fashion, or media, or anywhere that wants to pay me decently and sponsor my visa.

Am I asking too much? It’s possible. But I’m aiming high until deportation, which potentially takes place at the end of March. So until then I will try to update ‘you’ on my follies and foibles while I attempt to ‘make it’ in London.

On a positive note, I handed in my dissertation. Which, for anyone who has known me since high school, is quite a feat. It was, quite possibly, one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done. I quite enjoyed the research part, but writing 15,000 words, equating to nearly 50 pages, felt like a death march at times (slight exaggeration, slight). I wrote on a little known English illustrator and designer named Edward Bawden (click on his name to see his images). I think he’s wonderful. I discussed his work in relation to issues of English national identity and the projection of that identity through Bawden’s advertisements in the interwar years. The saddest thing is, I actually found all that fascinating! But I suppose that is why I was writing on it in the first place.

Now it’s on to the next chapter and what that is, I have no idea. I am excited and frightened; full of optimism one moment and bewilderment the next. So, I’m trying to go with the flow, stay positive, but realistic. I rarely seem to choose a path that is easy so I’m anticipating the roller coaster  for the months to come. I suppose that is the price we pay when we want things that are outside our comfort zone. Despite all the current uncertainty, I always land on my feet, I just don’t know what ground will be beneath me.

Edward Bawden The Stage of London Life, 1925

 

A Spring Day in the Scottish Capitol

A week ago I spent a day on my own, shopping, eating and wondering around Edinburgh. It is so nice to spend time on your own, exploring about in solitude, doing whatever your heart desires. Here are some photos from the day…

After doing a bit of shopping I decided to go to lunch for one at The Living Room, it was delicious! I’ll definitely be going back for dinner at some point.

I of course had to stop by my favorite little sweet shop Cuckoo’s Bakery. I had a strawberry cheesecake cupcake and cappuccino, my favorite.

After all that food I decided to go for a walk and wonder around the Stockbridge Market area of Edinburgh. It is quickly becoming my favorite part of the city. Spring is beginning to blossom and the sun decided to come out for a bit, so it turned into a perfectly lovely walk.

Cupcakes in Edinburgh

About a month ago my sister and her husband came to visit and I met them in Edinburgh for a few days. They were staying in an area  just south of George Street, which was absolutely lovely. While we were there we stumbled upon a few places I’ve been meaning to share. The first of which was the most charming coffee shops called Cuckoo Bakery, they also serve some of the best cupcakes I’ve ever had (and I’ve tried a lot). 

On top of being delicious to eat, their presentation was spot on, white dishes with graphics of Edinburgh, men in kilts and birds (“put a bird on it!”), a large wooden display case for the cupcakes and best of all cuckoo clocks! If you ever find yourself in Edinburgh you must check it out.

 

Pretty Amsterdam

One of the things I was surprised by and completely taken with, was how incredibly stylish Amsterdam was. The people, the shops, even the bikes! Everyone was dressed in an effortless, non-pretentious sort of way. Not stuffy like New Yorkers, or snobby like Parisians, or unkept in a ‘I’m trying to look like I don’t give a fuck, but I clearly give a fuck’ San Francisco way. They seemed to enjoy fashion but not take it too seriously, as it should be.

Deb and Stu in Europe Part II

I have been wanting to go to Amsterdam for awhile now, so when my parents said they were coming to Europe I was able to convince them they wanted to go as well  🙂 I was slightly nervous about traveling with Deb and Stu to a non-english speaking country. My parents are, well they are middle aged Americans, a breed not known for their ability to seamlessly adjust to new surroundings. But I must say, they did quite well! I give a great deal of credit to the people of Amsterdam, they were warm and friendly, spoke fluent english and seemed to actually find humor in some of the questions my parents asked.