Shopping in London. So much shopping!

So, I totally lied about my holiday in London. I told everyone that I wasn't going to get stuck in London and not go anywhere. Biggest lie ever. I spent a majority of my time in London drinking with my mates, being hungover, shopping (OMG SHOPPING!) and chilling out in parks on sunny afternoons.

I did do some sightseeing. I saw Hampton Court Palace, Windsor Castle and the Natural History Museum. Then I went to Amsterdam with Camilla and went to the Cat Museum (yes there is a real one, though it felt like we were in our Grandmother's living room and she showed us her cat collection), where I was far more excited about the resident cats curled up in the corners sunning themselves and the Museum of Bags and Purses (which was by far one of the most awesome museums I've been in).

But SHOPPING. Oh bless my little heart and my bank account, I shopped my heart out. From the moment I decided to go and purchased my ticket, I swore to myself I wasn't going to buy any clothes until I went away (this was at least 6 months people!) and the only dress I did purchase was from Miss Selfridges and that was a sexy, red strappy thing for my birthday.

These are the shops I was obsessed with:

Fat Face.
This store has some gorgeous little gems in it. All are ridiculously comfortable and pretty floral prints. Their Autumn collection was a winner on all fronts. They have comfy cotton dresses for hot summers and wickedly comfortable sweaters and hoodies (which I lived in at night when it got chilly). All are reasonably priced and the staff are sexy.

Art of Joy.
All the clothes look better in person - trust me. The dresses are sexy tea dresses, glamorous evening dresses, slouchy comfortable sweaters (and cute little cardigans (all of which are going towards my next pay check as they sell to Oz) as well as quirky homewares.

TopShop.
When I woke up on the first Saturday I was in London, I jumped on the tube and got off at Oxford Circus. As I walked up the staircase I saw the gorgeous, massive store logo in all it's wonderful glory aiming closer to me like a beacon of light. As soon as I went in I purchased some awesome shoes (trust me I'm a horrible person to shop for as my feet are super tiny and I loathe shoe shopping in the first place). They were the first thing I saw and were a perfect fit. So I had to get them. Other neat finds were some cute, simple dresses which are perfect for work (and play) and some cute tanks. All reasonably priced.

H & M.
I'm so sad that yet another wonderful store isn't offered on my side of the equator. H &M offers ridiculously cheap, trendy, pretty and comfortable clothing. I think I (once again) stocked up on their Autumn line which includes a gorgeous cat print jumper, a couple of tea dresses with prints and colours I adore as well as a Ciao shirt which made me remind myself of Brooke and the whole 'Ciao' debacle back in 2007.

La Senza.
La Senza has on offer some gorgeous lingerie at affordable prices. They often have 5 knickers for $20 (etc) which is such a good price because at this store, I can never decide on just the one pair and end up with about 10 of them. All extremely comfortable (to the point you don't know if you are wearing anything) and sexy. The prints are far too cute to say no too!

Tatty Devine.
Tatty Devine is an independent London jewelry designer. She sells quirky pieces you'll never find anywhere else. I purchased the cat rings (super cute no?) and am waiting patiently for when the mermaid necklace (which is at the moment a once off piece for London Fashion Week) becomes available to the public and the name neclaces which are gorgeous.

I can tell (for the next few months at least) that I am going to be doing a lot more online shopping!

Faffing about in London

This week has been pretty crazy. So many amazing things have happened and it has just reminded me why I love being here in London. I'm enjoying myself more this time around and it feels like I'm doing London 'properly' as I'm not spending it drinking and being hungover all the time. Having said that, I have gone out almost every night I've been here. But I'm on holiday, and my first proper one in years so I'm making the most of it!

This past Monday was the Bank Holiday. We went to Notting Hill Carnivale to watch the parade, outrageous costumes and dirty dancing brought to us by the local Afro-Caribbean communities. Each community drives down the street in a massive truck and they dance around it.

On Tuesday my lovely Australian friend Evan, Charmaine and I went out for dinner. We went to our old stomping ground, Borough High Street. Boy has that place changed! Some places are still there, but it felt very weird being there. (I used to stay at the St Christopher's hostel during my last stay in London.) We went to Katzen Jammers for some amazing food and drinks. We ordered a cheese & a meat platter, and I had an amazing Bratwurst sausage with fries. The food was amazing - there was so much of it! I also very much enjoyed the raspberry beer. It wasn't as sweet as I expected it to be which is great as I'm not a fan of alcoholic drinks being too sweet.

On Wednesday, an aquintance from Melbourne happened to be doing a mini tour England through England the same time I was traveling here. We were both very surprised. Camilla and I made the trek to Camden for his gig. On the way we became lost and had no idea how to get to the Dublin Castle. We met a lovely Italian man on the street who was promoting happy hour drinks at bar. Even though this would make us later than we already were, we traded him directions on the promise we would go. The bar turned out to be pretty cool, the drinks were fantastic and we both enjoyed the soul/old school r & b tracks being played.

When we arrived to Dublin Castle, the adorable Dan Webb had sadly finished his set. We were sad we missed it and we need to work on our time management skills fto ensure we make it for the next one. However, we stayed at the venue and enjoyed catching up with Dan and his band. Over the night we went on a mini pub crawl and met some interesting characters along the way. I was surprised I liked Camden, I didn't really venture that way last time.

Yesterday, Charmaine and I had another amazing day in the sunshine in London. Once again we went to Soho (which is proving to be my favourite place at the moment), and had a traditional High Tea. The tea room was hidden away upstairs above a pub amongst all the crazy that is Soho. We had some tea, scones, tiny sandwiches and cupcakes. I had a lemon one and a raspberry w/ white chocolate one. All were extremely yummy.

We then headed over to the Savoy Theatre to see what is possibly my fvourite musical; Legally Blonde. A lot of people turn their noses up whenever I bring this up which makes me really sad as they are missing out on a very clever, quirky, and cheeky musical. They follow along the movie quite well and they add in bits and pieces which actually makes it more enjoyable. I was lucky enough to catch this musical when it first toured New York and loved it so much I had to see it again. I am so happy I was able too as it was even better the second time around. I was also quite pleased Charmaine enjoyed it as much as I did as I now have someone to be a dork about it with. I am a self-confessed merchandise whore, so I purchased a super cute shirt with Bruiser on it and a fluffy pink pen. I shattered all the dreams from the other girls in the cue as I scored the last one. What can I say? I love pink!



The end of the day was drawing to a close and the night was ready to begin. We went to a bar in soho for a happy hour cocktail and headed to see a hilarious cabaret duo called The Bourgeois & Maurice Band. I'm a relatively new fan of them, so I didn't really know many of their songs, but I made sure to listen to them beforehand - they were really great on stage! They had brilliant costumes, they busted some moves and had some cheeky lyrics.

London baby!

After a very very long flight, I arrived on time in London at Gatwick airport. My friend Camilla picked me up at victoria station and we made the trek home. She is one of my besties and I met back in 2007 in a hostel at London Bridge. It was very exciting to see her again! We spent the first night catching up and eating.

On the Saturday, I had a massive sleep-in, then trekked it Oxford Circus for some basics and beauty items etc. Probably not the best idea when I was still jet-lagged, but it hadn't really hit me properly yet. I felt right at home being back in TopShop, which is rather ridiculous. I purchased a pair of Mary Janes with a double strap for only £28 which was a total bargain. I was so excited to find a pair of 5 1/2 straight off the bat! they are very comfortable as well. :)

Later in the evening, we met up with some of her friends and went to a Walkabout; which is a pub many Australians go to. I really don't like Walkabout as it reminds me of a really bad RSL from back home. But the 'UV bubble party' they had on that night sounded fun so off we went. We scored some cheap cocktails, danced a bit and were hit on in the two most awful ways by a couple of drunk, Australian men. The bubbly party just ended up being a few bubbles floating above the crowd on the dance floor. We popped in the crowd and decided we really didn't like it. But we danced a bit more and then my jet-lag kicked in, so we left soon after.

On the Sunday, I met up with my wonderful Canadian friend, Charmaine (I also met her at the same hostel as Camilla), and we had an amazing brunch at The Breakfast Club near Brick Lane markets. I was famished and loved it. The décor was funky and had a sort of rock n roll diner feel to it. I had a porridge with fresh berries and honey as well as a large cup of tea. I found it reasonably priced and the food was amazing! I am definitely going back there.



We then explored Brick Lane markets. I've never been on a Sunday so didn't realise just how massive it was! I decided that as it was my first weekend, I didn't want to blow my money away so quickly, so I just had a look at what was on offer so I could come back before I go home and actually buy things. Having said that, I came away with a necklace with a cute pink diamante car pendant on it and some amazing Lemon Sherbet tea. They had some really cute dresses and lots of jewelery available. There were quite enthusiastic about vintage clothing as well which was interesting to see. One of the vintage stores even had a resident cat there. She was very cute. (I'm a sucker for cats!)