As we welcome 2008...

I am in the mood to write a post, but I feel like I should have something more profound to say than blab on about my vacation in California. For those of you who I have met up with so far this holiday, you know all about my grand master plan for the next 5 years. For those of you I haven't seen...sorry, but you ain't going to get the short version in a blog post!

I don't have any proper New Years resolutions this year, but I do have a few short term goals that I'll share. Starting in January, I am going to study for the GMAT with the aim of taking the test by May (before you jump to conclusions, this does not necessarily mean I am going to get am MBA and if I do, it also may not be for a few years). I am also going to keep up the monthly wine tastings, and I already have all the wines purchased for both the January and February tastings. I will still launch the wine blog, but I haven't managed to think of a snappy name nor a clear purpose for it. I trust that will work itself out with time.

Oh, and I am going to start doing yoga on a regular basis and see how that goes. I don't really have time to exercise with my current commuting situation, so I'm hoping that something like yoga that I can do at home, in my living room, after work (I often get home past 8 or 9pm) and that won't keep me up all night might be a realistic goal. When I do cardio past 8pm I tend to have a really difficult time falling asleep, and as all of you will probably know, I am *not* a morning person. I just got back from the Sports Basement store in the Presidio with my new yoga mat and carrying bag. I feel so SF.

I've also really enjoyed my time in California. This has definitely been the most relaxing vacation I've had back home since moving to London. The build up to Christmas wasn't overwhelming and I already had most of my presents purchased before arriving in Southern California. Five days at home included all the Christmas festivities and then I flew up to Sacramento to see relatives and Brea, visiting from Boston. I spent a few days with nothing else to do except a bit of shopping and attending other people's dinner parties (how nice for a change not to be the one entertaining!). I then took Amtrak to San Francisco and have been even more relaxed here in the Presidio house. I'm sleeping in until noon and just making it out of the house in the late afternoon to meet up with friends and be out for the evening. I'm hopping around SF to see people for dinners and drinks and really enjoying being back in my favourite city. I'm disappointed that my future travel plans won't bring me back here for another year.

Tonight I'm going to a cocktail party at a friend of a friend's house in Russian Hill, and then Samidha and I are going to head to the party at the Clift Hotel. If we can't find a cab, no worries - we can hop on the cable car! Even though it will be cold, it might be fun for a New Years Eve transportation option.

Happy New Year everyone! I'm entering 2008 with high hopes and my sights set on specific goals and I'm looking forward to the journey...

Impressions

Red and white thick ribbons of light created by commuters crawling home, as seen from the plane before landing; free gingerbread latte samples whilst standing in line at Border's Books to make a purchase; easy-going and efficient customer service at the wine store, the seafood store, the cobbler's, the alterations shop, etc.; tastefully decorated, spacious, clean and modern everything; sinking into sleep in my beloved bed, gifted to Mom and Dad for the guest room.

It's good to be home.

Need a place in London for New Years?

I know this is random and very last minute, but I just realised that my entire flat is empty from tomorrow, December 20th - January 5th. My flatmate moved out on Tuesday and I am off to the States for over two weeks. I am bringing my spare keys with me to CA, and if anyone has friends or family who need a place to stay in London for New Years, please let me know! I'd be happy to help someone out and I could courier keys to them overnight. Anyway, just a thought!!!

A new launch in the new year

Remember the days when chat rooms started to become popular, especially with specialised topics and support groups? Sober topics like 'Those who have lost someone to cancer' and more frivilous ones like 'I swallow my gum too!' (ok, that one isn't real, but I would probably be the founding member). The revelation was that even when you might feel alone amongst a world of 6 billion other strangers, there are always people going through the exact same thing as you. And not only that, you can connect with them and share experiences.

Well even though I don't have the time to read more than one or two wine blogs on a regular basis, I love that I can click on any one of the 50 or more blog links from vinography.com and get a glimpse into other people's lives - people who work in the wine industry, or who like me, find wine to be an inescapable interest and hobby. For many, wine-related entries are intertwined with their personal lives; for others it's a more structured semi-professional channel for reviewing wines or providing news from the wine world.

And along those lines, I've decided to join the ranks and solely dedicate a blog of my own to wine-related topics. For now, I don't have a plan much more than that, but it will launch in the new year, and we will see what I make of it. It will start with my wine musings, updates on my wine tastings, and possibly reviews of wine. The point is to focus the topic, and separate it a bit from my personal rants and stories. I will still continue to update this blog; the link for the wine blog will be on the sidebar. If anyone has ideas of what they'd be interested in seeing from me, please let me know!

A picture's worth...

Why didn't someone think of this sooner? Wine reviews by pictures. I would only be more impressed if the blogger actually used his own artwork.

Week in review

Monday - extremely tired at work after coming in on the early AM Eurostar from Paris after getting 3 hours sleep Sunday night, and then taking a 2 hour nap on the train. Nevertheless, I was in a good mood all day, invigorated by my weekend trip and not minding the fact that I was carrying 1/2 case of wine up and down stairs throughout my public transport commute.

Tuesday - after 9 hours sleep on Monday night, I felt human again. I stayed at work until 9pm in a team/client meeting, in part out of guilt for not getting much done on Monday. Dinner was a yummy chicken burger and beer at Nando's at 11pm in Wimbledon.

Wednesday - productive morning at work, attended my first laddering meeting (if you aren't in consulting, don't worry about what this means) and went to our Christmas party for the 20 of us on the client account. We had a private room at the Sanderson Hotel, a weird modern hotel, but very cool. We were greeted by glasses of champagne, had a full dinner and then played pool until late. So late that it required a cab to get home, but it seemed like a better idea at the time to just share a cab with a friend to their house and crash out, which I did, and then of course had to go into work the next morning in my same clothes as Wednesday. Not ideal, nor was I feeling er, chipper.

Thursday - had a hell of a commute as I battled my own lateness, missing a bus and getting to one station where my train was canceled, going to another to take a long route and finally getting into work...3 hours later. At best, my commute is already 90 minutes, but still. Worked, worked, worked until it was time to meet up for another holiday dinner at Fairuz, a Lebanese restaurant in Maryleborne, that I had organised with four people from my ;ast project. Having no makeup on, I stopped by Boots (i.e. CVS) to buy mascara and eyeliner, and I sampled eyeshadow and perfume. Et voila! Ready for another night out which fortunately ended up being just a quiet meal and I was soberly and tiredly home by midnight.

Friday - up at 5:30am to catch a 7:30am train to Leeds for work. I slept during the entire 2 hour train journey and I was in the client office by 10am. We worked nonstop until 6pm, going through outstanding issues and questions on my 350 page document. My head hurt from critical thinking on the fly for 8 hours. This ain't easy stuff, and I am repeating the same on Monday. I allowed myself to do personal admin during the train ride home (there is free wifi on the train) and arriving home at 10pm, I was so glad to have the house to myself. I happily pottered about reorganising all my wine and doing laundry/dishes.

The weekend activities are going to be getting my hair done, working, going to The Orangery for tea with my flatmate (she's leaving to come back to the States for good) and more working before I take the Sunday night train back up to Leeds. I'm back to London on Tuesday night, back in Slough on Wednesday and I leave Thursday morning for California. YAY! I am looking forward to seeing many of you over the next few weeks!

Menu for Hope

If you are an oenophile or a foodie, this isn't so much a typical holiday charity drive as an opportunity to win some priceless experiences. Check out the Menu for Hope site and follow the links to see the prize options. Each raffle ticket is only $10 and you can choose which prizes you are in the running for.

Menu For Hope is benefiting the UN World Food Programme and last year raised $60,925.12. From the justgiving website regarding this year's drive: "Specifically, the amount we raise will go to support the school lunch program in Lesotho, Africa. We chose this particular program in Lesotho because the WFP is pushing an initiative to supply the program by buying directly from local farmers who practice conservation farming methods. We help feed the kids (which keep them in school) and support their parents and community farming".

So yes, it's a good cause, but more importantly, look what you can win! I've put in tickets to win a day working in a Southern France vineyard with a gourmet meal shared with the vineyards owners at the end of the day, original vineyard photographs by an Michael Regnier routinely featured on the vinography.com blog, and a free tasting menu for two at Les Trois Garcons in London.

There are prizes based all over the world, but many of them are US-based which is one reason I'm not bidding on them. Check out the offers for a private wine blending session at Crushpad or your own private live epispode of Wine Library TV with Gary Vaynerchuk. The best formatted site to view the wine-related prizes are here, but they are also referenced on the main site. If any of you win something, please post about it! I will definitely let you know if I do.

a Paris encore

Ok, so back to my usual topic, traveling around Europe. And, a quick update from my somewhat dire post of a week ago. First the fun stuff.

I took the Eurostar to Paris on Saturday morning, a last-minute trip booked when I knew my friend Katie would be there as well. I contentedly watch the grey countryside on both sides of the channel during the short 2 hour, 15 minute train ride there and even did work most of the time to catch up on some document reviews. I arrived to a windy and very wet Paris, drenching my jeans and suitcase as I traipsed across town to the hotel where Katie and I happily chatted in the warm hotel room and I even took nearly an hour nap to help recover from my cold and have the energy to go out for a night on the town!

Katie's coworker Don (a Dutch guy with an Australian accent) met up with us in the early evening as we found a great little wine bar, La Robe et le Palais, with the best wine menu I have ever seen. It was like a wine rolodex and each page listed all the wine information including tasting notes. You simply pulled out the card for the wine you wanted and showed it to the waiter. If you wanted just a glass, you asked and they said yes or no depending on the price, their mood and presumably if a bottle was already open and they liked the look of you or not. Paired with a cheese plate and oysters, we tried a few Rhone reds and a few Gamays from Burgundy before heading out to our actual dinner reservation.

Katie and I went to La Table de Fes, a Moroccan couscous restaurant near Montparnasse on recommendation from a friend. We received more than we could eat of couscous with raisins, chickpeas, stew, spices and the meat of our choice (lamb of course!) paired with a surprisingly excellent bottle of Moroccan red wine. Bourdeaux in style it was very well structured with strong but not overpowering flavours. And for the life of me, I of course don't know what it's called. I will be sure to pay more attention during my trip to Marrakesh over Easter.

After dinner we enjoyed a final drink and several songs at the live jazz club inside our very own hotel, Le Meridien Etoile, just off the Champs Elysees. We didn't go to bed until nearly 3am, and therefore enjoyed a nice sleep in well past noon....

...leaving not much time on Sunday to do anything except for eating and shopping, and then eating again. A day well spent! We had lunch of savoury crepes and cafe cremes in the Rue du Bac area near St Germain at La Jacobine. We then shopped at a handmade leather stationary store, my favourite wine shop La Derniere Goutte, back to the stationary store and then it was nearly time for dinner! Loaded down with 1/2 case of wine and several other purchases, we made our way back to the hotel and were lucky to get a seat for dinner at the nearby Le Relais de Venise where the only thing on the menu is steak frites. The restaurant is legendary, doesn't take reservations, but I also learned has a London location in Marleyborne as well. The 'secret sauce' was amazing, as was the well-priced 18 Euro Bourdeaux with the meal.

Since it was our last night, we did have one final drink nearby (I introduced Katie to her first kir royal and I tried a Gamay from Touraine in the Loire) before walking down to the Arc de Triomphe for photos at nearly 1am. Asleep at 2, up at 4:30 and on the Eurostar back to London by 6:30am...I slept on every mode of transport into the office (train, tube, train and bus). It's now nearly 5pm and although tired, I really do feel re-energized by a weekend away to one of my favourite cities, where I was able to practice my meager French, enjoy beautiful food and wine, and spend quality time with an old friend away from our typical busy lives.

***

A week out from what one could call a breakdown (although I prefer the term epiphany), I've already taken steps towards what I want my new goals to be. I've investigated taking a leave of absence from work (not right away, but wanted to understand the request process and ramifications on promotions, salary increases, work permits, etc); I've started to research European-based MBA programs; I am going to start studying for the GMAT (after New Years :) as well as actively re-learn French. I have also joined a few wine social groups in London where I hope to meet other people with my interests, possibly others in the industry and where I may develop more of a leadership role in organising wine events for not just my immediate circle of friends. And then there is the wine certifications, but those aren't cheap and it's debatable which ones are best, so more research is required.

I'm also talking to people about all this, which for me is one step towards making things real. I generally do 'stew' things over in my mind, without consciously realising it, and then make what might appear to be quick decisions, but in reality are things I had been thinking about for a long time. Case in point: moving to London. Many people were surprised at how fast I decided on it and then moved, but I had always had a goal to move to Europe. And look, here I am!

There is much more in development, but it will all come with time. For now, I'm looking forward to being home for Christmas in less than two weeks.

Not everything is sunshine and flowers

My blog posts tend to be tales of adventures across Europe or of fabulous weekend trips or activities, but lest you think that life over here is that simple, here's a bit of what's been going on in my head lately.

I have not been sleeping well the last few weeks. I have a lot of things on my mind. Some are too personal or not well-formed to write on my blog, but the ones that I can articulate are:

• I'm not motivated at work and this is causing me to not perform well and to not care, a dangerous combination
• I'm considering the ever-present possibility of a career change into the wine industry, but the considerations of decreased stability, income and lack of a guaranteed fit for me personally are what have kept me away thus far and remain questions in my mind.
• I want to buy a house/flat, or at least I think I do. I feel that I should, that I'm able to, that it's the right time, but I don't *really* want to. I wonder if I ever will.
• I regret that I'm not fluent in French. This has always been a frustration of mine.
• I am officially reconsidering the MBA route, after discounting it less and less over recent years. This alone causes me anxiety about months to come of GMAT studying, applying, and then, oh yeah, attending the school itself and being back in debt again.
• I want to be flexible, and I am. No one is dependent on me...but I'm not sure how much my work permit/visa situation might get in the way of any of my plans. I'm not quite ready to be back in the States.
• I am happy with the friends I have made here in London, but do miss sharing deep connections with people, whether romantic or friendship. These seem harder and harder to find. I am as social as I can be here, so I wonder if the problem is me?
• I procrastinate on things that I didn't use to...I long to be that girl in high school who would spend hours reorganising her room or reading on the bed. Now I have bills and mail in piles, and it annoys me that they don't just disappear.
• I think I distract myself from dealing with my problems by simply booking more holidays. All of which contribute to...
• I'm sick with another cold, which is really a result of the lack of sleep and the personal stress. None of this helps.
• And I continue to strugge with the deep disappointment I feel when others don't follow through on commitments, large and small.

Tonight, I've taken an Ambien provided by a friend to help me sleep, but I'm not convinved that meds will solve all of this. Maybe time, medidation, prayer, a break outside my life, a life coach to help me prioritise, I'm not sure. Everything used to make so much sense, and now, I don't want to commit to anything for fear that it's the wrong course. I need to be on board first, but am treading water day after day amongst all these decisions.

It's Christmas!

After returning from Boston for Thanksgiving, I got into full Christmas mode, including organising a tree trimming party for this past weekend and going ice skating twice in the past week. I went to the Somerset House rink in Central London with my friend Kylie and a few others on Tuesday night. The outdoor rink is in the courtyard of the Somerset House and it's a beautiful setting.

And I went again on Saturday night with a group of friends to celebrate a birthday. As a nice surprise, Katie was visiting me for the weekend and came along! This rink was at the Natural History Museum in South Kensington. Afterwards, we all went out for a meal of Spanish Tapas and wine, and then a few of us headed back to my place for rounds of Bailey's until nearly 3am.

Overall the weekend was very fun, but also very busy. Friday night I went to Sainsbury's twice for two large shopping trips, first to get the food for the party on Sunday and second to get more wine and our Christmas tree! Janice and I carried it home with us on the bus. Very classy. It's only about 4 feet high and not really that heavy, so it's wasn't too difficult, but still very amusing. We also went to Ikea on Friday night to stock the kitchen with bits and pieces it was lacking as well as purchase most of the Christmas ornaments.

On Sunday, Katie and I went to All Souls Church in Oxford Circus, had Lebanese food for lunch in St. Christopher's Place, and then head home to prep for the party. We had 8 people over and we served apple slices/pumpkin dip, spinach/artichoke dip, beef stew, pecan tart and mince pies with Irish double cream. Mmmmm. Oh yeah, and lots of mulled wine and port!

We also decorated the tree, including making several ornaments out of a set designed for children. There were these felt cutouts of animal shapes and then all sort of stickers and googly eyes, glitter, etc to put on them. I don't have any good pictures of the tree yet, but will post one on smugmug once it's done being adorned.

Everyone head home at a reasonable time since it was a Sunday night, and to top off the weekend, I just booked a last minute ticket to Paris for this coming weekend! Katie will be there for work and she is staying the weekend by herself, so I am going to join her. How fun! This is my 5th Paris trip this year, with another one lined up for late January. I'm starting to think I should just block book weekend trips there in advance for once a month or something!

Thanksgiving in Boston

After two Thanksgivings in London, I decided way back in February that I wanted to spend this year's in the States. California still being a bit far away, I happily decided to visit Brea in Boston. Besides, Boston is all patriotic, home of the Pilgrims type place.

Since most of my readers are American friends, I don't need to explain the significance of the holiday or what one does on Thanksgiving as I have been for the Brits over here, but I will recap what I did. Happily, many of the activities were very traditional Thanksgiving or at least "American."

Thanksgiving Day we:

• Ran a 5k Turkey Trot


• Watched the Macy's Parade on TV


• Took a nap on the couch while watching the Macy's parade


• Cooked up our dishes for the meal (all things yams, potatoes and sweet potatoes)


• Shared Thanksgiving with 17 people, 9 bottles of wine (yeah, they were lightweights), and another 9 desserts!


• Drank warm Winter Pimm's and cider

The day after Thanksgiving, Brea and I watched her friends play in a game of flag football, went out to lunch, did the obligatory, but no less exciting, Costco shop and then hit the stores. I scored big on the sales, buying this ring (at even less than the current online sale price is....)! I also bought a few pairs of shoes and other necessities at Macys.

Friday night, Brea and I enjoyed a 6 course meal with wine pairings at the Top of the Hub on the 52nd floor of the Prudential building. It was a clear night with beautiful views of Boston and the meal was fantastic. Our favourite course was the seared foie gras. Someday, I'm sure I'll feel bad for all those poor little ducks...but not yet. Afterwards, we met up with Maneesh for some port at the bar, and then a few rounds of creative cocktails at City Bar in the Lenox Hotel. I've been to this bar three times throughout my Boston visits, and it never fails to deliver. It was a late night, so home at 3 am....we enjoyed a nice sleep in until 12 noon on Saturday.

Saturday was much more low key, but no less enjoyable. We drove out to the burbs to attend a three-year-old's birthday party (Brea knew the parents/kids from her time in China). Not having much of a connection to the family, I found most of my excitement by playing with the Nintendo Wii for the first time and eating all sorts of weird American foods that seemed like gourmet to me, just because of their scarcity here. I scarfed down on taquitos, root beer, ginger ale, and that weird orange cheese ball with the nuts on the outside. Yeah, you know the one!

Around 5pm we drive back into town to prep for the BIG GAME. This was the Mizzou (Missouri) vs Kansas game. The second oldest college rivalry in the country, and the game where they were both ranked towards the top, this was big. Mizzou won, much to the delight of Brea's boyfriend, Nathan, and to the rest of us (we don't want a sad Nathan!). All pictures of the weekend are on my smugmug, but this one from Saturday pretty sums up how I felt towards the end of the weekend:

So Sunday we went to church, met up with my friend Gabriela for lunch (friend from Santa Cruz who now lives in Florida) and packed up the suitcases. This was my first time coming back to the UK that I met each suitcase's weight limit, just barely. The airport was quiet, the flight was uneventful and despite having a rocky start to the week, breaking my suitcase handle and getting to the office later than planned, I'm doing pretty well now!

I had a fantastic weekend with good friends, a good dose of Americanism and as always, love the shopping!

TT and Richmond Park

On Saturday morning, I was happily pottering about, drinking my coffee and putting out the wine glasses for the tasting that night. I also patiently waited for my Ocado delivery from the Waitrose food chain. I ordered all the food for the party that night, as well as every heavy or bulky item I could think of that I don't want to have to carry home from the grocery store - wine, beer, toilet paper, bottled water, sparkling water, canned goods, the list goes on. Anyway, I was also chatting on MSN with my friend John and found out that he had rented a really nice Audi TT for the weekend. Of course, his next stop was my house to take me out to lunch in it!

We drove around Southwest London, through Wimbledon, Putney and over to Richmond Park. Richmond Park is very large, 8 miles wide at one point and neither John nor I had been there before. We were slowly driving through the park, admiring the fields and trees and the glimpses of the City in the distance when we started to see deer, herds of them! They were just grazing and they weren't behind fences or anything. I have no idea how or why they are there, but it was incredible.



My pictures didn't come out too well since they were taking from a TT in motion but you get the idea. There were several bucks as well, with huge antlers. I was very impressed. After driving back towards Wimbledon, we stopped for lunch in the quaint Wimbledon Village, just up the hill from my neighborhood in Wimbledon. After a pint of Peroni and a plate of pasta, we were ready to head back to the house for some cheeky Billecart-Salmon rose champagne and last minute party prep!

The champagne party went very well, and on Sunday my new flatmate Janice, her friend Lisa, and my friend Eve all went up to the Village for brunch at Tootsie's, a supposedly American-themed chain. Considering the breakfast options were a traditional English fry up, Eggs Benedict with salmon, and salmon and scrambled eggs, I'm not sure what's American about it, but we weren't complaining. It was a cozy breakfast on a cold day.

I stopped by Argos on the way back to purchase Scrabble and a DVD player for some good old fashioned home entertainment. I also joined the local Blockbuster (yes, they have that chain here, unfortunately) and bought ingredients to make vegetarian chili. Enjoying a hot (as in temperature AND spicy) bowl of chili and a cold beer for dinner, beating Janice at two games of Scrabble, and then watching Mr. and Mrs. Smith, I thought, this has been an excellent weekend!

Sparkling Wine and Champagne Tasting

After a long sabbatical, I finally had my 4th wine tasting night focusing on Sparkling Wines and Champagnes. I also had one of the largest groups yet (12 people) and it was the first tasting in my new Wimbledon flat. We tasted the following wines, in this order:

Sparkling Wines:

• Waitrose Cava, Spain (£6)
• Valdo Prosecco, Italy (£6)
• Graham Beck Brut, South Africa (£9)

Champagnes:

• Taittinger (£25)
• Billecart-Salmon Rose (£43)
• Nicolas Feuillatte (£20)
• Bollinger (£27)

The least favourite was the Cava and the group favourite was probably the Billecart-Salmon or the Nicolas Feuillatte. Apparently, the Billecart-Salmon Rose is widely distributed in the US, so if any of you Americans are looking for a top notch rose champagne, keep your eyes out for it! The best wine for value was definitely the Prosecco, which is always a personal favourite of mine as well. I serve Prosecco at most of my dinner parties as a starter drink and it always tastes excellent.

For the meal, I made cod baked with cherry tomatoes and leeks, served on top of a rice dish made with tumeric, peas and chicken broth. A simple, yet satisfying dish with all the sparkling wines. We had warm apple tart and vanilla ice cream for dessert, paired with a Sauternes style Bourdeaux white dessert wine. The night ended with glasses of Port and a few Baileys on the rocks for a well-rounded evening!

WWJB (What Would Jesus Buy?)

I am updating my Amazon.com wish list, in part to help relatives get me things for Christmas and also because adding things to my wishlist is almost like actual shopping, but free! Anyway, I found it very amusing that on 'my homepage' it keeps abbreviating my name from Christine to Christ. I couldn't get a good screenshot of it, so I've at least pasted some of the text directly below:

Hello, Christine Grabyan. We have recommendations for you. (Not Christ...?)

Christ...'s Amazon.com

Now I doubt my book on wine would be on Christ's top ten wish list, but you never know. Maybe Christ wrote it! :)

Love for L'Oranger

Last night I went to a restaurant that has just broken into my top three meals of all time. My friend John and I went to L'Oranger in Mayfair, London after a last-minute trip to Paris for the weekend didn't work out because of train strikes and mid-term school holidays. So to console ourselves, French cuisine in London it is!

We selected the 6 course tasting menu on principle more than anything else. We barely read it to be fair - just enough to figure out which wines would go with the courses. The sommelier was fantastic and spent over 5 minutes with us talking through the various Rhone Reds on the list. We had already chosen a bottle of 2006 Vidal Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand (a wine which John knows well and he and I had just two years before (well, different vintage) at Windows on the World in London.

For the red, we talked through the merits of the Crozes-Hermitage, the Gigondas and of course the Chateauneuf-du-Pape. They had a vintage and domaine that made my mouth water: 2001 Vieux Telegraphe Chateauneuf-du-Pape. The sommelier opened it so that it could decant while we were drinking the Vidal with some of the earlier courses.

We went back and forth between the wines as appropriate with the courses, and every dish was absolutely incredibly. From foie gras, to scallops, to beef, to goats cheese with truffles.....the presentation and flavours were immaculate. The service staff was also spectacular and we were served throughout the evening by no less than 8 different people, each knowing exactly what they were doing. One small detail that impressed me is that our wine glasses were never empty, but never more than 1/3 full (most restaurants over-pour wine, leaving too much in the glass).

The CDP wine opened up so nicely over the course of the evening. The aromas were very fruity with recognizable Syrah and Grenache, but at first the taste was a bit tart and tight in the mouth. It started to open up and within another 30 minutes the flavours were lighter and more complex, almost Burgundian in its subtlety. But again, over the evening the complexity came out more and when paired with the foie gras and the beef, for example, the wine seemed bolder than on it's own. Going between mouthfuls of food and sips of wine was like traveling back and forth on a gentle pendulum of flavour that you never wanted to end.

I wasn't able to copy and paste the menu from the web site to my blog because of formatting, but if you check out the restaurant web site, you will see the incredible range of dishes I got to enjoy. That, incredible service and great company made for a truly fantastic night out in London. I am SO glad I live here.

I am very tired

Here's why: 3 months of work for a team of 3 people = 240 pages of over 200 business requirements to design a complex solution to improve customer experience and security for a major UK-based Telecommunications company. It was due Monday, which turned into Tuesday and I guess now, technically, it's Wednesday. But we are sending it out....almost there. I've worked about 1 day/weekend for the past month along with long hours during the week to get this thing done, and now I'm emailing out to a distribution list of over 100 people.

It's 1 am though, and I'm still near Heathrow (a 1 hour cab ride home) at the client site, waiting for the files to be finalised by a coworker. Tomorrow we get a bit of a break -- we are doing a charity day and painting some rooms at a children's center along with doing some pruning of gardens. It will be a short day and then we'll head to the pub...ah......

For now, I'll just hope that I don't call put Julian's name on Amanda's email and make an idiot of myself as I email the high-ranking Approvers. And I'll also hope that the cab driver tonight doesn't have to use satellite navigation to get into London, with annoying directions being barked out of the handheld device while I try to sleep. Those things really work me up. I can't stand them, especially in taxis.

Changing seasons

Here's how I know it's fall, and why I'm resigned to no chance of an Indian summer in October:

• Over the past few weeks I have started to wear a scarf in the morning
• On Friday I wore a full coat to the office
• Most mornings I can see my breath in the air
• During my run on Saturday, I was crunching through leaves on the paths up to Wimbledon Village
• Tonight we turned the heat on for the first time
• All I've eaten today is an English fry up for breakfast (eggs, tomatoes, sausage, bacon) and curried carrot soup for dinner, with cups of herbal tea in between. If that's not winter comfort food...

Apparently, the first day of fall was September 23 but given that I've had beach parties in California for my birthday at the end of September before, this seems a bit early. I'm ok with it being fall though, even though we never really had a summer. This weekend was beautiful, sunny, crisp and cool. I'm ready to wear warm pajamas, accessorise with scarves and gloves, and look forward to roast dinners and robust red wines. Bring it on!

Wine events in SF; wine restaurant in London

Yes, during my Internet browsing I found yet another reason I miss San Francisco. There is this great small company that puts on wine tastings called Hip Tastes. They have fun themes, and yet it's educational, not just hen party (or bachelorette party, if you will) wine events. If anyone has a chance to go to once of these events, please report back to me! I've joined their newsletter and I'm looking forward to their tips and articles.

On the London front, I have finally found a restaurant with a GREAT wine list at a reasonable price. It's appropriately called the Wine Gallery in Fulham. The restuarant decor is modern, the food is up-to-date European, and the wine list is an amazing value. They advertise wine at retail prices, and while it's not quite that low, I found the markup to be less than 50% over retail. Typically, restaurants charge 250-300%! For example, we got a bottle of Bollinger for £43. This retails for about £30, but when I've bought it in restaurants and bars before, it's usually £60-70. Incidentally, Bollinger is my favourite 'daily' champagne, if you can call it that!

We also had a half bottle of Chablis and a bottle of Barolo. If there's a main type of wine that you like and is well-known and respected in the wine world, it's here! The wine list was only one page long, and yet it included classics such as a Sancerre and White Burgundy and reds like a Chateauneuf du Pape, Cote du Rhone, Brunello, Barolo, Rioja, and even Le Cigare Volant from Bonny Doon in California! As you can tell, I'm very enthusiastic about my new find. It's up there with the Cork and Bottle, my favourite wine bar in Central London.

Some things don't make the best popsicles

Mostly because I don't have a wine fridge anymore, but also because I just have too much wine to keep everything chilled, I am often in the position of needing to quick-chill a few bottles of white wine. Putting wine in the freezer usually works quite well for about 15-30 minutes, but if those were last minute additions and I'm already in the full swing of a party.....I often forget about it until morning.

I've ruined a few bottles this way, most recently a Sauvignon Blanc. Usually one of two things happens when a wine is left in the freezer overnight: 1. The cork pushes out most, if not all the way, or 2. The bottom of the wine bottle (yes, the glass) breaks. I guess there is enough pressure that builds up and some way or another, then wine wants to escape.

This time, the Sauv Blanc was a twist top and it surprisingly neither broke the seal nor broke the glass (maybe my freezer just isn't cold enough?). As a trial, I simply moved the wine back into the fridge and decided it might be good for cooking at least. I opened it tonight, and it tastes fine, but not great. It wasn't an expensive bottle, so maybe it would have tasted this way anyway. I can't help but think that the freezing really does to something to the wine.

I researched online and several wine blogs seem to concur that 's long as the seal hasn`t been breached (pushing the cork doesn`t count as a breach) the wine will be OK. It may throw some bitartrate sediment in the bottle, but that`s harmless.'

Another blog said 'If the wine was truly completely frozen (hard to do because the alcohol significantly lowers the freezing point) it should have either pushed the cork out or broken the bottle. Most likely, wine would be partially frozen (only the water in the wine will actually freeze), making a slushy. Freezing (or partially freezing) would potentially impact the structure of a red wine more than a white. A delicate red, like a Pinot Noir, would more likely be affected than a sturdy red like a Syrah. Thaw out and drink the whites (assuming the bottle isn't broken, of course). Even if the cork is pushed up, they are probably okay." '

I'm still not convinced that the wine is really ok, and I'm not willing to test it out on a bottle that I know is really good. I guess for now I'll just have to not forget about the wine in the freezer. Has this happened to anyone else and what did you do?

Tuscany photos posted

Just a quick note to let everyone know that the Tuscany photos are posted on my smugmug site (link to the right). I only posted a small selection, and I am still waiting for some key photos from others' cameras (Sean, Lisa...).

I think the Italy trip may be one of those holidays I don't post about. 10 days of such a range of activities and experiences can't really be done justice on a blog unless you post about it along the way and I also just don't have the time/energy for it this month. So there you are - sorry! I will have to tell you about our adventures when I see you. The pictures are great though, so check them out!

New Years Eve plans in SF?

I think the Tahoe idea is a bust this year, mainly because I started planning it too late and people either already have financial or travel commitments and/or the houses themselves are nearly sold out and VERY expensive. I'm now in search of alternate New Years Eve festivities. I will be in the Bay Area and I will have a car - that's all I know. Anyone have any ideas? I'm much more keen on the hole-you-and-a-bunch of friends-up-in-a-cabin idea than I am on a spend-a-lot-of-money-for-a-crowded-bar-and-bad-champagne idea. I suppose I'll have to find something in between. Since I'm always the organiser, I'm looking for ideas. Come on people, work with me here!

click click on the keyboard

I've stopped biting my nails, for no apparent reason. I didn't bite them (much) in Italy, and when I got back I thought, hey, I'm halfway to having real nails! Then it became a novelty, and now I'm wearing clear polish. I doubt this will stay, as I've been consistently biting my nails to nubs for as long as I can remember. In the meantime though, I'm really enjoying them. They also made my hands much more attractive yesterday when I was trying on princess cut diamond eternity and half-eternity bands at Liberty in London. Someday I may splurge on a half eternity version of something like this...it will match my bracelet and be simple enough for every day wear.

How dare they?!

I know the launch of Christmas consumerism gets pushed back closer and closer to summer each year, but I don't ever recall seeing Christmas themed products or adverts before my birthday. The other night, walking through Sainsbury's, I turned the corner and voila - an aisle of Christmas wrapping, Christmas cards, and Christmas candy! I really was a bit shocked. I suppose in just another few years I can turn my birthday parties into pre-Christmas parties!

Pre- and Post- Tuscany

In light of my dismal previous entry and of all the activity over the past few weeks, I realise that I am severely behind in updating my dedicated readers of my whereabouts and activities. For those of you who didn't know, I was on holiday for 10 days in Italy with friends at a villa in the Tuscany countryside. That, and the preparations ahead of time, kept me offline and preoccupied.

Before leaving on holiday (yet again, after my 10 day trip to California in August), I went to Proms at the Park with friends here in London. Typically Proms is a classical music event with an orchestra that occurs throughout the UK on Saturdays during the summer. The last night is traditionally atypical, with singers from all genres and a final orchestra led end-of-the-night concert that is simultaneously broadcast to venues across the UK. There is much flag-waving (I guess since they don't have a 4th of July type event they need something to incite patriotism) and singing along.

Incidentally, there is a song about England and the Queen to the same tune as My Country Tis of Thee, although I reluctantly admit that the English version was probably invented first. That didn't stop the Americans from singing our version though, even though the other lyrics were posted up on the screen. It was a very fun outdoor picnic event, and at the end of the night, I randomly bumped into other friends in Hyde Park who were also there for the concert. Seeing people you know while out and about in London is very unusual, but it's nice to know I haven't lost my touch (this kind of thing seems to happen to me all over the world).

The next morning, my friend Sean from NYC flew in to visit prior to going on the Tuscany holiday. We spent Sunday rambling around Wimbledon, and having Sunday lunch at the Dog & Fox in Wimbledon Village. I worked on Monday and Tuesday while he went sightseeing, but I still managed to take him out in the City to the Royal Exchange for drinks and to Busaba for Thai to kick off my official holiday on Tuesday night.

On Wednesday afternoon, we were off to Pisa Airport to start our Italy adventures, which I will write about in my next post soon.

I returned from Italy this Sunday early evening, and Sean and I only had the energy to order Mexican takeout and watch TV. I almost avoided checking my work email until about 11:30pm, when I just couldn't help myself. In the meantime, I started to assemble my most recent Argos purchase - a 6 drawer dresser with a gazillion parts. I only made it 20% into the project when I hurt the tip of my finger with the exposed particle board edge and a lot of pressure as I tried to get two pieces to fit together - ow! I persevered a bit longer and got the frame together before calling it quits. As a nice surprise and thank you for letting him stay here, Sean assembled the rest of it for me while I was at work on Monday - yay!

Another surprise waiting for me last night was a box from Amazon.co.uk. I ripped it open like a kid on Christmas morning, very excited to find a Deborah Madison cookbook and a Jancis Robinson wine book with the message 'Happy Birthday' but no message as to who it was from! I was wrong on my first guess, but I learned today that Liz was the secret gift giver. Thanks again!

For those of you out of the know, this Friday 28 September is my birthday. I'm celebrating with work drinks on Friday night and I'm hosting a party at my house on Saturday night. I've themed it as a dessert party. Dessert of the chocolate, sugar or fruit variety and/or of the wine, port and cocktail variety (champagne is obligatory since it's my birthday). We won't have a huge group, maybe 10-12 people, but I am really looking forward to hosting my first event in my new flat.

I'm also spoiled right now as I have the two bedroom Wimbledon flat to myself. My potential roommate plans fell through and because of laziness and a real desire to live by myself, I have not bothered with finding anyone else yet. I'm thinking I might be ready for someone to move in mid to end of October (er, maybe). We will have to see..... For now, Chez Christie is hosting friends as they fly through London, offering such amenities as your own room with garden view. It's nice to automatically say yes to visitors, without having to coordinate with anyone else.

This week I am back at work, reluctantly so. On Monday morning, my team was surprised to see me, as for some reason they assumed I wasn't back in the office until Tuesday. So to make up for their expectations, I opted to work from home today :) allowing me to avoid hours of commuting and to have lunch with and say goodbye to Sean as he heads back to the States. Last night I was out for drinks and dinner with my friend John and his close friends to celebrate his birthday, so having a little bit of a sleep in this mornng was much appreciated.

The rest of the week holds more dinners with friends and hosting of visitors, as well as party planning and housecleaning/organising. Italy was a fantastic trip, but it's also really nice to be back home, knowing I'm not traveling anywhere in October. (Although, I am considering a weekend trip in early November to either Geneva, Switzerland, somewhere in France other than Paris, or somewhere else with a good deal on flights/hotels).

Subjected

Being reliant on public transport to get to and from work made this week interesting, given that the RMT Union Workers went on strike in order to push the Metronet into promising job security and no change in pensions despite a change in management. In British terms, this means that all underground lines except the Jubilee, Piccadilly, and Northern Lines were shut for 3 days this week, impacting millions of passengers. In American terms, my primary mode of transport had been removed, increasing my journey time to/from the client site and making the alternate routes even more congested.

To give you some context, I already have a horrendous commute - 1.5 hours EACH way, EVERY day. That's 3 hours/day = 15 hours week just commuting. That statistic alone makes me want to cry. But with the strike, my per journey time was increasing to 2 hours - 2 hrs, 15 min. Yes, 4-4.5 hours a day commuting. In that amount of time I could get to Paris on the Eurostar or I could fly to Eastern Europe. Instead, I'm going to Slough, a very unglamourous business and industrial park near Heathrow. For any of you who have seen the British comedy show The Office - that takes place in Slough. The saving grace is that when we leave the office to board the shuttle bus to Slough Rail Station, we often smell the chocolate from the Sara Lee factory across the street. Small recompense for hours a day on the trains/tube.

Today, when I realised that I missed my train at Windsor (this weeks 'no tube' journey home involved a bus to Slough Rail, a train to Windsor, walk to a different station in Windsor, take another train to Clapham Junction, and another train to Wimbledon), I had 30 minutes to kill. So I walked around Windsor, which is quaint and quite nice really.

The Windsor train station is actually called Windsor & Eton, and I slowly realise that it's THE Eton, as in the boys boarding college (equivalent to high school) where famous people such as the Duke of Wellington and the authors Shelley, Aldous Huxley and George Orwell attended, amongst several other famous 'Etonians'. In any case, it's referred to in much of the English literature I've read over the years so I followed the tourist signs and voila! 10 minutes down the road I stood before Eton College.

Tours are available, but not so late in the day, so I was only able to walk around the outside and peek into the main courtyard. This place kicks Ivy League schools' arse for history and being 'old'. It's beautiful, well worn and looks very...distinguished. If you are at all interested, go here and navigate to Eton College>An Eton Tour and click on the virtual tour photos. I'd definitely like to go back for a tour sometime, as well as tour Windsor Castle, which I have now seen 5 times from the outside either commuting or while eating dinner with my coworkers on a team night out. It's a massive compound of a castle, I can tell you that.

So I was planning to moan about my horrible commute on this post, and instead, I'm glad I had the opportunity to briefly see a bit more of Windsor & Eton. Who knew?

I'm not just a Californian anymore

I found it very difficult to leave San Francisco on Sunday. No tears or rants, just quiet sadness. I didn't want to pack my bags, go through security and put myself on a 10 hour flight away from the last city I called home. I've had 10 days in California, the longest stretch in the States since I moved to London, and it was much-needed. Even though the promotion high still hasn't subsided, my time in California made me feel very grounded, something that I need from time to time when I sometimes feel like I'm play-living here in London.

Although the entire trip is full of memories, the highlights for me were going to Crystal Cove beach and the Laguna Beach Pageant of the Masters with my parents, finding incredible deals on good-fitting well-fashioned work clothes at the Camarillo Outlet stores, being 'ladies who lunch' with Liz in Mountain View, spending family time with Kate, Yogesh and Deven in San Francisco, getting some sun during a day on a boat with Lisa in the North Bay, having breakfast with my former roommates on Chestnut Street, going to Bar Crudo with Samidha where she treated me to a bottle of 1998 Nicolas Feullaitte Blanc-de-Blancs Champagne, and seeing everyone at KT's bar in the Marina just like old times, even if I didn't have time to properly catch up with everyone as I would have liked.

Saturday night was a perfect end to my trip, and after having lunch with Jeff on Sunday at the Samovar Tea Room, I felt that I pretty much saw everyone, yet I wasn't ready to come back to London. I even played that procrastination game where you almost miss your flight, thinking that the worst thing that could happen is you get on the next flight tomorrow, meaning you have to stay in SF just one more night? (Or is that just me who does that?). Seriously though, I was running late, didn't have time to fill up the rental car, convinced the United gate agent that I was still 5 minutes ahead of the 45 minute bag-check cut off and literally ran through security and to the gate, 3 minutes before boarding. Hmf, I thought, I guess I will go home to London as planned.

The flight was fine--uneventful and I only slept 3 hours. I didn't plan well enough in advance to reserve a London taxi at a reasonable price (£40), and not willing to pay for a black cab ride home (~£75), I stubbornly dragged my suitcases (49.5 and 67lbs each) onto the London Underground system (£1). I arrived back at my Wimbledon flat an hour and a half later, exhausted and a bit spacey from lack of sleep, but knowing that I had to buy groceries and do laundry before crashing into bed. I accomplished both and then decided to take a little nap. I set my alarm for 90 minutes but of course slept for 3 hours, awake and finally feeling a bit more like my usual self at 8pm. Inevitably I was awake until nearly 4am, but up at 10:30 today and about to go for a run, I think I'm doing well with the time change.

Nearly unpacked this morning and drinking my Whole Foods coffee from a mug I brought back from the States, I am actually pretty glad to be back in London. I have the rest of the week off, giving me time to get settled in the new flat and plan for the Tuscany trip in just a few more weeks. I did have an incredible time in California, but London is home now and I'm looking forward to seeing my friends and coworkers again here. In fact, I am feeling very lucky. I am living in an incredible international city and having a fantastic time, but I still have the financial freedom and generous vacation time to visit the States a few times a year. The only thing I'd change is the time difference and flight time between my various homes, but so far I seem to be collecting a set of them that encourages return visits (the OC, Santa Cruz, and San Francisco).

It was great to see everyone this August, and I'm looking forward to our next chance to visit. For some of you, that's Tuscany in just a few weeks, and for others, I'll be back in the Bay Area for New Years! For everyone else, come visit me in London!

And the winner is...

I am elected! I am very pleased to share the news that I will be promoted from Consultant to Manager at my firm as of 1 September 2007. After 3.5 years of consulting, I felt that I was ready for this next step, and over the past year I have been conducting project roles that warrant the promotion.

My excitement is tangible, but the overwhelming feeling is of relief that I don't have to go through the promotion process again for a few more years. Particularly right now, as I sit here in my childhood bedroom in California, jet-lagged from my recent arrival from London. I'm here for a well-timed 10 day holiday, and knowing the promotion results makes it all that more enjoyable.

Special thanks goes to all my consulting friends and colleagues who know how challenging this process is. Thank you to all for your support and feedback to get me to this career stage!

Because I'm a minority

Apparently, I have reason to celebrate today. It's International Left Handers Day, which I find a bit amusing, but am ready for any reason to celebrate something which I never felt was a choice.
Although, I take that back. If I had been born 50 years prior and had been forced into a life of right hand-dominated activities, I'm sure I would have been fine. Heck, I throw a Frisbee with my right hand, use a mouse with my right hand, and even use right handed scissors (I believe shortly following an incident with scissors and glue in the 2nd grade that resulted in me going to the Principal's office).

If anything, being left handed is a reason to bond with strangers and colleagues as we manoeuvre for end table or aisle seats at a restaurant or all pick up our pens to take notes and realise that 3 out of 4 of us are left handed (it happens in IT quite a bit, and even more often in Security). Fortunately, we are no longer considered devil's children or put into other superstitious categories. I'm not even convinced that it means we are more creative, one of the attributes stereotypically attributed to left-handed people.

So without overthinking it, Happy Left Hander's Day!

Third flat in one year

In just a few days, I am moving...again. I have been in London not even one year, and I am already moving into my third flat. You could call it being non-committal or even flippant, but I just haven't found the right flat and/or flatmate, and I'm not going to settle until I feel it's right.

I started out in Clapham, the Southwest London borough filled with young (white) professionals and families amidst a large park, nice bars and restaurants within a stone's throw and a wonderful hybrid of suburb and city. After four months of living with an absentee flatmate in a not very homey flat, I moved to West Hampstead in Northwest London, the home to Hampstead Heath, and stars like Emma Thompson (this is an unsubstantiated claim other than Wikipedia). West Hampstead is nice, with larger trees and more of an established feel than Clapham, but the High Street is a bit rubbish, and the main draw is the close commute to Soho (20 minutes). Next stop....back to Southwest, as in farther South AND West than Clapham. I'm moving to Wimbledon.

So as of this weekend, these are the residences I've had in London. The new place is more spacious that West Hampstead, better laid out than Clapham, and cheaper than either of them. Win-win all around! Visitors are still welcome!

In Paris with family!

I spent this past weekend with my Aunt, Uncle and cousins in Paris while they are there on holiday for two weeks. They've done a house swap with their Newport Beach home and an equivalently nice flat in central Paris. I took the Eurostar over on Friday after work, arriving a bit late, but nevertheless welcomed, at 10:30pm to the flat with wine and snacks waiting for me. We all sat out on the balcony to catch up while enjoying the warm summer evening.

The rest of the weekend was a good balance between relaxing and tourism. On Saturday, we had lunch in Montmartre and walked up to Sacre Coeur. Saturday night we ate at La Closerie des Lilas on recommendation from a friend of theirs. The restaurant was amazing, with beautiful ambiance sitting in the patio atrium area. We all had a fantastic meal.

On Sunday we went to a service at the American Cathedral in Paris and then had lunch at an outdoor cafe at Place d'Alma across the Seine from the Eiffel Tower. The weather was perfect, warm with a light breeze, and we could have sat there for hours, but instead walked up to the Arc de Triomphe and Champs-Elysees where the weather turned from warm to *hot* and nearly unbearable. After a few photos at the Arc, we decided to seek out air conditioning at the modern art museum, Le Centre de Georges Pompidou. We discussed 'what is art?' as we looked at blank white canvases, odd iron figurines, and collages worthy of 7th grade book fairs.

Before heading back to the house, we were successful in our search for baguettes (EVERYthing is closed on Sundays, particularly in August). Sunday night's meal was a self-styled meal of the ingredients in the house, ending up in the form of pasta with a sauce made from scratch with tomatoes, garlic, basil, bell peppers and saucisson. Everything was delicious, as were the courses of wine - champagne, chenin blanc, rose and then a languedoc red.

Up at 5:30am, I was on the Eurostar by 7am, in London by 9am and at the office by 10:30am. It was a wonderful opportunity to share a family holiday with my Aunt, Uncle and cousins in a great European city, to practice my French and to live up to my purpose of moving here - travel! City breaks, as they call such weekend trips, are the best!

Another good night with friends

Ah, such a sense of satisfaction - a successful dinner party, and all cleaned up and going to bed around midnight. Good work Grabyan.

In truth, everyone had trains to catch and despite my running around this afternoon to hunt down plantains and dry mustard powder, thus not being as ready as I had hoped when everyone arrived, dinner was served at a reasonable 8pm and dessert finished by 10:30.

I skipped the appetizers and opted for home-brewed honey/lemon/mint iced tea and Pimm's cocktails. First course was a chicken, vegetable and coconut milk soup with wines brought by the guests (with guidance from me) - Australian Pinot Noirs, Chardonnay and a Sancerre Rose to note. The next course was homemade macaroni and cheese (*very* well received and recipes already sent to guests) with a green bean marinade salad. The wines with this course were an added Chianti Classico and Spanish Rioja. To finish, a fruit crumble (or cobbler, or crisp, we couldn't decide) made with fresh peaches, nectarines, plums and blackberries. Hard to screw up, but more laborious that I had thought or intended. No matter in the end though.

This was the last dinner party in this flat before I move to Wimbledon, and I tried to commemorate with pictures, which subsequently were lost due to a camera battery failure. (This confirms it - I am definitely buying a new camera online tomorrow).

I was too weak to resist

I just booked a Eurostar ticket to go to Paris next weekend! My original plan for the summer was to not travel outside the UK other than my trip to the States in a few weeks. This was a tactical plan (close my financial gap between my credit card spending from travel in May) as well as strategic, because London is supposed to actually have nice summer weather. Obviously, this year summer has been a complete flop because of all the rain and flooding.

Anyway, the reason I'm going to Paris is because my Aunt, Uncle, and cousins from the OC will be out here for two weeks. They have a flat in central Paris and have invited me to stay with them! I can't take any time off work, but I can leave early on a Friday and arrive a bit late on a Monday. This will be my 4th trip to Paris since February, and these weekend jaunts to the continent (city breaks, they are called here) is what it's all about.

Posts and pictures from Paris to follow...I'll be there 3 August - 6 August.

Wine Tasting Update

[Email sent today to my Wine Tasting Distribution list. Posted here for any of you foreigners planning on coordinating a visit!]

I took an unexpected sabbatical from the monthly wine tastings this July and August. This was partly due to the uninspiring weather, and also because of my impending move and upcoming holidays. For those of you who don’t know, I’m moving from West Hampstead to Wimbledon in just a few weeks, so I will continue the tradition in my new locale (yes, I am coming BACK to SW London after moving from there only 5 months ago!). I’m also heading back to SF and the OC for 10 days in August to get some summer sun and see family/friends.

For those of you new to the distribution list, here is a recap of the topics so far:
April: The Basic Grapes and How to Taste
May: Rhone Valley Style Reds
June: Loire Valley Whites
And here is the evidence!

I haven’t run out of ideas yet, so expect new topics this fall. I am setting aside the following dates, so if interested, please mark your diaries. Actual invitations with details will be sent out a few weeks prior. As usual, tastings will cost between £10-15 to cover the cost of the wine/food, and as a slight change, I will be hosting them on Saturday nights to accommodate everyone’s work/travel schedules, including giving myself enough time to prep!

Saturday 29 September (ahem, my birthday is the 28, so I’m thinking a champagne tasting!)
Saturday 20 October
Saturday 10 November
[December – break for the holidays because I think we’ll all be doing enough ‘tasting’ that month!]

If you have any suggestions on themes, or if you’d like to be removed from the mailing list for whatever reason, please let me know.

Christie (*clink*)

If you need me, I'll be asleep

I'm home sick today, although I've liberally allowed 'exhausted' to be an eligible criteria for a sick day. This is definitely a benefit of living in a country where you don't have to count or accrue sick days. I've had another one of those inexplicable waves of exhaustion that seem to be part of me living in London. The worst wave of this was back in March for nearly a week, but it otherwise hits about once every 3 weeks or so. I'm usually able to time it for a weekend, when I 'allow' my body, mind and soul to rest - resulting in marathon sleeps and little motivation for much else.

It's not a sign of depression, nor am I actually ill. I think it's just me not accepting that I'm not invincible and pushing myself too much to work hard, play hard AND relax (I've found that all three aren't really possible). So what happens instead is I experience them somewhat sequentially, resulting in a day like today.

After my Thursday and Friday with all work and no sleep/play (I didn't get home until 10pm and missed the dinner party), I enjoyed a 12-hour sleep on Friday night, and a relaxing weekend with no alcohol (see, I'm not that dumb). I let myself skip the gym on Saturday, and on Sunday just did weights and minimal cardio when I realised how tired I felt. I responsibly went to bed last night at 10pm with one of my library books, but didn't actually fall asleep until midnight, dreading the 6am alarm. Ritually pressing snooze until 7am, I then somehow turned the alarm off without really minding...It wasn't until 8:30am that I realised I would either be showing up to work late morning...or not at all. Still in bed around 9:30am, feeling drugged with sleep, I opted for not at all. I sent out the requisite emails to colleagues and client that I'd be taking a sick day, along with appropriate delegation to my team.

After a bowl of muesli and about 30 minutes of reading/listening to the brief rain shower outside, I was back asleep by 10:30 until....2pm. Incredible, really. Since then I've had toast, coffee and finished my book. It's 3:30pm on a Monday and I finally feel awake like a normal person, and I feel fine really. I don't feel like I'm coming down with a cold or that I'll feel this way tomorrow. I just needed a day to sleep 13 hours. Is that normal?

Working hard for the money

I haven't posted for awhile. Today's scenario should explain why. It's 7:30pm on a Friday night and I am still at the client office in Slough. I will probably leave around 8pm, getting to my friends' house at 9:30pm for a dinner party. I just hope there is some food left! Oh, and I only got 3 hours of sleep last night between 3am-6am when I just couldn't work any more. I can't wait for a good sleep in on Saturday...

Week in Review

Last weekend was spent sleeping, signing up (and going!) to the gym, joining and checking out books from the library, cooking all my meals, taking lots of naps, and going to church. Monday I had a hellish commute, so nothing got done that evening, and on Tuesday I made another expedition to Whole Foods. Although, getting home at 10pm on a weeknight because of it made me realise it's probably best left to weekend shopping.

On the 4th of July, I went to a BBQ/party with the James Madison University (JMU) Alumni group in London. My friend Eve went to university there, and the 4th was also her birthday, so it was a combination party. One couple in the group are actually the house parents for a JMU semester abroad program, so the party was at the large dorm/house which had a huge patio and in the end, about 40 or so people in attendance (ALL Americans!). I met one JMU alum who actually works for my company and recognised me from Fridays at the office, another who is from San Mateo and out here for an internship, and another who is also here for a summer internship but when he goes back to DC in the fall, will be starting as an analyst at my company as well. I also secured an invite to a summer BBQ at someone's house for today, Saturday 7 July, and I'm really looking forward to going to that, especially since the weather looks vaguely promising.

On Thursday night I made it to the gym for the first time since the weekend, doing the complete routine - 10 minute warm up, weights, strength exercises, 35 minutes of cardio and stretches. It was a great workout and I felt the right amount of sore the next day that I know I am doing the right amount of weights (i.e. ridiculously low, but you have to start somewhere!) I was so tired Thursday night that I actually went to sleep at 10:30pm and was able to get a full 8 hours of sleep on a weeknight.

Friday at the office is always fun/social, but that can also mean that not as much work gets done, particularly when it's first Friday and we have internal meetings all afternoon. I also went to a lunchtime communion service at St. Paul's with a coworker, then the afternoon meetings, and of course to the bar for a few drinks afterwards. Around 8:30pm, a group of us remaining went to the Horniman Pub at London Bridge, overlooking the Thames River, because they have an outdoor patio and the weather was actually quite nice. The main motivation was so Kevin could bring his puppy, who has been stuck at home alone all week. The dog is named Sir Rufus, and he's an adorable King Charles Spaniel. So cute! I think there is a camera phone picture of him giving me kisses (the dog, not Kevin) which I will post once I get a copy.

I was home by midnight, and slept in until 12 noon today.....About to head to the gym and then go to BBQ!

Lightning Speed

Monday was not the most efficient commuting day. I left my house 5 minutes late (at 7:20am) and the Bakerloo Line was down (so I had to hike three levels up and down at Baker Street Station to get to the dodgy Circle Line). That train actually arrived within 1 minute (sometimes it even says 10 minutes) but I still missed my 7:52AM departure from Paddington which would have got me to Slough at 8:07 and to the office by 8:25am. But no, I got the 8am sloooooowwwww train (twice as long), had to wait for the Slough shuttle bus, and then due to morning traffic, didn't get to my desk until 9:05am. Not an ideal start to a Monday.

Since I haven't been feeling well, I decided to leave work early, catch the 5:20pm shuttle to catch the 5:35pm train and be back in my neighborhood, at the gym by 6:30pm on an exercise machine. Instead, it's 6:30pm now and I'm just leaving Windsor. In case you didn't notice, Windsor is not part of my normal commute, although it isn't really that far from slough (about a 10 minute drive). I got to Slough station, boarded a train to Paddington, and then sat there for about 20 minutes when it was announced that all service from Slough to Paddington was suspended because of *lightning* and subsequent signal failures.

We then disembarked, boarded a local slow train to Windsor which (as I learned later) arrives in a completely different train station than the London trains arrive/depart, and we took a gentle (aka snail's pace) ride to Windsor. It felt like being on a kiddie choo-choo. Anyway, we get out at Windsor and I just follow the crowd [they seem to know where they are going, and I don't think they all live in Windsor with the Queen]. The exit to the train station meanders through a quite nice shopping and food hall-type outdoor mall, and I think, where are we going?

I join the few hundred people walking around the outside of Windsor castle, stopping traffic because we can't be asked to stay on the sidewalk, and I jump around puddles, glad that it rained earlier and not *now* and glad that I already switched to my walking shoes from my towering high heels. I'm already carrying a ridiculous amount of bags for a daily commute (laptop backpack, purse, lunch box and gym bag; all black - I'm so Parisian) and I trundle along with the rest of the London commuters.

Eventually, we pass the Thai restaurant I ate at a few weeks ago with my team and I already have a better sense of Windsor Village. I'm still following the crowd, not sure where this other train station is. Eventually we are entering a brick archway et voila, the Windsor & Eton Riverside Station, as opposed to the just the Windsor & Eton station. (I'm so glad to be a lemming; I would have taken a while to figure this out).

I board the train, miraculously find a seat, and then realise that instead of the 15 minute fast train from Slough to Paddington, this is a ONE HOUR train from Windsor to Waterloo, which will then be another 30 minutes to my house. I calculate that I'd get home at nearly 8pm and as I write this, I quickly decide that so much for summer resolutions, I'm not making it to the gym tonight. Instead I am going straight home, relaxing for an hour, and then taking a melatonin and going to bed. I think 4 hours of commute time is enough for one day.

A Friday night for me

I am going to take the opportunity of my captive Internet readers to rave about Whole Foods again. I *love* this place. I actually have 'check out rental prices in Kensington' on my to-do list so that I can prove to myself that I can't afford the neighborhood, and thereby not move to one of the poshest neighborhoods in London just so I can be closer to my favourite grocery store.

I went again last night, all the more comforting because I've come down with another something again (I think it's just a cold, but that's what I get for only getting 5 hours sleep/night every day this week). I fell asleep on the Circle Line on the way there (High Street Kensington is 12 stops from Monument Station, where my London office is), and thought to myself, is this really a good idea to go so far out of my way on a Friday night when I have the chills and body aches?

On the High Street, I treated myself to an H&M purchase, a bright summer skirt that I may only get to wear in California this August if London weather keeps up this constant raining. I then head into Whole Foods, list in hand. Before leaving the office, I looked up three recipes to make over the weekend, so I could have healthy sustenance at home without having to leave the house.

Before shopping for groceries, I treated myself to a reasonably-priced sushi dinner in the upstairs food hall. For £7.80 I got a roll combo, miso soup, salad and green tea. I rarely eat sushi here, so it was quite a treat, and I'm convinced that things like wasabi are good for a cold.

Shopping was a bit of an adjustment as I started to recognise what aspects of Whole Foods are copied from the States and what are definitely adapted to the Brits. For example, you know how Whole Foods hangs the signs in the vegetable section above the display cases? Well, I did the usual searching about for 'is this spinach, or what?' before finally looking up and ding! duh, of course that's where Whole Foods puts their prices (you never see that kind of labeling at Tescos, Sainsburys, or Waitrose).

Looking in the tea section, it was funny to see so many Whole Foods branded Early Grey, English Breakfast tea, and Daily Drinking Tea. I'm pretty sure WF doesn't put that much effort into self-branded teas in the States. Also, the WF label is similar but different. It doesn't have the '365' label, but it still has the four squares of grains and other food-related images in the yellow, orange, blue and green colours, which are often labeled 'Fresh & Wild'. Fresh and Wild is the London organic chain of about 5 stores that WF purchased in 2004. There is one near Clapham Junction that I went to a few times, but the prices were very high and the selection limited.

In the end, I came out with all the groceries I wanted for the weekend, and then some (Amy's frozen dinners - yay!) and I headed home for a few work emails, doing a load of wash, and a few hours on the couch watching all the Daily Show episodes from the previous week. It's now Saturday, and I have a day of errands and work, and cooking my yummy dishes!

Christmas and NYE extension in CA

Christmas is re-booked! Maybe it was the trip to Whole Foods last night, or maybe it was the thought that it would be difficult to see my Aunt/Uncle and cousin in Sacramento this year because I only booked my ticket for a week (same as last year, which I realised was too short VERY quickly as I rushed around to buy presents, get over the cold I had caught the week before, and relax), but either way, I've decided to stay in California for two full weeks for Christmas and New Years. Because I kept the same exact route and there was one seat available at the low mileage award fare, I didn't even have to pay any change fees!

I arrive into SNA (yay! No LAX!) on Thursday, December 20 around 5pm and leave on Friday, January 4 at 1pm (arriving in London Saturday morning). This itinerary is perfect. I am able to adjust to the time change by Christmas Day, and I can rent a car/fly and drive around Northern California to see relatives, friends, and do something in San Francisco or Tahoe for New Years (anyone have any plans to include me on?!). Just as I'm looking forward to seeing all my Bay Area friends this August, I will enjoy getting to see everyone again around the holidays. What fun!

I'm Whole Again

Forget my actual homeland, last night I made a true pilgrimage 'home' by shopping at the newly opened 80,000-square foot mega Whole Foods in Kensington. The size of a Costco, but the decor, products, and design of a proper Whole Foods make this the most impressive grocery store I've ever been to. It rivals the flagship store in Austin, Texas and as I walked around, discovering that they carry the exact same coffee blend as I used to drink in San Francisco, as well as the same hemp granola in bulk, I started to feel homesick.

It was actually surreal - It's been nearly a year that I've walked around a Whole Foods at the end of a long work day, wearing my suit and laptop bag, tasting the olive oil samples and smelling the cheeses (that I can pick up without getting yelled at). I didn't want to buy too much because I was meeting up with a friend for dinner and wouldn't be able to keep things frozen/cold, but I let myself wander up and down every aisle and look forward to some real shopping trips in the near future.

In the wine section, I almost exclaimed with joy when I found (one bottle left) of Bonny Doon Pacific Rim Dry Riesling for £10. I haven't seen this wine in the UK except at a wine bar that was charging £30 for the bottle, and I was telling people about this wine just last weekend when I hosted the Loire Valley Whites. It's one of my favourite summer wines, et voila! here it is!

For dinner, Erik and I selected food from the premade area - swordfish steaks, aubergine/mozzarella stacks, and polenta with mushrooms. We had dinner at his parent's corporate flat in Kensington and enjoyed a bottle of Shiraz and a sticky toffee pudding for dessert. Good American company + excellent American-store products + good wine in a posh London setting is the best of all possible worlds really. And I can't wait to go back to Whole Foods again.