Hmmmmmmm... fresh laundry

Over the years, I tried loads of different air fresheners. But until now, I never found one that actually does the job and covers up unwanted smells without leaving a usually sickeningly sweet and artificial smell behind.
And the miracle worker is:

Febreze Mist & Refresh Cotton Fresh

The smell is a mixture of fresh laundry and baby products. It smells exactly how you would imagine, given its name.

Febreze says:
Instant freshness for your home Mist & Refresh is a new aerosol air freshener which, unlike other air fresheners, combines odour removal with a light fragrance to truly refresh your home. The patented Febreze odour elimination technology traps and neutralises everyday bad smells rather than just masking them. Plus, the mist itself is water-based and specially designed to gently release a light and subtle fragrance. Mist & Refresh is different from other air fresheners as it contains a nitrogen propellant (nitrogen is 80% of the air we breathe). Combined with a bespoke trigger system, this creates larger water droplets in the mist giving a lasting scent experience.

Available in Blossom & Breeze, Cotton Fresh, Morning Dew and limited edition Apple Spice, Mist & Refresh instantly gives you that lovely feeling of throwing open your windows and breathing in the freshness.

The miracle at Reading

League Cup games were on today. Just before half time, I checked the BBC website and Reading was leading 4:0 against Arsenal! Reading was only just promoted to the Premier League last season and this was an amazing result for them.

I was joking with mc, saying that Arsenal will probably manage to turn this around.
And slowly but surely, they did! They got their first goal before the half time whistle. And by the end of the second half, the result was 4:4. So the game went into extra time. And sure enough, Arsenal scored the 5th goal.

I was already wondering how much money I could have made, had I placed a bet when it was 4:0... When Reading equalized! And it looked as if it would go to penalties. When Arsenal finally managed the winning goal: Reading 5, Arsenal 6! And to round it all off, they also scored a 7th goal...

12 goals in a game - I would have loved to watch that. I feel sorry for Reading who seemed to have really put on a fight. But I do like Wenger, so well done, Gunners!

Just a little word of advice

• to the woman in front of me at the Sandwich shop: there really is no need at all to TOUCH the baguette (especially when it will be served to somebody else). Simply asking for a baguette or - if you must - pointing at it, really is sufficient.
  

• to the guy standing right outside the shop: please move to the side when somebody is trying to leave and do NOT shout right in my ear.

• to the mother in John Lewis: once your toddler has stepped onto the elevator (and you haven't) do NOT keep holding on to her by her jacket. You can't pull her off it like this. You risk choking her. You shouldn't rely on young men jumping in to help your toddler get up again. 

• to all the drivers on UK motorways: the inside lane is only to be used for overtaking. Pull back in, once you are done overtaking. And also a quick reminder that the outside lane is actually made for driving, too - so go on and use it!

• to the woman standing about 2 inches from my face in the tube: please do not cough right in my face! And get a trim to deal with your split ends.

High above the chimney tops...

On my trip to New Orleans, I stayed at the Sheraton, just a 5 minute walk from Bourbon Street and about 15 minutes from the Convention Centre. I had a wonderful room on the 43rd floor. Floor to ceiling windows, overlooking the bustle of the city. The bed was massive and I somehow ended up only sleeping on one side of the bed, rather than spreading out all over the place.

The door leads to the bathroom

Lovely chest of drawers!

Huge room - not least in comparison to what you get in Europe...

View through the window from the bed

Another London landmark

The tallest completed building in Europe:

The Shard - 309.6m

No chance I'd go up there - scared of heights!!

Don't know what these are for - but they sure look futuristic

These pumps are made for walking

I have a love-hate relationship with shoe shopping. I love shoes (and shopping), but my feet are quite difficult to shop for. Wide at the front, and narrow at the back, I slip out of most shoes, as I need to buy them a size bigger than really needed for the length of my feet. Plus, I am very bad at walking in heels (think awkward stork). I was delighted when I found this pair at New Look for just £15.

Not only can I combine them with a business outfit, they also have a strap and at the recent convention they also proved very comfortable.

 PS: I still find it weird that the English use the word 'pumps' for what we call 'Ballerina' in German. And 'court shoe' for what we call 'Pumps'...

Baby blue and baby pink and glitter

New additions to my nail polish collection:

World's End, Daydream, Brazil, Gypsy Night - all by Topshop (£6.00)

Printed T-Shirt Heaven

I love, love, LOVE threadless T-shirts!

I could spend forever browsing their design on their website. Unfortunately, they are in the US and shipment can take a little while and (if I remember correctly), I had to pay customs on my last delivery which I also had to pick up at a post office, which was miles away...

But when I saw that they are offering a 50% discount on some of their stuff, I just had to place an order. Discount code October50 expires on 29th October - so be quick!

Bourbon Street, Po' Boy and Street Weddings

New Orleans was very humid on most days. There were a few days, where it was pleasantly warm, which was very nice coming from grey, rainy and cold London. The Convention Centre is massive. I walked many miles, up and down the exhibition hall. I don't quite understand what the hype is about regarding Bourbon Street - it stinks of piss and booze. I don't know whether things are very different now after Katrina or whether we didn't get to see the nice and interesting parts of the city, but overall I wasn't very impressed.

While I wasn't impressed with the city, I did like 'the' Americans. Everyone was so friendly. And it was infectious - isn't it much nicer to have a nice little chat to people? Not every chat has to have 'deep meaning' but it just makes life a bit more pleasant, I think.

Most of my lunches consisted of Po' Boys: a traditional sandwich in Louisiana on French bread. And no, French bread is not the same as a Baguette. They were yummy!

On Saturday we had a bit of free time and were wandering around the French Quarter. And came across a number of wedding parties: bride and groom (all dressed up) and guests dancing and singing through the streets. How cool is that?! My colleague already said that she now wants to get married in New Orleans.

Overall, we spent all day in the Convention Centre, and while jet lag wasn't too bad, I did usually end up in bed by 10pm. So, maybe I missed out on stuff?

Just ignore the jet lag

That was the advice I got before going out to New Orleans. And it kind of worked.
9.5 hours to Dallas - as we were flying during the day, I spent most time watching films and only nodded off for half an hour or so. We then had three hours in Dallas, before another one hour flight to New Orleans.

We arrived at the hotel around 21:00 local time - 2am UK time. Even though I was pretty tired by then, I forced myself to stay up until about 23:00 - and slept through until 7am. Well, I did wake up a couple of times, but went back to sleep really easily. And that was that. For the whole week in New Orleans, I was fine. While my boss was struggling quite a bit and kept getting up at 3 or 4am. I have no idea how he managed on sometimes just 2 hours of sleep! A pity as well, as he has young kids, and this would have been THE chance for him to catch up on sleep!

On the way back, we flew through the night and arrived at Heathrow at 6:40am. I had planned to sleep but thanks to the nice couple next to me, I didn't get any. They talked throughout the night and even with headphones on, I could hear their mumbling... So, it was more films instead.

Thanks to heavy rush hour traffic, I didn't get home until about 9am - by which time, I just fell into a deep sleep until 13:00. For some reason, I am tired throughout the whole day, but just can't get to sleep any time before 1 or 2 am. Which is not very convenient. To say the least.

Ah well, no long-haul flights planned in the near future and I hope that the extra hour on Sunday will somehow help, too.

Cycling bunnies and unicorns

I have to admit that I was a little disappointed about the shopping facilities in New Orleans. I expected big malls like you see them on telly. Not sure whether we didn't find the right place, but the mall we went to was ok, but nowhere near as big as the Westfield Stratford Shopping Centre, just 10 minutes from the flat here in London.

Nevertheless, I did do a bit of shopping: 2 pairs of Levi's jeans for $40 each. Unfortunately, I bought two different sizes - which both fit when I tried them on in the shop. But the bigger size got all baggy after just one day of wearing them. I am hoping that a) the other pair will at least be fine and b) that I might be able to shrink the other one.

And I got these two shirts from Urban Outfitters (2 for $24):

Cute, n'est-ce pas? (apologies for the lousy photo quality)

What's not to love?

Picked up at New Orleans airport. Not only is Banana (that's his name according to his tag) super cute, he is also super soft! 

I really don't understand why my colleagues were laughing at me and couldn't believe that I actually bought him.

i carry your heart with me

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
my heart) i am never without it (anywhere
i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)

i fear
no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want
no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

E.E. Cummings

Cosmic karma and eyes of steel

... on my nails. Both nail polishes are from Topshop.
I'm still very much a beginner when it comes to nail art. And while I admire other people's nail designs, I usually like my nails best when they are just plain (plain pink, mainly). Maybe I just need more practice.

I'm back!

Have just slept all morning, after I didn't get any sleep at all on the flight back. But feeling quite all right now, so hopefully there won't be much jetlag. Not least as there is simply too much work waiting for me in the office.

But first it's the weekend!

First load of laundry is in the machine, rest of the suitcase - including all my wonderful presents for mc - needs to be unpacked and blog entries will be written.

Later(s)

Gangnam style

This phenomenon had passed me by - until I saw the below clip a couple of weeks ago on the Ellen DeGeneres show.

I love Ellen - she's a great host! It's such a pity that they broadcast it at 16:00 - when I am not usually at home (there have to be some perks to staying at home sick).

Dry-cleaning

In preparation for my business trip to New Orleans (thought I would casually drop this in here...), I finally got three of my suit blazers dry-cleaned. And discovered a dry cleaners just round the corner from the flat. I had prepared myself for sky-high London prices - so I was very pleasantly surprised when it was only £5.50 per jacket.

Not that I actually know how much dry-cleaning costs elsewhere, but it seemed rather reasonable. Or did I get ripped off??

Soft locks

I actually wrote the below blog entry after my visit to the hairdressers back in July. For some reason, I didn't publish it at the time. Today, I went for another visit with Joel at The Chapel - and I am very pleased to say that I was very happy with the results in July and am equally happy with the results today.

So, if you are looking for a hairdresser in central London/Islington/near Angel - I can highly recommend Joel in particular and The Chapel in general!

____________________________________________________________________

The time had come again for another haircut. And as mentioned before, I feel rather uncomfortable and very indecisive when I sit in the chair. Today I went to The Chapel in Islington, conveniently located 5 minutes from my office. They charge by the hour. I've only been twice, but so far the price has come to the same as at similar other hairdressers who have fixed prices. To be honest, I don't quite see the point of charging by the hour - but there you go.

The hair-wash was - as usual - heavenly. A nice scalp massage included. But as soon as I was sitting in front of the mirror, I was clenching my fists...
Also as per usual, I am really happy with the result. This usually changes as soon as I've washed my hair the next morning and have to style it myself. And the hair looks nothing like after the hairdresser styled it. Not least, as he used a hair straightener, and I NEVER straighten my hair (way too lazy AND scared of burning my head or an ear off). He also told me that my hair was really nice to cut ♥
I have to say though that I very rarely cut my own hair, so I would much prefer it to be easy to style - but it is a b*tch to style...

Anyhow, my hair feels so soft now. It is truly amazing. So I also let him talk me into buying a salon hair product. Which I never do. But today I thought this would be a good investment: £18 for the promise of super smooth hair every day - Redken Real Control Slim Supreme (slimming serum for dense/dry/sensitized hair)

Pink is the colour - shoe heaven

On my way from the bus stop to the hotel in Graz, I couldn't help but notice these boots in a shop window: knee-high, flat and pink. Proper PINK! And at just €45 a bargain, too.

Also available in teal and black

When I finally got round to trying them on, I also saw these studded sneakers:

Also available in black and blue

I had entered shoe heaven!

And still parted with all my money and no shoes... Unfortunately the sneakers didn't fit my wide feet and the material of the boots was of a nature that you could see every little scratch on it. So they wouldn't have stayed as nice as they look on the photo for long.
*sigh*

And after this rational decision-making, I got these instead:

From H&M for €19.90
And still a little (pale) pink :-)

(Belated) Greetings from Graz

Pretty paintings

Can you spot the art museum on the right of the river?

Graz town hall

Leberkaese and Kartoffelsalat - a lot of meat on that plate!

My first chestnuts this autumn

Friday Night Dinner

FINALLY! After more than a year, the second series of Friday Night Dinner is finally here!
This British sitcom evolves around the Goodman family who get together every Friday night for dinner. Tamsin Greig (known from Green Wing and Episodes) plays mother Jackie, Paul Ritter plays her confused husband Martin. Simon Bird (from the Inbetweeners) plays their son Adam and Tom Rosenthal (sports presenter Jim Rosenthal's son) plays their son Jonny. Mark Heap (also from Green Wing) plays neighbour Jim who has a crush on Jackie, is scared of his own dog Wilson and is just generally weird.

The clips that have been shown on Channel 4 look very promising and I can't wait for the first episode tonight: Channel 4, 10:05pm!

Cute designs at Not For Ponies

I've just come across this website: www.notforponies.co.uk - a Manchester based fashion label, created by Becky Andrews. I have fallen in love with their cute designs! I especially like the fox dress and the pug Tshirts. If you enter the code Look20 at checkout, you get a 20% discount when ordering by 9 October.

And the reason it's called Not for Ponies?
"We don't think our products would suit them... Have you ever seen a horse wearing a T Shirt?"

Close up theatre

More VIP hospitality treatment from the Grange hotels:
The Grange Holborn hotel has turned three of their suites (across three floors) into stages: The Defibrillator Theatre Company is putting on three previously unseen Tennessee Williams plays - the Hotel Plays.

The idea is simple and quite unique: the audience takes place on chairs and the sofa in each suite. Each play lasts about half an hour, after which the audience is moved one floor up to the next suite. Each suite fits about 20 people or so. Wherever you sit - you are VERY close to the action, as the suites are quite normal sized rooms.

I have to admit that I don't know a lot about Tennessee Williams and his work. The website only gives very short summaries, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect.

Green Eyes is about a couple on honeymoon. It's the morning after a boozy night out and you witness them arguing about what happened the previous night.
I found it incredibly uncomfortable having to witness the arguing, with an increasing level of violence. And it felt wrong to watch the two half-naked actors so close up. His white boxers were sometimes a little too revealing... And I found it difficult to understand their (fake?) Southern accents. The boy is played by Matt Milne - one of the new faces on Downtown Abbey (which I personally don't watch - but for those who do - you can get up close and personal with him in this hotel room!)

Sunburst revolves around an ageing actress, who gets taken hostage by one of the hotel employees and his lover. They are after her diamond ring. Things don't quite go according to plan though.
At one point, the actress spits wine at the hotel boy - I was unfortunately sitting in a strategically bad place... Not that nice to get spit at in the theatre...

The Travelling Companion evolves around an older writer who has paid a young boy to be his travel companion. The young boy pretends he wasn't aware that their arrangement would involve intimacy in the hotel room...
I really liked both actors of this one: John Guerrasio and Laurence Dobiesz.

Overall, I really liked the idea of a different sort of theatre. Being right where the action takes place, getting to see the actors from just a few centimetres away, was quite a different experience. Changing the room every half hour and generally just watching a half hour play suited me fine, too, given my short attention span.

Unfortunately, all of the plays made me feel a bit uncomfortable; the second and third not as much as the first - but they were all essentially evolving around abuse of some sort. And all of this right in your face.
But certainly a worthwhile experience. The plays are still running until 27 October.

Somerset House

Unique Venues of London was hosting a showcase at Somerset House on Tuesday. The idea was basically facilitating to meet with any of their 78 venues for a chat and an exchange of business cards. As I am currently planning a reception for next year for which I am looking for a special venue, this was a great opportunity for me to find out a bit more about some of the places without having to travel across town for site visits.

Do browse their website - they have some absolutely stunning places! Amongst my favourites were the Royal Opera House, the Guildhall and the Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn.

Breakfast was provided by Blue Strawberry. What a pity that I am not a breakfast person - the pastries, muffins and salmon blinis looked amazing!

The morning was then rounded off with a rushed, half hour tour of Somerset House - another beautiful venue with a really interesting history. It's really strange to see how the place kept being torn down and rebuilt over the years. And to imagine that it was sitting right on the Thames - where the embankment now is.

I can't believe I had never been before, partly because I thought it was somewhere on the outskirts of London (when in fact it's across from Waterloo station, right in the centre...) - I would definitely recommend going when you get the chance.

View from Waterloo bridge - the Thames used to flow through those arches

I love this picture - it has a postcard feel to it (I think)

This is where the famous ice-rink is installed every winter

Stunning staircase

1 in 3

According to Cancer Research UK, it estimated that more than 1 in 3 people will develop some form of cancer during their lifetime. A scary statistic. Which has become so much more real for me this year.

My thoughts are with you and your family, V.

no words really

It took me a while to write yesterday's post. I kept deleting and re-writing bits. And the final version still seems very unfitting, just not right. Like a short mention hidden away in the obituary pages.

There are so many thoughts running through my mind. Sadness about his death. Sadness for his children who will grow up without their Dad. Sadness that his life was taken away from him so early, and he won't see his children and grandchildren grow up.

And then there are all the thoughts that are triggered by death in general:
thoughts about my own death and that of other loved ones. Evaluation of my life - is this really how I want to spend it? Things can be over so quickly and how often do I waste precious time and energy on silly things. Getting annoyed and frustrated at things that really do not matter in the grand scheme of life. And I emerge with all these resolutions of turning my life around. Which are so quickly forgotten and get buried in every day life again.

Maybe I need more patience with myself. Or maybe I just need a kick up the backside to ACTUALLY make these changes.

farewell

Clive - one of mc's neighbours - passed away last night.
He had heart problems and had relatively recently been in hospital, but we all thought that he was recovering well. He was only in his late forties and leaves four kids behind.

I didn't know him very well, but from the few times that I had the pleasure in meeting him, I will remember him as a very kind, funny and charming man.

It still feels unreal not to ever see him again.

A good start into the week!

Well, my sore throat has turned into a (seriously) runny nose and I am still feeling very tired, BUT just before lunch time I got a lovely from a bike courier who delivered this to me:

 

and a bag full of these:

Courtesy of The London Kitchen. I can only guess that I must have participated in another competition that I can't remember. I am a little surprised that I would take part in a competition to win a book by Boris Johnson, but then again, I really take part in anything!

I was also surprised that Boris is the author of a number of books, including one entitled Seventy-two virgins... 

Fingers crossed that the week will continue with more lovely surprises!