So to make a proper post, since I see I haven't done so for a few days, I've been having fun and relaxing, too. Wandered round central London early in the week. My feet were not exactly thrilled about the extended hours of walking but I enjoyed it. I browsed and window-shopped and just generally took it all in (no photos, sorry). The weather has continued to be lovely, spring-warm and mostly sunny - even the one day that it rained hard, the cloudbursts were interspersed with sun. Me likey. I have a teeny umbrella that packs into a case little bigger than a standard glasses case, and it doesn't bother me at all to pull it out my bag every so often. It amused me to note, though, that most women had umbrellas, whereas the men were split between those with umbrellas (who also usually had suits), and those who simply ducked into a shop doorway and waited out the cloudburst. None of the shopkeepers seemed to mind the non-clientèle clogging up their doorways.

I found a row of secondhand bookstores on Charing Cross, mmm. I was good; I didn't even buy any from the bargain bins out front. But I sure enjoyed looking and breathing in the scent of books. :D I also explored Soho somewhat, Trafalgar and Leicester Squares, and some back streets near the bookstores that I hope like hell I can find again, LOL. There was a M.A.C. store in there, though I didn't go in as I don't need anything right now. There was also the London Bead Store, which was awesome and I definitely need to go there again. It had all sorts of loose beads and findings, and also had completed jewellery. I managed to escape with one silver and red necklace. I very nearly got an adorable fuchsia ponytail holder but talked myself out of it because duh, no hair left for that. Though speaking of, I think I might need to get it cut again already, oy. Hopefully it'll be able to hold off a bit longer stylistically-speaking when I figure out how to use the straightening iron to do my bangs.

I went into this other store named Accessorize and had to control my giggling because they had a lot of hats and headbands, many semi-updated old-fashioned style, and there was a black satin headband with a froth of ostrich feathers that reminded me hugely of the 'emo princess' headband I bought in Boston last spring, only a much fancier version that cost like three times as much. I did not try it on, though I was tempted.

I also stopped twice for coffee (read: vanilla latté), once at Costa which was indeed lovely, and once at a café on Charing Cross, I think, called Caffe Vergnano 1882. That was a great place, really cute. The low benches in the back where I sat were upholstered in espresso velvet; it was all sleek blond wood and chocolate. Which actually gave you a wee chocolate with your order, hence me remembering the name. ;D

Yesterday stargazerdavid and I spent the day at the home of some friends of his and stayed for dinner, which was completely lovely. I had a very nice chat with Y about her experiences teaching various places and teaching English as a foreign language in general. Dinner involved a scandalous amount of food. I was vaguely surprised to find myself capable of movement after that!

Today David drove me down to Southampton and we met up with looking_spiffy and her mother, got me and my stuff all transferred over. There were sections of the motorway that were tree-lined and it took me a while to put my finger on why they looked so different. But it's both because the trees themselves are fairly well-spaced, giving each other lots of room to grow, and there is a distinct lack of underbrush. Forests in Canada (and the northeast USA) tend to be *packed* with trees, growing all but on top of each other, with shrubbery and bushes growing underneath them at knee- to waist-height in most places. The grass also still looks different. Hilariously, though, Canadian grass seed is apparently a popular gardening item, billed as being hardy in cold weather (duh). Hee.

Obviously we've sorted me for Internet access already - ooo and I found a power cord for only ten quid, not twenty, so I got that. Still need to get a voltage adaptor but that's not as critical as being able to use my laptop. So here I am, sat on the sofa at Jade's, WS on my lap and one of the dogs cuddled up beside me in much the same spot as David's cat has been for the past week. Life is good. :-)

I'm watching a beginner's bellydancing class on TV. Well, and semi-participating, lol; I missed the start and I've never actually done bellydancing so some of the basics are a mystery. I've wanted to take classes for a while, though, but of course they're usually weeknights before I get off work. *eyeroll* However, watching, this is totally something I could/would excel at. The combinations and the steps aren't the same of course, but I have tonnes of practice with isolations and I can already move my major body centres independently of each other. Ribcage is harder than the others (omg, doing "circles" with your ribcage and NOT moving your shoulders is hard!) but doable, and hip isolations of any kind are dead simple for me by this time. It looks like fun! And truthfully, anything dance-related is going to be the most likely to get me exercising regularly again, cuz I really, really suck at it. Anyone who's done bellydancing classes, I remember hearing that they were fun, but how's the workout? *curious*

Also, the woman doing the class? *That's* what a female body is supposed to look like. She's toned with some softness still and definite hips and boobs. I want her hair, though. It's straight, waist-length and a deep red that goes with her costume. :D (Yeah, I still miss my red hair.)

Ze machine makes creditable lattés, w00t. The frothing wand could have more allowance for the milk pitcher (I still have all my fancy-schmancy accoutrements for this), because it's a bit difficult to get it far down enough to heat the milk properly/thoroughly, but I expect that'll also improve as I get used to this particular machine. Bonus points for everybody in the house enjoying the smell of fresh espresso!

*sing-song voice* Weee're having a Nor'eaaaaaster, and there's about two inches of snow on the ground (and anything else it can stick to) already. FIRST SNOWFALL WOOOOOOOOO!!! :D Yes, this requires capslock abuse. Snow excites me. :D I may feel differently if I have to shovel tomorrow but right now? Loving. It.

I did not end up going to the café downtown for the $20/cup Esmeralda coffee (and thus returned the $10 my dad contributed to the cause, lol) because the mixed drizzle had started by the time I left to go out and I didn't particularly feel like walking around in that, so I just went and did my errands and got plain old Starbucks, lol.

BUT, I did actually splurge on something for me today (which is all mockingbird39's fault - oddly enough, that's a phrase that crops up in quite a few people's LJs! ;-P): an espresso/cappuccino machine. It's a small one, and nowhere near a top-of-the-line type thing, but it was on sale for $40. Forty bucks! I couldn't pass it up, especially as I'd been considering getting one for a while now. My old one is dead, not surprisingly as it's like ten years old now or something. But hasn't even been used since I moved here, because it *was* a high-end type and I lost the manual and it was so damn complicated, I could never remember how to operate it without the instructions in front of me. And that's considering that I DO know how to operate a professional one from my coffee shop working days in university! Anyway, I'm excited about that, too. It's all cleaned and stuff so I'm gonna play with it tomorrow and hope it works. I even remembered to stop and buy espresso! :D

Whilst out shopping, I went into the D-TOX store that opened a couple of months ago in Mic Mac Mall, which was having a tax-free midnight madness day (no doubt due to the fact that they have to close tomorrow :P). It appears to be the Canadian answer to Hot Topic. Hee. Unfortunately the sizing seems similarly teeny though there was some good stuff in there, and I very nearly bought a T-shirt for someone on my flist. Dude. Black tee with a red upside-down pig, grey hoofprints, and red shaky lettering proclaiming, "SPIDERPIG." I did *not* buy it because a) I'd already made my impulse purchase of the day and thus could not justify the expenditure, and b) there was only one T-shirt and I can think of a good dozen of y'all who would be all, "Gimme!" *grins* One of the sales girls also flagged me down as I apparently have a twin who's been in the store recently who has some really awesome spider tattoos on her calf, and the girl wanted to look at them again since she's planning on getting her own. Alas, that's one design I can definitively state will never, ever, EVER be going on my skin. *shudders*

Driving around today, I also had the chance to really listen to Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace. I've had it for a while but hadn't actually listened to it, mainly because I kept hearing that it was Neil Young-esque and while I have enormous respect for Mr. Young as a musician and for the Bridge School, etc., omg please don't make me listen to him sing. *cringe* And most of the CD is, well, Foo-ish. Meaning that there's not a song that I dislike but nothing that really incites passion either, which is where pretty much the entire Foo catalogue falls for me. I enjoy listening to them, and I really *like* their music, but it simply doesn't take that extra step that's necessary to truly resonate with me and punch me in the gut. Until Home. And damn you, and_ed, you are lucky that I only put eyeliner on the top today because immersing in that song cranked up loud in the car had me in tears! As much as I have grown to adore Dave Grohl, that is the first Foo song that's actually hit me where I live. ♥

As I also happened to remember to buy hot chocolate today, but forgot to turn my thermostat back up when I got home, I do believe I'll go make mahself something warm to drink and be all hyggelig. (If y'all join me, we would be hyggelige. ;D) What's that? That's a Danish word I stumbled across that is "an adjective for that warm & fuzzy feeling when you're with your friends at a party or sitting on a couch with a book and hot chocolate/tea/coffee inside when there's cold weather and snow outside. It's the feeling of comfort/bliss/happiness, but not translatable one-on-one for a word in English." I'm keeping it, Mom.