Adventures in London: Issue 41

I don't have a lot to recap on from this week. In fact I am a bit lost as to what to type. There are a million thoughts swimming around my head, yet I cannot create a sentence from any of them....hmmm

This is bad, I am really struggling to remember the week. It wasn't a bad week in any which way. In fact it probably can go in the books as an overall good week - had some great training sessions, caught up on some personal projects,and work was fine. OH I know what I can share. For my birthday, I decided to jump on the bandwagon and purchased a Nike iPod+ . This little widget is incredible. I went for a semi-long run on Wednesday to test drive the new toy and I am thrilled to have it. For those of you unaware of how this gadget works it's simple: there is a sensor that goes onto your shoe and a chip that plugs into your iPod. You can the choose to have a workout based on (1) time or (2) distance. That's it. While you run, the screen will display your time, distance and pace. Periodically, your "trainer" will tell you how far along you are, etc. Anyway, I am really pleased to have this (despite it being a Nike product) as it allows me to gauge my pace, measure my distance and not be on a treadmill. WIN WIN!

On Saturday I went over to Hammersmith/ Barnes to spend the day with one of my close friends here in London. The day initially called for dinner and a show, but the weather was absolutely beautiful, so we decided to start the day early and walk around the beautiful neighborhood. I don't know what is was about Saturday, but during dinner is dawned on me that it felt very much like a NYC day. I woke up at a reasonable hour, my friend called at 11:00 (which used to be my staple time to sort out which brunch place we were to meet up at), I went to the gym (where I attempted to swim and soon discovered that swimming is not a talent of mine), and then it was off to meet up for good conversation, drinks on the riverbank, tasty food, and splendid memories.

If you thought that was a full day...the main event hadn't even started. After all that, NA and I went to see a great show called Havana Rumba. If it comes to your town (or if you are living in London), I suggest you go and see the show. It is an amazing showcase of talent (and unbelievable bodies), culture, and all around it has such a great spirit to it.

It was a great cap to the weekend. No wait, I still had two more days to go (it is a long weekend here in London). Sadly the rest of the weekend was not as good as Saturday. The rest of the weekend was plagued with a series of disappointments - disappointing long-run, disappointing responses, disappointing behavior, disappointed that unlike my friend I was not told by the boys of Barnes that I was marriage material - just had a general sense of disappointment. The bittersweet thing about living in a new country and meeting new friends is that you sometimes need to relive the past; a past you thought you moved on from, a past you thought you dealt with, and a past that you wish you could just leave in the past.

Not to be one to "sulk" for long, today I snapped out of it and travelled down to the indian market for some shopping. I am hosting a curry night next weekend for what looks to be 15 people. Lord knows how in this world I am going to pull it off, but I can only pray that I somehow

(1) learn how to cook curry and

(2) learn how to cook for 15 people (am realizing how many people that actually is). Cooking for 4 people is usually an adventure for me, so this is going to 4 times the fun and excitement :-)

In order to prep for next Saturday, I figured I would start cooking this weekend. The full menu that I (thank you Mom for NOT helping design the menu), envisioned is...

... veggie samosas (made this from scratch, well not counting the shell), chicken samosas, alu gobi, rajma, palak paneer, chicken biryani (will be sure to make this like my Mom's older brother used to), parathas, galab jambun, jelebi, and ras malai.

Writing that all out made me very nervous. Deep breathes!!

A friend of mine came over today to help with the cooking preparation. I am generally not a fan of having people help me in the kitchen, but today it seemed to work. I could really use a sous-chef in the flat! Come to think, I could do with a cleaning lady, and a masseuse. I will start working on those treats ;-)

So, this weekend may have had its lows, but it certainly had its highs and I am pleased to say that I started my weekend with a smile and I am ending it with a smile. Everything else in the middle.... they are just filler. Nothing to focus on.

Hope you all are well and I hope that you are smiling today and always.

xx

T