i think i found it...

I may have finally found the wallpaper design for my tattoo. The idea of getting a wallpaper design for a tattoo was three-fold.
1. to cover up the terrible mistake of a flower tattoo I made when I was 18.
2. to speak to the analogy that wallpaper is to a structure as is a tattoo to the body (appropriate for my career choice in interior design.)
3. to speak to a bit of my heritage, as most good tattoos do (I find it so fitting that I found the right image while here in England.)

After searching through a sea of sources, for over 3 years, this is the first wallpaper design that has really, truly spoken to me. It's a sketch by William Morris, from a series he designed in 1883, inspired by the River Thames. I love that it's unfinished, and shows the layering and levels of complexity it takes to get to the final product. More on this later...I'm going to bed a very happy lady tonight!

last week, i still had time to do things like this...

With our deadline fast approaching, I might not be blogging much until I get home. Last week, after a rough day, my coworkers and I decided to take a much needed break, and checked out the Clerkenwell Design Week Festival...conveniently located right around the corner from our office. There were tons of showrooms open, live music, free booze, amazing exhibitions, and some all around neat things to see. It was nice to get our minds of of things for an evening, while at the same time surrounding ourselves with what we love the most...good design. 

http://www.clerkenwelldesignweek.com/

the threshold into the event had a cool video screen installation, showing naked people with water moving around them. who knows what it really meant, but it was cool to watch (picture doesn't do it justice)

hello cdw!

sean and dean, testing out some of the furniture...

awesome textile designer, ella doran's booth.

this building was almost more fun to look at the what was being displayed inside of it

fun storage

sleek.

this reminded me that i should put my seascout knot tieing abilities to good use  for home decor projects

they say bespoke out here, instead of custom. i still can't get used to it.

designers caught in the moment

the farmiloe building. super cool. super, super cool.

they obviously didn't want anyone to sit on the furniture without signing a release form first!

Can I take you home please?

I really did pick the right time to be in London. The weather has been great, and there have been multitudes of events at my fingertips. So thankful. See you all in a couple of weeks. I'll be refreshed and ready to bring this positive energy to SF with me! xx

aw, flowers? you shouldn't have! :)

Last Saturday night, Dan wanted me to get out of Central London, and experience North London. He invited me to join him and his friends Ursula and Greg up in Kilburn. They were the sweetest bunch. They even had flowers for me when I arrived! We strolled into what Dan called a "real pub", interestingly named Cock Tavern. They had been drinking for a while, so I caught up with them and drank dome more whiskey over a couple games of pool. The dj played Michael Jackson for about an hour straight. We continued to drink, dance, and get generally pissed (wasted.) We met some lovely older folks, one lady of which ended up falling in love with Dan. It must have been his seductive dance moves. After a few more pints, we got some chicken and a couple of bottles of wine, headed back to Ursula's and listened to music until 4am. Good stuff! Thanks guys!

                                       

tulips!

the balls aren't stripes and solids here...

greg trying to distract dan from sinking the 8 ball

ahhhhhh!

that's better ;)

sweet old guy, who told me i had nice stems

we used the flowers to soak up a bit of a spill. they survived it!

ursula's leg however, did not

hi daaaaan. :)

dan's new girlfriend

the guy i ended up with. (not really)

it just keeps on coming...the fun, that is.

i can't seem to keep up the blog posting with the amount of fun i've been having over here. last week was non-stop, so this week i'm trying to be a good girl and stick to work only. and well, i haven't had much choice with the 12 hours days i've been putting in. anyway, here's what i did this past weekend:

friday: beth and i had a great girls night out. we met in soho, and ate at this french restaurant called randall and aubin. it used to be an old butcher shop, and has since been converted into a surprisingly fun little restaurant. the place was so popular that there was a 45 minute wait just to get in. beth and i didn't mind...it was a nice evening and we had wine outside with all the others until they sat us. once we got in, we were even more ecstatic. i mean, how can you go wrong when they're playing top 40 hits and you're eating fine seafood amongst cheerfully gay company?

view from the line outside

this shop was across the street. i have a feeling they were selling more than cakes...

this place had a running loop video of this chick getting massaged.  i almost lost my appetite.

somehow the disco ball in the middle of this old building worked. we danced in our chairs as we ate...

crab!

desert at a frozen yogurt shop called snog (which means kiss) they also pronounce yogurt as yogg-ert here.

beth fashionably camouflaged into the wall

white chocolate star sprinkles! fantastic!

saturday: decided to take a much needed breather, and went for a solo walk down to the river. ahhhh. then bought a bunch of crappy, yet amazing souvenirs for y'all. i won't ruin any surprises, but let's just say that some of you will be receiving condoms that say, "would you like to see big ben?" on the wrapper.

a beautiful day and waterloo bridge

the locals soaking up as much of the sun as they could in the embankment gardens

greeeeen trees

 golden jubilee bridge with big ben in the background

somerset house

docks on the river thames

after all the walking about, i was pooped. found my way back home and took a nice nap. geared up for a wildly fun night with dan and his friends in north london. it requires a separate post it was such a blast. more soon! xx

I can cross bowling off of my list!

Continuing my weekday evening outing streak, I spent Thursday with Gethyn at All Star Lanes in Holborn. He knew how much I wanted to go bowling while I was here, so he offered to take me. Not being much of a bowler himself, he knew he might be humiliated by a girl, but was willing to take the risk. Unfortunately for me, he beat me the first game! It's okay. It was the first time he'd ever scored over 100, so I was happy for him. I won't blame it on the fact that I didn't have my ball with me, because I beat him the second game! Thanks for a great time Gethyn!

We went to Freud's first, and had some toxic whiskey drinks and got our juices flowing for some serious bowling

lane two, for two.

hello lady!!

first game, oh the shame!

cat picking up her spare, in usual form (yes, i'm talking about myself in third person)

we sat here drinking american beers all night, they even had anchor steam! 

nails cleverly coordinated with my blue moon

gethyn, looking like clark kent

hulk hogan! what brings you to london? oh, just  riding on the handle bars of someone's bike, you say? that's nice.

So sorry!

I've just been so swept up with work lately, that I have had no time to write. It's starting to feel like I'm living here, rather than an indulging in a long vacation. I've been here 3 weeks, and have three more to go...wow. So much has happened already, and I can't imagine how I'll feel after it's all said and done. I miss SF and all my loves there, but am starting to feel like I don't want this visit to end! So much out here to do, that I haven't had the chance to. On my list:

Find an old wallpaper shop so I can find the perfect sample for my tattoo
Go on an architectural exploration walk around town
Visit the zoo in Regent's Park
Take the train to Paris
See Amber in Manchester
Get souvenirs for everyone back home...any requests?
Send some postcards
Find a cool home decor shop and snag some gems for my place
Explore the Design Museum and Natural History Museum
Go bowling
Pretty much everything else I haven't mentioned here...

But, with our deadline right around the corner, who knows what I'll accomplish (other than helping out with the design of an amazing children's hospital of course.)

Managed to sneak out of the office last night to celebrate Beth's birthday! Wow! We had a good time. Went to a posh Indian restaurant called Tamarind. Top notch cuisine. My favorite were the scallops as an appetizer, and the rose flavored ice cream with white chocolate covered mint leaves. I was so happy to be able to partake in the O'Brien family celebration for Beth. I picked such a great time to be in London!

Tim and Helen behind a beautiful table of food!

My cousin Mark and I

The gorgeous birthday girl!

of course the roses matched her outfit

desert!

And tonight, I spent a fun filled evening with Dan. We took the double decker bus all over town. Stopped at a Vietnamese restaurant in Shoreditch that let you bring your own beer in. Scarfed down another delicious meal over two Cobra beers, and had more than a few good laughs. Then, had my first Jameson and ginger since being here (hard to believe, I know) at a bar called Jaguar Shoes. Good stuff. I love Dan!

Yay!

word

big bowls of deliciousness

wallpaper collage at jaguar shoes

on the bus

oooooh

yeah

kisses!