Finding Myself...at Selfridges!

Like my fun new hair?

I was walking home from a work presentation today and decided to stop into Selfridges (department store) to blow off some steam and look for a dress I saw in a magazine. Instead, I found hair extensions (you know, like Posh Spice and Paris Hilton wear). I was about to put them down and move on when a nice sales lady appeared and asked if I'd like to try some (and I have trouble saying no to nice sales ladies). Ten minutes later, I'm sitting in a chair in front of a mirror looking at my crazy head of super-long hair. And then something great happened -- I recognized myself again!

I've had long hair most my life (making it a bit too much of my personal identity maybe), up until a few weeks before moving to England, when I decided to cut it all off and reinvent myself as "short-haired grown up serious corporate girl," which basically just resulted in me crying hysterically every time I looked in the mirrror for two months...making me "Sad neurotic girl crying over idiot haircut move."

Granted, my hair hasn't been this long since senior year of college, so this is serious good times -- adjustable hair may be one of the best inventions ever! I think my sister once had a dollie with adjustable hair, but I think she cut it all off -- ironically enough -- defeating the point of a doll with adjustable hair.

It is a tad WARM though, given the heat wave we're having here in London...thank goodness the (additional) hair's removeable.

I went into the office on the way home and my boss was still there. We talked for awhile, but it never registered to him that my hair was a good 8-9 inches longer than it was when I left a few hours before. Guess it's definitely a girl thing....and a good experiment when it comes to what men notice...

I've decided Fridays will now officially be "long hair day." I think maybe I will come up with an alternative personality go with it. And maybe refer to myself as "Raquel Glitz" -- the "stripper" name assigned to me by one of those chain email games...

Heavenly Dim Sum

Last Thursday, my friend Mike and I had dinner at London hotspot, Hakkasan (Chinese). It was delicious. The ambience, food and service were all great. The vibe is very New York clubby (reminds me of Tao or Kittichai). There's a swank bar where we enjoyed some tasty cocktails while we waited (ahem, 30 minutes) for our table -- but the wait was forgiven after some time spent sipping my lychee martini. The atmosphere is also enhanced by pumping music, loungy decor with lots of blue light eminating from everywhere, and a menu that goes on and on and on. I was impressed by the variety of the menu, especially in regard to price. You can have a very expensive dinner, or something quite reasonable, but still with plenty of options. This was best illustrated by two different beef dishes side by side on the menu, one being a £15 rib-eye, and the other £48 (the latter being Wagyu beef, which we deducted to be an ultra-premium Chinese beef like Kobe in Japan, hence the drastically elevated price).

We started off with a vegetarian Dim Sum platter that came out glistening like a little platter of jewels (see photo above). Every bite was delectable. For the mains, we shared a lovely sea bass steamed in a banana leaf (melted like butter in the mouth), a spicy stir-fry prawn dish, sticky rice, and a side of pak choi (baby bok choi). The menu can best be described as adventurous...browsing it is like taking a journey in itself.

When the dessert menu came, we were way too full to partake, but we did get a giggle from the £11,500 bottle of Dalmore whisky (that would be $23,000 USD). I think it was a 60-year old variety. But we opted to keep our credit cards in our pocket and call it a night....If I have $23K in my pocket, I'm buying a car, not a cocktail!

Posh after-dinner drinks aside, I would definitely recommend Hakkasan and plan to return!

What's Wrong with this Picture?

Anyone who knows me has likely been on the receiving end of a rant about unrealistic body images in fashion magazines. Not that it stops me from spending half my income on these magazines, or hoping that one day I will wake up with a body like Giselle Bundchen...but I diverge.

Elle Britain's July issue is the latest offender. Titled "The Body Issue," they are supposed to be making (real) women feel BETTER about their bodies regardless of shape. Yet they can't even hire an airbrusher/photo editor who is competent enought to realise that they air brushed this model's belly button right off the page. And we're supposed to beleive these people are real? Perhaps the "tummy toning" discussed in this article is SO effective that it toned her naval to the point of invisibility. Or better yet, maybe Elle has its own lab and is now manufacturing genetically perfect supermodels in test tubes and incubators (GMO Supermodels? The next big thing?), thereby eliminating the need for a belly button all together. If that's the case, they could be really efficient and leave out the brain too so they don't have to pay them. (This will also make them more desireable to most of the male population....I saw "The Stepford Wives"...I know what men want.)

Regardless, this type of visual dishonesty is crap. Or maybe it's just what the therapist ordered -- a nice little reminder that the images we hold up as "perfect" beauty are quite simply ... fabricated.

The New Love of My Life

A few weeks ago I bought a new Apple computer (a MacBook Pro). I'm completely smitten. Maybe even in love. It's the most awesome computer ever and I find myself thinking about it while I'm at work during the day. It's bright, warm, smart, fast -- all the traits I look for in a partner. When I get home, I immediately start playing and we stay up late together into the night. It never bores me, never crashes, it's soooo handsome, and the software baffles me with its brilliance and ease of use. This may be the perfect relationship. I'm inspired. I'm building a website, organising my photos, downloading music from iTunes at debt-inducing proportions, and watching my favourite movies. I've started hanging out at the Apple Store on Regent Street like a crazed groupie -- or an addict....happily surrounded by other users. This is a good high to be on, I am so completely stoked. I don't know what amazing things I am going to accomplish with this machine as I plunge to new depths of geekdom, but I have a feeling that whatever it is, it is going to be great. Maybe even legendary. (It even has a built-in webcam for anyone who wants to web chat!) Could this be the perfect relationship that I've been waiting/hoping for? To be continued...

Crying at the Movies, Alone. Again.

Happy Fourth of July to my American peeps!

So, I had big plans tonight to celebrate America's birthday by going to a concert at St. Martins in the Fields Church near my flat for a patriotic chorale concert of uplifting American music. But by the time I was about to leave work, I wasn't feeling it anymore, so I went to the movies instead.

I saw "The Lake House" starring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock. The movie is getting seriously ripped to shreds by the critics but I LOVED IT. If you just simply accept that much of the plot is illogical and makes no sense and stop trying to figure it out, it is a lovely, romantic, emotionally touching and beautiful piece of filmography. I was by myself, sharing the theatre with just three old ladies. At the finish, hand clutching heart and awash in tears, I turned to them and blurted "That was SO beautiful!" To which they just looked at me like I was nuts and one coldly replied, "It was filmmed very well dear but I couldn't make heads or tales of it." What a buzzkill! It was all good by me though, it was really a sweet movie. I can't imagine why it's getting such bad remarks -- people have no imagination for fantasy anymore...hmph!

It's a magical story about two people who fall in love and correspond, however, they are living two years apart...he in 2004 and she in 2006. But they inhabited the same glass lake house (hence the title) and the mailbox is the magical portal through which they exchange letters. And they have the same dog. And are trying to meet up. What's not to like about that??? I loved it loved it loved it. And I don't care what anyone says. You should see it too!

But I need to get a grip on the emotional crying outbursts. Before the movie, there was a trailer for a movie called "Paper Clips" about teaching kids in some backwater town about the Holocaust. It took me 10 minutes to stop bawling from that. Might have to put some recovery space in between before going to see that one.

I Love Gordon Ramsay

Just returned from a delish dinner at Gordon Ramsay's newest London Restaurant, Maze. It is the second outstanding experience I've had with his restaurants (I had the pleasure of eating at Gordon Ramsay in Chelsea a couple months ago with some clients, which was over-the-top amazing).

For those who aren't familiar, Gordon Ramsay is England's most popular and irreverent chef, and perhaps one of the very best chefs in the world. He is also a TV star with two highly-entertaining shows on-air in the U.K. ("Kitchen Nightmares" and "The F Word") and "Hell's Kitchen" which airs in the U.S.

Maze specialises in small plates, like tapas. Everyone ordered four each and we did some sharing. I had a heavenly dish of thinly-sliced marinated beetroot wrapped around Sairass cheese (soft and sweet), sprinkled with pine nuts and Cabernet Sauvignon dressing (I never wanted it to end); lightly sauteed scallops with pepper and two different sauces (one was a sweet raisin sauce, almost like hoisin); roasted brill (white flakey fish) with baby spinach; and a red mullet boullibaisse with fennel.

For dessert, we shared a few goodies: Baked Alaska lollipops (so inventive); mango parfait; marinated peaches with basil sorbet (I could have eaten MUCH more of the sorbet); a peanut butter & cherry jam sandwich (like a cheesecake) with salted nuts and cherry sorbet; Madagascar vanilla rice pudding with marscapone; dark chocolate truffles; and freshly made rose-flavoured Turkish delight.

The food was perfect and the service impeccably professional. The decor is modern, warm and quite zen/soothing. The floorplan is broken up between a bar/lounge area and two seating areas. There is also a semi-open kitchen in the back with a chef's table (next time).

And to my surprise, the price did not knock me over. It was worth every penny.

You can check out the Gordon Ramsay website at www.GordonRamsay.com.

Lauren's Visit to London & Paris

My cousin Lauren came for a visit this past week and we had such a fun time together! It was her first time in Europe, so we embarked on a whirlwind trip through London & Paris. I think she left completely exhausted, but she was an amazing trooper and had some of the best stamina of any visitor yet!

She also packed for the visit. I did a double take when she came out of the gate at the airport with THREE flourescent green suitcases (for 6 days)! One was completely filled with just shoes. So obviously, she had lots of options and never ran out of clothes. Her husband Eddie said that when she was packing, he thought she was leaving him for me. :)

In England, we/she ran around to sooo many sights...some of which I hadn't seen yet. We...

• Walked around to get views of Parliament, Big Ben, and then walked through St. James Park to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. That was rather boring, actually, and quite bizarre when the band began playing the "Star Wars" theme. Crazy crowded and mobbed by tourists too!
• On the walk back from Buckingham Palace, we got stopped on a corner for a motorcade passing through, and Prince Charles was in the back seat of the car! He gave a little wave and Lauren snapped a picture!
• (Lauren) took a tour through the British Museum and toured the Tower of London (while I was working)
• Went up in the London Eye, the giant ferris wheel on the Thames with amazing views of the city
• Toured Westminster Abby, which is more moseleum/crypt than church. Very odd and very creepy with lots of tombs of people like Elizabeth I, Mary, Sir Isaac Newton, etc.
• Saw the musical "Mamma Mia" (all ABBA music) on the West End and had dinner in Chinatown afterwards
• Ate well at the Oxo Tower Brasserie (with sweeping views on the Thames and St. Paul's Cathedral) and Momo, my favourite Moroccan restaurant. My friend Kate was in town from Amsterdam for business, so she joined us too.
• Had high tea at Fortnum & Mason
• Took a double decker bus tour around the city

In Paris (WHICH WAS GLORIOUSLY SUNNY & HOT!!!!), we...

• Stayed at the lovely Hotel Luxembourg across from Luxembourg Gardens
• Went to the top of the Eiffel Tower and the Arc d'Triomph (we found out there was no lift to the top of the Arc after purchasing our tickets, so we got a very good workout...God I'm out of shape! THey should have paid US for all that climbing!)
• Toured Notre Dame Cathedral
• Toured Versailles (the palace and the gardens) -- HOLY CRAP it's huge and over-the-top and amazing!!! Lauren and I rented a golf cart to zip around the gardens, as we were too hot and lazy to walk. And we loved it!
• Saw the Mona Lisa, Venus di Milo and other treasures at the Louvre
• Wandered and had lunch on the Champs Elysees
• Pigged out on Nutella and banana crepes at Cafe Mondrian
• Had breakfast and bought macaroons at Laduree, my favourite Parisian patisserie
• Went into the Louis Vuitton flagship store where Lauren peer-pressured me into buying a handbag

I think she left pretty worn out and tired -- I know I was! But we had fun and it was so good having her here to visit...she is like a sister to me so it was wonderful all around! Who's coming next...anyone?

On the Seine in Paris

Lauren in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles

High Tea at Fortnum & Mason in London

Cat & Marie Antoinette at the Petite Trianon at Versailles

On Top the Arc d'Triomphe

On the Eurostar

The European Launch of Adeena's First Book!

My brilliant friend Adeena (Sussman) has published her first book!

"Just Heat it and Eat It" is a fun look at convenience foods of the 40s-60s. It is very good and includes interesting tidbits and trivia about some iconic American foods...which Adeena painstakingly spent hours researching and putting into prose.

Adeena is in town visiting from NY and brought me my very own copy. So we threw a party at my place last Friday evening to celebrate -- about 25 friends came, so I consider that the European launch party for the book...I passed it around and all were impressed! (We were also all very impressed by the delicious vodka mint lemonades Adeena was stirring up and pouring by the pitcher...)

To order your very own copy, check it out on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1933112190/ref=sr_11_1/103-3567841-5247038?ie=UTF8

Adeena's website is www.adeenasussman.com.