Video Highlights of Paris

We had our few days in Paris and before I rant and rave about it all I thought I'd share these few videos.

The evening at Notre Dame was really the best.

...and there was even roller-representation!

Boogie Woogie Babies

We had our orientation for our trip to London. With quite the bit of free time to spare we departed for our return visit to Camden. We were caught in the rain (I myself was in nothing more than a t-shirt thin jacket!) but Cydney and I enjoyed it none the less. We stopped into all the stores we had wanted to see on our previous visit and then some. We saw a whole store dedicated to shirts that light up and respond to sound. The markets were very similar to US flea markets and swap meets that cater to wholesalers. We found matching dresses to wear to Paris (we noticed on the streets groups of girls that wear matching outfits and since we joke that we are in fact twins we're going to give the style a go) We also ate at inSpiral, a vegan restaurant that also has many raw food options. We had lasagna, roasted potato wedges, parsnips, and steamed mixed greens for only £9.75 each. Cyd had an Americano (she had me taste it insisting it was the best so far and that I even would like it, but I still am not a coffee fan) and I had a very rich hot chocolate both were great as we were freezing and soaked from the downpour. inSprial really focuses on healthy eating and the vibe of the place is hippie-esque but it's really charming and has a great view of the Camden lock with large windows despite it's small cozy interior.

We went to further explore the Stables market and a shop we fell in love with named CYBERDOG It caters to rave/club scenes and it's like you are transported into a futuristic, robot dance land. Three shopping floors that make you feel like you are at an actual rave! The webshop does not give the shopping experience ANY sort of justice, even if you do not like rave scene I would suggest visiting this shop just to see it. The clothing to buy and the matching accessories are amazing!

We also went to Oddballs, a shop that specializes in unique hobbies, many relating to juggling (like poi/firedance) and unicycling. I had wanted to take up this hobby last year and bought a set of poi trainers! The staff was really fun even demonstrating and making sure I tried out what I was getting even without having any knowledge of working the things myself. I happily discovered that my trainers are also slave labor free and fair trade. My favorite!

We went home after a little more wandering and got ready for our big night out to Electric Dreams club located at London Stone's Eerie Pub Company. The decor was fascinating with skeletons embedded in the walls and haunting apothecary jars everywhere. The entrance to the bathrooms were concealed by the hidden door bookcases--which made us so happy as we had joked about finding secret passages before we left California. It was basically an 80s night and we got all dolled up. We befriended David Devynel, a model/promoter, and his sister who is the hat buyer for the department store chain Phoenix. She's working non-stop for the upcoming Ascot event here. We stayed until closing at 3 and shared a taxi back to our flat. Today we're watching a Punch and Judy show at 4 and booking tickets to London Dungeouns! Tomorrow is going to be just as fun.

God Save the Drag Queens

Camden, despite everything being closed, was a blast! We wander the darkening streets and took photos of all the elaborate shop fronts. There wasn't too much going on for a Monday (surprise...) but we went to The Elephant's Head pub, est. 1902! Had a few to drink with overpriced spicy rice puff snacks. On the way home the tubes were mostly clear, so a seat that was vomited upon was clearly displayed.

Yesterday I was fortunate enough to be selected to have a private tour of Lipsy HQ. Kristi Eames, the Director of Retail, treated us with tea and all her knowledge, as well as sweet swag bags.

After class we had a bit of a break to do laundry while most of the class attended a graduate fashion show.

And after THAT we went to see the most amazing musical.... Priscilla Queen of the Desert! Cyd and I danced and sung along and it was really the most fun. I couldnt stop smiling the whole time. Even had a fancy themed cocktail (Bernadette Bramble Flush) which tasted like sherbet. After the show we went to a pizzeria italiano with Ashley and Alfred and then made our way to the flat.

This morning was epic. We went to the famed World's End and I nearly cried. My heart was pounding and it was just about as bad as when I met Adam Hughes of illustrative fame. Even though it's not in my budget I dropped £45 for Vivienne Westwood earrings. The packaging is even going to be cherished. Made our way around King's Road and popped into a cute yet non-vegan cupcake shop, The Chelsea Teapot. Further up we had tea and tour at Harvery Nichols. Once the tour finished Cyd and I perused and tried on some fancy hats as everyone here is preparing for the Queen's birthday and the Ascot events. That's right. I tried on something Cherry Chau that was £485....maybe more! I also accidentally manhandled an Alexander McQueen dress that was nearly £1000.

We're eager to return to Camden and see it in it's subcultural waking day glory.... more to come!

Sunday Monday Happy Days

So Sunday the class went to a custom tailor shop: Thom Sweeney. I think if I didn't already want to be fully emersed in apparel construction the interior design of the shop was to die for--I was truly jealous of the lack of phallus of my gender as the shop caters to men. We had Orange Coast alumni, Matt, as our secret in store guide.

The tour and class session was short and Cyd and I were treated out by her aunt and extended family for the afternoon. We went to the Eye of London (which is the ferris wheel). It was the start of rain during our trip and while Cyd and I happily engaged it not everyone agreed. To stay out of droplets' way we entered the London Film Movieum (which is not free). Nerded out with some Star Wars and Harry Potter shots! We got home in the evening but so many days walking about we ended up retreating with some BBC "on the tele".

We arose yesterday to go to the Victoria and Albert museum for a customized fashion throughout history tour... but we accidentally got in line for the National History museum a block away. Bustled over to the correct building and had a wonderful tour guide named Ann who lent us her knowledge from all around the world. The V&A is just as impressive as the British Museum and we desperately want to go back. After the tour we had a break near the outdoor cafe despite the glum weather and then returned to see the jaw-dropping Yohji Yamamoto exhibit. Unfortunately we were not permitted to take photos but I highly suggest learning about him if you are unfamiliar. I bought my first souvenirs! Two unlined sketching notebooks with Yamamoto quotes on the cover and a pair of boot pins: one for Cydney, naturally.

After that trip we approached our fellow classmate, Ashley, to head out to King's Cross with us to get our Harry Potter geek on as Wes (another school chum) spilled the beans on her obsession. We three made the trip via Tubes and had quite the time searching for the fabled tourist attraction of Platform 9 3/4. Some looks around and no sign we were afraid that it had been removed while the station is being reconstructed but Cyd bravely squeaked out to the guard "I feel silly for asking--"
"Harry Potter is in front of the station." Cut off but at least we had our answer. We found it, too! And after we took some silly shots others crowded about to join the fun.

Nothing else was really charming for us in King's Cross sadly. I checked out a few pubs but they were let downs. Closer to our flat we went to Munkchin's cafe who offers a Vegetarian burger and it made the night.

Today we visited the gargantuan department store that is Harrod's. Priding itself on being the most luxurious department shopping experience in the world there was also too much to explore. We were given a very speedy tour by Lindsay Pharrah (I'm not sure if this is her correct spelling!) On our own we went through the most glamourous children's section and then to the Pet Kingdom. The Pet Kingdom also had a shop within itself accessed as a dog treat bar named The Canine Cookie Company. We popped into the Food Halls but only grabbed ourselves some bread rolls for fear of the lack of vegan goods.

We made another trip to Planet Organic and Sainsbury. Also shelled out some stupid £15 for portable speakers to connect our iPods to for supreme morning dancing. But now we are updating our blogs and about to head out to Camden to hopefully pick out a punk venue or show.

Two Days Today

I found out today that Cyd and I weren't the only ones to get accidentally stuck in the building and it's somewhat redeeming. What's surprising is the lack of interest to assist others in a time of trapped need by other students passing by.

Yesterday was a monumental day for us as fashion students. We took a walking tour of Conduit Street stopping by to see Stella McCartney's (which was disappointing to learn that her line is not in fact vegan as she uses silk and wool--possibly because her line is governed by Gucci and fought them over leather), Matthew Williamson's, and MOST importantly Vivienne Westwood's shops. Our tour was led by Sam Spiegel! After gawking at all the high end stores we were free to wander Oxford and Bond streets. I was sorely disappointed in the TopShop unlike my classmates, but I know that I favor custom and one of a kind wearables! Cyd and I stopped by at least three lingerie shops....but we didn't really find anything to our fancy. I spotted two skinhead men and was quite pleased to see they were rockin' Fred Perry. We marched on back to Bloomsbury and Bedford Place to break and then wandered around the night...

...somehow we ended up in Soho Mayfair area which happens to be the gay sex district! We stopped to find our bearings when I noticed that there was a severe lack of females and then men were kissing. No matter, we pressed on and wandered past people in pubs and poking through the windows of bookstores that all had neon signs regarding their "licensed sex shop basements". Out of all the rainbow signs one black and neon Tron-esque shop grabbed our attention with the name COX COOKIES AND CAKES! A S&M themed cupcakery! Unfortunately nothing was vegan but I'm definitely going back for pictures. I'd love to have a shop like this myself. Everything had edible glitter and the toppings were chocolate shaped penises, some sweets were made to look like boobs (in both white and black skin tones!) it was just naughty treats in the best kitsch delivery. Even the uniforms were latex and studded aprons. The girls behind the counter were happy enough to fill us in on vegan bakeries. We opted not to photograph a skin bird and her hen party pals as she had many bruises on her scalp and let's face it: I'm tough but not THAT tough (Cyd had to talk me out of this one). We did however get a shot of a girl in a slutty yet cute Union Jack micro length get up and she and her friend turned out to be transplanted Americans that fell in love with London in a study abroad program and now work for similar programs! They just finished a burlesque class and gave us some tips on the locale.


Worn out we headed home and stopped off at a Chinese restaurant that claimed to be "OPEN ALL DAY" but apparently not all night yet we did manage to get an order in. We had a bit of confusion of Aubergine (it had been so long we both forgot it was Eggplant and the only explanation the Chinese man had for us was "Aubergine is Aubergine!") I had ordered Sugar Peas in Garlic sauced but discovered at our flat that I got a big tub of Pak Choi. It was still tasty and Cyd and I shared our entrees so I also had some class of spicy tofu as our late night meal.

This morning we headed out to Portabello Road which for you SoCal locals is very similar in concept to Olvera Street. It's got antiques and boutiques, kitsch kiosks, open air food vending. The only difference is, as with anywhere else in this city, you multiple the people count by a gadzillion and you're squished like sardine-cattle hybrids off to shopping slaughter. I managed to find a WW2 pin for my pop's collection though and Cyd and I poked into Hummingbird Bakery for the only vegan item of Refridgerator Cake (rumored to be Prince William's favorite. It's basically a mishmash of graham crackers and melted chocolate-ours also had raisins- but instead of eggs to bind it's held together by the set chocolate) The soymilk tasted icky but the cake was divine! I also fell in love with Hazel Bee cards. I'm especially fond of the drunk bunny one.

After the overly crowded Portabello Road stop we made our way to Design Makers Market. It was very teeny tiny but everyone informed us that one table, Ubisquitous Bakehouse had vegan baked goods and we bought one of each to share. YUM-MY. We chatted up with the baker, Rosi Simister, who also shared some veg info with us.

More adventures on our first day using the Tubes (which is the Metro or Subway systems for London) and buses. We had a nice little picnic with some class mates. We split from the group to go to an Antiquarian Bookstore that has a supposedly large occult section, but being Europe on a Saturday we had just missed their operating hours. Since we were in the area we took a quick peek about the British Museum.

It was absolutely jaw dropping. I adored the Helenistic statues. After a break at home we headed out again and visited Trafalgar Square and walked across the Thames.

Not sure exactly how far we walked but it was definitely a work out. We even managed to make it back alone on the Tubes without instructor assistance! It's now almost midnight and I should really be heading home from ACCENT's center. Let's hope I don't get stuck this time!

About Last Night...

So after our long day out on the tour we did some grocery shopping and then headed off to the pub for dinner.


And after dinner we thought we'd drop in to the Computer Lab offered by our overseas campus which is open 24/7. This is our crazy night. Because we're nerds.


Out and about today. I'll fill the wrap up later.

Tour Bus Bonanza

After quite the flight (nine and a half hours, we arrived early and met up with our chaperone first) Cydney and I were extremely exhausted. We got settled into our room pretty quickly and now after spending a whole day in London we can see that living on the high floor with no elevator is going to really work out our thighs! There weren't too many vegan options as we explored the Sainsbury grocery market last night but we made due and today we visited the posh Waitrose grocery (also not too much to choose from but we at least got veggie dogs). This morning before all other important things we woke up to go on a city tour via bus. Our guide, Angie, was so petite and pleasant being highly informative and fun, and despite her age, we lost track of her in the tourist hustle and bustle more than once! We saw many key spots like the London Ferris Wheel, Westminster Abbey and its' history, several parks, Harrod's, about Londonia in general, gossip regarding the royal family while looking at their residences, so much! While we were engaged in the section regarding Buckingham Palace we were waiting to see the Changing of the Guards and were very fortunate to see a rehearsal for the Queen's Birthday Parade next week.


Last night we went to a cute pub named Jack Horner's Pies and Pub on Tottenham Ct. Road  and shyed away from most items on the menu settling only for chips (fries), but we decided tonight that we would actually eat the bangers and mash for they offered vegetarian sausages--they were 100% veggie made by hand and SO GOOD. The potatoes were topped with fried, crispy leeks, and a tart red wine gravy that tasted similar to red cabbage. The veggie sausages themselves weren't TVP but rather mashed potatoes with compressed vegetables that were breaded and fried. Another video will be posted about this later!!

I've been searching and eyeballing everyone, I almost feel underdressed compared to all the stylish males out here. I also noticed that there aren't too many punkers about (the sales guy at the Vodaphone cellular shop said they were all in Camden, but we went poking around and still not a ton of luck) and made a game out of counting them, but even the ones I included I would never say were punk back in SoCal.

We have our first class session tomorrow and we're still planning out when we'll see our spooky sites. Can't wait!