A London Love Affair

Since my last post mentioning London,  I traveled to, fell in love with, and parted ways with England.

I was lucky enough to join my friend Katie in Richmond (a suburb outside of London proper) for the last few days of her business trip. We eschewed tourist spots in favor of eating and wandering our way around London based on local recommendations. I have to say, we had a great time and I ate really well despite several people telling me that British food sucks. I am a little upset that I forgot to eat fish and chips while there, but hey, I live in America and I'm positive that I can find a great version here!

This is about to be a shit ton of pictures from England:

The Thames

Katie-my wandering partner

Rusty, whom I fell in love with <3

London Calling & Travel Musings

I've been SO quiet this past week or so, and for once, I have good reasoning! I'm leaving for London today and I have been completely preoccupied with prepping for my trip (I haven't flown since 2012) and wrapping things up at work so I can travel with a sound mind.

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I'll have very limited contact with the online world, but I'll be checking in via Instagram and posting here if possible (I'm praying for lots of WiFi).

I just wanted to check in and say, "I'll see ya when I get back" and to share a few minor tips that I've been living by when prepping for this trip.

• Keep a brand new notebook related to your trip
• Store restaurant recommendations/must sees
• Keep a "To Do" and "To Pack" list
• Plan outfits by day/night
• Purchase and actually use 1 million different sized pouches
• Store items by category (cosmetics/travel docs/wires and chargers/clean socks/etc)
• Use shoe bags and purse dust bags when traveling to stay organized/clean
• Purchase a set of travel Space Bags (here), YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT
• Organize clothes by type
• Use them to sort clean vs. dirty clothes on the way home
• Invest in a nice rolley carry on
• This is mine and I am ELATED with my purchase
• If traveling internationally, don't forget to snag some electric adapters (here)
• Leave your paperback books at home and load on up on ebooks
• Grab a nice high end glossy mag at the airport to enjoy en route
• Load up on healthy, satisfying snacks
• airplane food sucks ass
• I grabbed trail mix/100 cal packs/luna bars
• Use clothing rack dividers to keep your travel wardrobe sectioned off while preparing
• Tell everyone about your trip
• They will become jealous
• Random people will give you recommendations

MDW Scores

I feel like I have been working like a mad woman. I mentioned in my last post that I've put more time and effort into my new job than ever before (and I'm loving it), but it has definitely taken a bit of a toll on me-I'm exhausted! The good news is that I did not realize that MDW was upon us and I was so delightfully surprised last week when I realized that I would have this Monday off! In addition to a much appreciated day off and some time to reflect on those amazing men and women that served for our freedom is the amazing sales that most retailers offer on this glorious weekend.

I spend a lot less time on the computer in my new role which means I am no longer trolling websites for sales and "next up" purchases, so now, online shopping has become a real treat and one that I indulged in quite a bit this morning. I made 3 purchases (J Crew, Forever 21, and Old Navy), see below for what was worthy of me forking over my hard earned cash!