Welcome to London, summer!! We’re so happy to have you!!

My American beauty and I 

Right, so the purpose of this blog may seem insignificant to some but many people have been encouraging me to write one for a long time so I’ve decided that this summer is the perfect opportunity as, I realised today, I have more time on my hands than I know what to do with. This first post is going to start with a bit of my personal history, as a way of introducing who I am and what I’ve lived. This Wednesday, July 3rd 2013, I completed my first year of English high school! For those of you who are unaware, I moved to London from New York almost a year ago and I am absolutely loving life over here! Although when I first moved, nobody could do anything to convince me that I wasn’t living my worst nightmare.

Up until the big move, I had been living a normal life that I thought was ‘perfect’. I went to an amazing school where I had so many friends, including my best friend Henry who I was incredibly close with. More importantly than the friends though, was the abundance of family I had living around me. Both sets of grandparents lived a short ten-minute drive away and my cousins lived only 45 minutes away in Hastings-on-Hudson in New York state. I loved my house and my adorable puppy Giacomo who I, quite honestly, could not imagine life without. It was a real shock to the system when we watched him drive off on the 20th of June 2012 with his new family who had come from Boston, Massachusetts to claim him as their own. From the time we arrived in July up until the end of September I was in a miserable state of depression and self-pity and I found it impossible to see the good in any situation. On September 28th I decided to take a big leap of faith and go on the weekend away for all teenagers in years 10-ll at my church HTB (Holy Trinity Brompton, http://www.htb.org/). I didn’t really know anybody but despite the nerves, I went for it, knowing that it was the best possible way to make friends in an easy, relaxed environment. By the end of just two short days, I had met so many amazing kids who I had so much in common with and who have helped me, literally, survive this roller coaster year. God has blessed me beyond what I could have ever imagined and I have seen firsthand how simply trusting and knowing that I will be safe in God’s hands is enough. All my worry and anxiety came to nothing and God showed me that his will for my life was far greater than the plans I had for myself!

Anyway…back to my rejoicing over over the fact that summer holidays have finally arrived! I plan to update you guys everyday this summer on what I’ve been up to and share with you fun experiences at  really cool  places  that you can have yourself. I’ll be inserting links to everything I’ve enjoyed that I’m sure you’ll love as much as I do.

Yesterday was my first full day of summer break and what a day it was. The lovely girl wearing the bright pink shirt in the photo that goes with this post is my fellow New Yorker who I went to school with forever and who I danced with, Risako. For her summer holiday, she and her family (mother, father and brother) have been traveling Europe. London was the last stop on their journey as they started in Paris where they stayed for five days and then Belgium where they stayed the same length of time. When she told me she would be coming to London Town I was so excited and we immediately made plans to do something totally fun together! I met her at Harrods (http://www.harrods.com/) and from there we made our way along Old Brompton Road to South Kensington tube station. Our plan of action was to head to Soho to check out the Pizza Pilgrims food truck owned and run by the wonderful Elliot brothers, Thom and James(url) (http://pizzapilgrims.co.uk/). When we arrived at the Berwick Street Market they were nowhere to be found which was, of course, madly disappointing! By now we were both starving and so went back to South kensington where we had the nicest lunch whilst soaking up the glorious but very rare English sunshine. Ben’s Cookies (http://www.benscookies.com/)  was the next pit stop we made and as a matter of course, Risako was thrilled with her deliciously warm chocolate chunk cookie! As she had never been to London, I felt it absolutely necessary to bring her to The V&A museum (http://www.vam.ac.uk/). Next, was a quick, though delightful, shopping spree on the King’s Road. The first place we went into, which was a first for both of us (though certainly not the last time for me), was Lush (https://www.lush.co.uk/). You walk into this place and the first thought that enters your mind if you have extremely sensitive skin like me is: allergic reaction. With all the exotic aromas that flood your nostrils you would think that some sort of rash must come with the territory but the great thing about Lush is that everything is guaranteed all-natural. It really is amazing what they do and all of the employees are beyond friendly and funny and know how to make you feel like you’re their best friend! Risako and I got free hand treatments which began with a scrub, rinse and sea salt application and ended with a body conditioner that made our hands feel like Italian cashmere jumpers, seriously. After we were all scrubbed up we ran into Jack Wills which Risako instantly fell in love with! As her parents had made reservations for high tea at Fortnum and Mason (http://www.fortnumandmason.com/), I brought her back to Piccadilly and said goodbye. It was so great to reconnect and we’ll definitely continue to keep in touch.

So that was my fun yesterday. Check out the links to the websites of the places I’ve mentioned and let me know what you think!

Lots of love