Ready for bigger adventures!

The last few days have consisted of me doing many things to be ready for bigger adventures in the city.

Sunday:

Got up early. Finished up Scandinavia trip planning (I leave on Tuesday of next week). Waited impatiently to go meet up with the London City Runners group who do an 11K route every Sunday at 11:30AM. It was a down week in long run mileage for me, so this was perfect, so I decided to check it out. First, waiting until 11:30 was horrible. Way too late in the day for a long run. Then, I got there and no one acknowledged me until this one old guy said hi and chatted for the 5 minutes right before we left. They asked if everyone knew the route and I had kinda glanced at it online before I came, so I felt okay about it. I knew they met at the halfway point until everyone got there and then turned around and I figured I could just follow people there. Then they took off. And ran crazy fast. I run slow. Jog really. Like 11 minute miles. I'm not trying to win races here. So, they were gone pretty fast. But, there was one slower girl and I followed her for quite some time. Then she started walking. Ugh. I don't want to be walking on my long run. So, I ran by her. Then stopped and waited for her because I didn't want to get lost. Got behind her again. She ran a bit. Then walked more. Ugh again! SO, I asked where the end point was and she said something about the Surrey Animal Farm...I can't miss it. Well, she was right. I got there, but no one was there and I ran all around in circles and different directions looking for people. Nothing. I was so frustrated. I waited a while for her to show up. Never saw her. So I eventually just ran back home by myself. I hope they waited all day for me to show up! Non-friendly running group peoples. SO, I'm done with them. Sadly, I did pay a small fee to join their "club." But, I don't think it's a big deal. I can use that membership to get discounts on races and such and I'll just do that. Those people aren't nice and run way too fast. I'm trying a London Social runners Meetup group on Wednesday night.

After that ordeal, I got home, showered and it was like almost 3PM. There's a food festival thing happening in the month of July in our neighborhood, so Ed and I took our little coupon book down to the corner pub, The Kings Arms and got Sunday Pot Roast and a cider for 10 pounds. Yummy. Look at this deliciousness. Apparently it's very British.

That was pretty much my freaking Sunday. Running and Roast. I was exhausted after all that, so I went to sleep early and that was that.

Monday:

Sights around Oxford Street

Today I was determined to tackle my final shopping errands. I wanted a cheap curling iron, one more summer dress to stay cool in, and a tension rod to set up a little curtain between my room and the bathroom so other folks can use the bathroom and not bother me. All missions accomplished and home by 12:30 for my 1:30 Skype research meeting. Boom! Had a nice walk down Charing Cross. Stopped at Superdrugs and TK Maxx. Like TJ Maxx in the US. Had lots of stuff, but nothing I needed. Certainly a good place to shop. Then, I headed up to the main shopping street, Oxford Street. It was SO much nicer on a Monday at 10AM. I went to Primark and LOVED it this time. Bought a cute little blue cotton dress for 5 pounds and fell in love with at least 4 pairs of pajamas, but didn't buy any. This store is dangerous! If I were to do the London program again, I'd be tempted to only check one bag of essentials and spend that crazy extra bag fee on a wardrobe from Primark and H&M. Seriously. For like $100 you could have everything you need. I also went into Next which had some deals. And Topshop. And BHS. All good deals. Tons of summer sales happening now as well. Final stop was John Lewis where I found the tension rod I needed. John Lewis is a huge department store with like 7 floors. SEVEN! It was lunch time and on my way to the tube stop, I found The Slug and Lettuce which had half price food on Mondays. Brilliant. I had a sandwich and some sweet potato fries. Then, I took the tube home because I was tired from all that walking.

Cats on knees pajamas! I need them!

Came home and continued my shopping spree by doing online grocery shopping. We happen to not live close to any major supermarkets. There are these smaller local grocery stores near us, but the larger ones with better deals and a better selection are farther away. So, I did my grocery shopping online yesterday and for 1-2pounds they'll deliver it to your door. Amazing! I hate grocery shopping and this was perfect. My food arrived today (you pick a delivery window) and all was good. A few bummers: you don't know exactly what you're getting because you're looking at some tiny pic online and sometimes they don't have everything they say they have so you are missing part of your order (which they deduct from the final price), but it seems like an efficient way to grocery shop! Plus I don't have to carry all those bags on the bus/tube! Could be my go to grocery plan.

Then, I convinced Ed to go see a movie with me. Boyhood was showing at a theater that Google Maps said was right across the bridge and it was crazy cheap because of some Monday special. So, I booked the tickets online and then checked the address again. Google Maps was wrong. It was a 25-30 minute Tube/Bus trip away. Whatever. An adventure! So, Ed and I took the tube out to Dalston Junction. We found some yummy Turkish food for dinner and then watched the movie. First, note British movies have 25-30 minutes of ads/previews before the movie actually starts! Ridiculous. This theater was cool and old and had a curtain that came down after the ads/previews and before the movie. Oh and the bathrooms were in the theater at the front. And there was a balcony. Cool stuff. But, what was not cool is that there was little to no A/C in there. Hotness. Then, the movie started. It happen to be set in Texas (which I forgot). It was so bizarre to be watching a movie filmed in Texas (some even in Austin!) while in London. But, great film. And super fun to hear the Brits reactions to things like the Texas flag pledge, Obama, gun carrying Confederate flag Texans and so on. We took the bus back and that was way cool because I got to see more of the city. And I was out past dark....for the first time! So, I took a pic. On our walk from the bus stop to the house.

Tuesday:

I woke up early and decided I was going to go wait in the queue for day tickets to see Skylight. Skylight is a play starring Carey Mulligan and Bill Nighy. You'd know them if you Googled them. Anyways, the play is sold out, and I saw the line for "limited tickets given away each day starting at 10AM" yesterday on my way to the stores so I knew I had to try it. I got in the queue at 9:15. They started giving away tickets at 10. I was way too far back in line. So, next time I try this I'll go at 8AM. Maybe tomorrow. But there's running group tomorrow night. So, maybe Thursday.

After that adventure, it was a day at home doing laundry (the wash cycle takes 2-3 hours) and finishing up some work I needed to have done and waiting for groceries. Now that my big list of work is done I'm ready to play! Tomorrow is a museum for sure. Or maybe gardens. Or a park. And new running group. Thursday is attempt to get tickets again. Or tickets to see A Streetcar Named Desire starring Gillian Anderson (yes...from X-Files). Friday is Science Museum and Hyper Japan. PLANS! Fun pics to come!