london calling: vol. 2

I'm back, baby.

Not only from my blogging hiatus, but from Jolly Old England as well. And I would be remiss if I did not finish the alphabet game. I only have 2 letters left, and forgive me if they are ridiculously short and maybe sweet. Then, I promise to get this monkey off my back.

I'm saving my money for a David Yurman bracelet. Or a Lagos ring. I can't decide which one to get yet, but I know I want a new bauble. Those teeny, tiny Weight Watchers checks have come in handy, and I've got birthday money in the pool, too. Not much further, ladies and gents, and you can be sure once I get whatever it is I'm going to get, I'll let you all know.

I really like shoes. Not in a Carrie Bradshaw-skip the rent for the deliciously red-soled Louboutins-kind of way, but I'm not above building an outfit around shoes, not to mention buying an outfit to match new shoes. They don't have to be expensive, but they do have to be cute. And sure, it's best to actually try them on, but when that's not an option, I love to check out Zappos. You can search by color, brand, heel height, price and about a million other criteria to find exactly what you're looking for. AND, they ship to you for free, and if they don't fit, they get you exchanged or refunded lightening-fast. I was just visiting them today, actually. They're not a great deal cheaper than in the store, but they have hard-to-find styles and sizes.

Feels good to have that behind me. And I promise I'm not as shallow or materialistic as those paragraphs make me sound. Now on to bigger and better things.

Just flew back in from London, and man, are my wings tired...da-dum-dum-ching! Yes, back to the good, old U S of A from another visit across the pond promoting tourism to Mississippi. I went last summer for the first time, and had a blast. But this time was even better since I had an idea of what was ahead of me. I didn't vomit AmBien, I walked by myself all around Kensington (where our hotel was) one afternoon and I rode public transportation like a pro. I ate gelato 3 of the 5 days I was there and even pretended I was a local and listened to my iPod when I strolled the streets. I'm a natural, I tell you.

What did I do there? Sales calls, training on selling MS to travelers, etc. That's about all you need to know about the work side. Moving on.

We arrived in London at about 8 a.m., and due to the Great AmBien Incident of 2007, I didn't take any sleeping meds and therefore did not sleep on the plane. Meaning, a 8:00 a.m. arrival led to walking around London like Night of the Living Dead until bed time rolled around. And by the way, if anyone is traveling a long distance, I recommend Delta - the food is better (though still not what I would classify as gourmet), they serve Coca-Cola products and plenty of water, and each traveler has his own video screen with on-demand movies, TV, music and games. Too bad Delta doesn't pay me to say that. Plus, I racked up some killer SkyMiles.

We gave staying awake the old college try, but after taking a gander at the Crown Jewels, the Tower of London (I saw where Anne Boelyn was held until her unfortunate beheading) and the London Bridge, a nap was in order. But just a little one.

I loved walking around London. Whenever I travel to a big city, I always wonder if I sort of fit in as a local. As previously mentioned, I shopped wearing my iPod and pretended I was a regular on the Underground or the bus or the train. I'm sure it only took one syllable escaping from my mouth to give me away, but still.

Anywho, we had real fish and chips (it was kind of like Captain D's, honestly), saw some sights, and KM got to go to Wimbledon. A good time was had by all.

Here are some pictures from my journey. Cheerio!