How can you not Soho on a day like this?

I've been lucky so far as it has been sunny almost every day in London – and how can I stay at home on a lovely day like this. It was also great to have a friend in town to explore Soho with me.

I am sure there are many nice patisseries in London but Valerie has been my favourite so far. I am a little biased as this place brings back good memories of delicious after party breakfast. I find their selection easy to chose from and their staff are always attentive and friendly.

After we stuffed ourselves with the deliciousness of Valerie, we went for a walk around Soho – all the way to Covent Garden. Loved the unique T-shirt shops, small art galleries and a small patch of greenery – almost a tiny park in the middle of nowhere.

Rupert street bar is a great place to sit outside for a sunny day beer treat, Balans and their amazing lunch menu, and Costa's perfect location to sip your cafe late and simply watch people pass by...

Soho by night is a great hangout, but Soho days are amazing. You feel like it is almost a village in the middle of the city. On a sunny day like last Wednesday, Soho, the staff that work in Soho restaurants and the people on the streets of Soho made it a very special day...

The Magic of Chelsea

Day one in London and I had a couple of errands that I had to do – the normal banking headache... by 12:00 noon everything was done and I had the whole day ahead of me to explore Chelsea.

Chelsea was home to King Charles II’s love nest where he visited his mistress using the farmer’s track hence the name “King’s Road”. So I walked around the royal lover’s street and couldn’t wipe that silly smirk off my face. The streets had a positive vibe with many shops decorated with tennis balls in support of the Wimbledon tennis tournament.

Right in the middle of the street was a sign for Chelsea Arts Festival – one more day to go for those who are interested.

But what caught my attention is my fascination with fire stations – which goes all the way back to my days in Paris and the lovely Sapeurs-Pompiers in the Cartier Latin district. Unfortunately, there were no firemen to be seen but it did add a little sparkle to my day.

On the way back home, I had to taste the local beer – there was absolutely nothing local about either pubs selection. In Trafalgar Bar http://ultimatepubguide.com/pubs/info.phtml?pub_id=82 I tried a blond beer from Belgium and have to say it was too sweet for my liking, but the location of the bar was central and gave me a great view of commuters and people walking by. Then Went to “The Cadogan Arms” Bar http://www.thecadoganarmschelsea.com/, where the staff where amazingly friendly – the French waitress was very pleasant in answering my question and the bartender cracked a couple of jokes and lent me his lighter. There is an upstairs pool area (as in billiard) which I chose not to explore, but the overall crowd was nice – though as a beer drinker I felt I had only the traditional boring choice of either Heineken or Amstel.

And of course there was nothing better to end a night after drinking two beers then a taste of Lebanese cuisine – so I indulged myself with some over priced dinner – though it was beyond delicious and the staff were very friendly. Maroush has a great selection of authentic Tabouleh (not the overly onioned ones that you get in the other so called Lebanese restaurants in London).

And with a filled stomach I walked back home ... Chelsea is a cosmopolitan area that has something for everyone who is not on a tight budget.

My Life in 3 Suitcases

In the past years I have travelled a lot and always managed to take with me at least one suitcase that had everything that I needed – no to so list before travelling... no pre-planning... always packed extra undies.. otherwise, I did not stress about forgetting my hairdryer, missing toothbrush , not packing extra black shoes, my favourite jeans, or any other item that might be seen important to many female travellers... my motto was, “if you forget it, you buy a new”.

To be fair, none of my trips were located in the middle of the Amazon jungles, everything was available... my main focus was to have as little luggage so that I can reduce the stress caused by airports.

But what do you do when you are moving your whole life to a new location. Where do you start and how do you prioritize.

After a lot of thinking... I decided not to change much... Instead of 1 suitcase I have upgraded the amount to 3. With the items that I NEED...

The rest will make some charity or less fortunate person happier... I will say farewell tonight to my favourite pair of Jeans, hope it will bring joy and great memories to someone else.... I on the other hand will have a new pair waiting for me on the shelf somewhere sometime in the future to accompany me in my new life...

Nothing is more liberating than shedding the weight... the materialistic one : ) a

When Karma Turns Against You

When I heard my friend chose me to puppy sit during his summer holiday I got really excited knowing that his puppy is one of the nicest dogs and his house is kind of relaxing to stay in - and it would be nice to use the pool, garden and enjoy the suburban lifestyle since I have lived mostly in city center which leaves little room to be in touch with "nature". Since this is my last couple of weeks before my major move to a new city, I was more than happy to offer my services - enjoy the last couple of weeks in true procrastination fashion... little did I know that Karma would not allow me to enjoy it...

To cut the story short, in 10 days I had to deal with a fleet of maintenance guys to fix two Air Conditioning units, a wine glass broke, a white towel turned pink in a freak laundry accident and the zipper broke in one of his "designer" pillows...

Why am I blaming Karma? Mostly because I am the most anal person when it comes to using other people's stuff. I am the one that turns red if I break a glass during a party .. am the one that fixes her bed covers in hotel rooms ....

Karma is funny, but did teach me a major lesson... to chill and enjoy.. cause if it's meant to happen, it will happen no matter how careful you are...

and here's a little reminder of what the kitchen looked like with 4 guys from the maintenance company trying to fix the AC unit along with a picture of the best puppy out there... she made it all worthwhile..