Sunday Shopping in Bogota

It wasn't a big surprise when we woke up disgustingly early on Sunday morning.

We weren't one hundred percent clear on the plan for the day since we had already hit up most of the major landmarks in Bogota the day before. We talked about hiring a car for the day to visit the nearby town of Zipaquira, but the thought of riding in a car in traffic was a bit off-putting. Instead, we decided to stay local and check out the flea market in Usaquen, one of the historic neighbourhoods of Bogota.

Unfortunately, the market doesn't really get going until later in the day, so we had more than a few hours to kill beforehand. Everything was still closed, but it looked like the mall may be open so we decided to walk over to check it out.

It turned out that the mall itself was open, but none of the stores were! Lucky for us, Juan Valdez (the local Starbucks equivalent) was open for business so we coffeed up and hung out on the open air terrace for a while.



We mall walked a little to stretch our legs, and we were both surprised to find so many American brands, along with a cute umbrella installation that reminded me of London.



We were finally able to grab a taxi and head over to the flea market. Our taxi driver was kind enough to tell us a bit about the neighbourhood as we made our way over to Usaquen, and we were more than excited to be dropped off in the middle of it all.



The flea market takes place on Sundays, and there are a ton of stalls selling all sorts of things. There's a lot of jewellery and other handicrafts, along with the occasional food stall.





We even saw some people carrying around puppies for sale!



The festive ambience of the entire market was enhanced by the musicians scattered around everywhere.



This guy was my favourite, he was playing a Beatles song (And I Love Her, in case you're wondering) on the harp.



It did feel a bit crowded at times since the place was positively heaving with people.



We made our way toward Hacienda Santa Barbara, which is a former home of a super rich guy that has been converted to a shopping centre. Along the way, the streets became more residential, and some of the more enterprising inhabitants were selling snacks and things out of the back of their home. I thought that was pretty clever!





The mall itself turned out to be a bit of a disappointment - it was just a mall, nothing more. I guess I was expecting it to retain more of its former grandiose residential qualities. In any case, I suggested just walking around town, but J was pretty tired from the heat and ducking around the crowd so we headed back to the hotel.

We washed up and made the decision to actually go out for dinner that night. Granted, it was only three doors down from the hotel, but the restaurant had gotten some pretty good reviews so we walked over to Di Lucca.



It's an Italian restaurant, and imagine our surprise when we discovered that it has THE best lasagna in the world. Seriously, you must go and eat this. I think J may have been considering delaying our departure from Bogota so we could eat at this restaurant for one more day. We could tell it was a pretty popular restaurant from how quickly it filled up and the waiters were constantly on the run.

It was a terrific end to our time in Bogota and getting to pet the hotel watchdog on the way back was just cherry on the icing.

Sunday Morning

Today is supposed to be absolutely lovely weather-wise, and I was chomping at the bit to get out of the flat. I had some errands to run at the grocery store and at Boots, but the shops weren't going to open for another half hour, so J and I took the long way there.

We stopped by Paddington Park, which is a park we discovered on our first day in our new 'hood when we were flat-hunting, and we've been neglecting it since Regent's Park is so close and impressive. Too bad for us since it's a lovely space to just sit and enjoy being outside.

We stumbled on a farmer's market right after we left the park, and we decided to pop in for a quick gander to see what was on display.

Of course we couldn't leave without buying a little something something, so we left with a loaf of raisin and walnut bread under one arm and a chicken pie under the other. Score!

Now that we're back at the flat, J is getting ready to take off to the office, and I'm settling in to work from home. It's too bad we can't enjoy the day together, but work is work. Better luck next weekend.

The Incredible Growing Woman

I'm planning my escape from the flat, and it turns out I need some non-loungewear clothes to avoid the bag lady comparisons so I'm doing some furious online window shopping. The sizing is completely different here, so it's throwing me for a loop.

It turns out in the UK, I'm like an elephant on bound feet. My normally size 5.5/6 feet are a size 4, and I've gone from a size 0/00 to a size 6 in one fell swoop.

The British do not believe in vanity sizing. Wow, hurts a little.

London Fashion

Just popping into Waitrose for some pork chops.

I haven't really had much reason to change out of my oversized shirts and leggings I've taken to wearing around the house, but that doesn't mean I haven't tried to figure out what the Brits consider fashionable. Back in LA, I wore a daily uniform of t-shirt, cut-off shorts, and a sweatshirt if it was chilly, but I'm getting the feeling that I might stick out a bit if I didn't figure out what to wear to blend in a bit more. All the women here seem to dress just to do the weekly shop - I've yet to encounter anyone in sweats or anything that you could sleep in comfortably out and about. Tights, boots and a funky scarf seem to be de rigeur.


The English are supposedly known for being eccentric dressers, and I suppose the evidence is walking down the streets of Covent Garden, Oxford Street, and the new mall they just opened in the City by St. Paul's Cathedral (weird location, I know). I kind of expected that what's considered fashionable varies from place to place, but it's becoming much more common to see the same things across country borders with the advent of the internet. But is it really, I wonder.

Some of the UK trends I've observed in person and in magazines:

• Snoods
• Tapered pants
• Capes
• Brogues
• Shorts layered over tights
• Camel coats
• Quiffs
• Gilets
• And for the fellas - Pants rolled up over the ankles

You can skin one yourself. Or buy it at Asos. Depends on how Daniel Boone you feel.

I wonder what's going on back home? It's starting to get pretty cool, and this LA girl needs to stock her wardrobe with shirts that actually have sleeves and jumpers (sweaters). I'm making it a policy to only buy UK brands such as TopShop and Reiss, because the US brands that have a presence here charge the same prices as in the States, except with a pound sign in front of the price! Ever hear of the exchange rate, assholes?!

If You're In Need of Christmas Decorations...

Get thee to Liberty on Regent Street asap. It's like Christmas exploded its guts all over the fourth floor.

 As for me, I'm going to wait until the glittery mule goes on sale and scoop it up.

Of Shoes and Selfridge's

I've been venturing out into the city, hunting and gathering since we left most of our electronics behind and our sea shipment hasn't cleared customs yet. I'm not really big on shopping - I used to be, but not so much anymore. I'm not quite sure when the transition occurred but now the thought of hitting up Oxford Street kinda makes me wanna hurl.

During law school, my friend Katie got me a subscription to Vogue and Elle magazines for my birthday, and shopbop.com was one of my favorite websites to hit, which I did. Every day. This was supremely stupid for two reasons: 1. I was usually in class where I was supposed to be taking notes, not checking out the latest Look Book by Rag & Bone, and 2. I was a student = no income, and let me tell you friend, shopbop ain't cheap.

Anyway, now I clip coupons and count the grocery store as my new hotspot for shopping so having to buy J a new work bag and getting some shoes to wear out to a fancy dinner makes me want to shoot myself. Since guns aren't allowed in the UK, I dragged myself to Selfridge's on Oxford Street instead. It's a pretty fancy department store that's similar to Bloomingdale's/ Saks in the US, except it seems more hip and trendy. Much more in-your-face glitz and glamour. The makeup department is supposed to be one of the largest in Europe, and the smell of expensive girl kinda smacks you in the face when you first walk in.

Shopping in a different country can be disconcerting. You're not familiar with any of the brands, and so you have no idea whether you can afford it or not. Case in point: Marc by Marc Jacobs - affordable; Marc Jacobs - not so much. Selfridge's shoe department is quite small, and they mix up the more affordable brands along with the more expensive brands. So you'll pick up a shoe, and it'll be 90 pounds, and you'll be like, okay, I can buy this. And then you'll pick up the next shoe, and then it'll say 350 pounds. Whaaa??? In the States, they're very careful about separating the shoes that us poor plebs can afford from the expensive fantasy shoes that only a cast member of Sex and the City could buy. In fact, the Nordstrom in South Coast Plaza keeps them on an entirely different floor. So is this a move by Selfridge's to end the segregation by classes and to allow us poor folk to admire the quality handiwork of Jimmy Choo up close?

Long story short, J got a brand new bag, and I slinked out of there with my tail between my legs and shoeless. Jimmy Choo, go screw yourself, your shit aint' all that.

Pinching my pennies (or is it pence?)

I'm a self-professed wheeler and dealer. I hate paying more for something than I really need to. All this translates into grocery shopping at multiples stores in order to avoid an unexplainable markup on some items in certain stores and getting the best deal around. Gelson's, I'm talking to you.

London is notorious for being an extreme expensive place to live. Now, coming from westside LA, I pretty much figured that the cost of living in London wouldn't be as shocking to me as it would be to someone moving there from, let's say, northern Michigan. But that doesn't mean I don't want to save some cash where I can, so I'm trying to stock up on things here that are either (1) hard to get in the UK, or (2) expensive to get in the UK, or (3) the US just plain does it better. So far, I've decided to stockpile the following goods:

1. Mascara - Paying 2x the amount for flirty lashes, I think not.
2. Dryer sheets - Apparently, people like to air dry their laundry over there, thereby skipping the need for dryer sheets altogether, which explains the dearth of Bounce in the UK.
3. Toothpaste - Read it somewhere. I know the British aren't known for their great dental work, but I've read that they don't have Crest in the UK. I'm really picky about toothpaste flavor, so this is a definite yes for me. Don't even get me started on cinnamon toothpaste. Gag.
4. Ziploc bags - Really? But they're so useful - why wouldn't you have them? Do British people not like to freeze and store things? They do have those tiny fridges...
5. Chocolate w/ peanut butter - I think the British got it right on this one, it just sounds gross. But J is a big Reese's fan so I'm going to hit up the drugstore for these before we go.
6. Clothes

I'm sure more things will come to mind as we get closer to our move date (only a month away!).