A swift boot to the...

I've been so busy this week that I have not really had chance to blog. I try to store observations in my brain somewhere so I can come back and write about it, but in all the hustle, I think the observations fall out and get crushed. But there is one observation that repeated itself all this week and it bothers me so much I need to address it.

I live in a tropical country. Granted, the weather lately has been atrocious but it is hurricane/rainy season after all. But I am assaulted daily by women walking through the city like this -

Women's boots

What on earth? Why are women wearing boots here? In the middle of the day, in the heat? One girl came in for coffee yesterday in jeans and knee highs and I did not attempt to NOT stare. I stared and let her know I was staring cause I thought she looked stupid.  I saw yet another in Uggs. Really?? Tourists come from the US and Europe to the Caribbean to wear flip flops and run on the beach barefoot. They walk through the malls in cute sandals - loving the freedom of just waking up and knowing it's warm enough to be foot carefree. And yet...

I love boots. Love. But I won't be wearing boots in Trinidad unless hell freezes over.

I have a busy day today. I won't be looking for boots but instead will be looking for a cocktail dress for the staff Christmas party. It's actually not something I am looking forward to, only cause I am exhausted. Who woulda thunk it? Me - not looking forward to shopping or parties! Scary.

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No Paparazzi, please

There are the cute blue heels that are my avatar.

I am really tickled to be one of the Editor's Picks on Bloggers.com today. I mean, there is no red carpet, no flash bulbs, no prize money (the worst part...lol), but it's cute. So yaay me.

It's pretty amusing to realise 1). how many people actually read my nonsense, 2). how many people actually enjoy reading my nonsense and 3). how much I enjoy writing my nonsense. It is the one part of my day that is not frustrating, and is completely mine.

So thanks to everybody who ensures it is not a solitary experience.

Sephora, Florence, Italy - I had a time in here

Almost every day I get my email from Sephora, torturing me with the specials and sales, and I ask again, Why isn't there a Sephora in London? I mean, y'all taking this Britishness thing too damn far, man. I cannot get NZ cheese. I cannot get American Cheerios (I don't like the Cheerios here - half sweet, half plain, in one box. Gimme 100% PLAIN Cheerios!!! OMG!). And now I cannot get Sephora? Every trip to Miami, the PT and I must hit up Sephora. New York - Sephora. I made it a point to visit Sephora in both Paris and Florence cause it is just one of my favourite shops ever. London - great capital, home of the queen. Why? Why?

Maybe it is for the best since I can barely afford food, and have to resort to getting excited in Boots. Needless to say, I needed a toner and bought one from Boots - a Boots brand and I selected it after reading the reviews, because let's face it, if I was going to buy a toner for under £2, I wanted to make sure it was not going to set my face on fire or burn off my eyebrows. Really one cannot go wrong with witch hazel and tea tree oil.  I had never had a toner that was a blend of both and never used a cheap toner either, but kudos to Boots for this godsend product. Easy on the skin and easy on the pocket. It is as good as a toner can get. Take the free plug, Boots.

A winning beauty combination, ladies. On a budget!

Of course I also got my Mudd facial mask and it really does give a boost of beauty confidence. How I survived this long with just soap and water, and my L'Oreal scrubby wubby is a miracle. I am now leaving it for "special" occasions, which means I may never use it again. Kidding kidding.

Still, Boots is no Sephora. Let's just keep it real now. I am glad I had the presence of mind to pack at least 6 months' supply, though it might really be 8, of cosmetics for black, tropical skin, or I would be a hot, nashy mess. It was a funny story at lunch on Sunday, about a black girl who was using a brand that shall remain nameless, bought here in London, and thought she was swanky, until she went back home to her black friends, and everyone asked her what on earth she was using to be looking so grey. lol. The darkest products here were clearly not dark enough for her but funny that noone thought it would be nice to tell her this. I guess they thought her face was grey? lol. Thank God for Pennywise - the Trini Boots - and my stocks. Looking grey is not an option. Funny that there are so many black people here and still a dearth in GOOD black beauty supplies (emphasis on "good"). Hmmm.

I'm working on my second assignment. As I said before, blogging is the only time I am not frustrated or vexed. lol

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Day Off, Night On

Courtesy Caponata. This was very good, by the way.

Friday was my day off. Yes, we all need a break from time to time and I needed one. I was not able to focus on Thursday and I was staying up late and getting nothing done - a clear sign of saturation. So I went into town. The primary purpose was of course, as mentioned before, to get my beauty stuff from Boots. But I cannot see a clothing or shoe store and just walk past. C'mon. I laughed when I saw the flip flops were on the shelves of some of the shops, as I pulled my jacket closer to my body. Flip flops. Clearly to go to a resort somewhere. I eventually got my eyebrows threaded, raided the Boots beauty aisle, getting my Mudd mask in the process and after what was supposed to be a half hour retail adventure, I got on the bus home 3 hours later.

Friday was also date night. I have these "dates" ever so often and they do a great job in reminding me I am a human first, a robot last. After some toning (Boots' tea tree and witch hazel toner for £1.24 or whatever is really the answer! I tell you, go with the cheap stuff anyday!) and my Mudd mask, and some primping, I headed to dinner. In the end, by the way, I thought I looked pretty damn smashing, but I am biased.

Photo courtesy, Caponata. Great wine selection, as well.

Well, dinner was beyond lovely. We dined at Caponata, which offers a very Sicilian menu. I enjoyed my orders a lot. I am so glad that Sainsbury's 2 for £2.70 pasta meals have not ruined my palate. I'm not one of those people who go out to eat and whip out a camera to take photos of the food so I can post it on online. I have done it, but it's not a usual thing. Again, if someone wanted to pay me to do this (hint hint), I would. But take my word for it - it was pretty awesome. I had the almond crusted lamb which was so well done I almost cried. No ready meal here! And the service was stellar. Did not like the live band downstairs so much - they kinda ruined the ambiencefor those dining upstairs. My one small peeve about the place.

The weather though - junk. And I missed my train so had to take the dreaded night bus and again, almost missed my stop. Finally, when I felt my body giving in to the sleep..I am on the bus. lol.
I am 98% (fingers crossed) finished with this nightmare of an assignment and hopefully I can get some sleep and maybe some fresh air tomorrow. Oh...sorry. Today. It's 5.00 am. Joy.

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Friday: Let's Talk Beauty (Vanity)

I've not been sleeping well. I go to bed at oh...3am..latest was 5am, and set the alarm to wake me up 6 hours later, so I can start a new day on this assignment, and 3 hours later, I am wide eyed. Not so bushy tailed. Here I am again - 3.5 hours later. Unable to sleep.

This of course means I look like utter rubbish. I have been "self medicating" with shea butter moisturiser to try to put some zap in my skin, and a lot of cold water splashes to minimise the puffiness under my eyes. This does not bode well for the evening where I am supposed to go out and look cute. Back home this would have meant - strong coffee, and a quick facial. You know, when they put you under the steamer and you fall asleep, and then the gentle massage takes you to dreamland, and then they leave the face mask on and go outside to check on other customers for 20 mins and you doze off with a smile on your face. By the time you leave, after your super nap and the relaxation, not to mention exfoliation and super skin crap that you know is probably not much better than the cheap crap you can get in the beauty aisle, you're positively glowing.

Fast forward to me, in fluffy socks, with puffy eyes, with not even enthusiasm to go to the kitchen, much less go outside. But go outside I must. I have been excited about going to good ole Boots all week. That's pretty sad considering all the things I could be excited about. But I'm a girl. I realise I miss being a girl. I went on their website to look for super skin crap to pre-empt a rubbish look this weekend, and realised all the stuff I had been missing. lol. Revlon. Clinique. L'Oreal. And when I saw this, I was super excited. I wanted to run down to Boots right then and there - at 1am.

I have not seen this in forever. This is not a plug for them cause noone pays me to rate their stuff - though they should. But this mask is awesome. I used to use it waaaaay back in the day, when I still wore a school uniform and when school was fun. Actually my mum used to use it, and I used to sneak into her beauty bag and steal some. Then one day she came home and felt like "masking" and the bottle was empty. She was not amused, but my skin was awesome. So when I saw Boots had it, I got so exciiiited. Maybe it can magically transform me from this

It's true. I am not too far off from looking like this today

...to this in...oh...10 hours?

The lovely Gabrielle Union

That would be a 21st century miracle but, I am optimistic. I continued browsing the website, looking at girly stuff. Fun. My fave nail polish is £8 though. That kinda killed the excitement somehow. It's the same way I felt going into the mecca of Trininista aka the M.A.C. store and knowing that £11.50 single eyeshadow was not as important as food. Sigh. How life has changed.

I always remember a man asking me what my favourite brand was and I said without blinking - "M.A.C.". He goes, "Oh you're an Apple groupie." Stupid. lol. Don't you guys know?

Courtesy M.A.C. - Freshwater

Hope everyone has a beautiful Friday. We all deserve to feel pretty and beautiful today. And if I don't get my mask in my local Boots, I am gonna burn the store down.

Smooches.

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Sexual Heeling...

I needed a sanity break today. I have spent 90% of my weekend on this bed, with these books and after a gnarly morning with the assignment, I decided to take a walk. My walk took me to the bus stop, and onto the bus and to the mall. I did not buy anything terribly exciting - needed some lotion desperately so went into Boots where they had a reduction on my body butter so I was able to buy 2. Also got some baby oil...never know when you will need it. You neverrrrrr know. I browsed through some eyeshadows but unless it's M.A.C., it's whack. lol. Actually that's not true. Revlon and L'Oreal are awesome as well. I then browsed the shops. I always shudder when I enter a Primark. The clothes are ghastly - cheap but ghastly. And not only that, but for my Trinis, it's like buying a blouse in Catwalk or Micles. Everyone else has it. And worse, everyone knows where you bought it. The stylista in me saw a very cute sweater, but I remembered seeing 3 women on the train in the same distinctive sweater. If it were a plain sweater that you could personalise with accessories, then great. But this one was very out there and screamed "assembly line"!!!

I wanted to get my eyebrows threaded but there were about 12 women in a queue waiting to do the same thing and I did not feel I wanted to stand in the middle of a mall floor with a bunch of bushy browed women, so I instead, walked into the closest shoe store. Oh God. The  lust. The longing. The depression. Heels. I tried a few pairs and saw myself floating around in 'em and then remembered the funny scene last week in Waterloo station:

Lovely young woman, with a dashing not so young man. She was dressed to the nines, and in some pretty funky heels. But she could barely walk and it seemed like they had been walking quite a while because she was in obvious agony and was being propped up by the gentleman. I was in my flat, comfy boots and I knew, right at that moment, as I stood there in my un-glam jeans and un-glam boots, that she hated my flat shoe wearing guts and oh so wanted to be me.

That's when I put the people dem shoes back on the shelf and walked out the store. As nice as it would be to be able to glam myself up one of these days in a pair of heels, the reality is, I used to slip my heels off to walk from the carpark to my office, and that was maybe a 5minute walk, if so much. Can you imagine me walking and running to the bus stop, the train station and the Underground in heels??? It's the reason I left them all at home. But, when my dad called tonight I asked him if he could arrange for his friend to bring me a care package. I have already alerted my mum as to what has to go in it

- Proper cereal
- A couple pairs of pants I would really like to have here with me
- Muffy...a must-have with the temperature dropping rapidly*
- And a pair of heels...

...if only to look at. Especially since I understand I am to potentially going to see and experience my first snow next week. Snow and slush + Heels = Bedlam. By the way, I am not one of those people who dreams of a white Christmas. I am not excited about the snow thing but I am mentally trying to prepare myself for it.

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*Or I can just get one of the microwaveable stuffed dogs in the shops. Putting a dog, albeit a toy dog, in a microwave is just barbaric by the way. lol.

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Booting Up

It's starting to get a bit nippy in good ole Blighty. My girlfriend and I, during our girlie adventures today, ventured onto Oxford Street as she tried to find a pair of cute boots for the impending winter months. I am a bit worried myself about the winter because though I love shoes, I also hate them at the same time. I am most comfortable in a pair of flip flops or open toed shoes, and in my regular life, I own 2 pairs of closed toe shoes. Now being here, my feet feel imprisoned all the time. I actually walk with a pair of FFs in my bag for some release between train stops because my feet really love being free. Dreadful I tell you. But I do love seeing a nice leg in a nice boot. My classmate has won me over with her assortment of wellies, Uggs and other such bootie fashion. I am officially jealous.














I also miss having a salary to buy such cute accessories like boots and pom pom hats. Sigh.

But I really had a lovely day out today. The hilarious thing about English weather is even with the sun shining, blue skies and fluffy clouds, you still would not dare walk out the door without a scarf, and a coat. It was cold no tail today. The eye candy display was better today than in recent days, and as we snarfed down some Mexican food at Wahaca, I spotted some really fantastic specimens of 2-legged cuteness. I came home to a barbecue - the last for a while - and good friends and a boy, who is enjoying my unique brand of silent treatment. I just don't have the energy right now. I also talked to my dad, and I think I am now satisfied enough and well prepped to spend the rest of the weekend with the books.

And for those who were so amused by yesterday's entry, I think he realised that his attempt at playing games with me backfired, so imagine my mix of disgust and amusement this morning to see a text from Mr Bright and Incredible asking if I was free this evening. What a sad person.

I have not taken a single photo of my new surroundings since I have been here. I aim to do better this week. Gotta smell the roses right? Especially before they freeze and die.

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