Wednesday 24 July 2013

All These Things I've Done (in London) [1]


So I thought it would be cool to introduce some more personal posts onto the blog and that a great way to do that would be to talk about the stuff I get up to in my new city :) (I hope you like the title, it made me giggle).

I've been living in London for just over a month now and it's been pretty eventful! Obviously I started my new job which I love. It's gotten to the point now where I feel like I'm getting into the swing of it and my new colleagues have been amazingly supportive. I feel so fortunate that I've not only gotten my first job in publishing but one in the exact area I want to work in.

I've also moved house! When I first moved to London I was staying with my aunt and uncle but I managed to find a house much quicker than I expected to. My house is lovely and big and my housemates are lovely and there is a stray cat who I have named Snaggle and I feed him/her.

On the 4th of July I went to the Cassie Clare/Jamie Campbell Bower/Sarah Rees Brennan event with Casey from Dark Readers, Liz from Planet Print, Rachael from Rachael Reviews All and my friend Eleanor. Casey and Rachel got there suuuuuuper early and queued for ages which means when I eventually managed to get there after work I didn't have to queue forever! We got pretty good seats, I still couldn't see much (not enough to take pictures) but it meant we didn't have to wait too long for the signing which was awesome! Casey managed to get this picture:


AND a video of JCB *SINGING*


He's pretty good and raaaaather attractive ;)

 I *finally* got my SRB books signed:


and we got cupcakes! Nom

So it was a pretty cool event and they were all very funny and it was all totally mental and everyone was dressed as shadowhunters (and I went dressed in a dress I thought Kami from Unspoken would approve of) and then I bullied some girls into buying Unspoken...


Just when I thought my time in London had reached a pinnacle of awesome only a fortnight in, I was invited to attend Sarwat Chadda's launch for the third book in his Ash Mistry series with Sarah Rees Brennan. I'll just say that again. WITH. SARAH. REES. BRENNAN. Only, you know, my favourite author. It was totally cool. Sarah is the funniest person ever and I had lots of conversations with lots of bookish people and then Sarah and I got the train home which involved a wait at the train station where she huggled me so I wouldn't freeze to death (note to self: take a cardie out at night even if it's hot in the day) and we saw foxy babies (I tried to take pictures, they were blurry) and Sarah regaled me with gossip and spoilers from her next books. Then offered to buy me a sandwich. Basically, she is the coolest person alive. So thank you, SRB for inviting me, thanks Sarwat for the amazing launch, for signing my book and for buying me a drink!


I know what you're thinking. Can my time in London possibly get any better? Well the following weekend I went to stay at a family friends place in Milton Keynes. They own this amazing, 5* BnB and we had a fantastic time basically eating and lounging in the sun. I got to see my family and my boyfriend for the first time since moving to London and we played the Pointless boardgame where my years of watching the Eurovision Song Contest *finally* paid off, hello questions on obscure European countries. I recommend the board game, it's hilarious. 

Then, on the Monday I met up with the lovely Stacey from Pretty Books. We went to a lil cafe and had cake (and you know you've found a friend when they don't even bat an eyelash when you order 2 slices of cake) and chatted and chatted. I think it's clear that we both like to chat. But we got on really well and she is very awesome (and has a lovely blog) and hopefully we will do lots more fun things together in the future!

The weekend just gone my boyfriend came down to London to visit me for the first time which was really good. We went to Tate Modern which we've been talking about doing since before I even moved down to London as we both really like modern art. Here are a few of my faves:




So I *totally* failed and didn't take pictures of the lil thing that tells you the artist and about the work, but I can tell you that the last picture (which looks to me like women sitting at a table) is by Dorothea Tanning. 

I've also being trying to cook a lot and eat more healthily. I'm quite enjoying just buying ingredients and seeing what I come up with (I made quesadillas for the first time and they were yummy) and I've developed a thing for using leftover ingredients in creative ways to make different meals out of the same stuff. It's kinda fun. 

And there we have it! The highlights of my first month in London :) I hope it wasn't too long...I'll try and take more pictures next month ;)

Cait xx

15 comments:

  1. Glad to hear your move to London has been good! Plus the weather's been perfect :)

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  2. I'm glad you love living in London, and it was fun meeting you! If you like modern art, check out the Saatchi Gallery, that's pretty cool too :)

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  3. Great to see you've enjoyed your first month London-I love London for the architecture and the wide variety of...everything that happens there. Epic book events-bonus. I'm glad you're enjoying your job too. Definitely go exploring of sidestreets one day-so much awesome can be found by accident!

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  4. I like the title, very clever :P. So happy you're enjoying London! The CC/JCB/SRB event was awesome, I'm glad we go to go! And JCB's voice was actually really good. Very jealous you got to meet SRB :P.

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  5. I'm so jealous that you got to go to the Cassandra Clare event! I tried to get tickets but they'd all sold out by the time I went to book. :(
    I'm glad you're liking your new job!

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  6. London life sounds like lots of fun! I look forward to reading more updates! :)

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  7. If anyone else would love the chance to stay in the most amazing 5* B&B in Milton Keynes where we were for that weekend it's called South Lodge and it's an incredible place!

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  8. Sounds like you're having a blast! I'm so jealous of you- London seems like one of the coolest places to live. So much to do and all. Enjoy :)

    -P.E.

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  9. I would kill KILL to live in London. You're so lucky! I can't wait to hear more of your adventures.

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  10. 1. What is this publishing job that you have? Give it to me now.
    2. I love the title, btw.
    3. Sarah Rees Brennan sounds awesome. She was really funny and warm and friendly when I went to a signing.
    4. Snaggle? Um, that cat sounds adorable.
    5. How do you know all these bloggers and plan to go to the events together? It sounds like so much fun :).
    6. Foxy babies sound adorable. HOW DARE YOUR PICTURES BE BLURRY.
    7. Congratulations on the job and London and yay for the Tate Modern and your boyfriend's visit!
    8. You've made me in the mood for quesadillas.

    :)

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    1. Wow, I just noticed the overabundance of "sound." I mean, how could I have used that word in reference to SRB & her UNSPOKEN signing & her telling you spoilers? Maybe because there are no words.

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  11. SRB!! She seems so awesome. And this post. I have some mad love for this post, Cait! I really hope you continue this post. It's so nice to read about your adventures. :)

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  12. Oh, I've just found your blog thanks to Christina (Christina Reads YA) and am so excited to see this post because I'll be heading to London in September for a Publishing MA! Fun stuff! Sounds like it's a great place to be full of fun adventures, though I doubt my first couple weeks will be anywhere as epic as yours ;)

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  13. "(and I went dressed in a dress I thought Kami from Unspoken would approve of) and then I bullied some girls into buying Unspoken..." This is why I love you! I hope you told Sarah about the dress! ;) I'm only a tiny bit jealous that I couldn't go to this myself.

    It sounds like you're having a fab time in London and I love these more personal posts! :)

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  14. It sounds like you've had a pretty damn perfect month :) I'm so glad you're enjoying it.

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