PUSA

I know, I know, I missed a week. That’s only because I wanted to wait until….

I found him! I found Wally! Go me! Hooray!

Wally is also known as Waldo in America and Canada, (he’ll always be Waldo to me!) in Turkey he’s Ali, Willy in Norway, Walter in Germany and Charlie in France, among other countries. The Where’s Wally Egg has been moved all over London, anywhere from a couple of hours to up to two days at a time in a different place. It was NOT easy to find this guy, even with helpful people posting pics of him on Twitter. I found him at St. Pancreas, very lucky he wasn’t moved when I got there. Could have happened, I don’t like to think about it.

Moving on, the title of the post is from a Friday event two weeks ago. I don’t get a lot of visitors passing through London. Not hard to understand, as I’m over 3,000 kilometres away from everyone I know and love back home. Every once and while, I’ll get lucky and a friend will pass through. I’ll be given a few precious hours of understanding, laughter and entertainment of the world back home.

There’s something about moving away that allows for time to not be a factor in the lives of the people you care about. Nearly nine years have passed since I’ve seen my friend, but it’s as if its been only a day since the last summer we sailed around the Puget Sound at camp in 2002.

She was touring with PUSA, The Presidents of the United States of America.

She asked me if I wanted to be her +1 to the show the night she was in town. Of course I said yes! PUSA are from Seattle, and not only was I given this lovely gift of seeing my beloved friend, but I was thrown into a rock show the likes I haven’t experienced in years. I’ve missed it.

Yes, they definitely played peaches:

I came to the realisation that I’m fantastic at moving through crowds because of my mosh pit teachings during my youth. Ahh the feel of the crowd! The Heat! The sound of screaming love for their music! It was exhilarating. What a great crowd, and the show was fantastic. Unfortunately I had worn improper footwear (ballet flats), because I had been blessed by one of my flatmates. He put my name forward for filling in reception at his office for two days last week. Absolutely fantastic.

After the show I waited for my friend, who was helping sell merch with the lead singer’s wife. When she was finished we headed back stage and I got to actually met them! Just some guys from my hometown. I kept my distance, gave them my congratulations, it was lovely of them to let me hang out. As the night wore on, my feet began to wear out and I headed home as the others pressed onward into the night.

March has been the month for luck. I pray the sun keeps shining.

Egg-travagance!

Mar8

The past two Saturdays have been delightful. Catching up with friends and wandering the streets of London are my ideal weekend excursions. I’ve been equally lucky with the weather, bright sunshine that even the bitter wind can’t ruin. Spring is trying to settle in and I adore it. With spring comes Easter, and although Easter traditionally is about Jesus, in America our focus is on chocolate and decorated eggs!

There’s a part of me that’s wired to this city. My friends routinely call me ‘the human GPS’. The multi-tasker I am, I relish in any London street challenge. In 2010, London hosted the Elephant Parade to raise awareness and funds for the Asian elephant (apparently the African ones are fine). There were over 250 elephants placed around the city as you can see from my blog’s banner. In the end I found 247, with one-day left to seek out the final three. However, I know how to prioritise and when the family I used to nanny for arrived on that final day, the hunt was over and I was proud of what I’d found.

My love for artistically decorated animals began in 2007. Pike Place Market in Seattle, Washington is one of our most beloved tourist attractions. When you go to Seattle, you visit Pike Place Market. In the summer of 2007 Pigs on Parade was back (after their original run in 2001) to raise money for the Market. There were 100 pigs littered around Seattle, and I became hooked on wandering the streets to find them whilst explore the city. I found 80.

With The Faberge Big Egg Hunt, the eggs are hidden around London, whereas the elephants and pigs were mapped out. As if this event couldn’t get any better in my eyes. 12 zones are outlined, with names of the eggs and their approximate location, but it’s vague and the eggs could be anywhere inside of a building, or outside surrounding it. There are 209 eggs and they’re only going to be around for the 40 days of Lent. Talk about a deadline! I love a timed assignment that gives you that productive feeling of achievement from working under pressure.

Thus the hunt is on, bringing me to places of London I haven’t spent much time in and providing the opportunity to take on this personal research project. I’ve found fifteen eggs so far, and I’ll be spending a few hours tomorrow hopefully covering a few zones that are closely connected. If I’m fortunate maybe I’ll be able to have a friend join me in this adventure. I’ll keep you posted.

If you could buy one of the eggs which one would it be and where would you put it? Personally I’d go for the Dinosaurs egg by Rolando Di Sessa Neto, although All the Stars, Moon and Sun by Ajay Padda would be great in any flat! And the Where’s Wally by Martin Handford is adorable! That egg is being moved around the city every few days. Will I be able to find it? Check back next week for an update.

To eggs and beyond!

I see, I pin

Feb23

Everyone, well everyone that works or markets via social media is talking about Pinterest in the UK. It’s exploded all over the UK in the past ten months. How do I know this? Why do I care? It’s a part of job, and excitingly, I was the one that suggested using the social media outlet to help market Hotcourses here in London. Check them out here.

For being a part-time employee, it’s an accomplishment I’m very proud of. For the past month many questions have been directed towards me. Being an American, Pinterest has been around for the past two years, it was created right before I moved to London and I knew about it but didn’t have the time to invest in this beautiful social media tool. I noticed more of my friends ‘pinning’ things via Facebook last year and decided that now is the time to ‘muck in’ and see what it’s all about.

Now I find myself constantly repinning things, trying to increase my boards for the USA market while managing my personal one here within the UK. Is there a difference? Oh yes, indeed. Check out this infographic. (I heart my job, oh how I wish it was full-time)

via Mashable

Personally, I love Pinterest. It gives me plenty to look at and set financial goals for. On the food front, it’s the easiest way to keep a collection of recipes together. I’ve had a folder on my computer for a couple of years, but I never look in it. With Pinterest I can see the recipe I’m looking for, or if I need inspiration, there’s no better way to find it than by looking at what others love to eat. The photos alone are mouth-watering.

How do I use it in the workplace? It’s a bit challenging, and the hot topic at work this week has been whether or not to use cute animals to get traffic, repins, likes and follows for our boards. I love cute animals, I have a Kitties board for my personal one, and a Desired Roommates for my Hotcourses USA. Totally legit subjects that help define my fan base and online presence. Yet for those that wish to stay away from the cutesy-ness, (aka my male coworkers) there is a struggle. It’ll be interesting to see how Pinterest will evolve once they start selling ad space, and UK users rise.

Seriously though, how can you not fall in love with a face like this?