Launch Launched
Today, although a very LONG day, was a good day indeed.

It's always so nice to see the folks that come. Some of them I've become friends with over the years and wish I could see them more often.

On our way at 7:30am to unpack 60+ cartons (the stack shown int he background of the photo below) of product for the 10am meeting. We complete it by 9:25am and Joanne and I popped out for a little breakfast. My first proper English breakfast of the trip. Why don't we serve mushrooms and grilled tomatos for breakfast in the US? Yum!

Nearly nine hours later my presentation was complete and the details of what would be offered in the UK and across Europe were settled and it was time to pack it all up! The samples get split and sent to the two agents that will begin selling first.
Everything is packed up, products that won't be run overseas packed for return to the US and voila - it's time for the company dinner!

We had the dinner this time at The Hoxton Grill at the Hoxton Hotel. The food was quite good in fact! I had a green pea soup (as in fresh peas not split peas.) I burned my tongue on the first bite though -- I'd never had this soup served HOT. I expected it to be cold. It was still good - although I think I may have preferred it cold. My Lamb - YUM! Sandra's Salmon Cakes looked delicious too! The Puddings varied from Pavlova and Trifle to a yummy Lemon Tart with fresh Blackberry Ice Cream.

Thanks to the entire team!! Good fun and a great meeting! See you all in a few months!

Top Notch

For some reason, this trip through London has left me sleepless. I've been up until 3am or later just waiting for sleep to take me. Truely, and thankfully, this is a rare occurance with me and traveling. So, in my sleepless wee hours of Sunday morning I loaded more photos onto my Flickr site so that I could work towards completing all of my writings from the list of trips I had this spring.
I began my day meeting up with Deji. With the day he had ahead of him I'm hoping seeing a smiling face helped! We met at the Liverpool tube station and he walked me, ourating all the way, through the old fabric market - now a street market - around twists and turns until even he had lost his bearings only to find out we were right down the block from what he was looking for. We lunched at the Old Spitalfields Market, specifically at The Daily Grind. I will never get used to the sandwiches in the UK. Wonderbread with a few slices of something in between and often too much mayo. It had been ages since I'd eatten a bread that stuck like peanut butter to the roof of my mouth! I suppose you are meant to wash it down with a good cuppa, so I did. Conversation lingered and before we knew it it was time to say our farewells and move along with our days.

I hopped back onto the tube... Next Stop: Oxford Street for some more shopping. Well, less shopping and more browsing to see what my competition has out in stores. When I shop the stores for work, I hit as many as I can within each day not only to see if I may have missed something grand in my own line, but to see if there are any interesting trends that are connecting the stores. It means standing, walking and dealing with salespeople all day long.

Oxford Street is always full of hustle and bustle. It's truely a buzz with action. It's also a place you need to make sure your bags are zipped up!

First stop - Top Shop. Top shop has been looking for a spot in New York City to open up for at least 6-8 months if not longer. (For such a large company, they have got the SLOWEST website!) They replenish there goods on the floor multiple times in each day which means they need to have a constantly working loading dock...which is difficult space to aquire in NYC. My boss emailed from the hotel - he'd arrived! I wrote him directions to meet me at Fenwick's Department Store and would have an hour before we met. I popped in and out of shops along the way.

In John Lewis I watched women picking out hats - it is Ascot week after all! I love to watch people putting on hats. As they sit the hat upon their head you can see them get lost in the thoughts of where they would wear it. What they would dress in and who they would show it off to. One woman was having a very hard time choosing betwen two hats. Asking her husband recieved a reply of "which is cheaper..." which of course did not answer the which looks better question. As she pulled out her dress to hold up in front of her, I couldn't help myself and picked up the second hat to hold next to her so she could see them both with the dress. It was instantly a no-brainer. She said, "Oh good, I'd love an oppinion if you don't mind!" Her husband begrudgingly said, "And what do you think she'll know about this that I don't?"

Yes, I couldn't help myself and said with a grin, "Well, I am a milliner from the States."

His mouth fell open and immediately wanted me to help his wife choose the perfect hat (suddenly the cost seemed to be of no trouble.) Very funny indeed. We all settled upon the red hat - it really looked wonderful with her skin tone and made her flirty Flamenco dress pop, as a hat should. Further, it drew attention to her eyes -- everything a hat is supposed to do!

After picking up coffee for my boss and I, I wandered down New Bond Street for my hat shopping meeting. Our shopping was a success and we headed back to the hotel to drop the hat boxes and find dinner. Heading off in a different direction we happened upon Little Hanoi (147 Curtain Road, Shorditch, London EC2A 3QE) for a Vietnamese bite. YUM YUM YUM!!! Do pop in for a bite if you're in the neighborhood. Their Spring Rolls were nicely ballanced, the Indonesian salad (with beef) was REALLY good and our Pho - YUM!

What a lovely way to end a busy weekend! Tomorrow I'll launch my new line here in the UK for the UK/Europe. Fingers crossed! We pack in at 7:30am! Time for some sleep.

Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head

That is when the sun isn't out! The weather here in London since I've arrived has been raining (sometimes pouring) and the next minute it's bright and sunny.

Had a lovely dinner at the Yard (140 Tabernacle Street, London EC2A 4SD Tel: 02.07.336.7758) last night. A tasty salad followed by a rather gourmet wild mushroom (and garlic) pizza -- do you SEE those cloves of roasted garlic -- YUMMMM! Washed it down with a nice glass of Montepulciano and some sparkling water and headed back to the hotel for some sleep...which finally came around 2:30am.

Today I was up in time to catch the Queen's Birthday Parade on the tellie. While I was watching I heard a loud noise and popped to the window to see planes flying just overhead in formation. I finally was prepared when the third and final grouping - the Red Arrows - flew overhead and I was able to get this photo.

The transportation here reminded me of NYC on the weekends -- the subway line that was most convenient to where I needed to go was simply closed for the weekend. Thus I arrived through a bit of a round the way traveling to meet Henri and Deji near the Globe Theatre/Tate Modern for a walk through London's Borough market and a lovely lunch at a local Greek restaurant.

While at the market I had 2 lovely things -- an amazing cup of coffee from Monmouth Coffee Co. and one of the BEST Brownies I've ever had... the brownie was from Flour Power City Bakery. YUUUUM!

We walked down the river enjoying a little bit of sun hoping it would hold off until we hit the tube -- which it did -- but barely -- LOOK at that SKY (left)! Angry!! Just moments before it looked like this (below right)...

From here they joined me to Harrod's where I continued my looking for work. I often have to dash through as many stores as I can in a day to see what my competition has on offer. Sometimes it also involves purchasing items... Today was one of those day. Below left we see Henri happily holding the boxes containing my purchases of the day. Fun!
I am saddened to say that Harvey Nichols no longer has a millinery department AT ALL. Truly a shame. Folks here in London -- get out there and buy more hats!!! Bring it back!! They used to have such a lovely and quirky department!!!

It was so nice to see both Henri and Deji. Deji used to live in NYC but I didn't know him much then. Now he's back in England. Henri lives in NYC but happened to be here in London for a few days on her way to Slovakia. She'll fly there tomorrow and take a test (for school) later this week. GOOD LUCK HENRI!!! I know you'll do well!! I've spent more of my time with Henri out of the US then in the US. We'll have to change that!

Upon returning to the hotel I ran into some coworkers who have also arrived for the lingering conference and joined them for a bite at Cantaloupe (35 Charlotte Road, Shoreditch, London, EC2A 3PD.) We'd had a company dinner here once before. The food is alright. My salad was nice -- but the atmosphere -- it's just -- LOUD I guess. It's loud and hard to have conversation.

Tonight I worked a bit on adding more photos to my Flickr page so that I can write my Sri Lanka blog posts etc. So many photos to organize! I still have well over 1000 to go through. Phew. Time - I just need time!
Nighty night!

LONDON BOUND

Racing past deadlines in a single bound...OK so maybe it was less racing and a bit more meticulously plotting...and it wasn't really a single bound unless you can squish 3 weeks into one hop.
Through broken USB ports (minor cursing), running out of memory (yeah - my new 200G portable drive arrived just in time -- I think my company should invest in a few) and clogged printer ink cartridges... the project is done and here I sit at JFK sipping scalding hot Italian Wedding soup and chasing it with some Sparkling VOSS awaiting my departure for Heathrow.

The flight to the UK always seem to depart at night, thus you arrive 6-7hrs later feeling like you've pulled an all-nighter-- because you have. It's a more difficult flight for me than to Asia any day. It does make me chuckle when I hear folks complaining about how LONG the flight was when I am thinking, "it was so quick! I didn't get in more than one movie after the meal, and the nap was just that." Anything compare to a direct flight to Asia is short.

Upon landing you grab a taxi or the train into London and work your way to your hotel. The old hotel they would put us up at NEVER accomidated an early check-in. This left one no choice but to colapse on a couch in the lobby after a full english breakfast. The next hotel we tested out last trip is stellar! Quirky and accomidating with a far friendlier staff to boot.

I'm looking forward to getting a few hours in on the cowl-necked draped top I'm knitting on the flight. I'm using Laines Du Nord "Dream" in a primary color blend (#71). It's a Cotton/Linen/Poly blend with a lovely texture. I bought the yarn in Florence from Beatrice. I can only knit on the way over since you cannot fly out of the UK with your knitting in your carry-on. Knitting needles are still on the "No-no" list when you check in. Blah.

I'm in talks with one of the yarn shops in NYC to teach a Finishing class in August. No not how to get through your UFOs (I've a cabinet full!), but the cast-off options and ways to assemble and ties in all those ends as beautifully as you knit the pieces. More on that as it/if it develops!
Cheerio!

Sent from my Blackberry