A Lady in London

Last June my boyfriend and I bought tickets to Taste of London, a temporary foodie paradise in Regent’s Park that featured top London restaurants selling miniature portions of their signature dishes. We couldn’t wait to go. Unfortunately, a little something called the Face of Ascot competition forced us to change our plans. Instead of heading to Regent’s Park that Saturday to eat good food and drink champagne, we headed to Royal Ascot for a second time. Thankfully it was worth the trip.

But we still wanted to taste London. This year we knew we would attend Royal Ascot well in advance, so we bought our Taste of London tickets for Sunday. We headed out to the park at noon, met up with a friend of ours, and surveyed the scene. It was huge! White tents stretched out endlessly in front of us emanating amazing scents from grilled meat to hot chocolate to roast vegetables.

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Saturday was my last day as the Face of Ascot 2009. While I was sad to give up my title, I was excited to meet the new contenders for the Face of Ascot 2010 title. I woke up early, put on my black Karen Millen dress with a big rose on one shoulder and my still-too-big-for-me Cleo B heels, and grabbed my black satin handbag. I was ready to go to Royal Ascot.

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After a month of getting outfitted for Royal Ascot, my boyfriend, my mother and I headed out to Berkshire on Tuesday morning for the start of the famous five day race meeting. Wearing my fuchsia Karen Millen dress and Cleo B heels, I left home excited for a day at the races.

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When my boyfriend and I first moved to London a year and a half ago, we camped out in a chi chi hotel in Belgravia for three weeks. Every day on our way to the tube at Victoria we would pass the beautiful gardens in Eaton Square, Chester Square, and Belgrave Square. We always wanted to go inside and enjoy the leafy green spaces and lovely flowers, but alas the gates were under lock and key and the only ones allowed inside were the residents that lived in the buildings in the squares.

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It’s graduation season. A few weeks ago I traveled back to Brown for my five year reunion, which took place on the same weekend as graduation. The following day my cousin graduated from Yale with a master’s degree. This weekend it was my good friend’s turn to graduate. She invited me and my mother, who is visiting from San Francisco, to attend the ceremony at Oxford.

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When I was 18 I spent a semester studying in Nice, France. I traveled most weekends and visited many cities in Provence—there was a trip to Eze, an afternoon in Saint Paul de Vence, and of course an outing in Antibes. I saw a lot. But when I got back to California, everyone asked me the same question: “What did you think of Aix en Provence?” Aix en Provence? Oops. Missed that one.

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I hate shopping. Nothing ever fits me, I always regret what I buy, and I inevitably spend way too much money on clothes that see the light of my closet more often than the light of day. It would be nice if I had other people to just do all of my shopping for me. In fact, I just did.

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