queen of hearts -bound but not broken, tied but not twisted

I have arrived… just exactly what that means I’m not sure.
What I do know is that once we set sail there is no getting off and that slightly terrifies me. My first impression being back is that I am grateful for the familiarity my second impression is that I am stuck on a boat.
So sailing away to the Mediterranean, it sounds pretty cool but of course it is now that I am working that I have had several other opportunities offered to me. When it rains it pours…

The day after we arrived on board we were told a box of things to get Quick Change ready (ie to add endless amounts of Velcro too) never made it on board so we don’t currently have all that much to do… I am a touch concerned about the next couple of cruises as we have new cast that must be fit and altered (the costumes not the cast).
Our 3times a day ritual of anti-bacterial dousing, that we weren’t given a passenger room, we are in the middle of the ship so the walls constantly creak we don’t have a window or a kettle and aren’t given cookies and tea daily… and we don’t have a bath… is growing a touch tiresome.

But for now we are on board and floating our way to Rhodes Greece after having spent Thursday in Palma Mallorca, an island off the cost of Spain. We explored the castle, went to the chapel, went to the shops, wound our way through Moorish alleys and indulged in Ferrero Roche and apple cinnamon gelato. Thank god for gelato & thank god there isn’t a gelato shop on board ship… I would roll off of here in 5weeks! To that end I have made some attempt, forcing my misguided body clocked self (is it the jet lag or the lack of a regular sunlight cycle due to a windowless room?) to the gym to run 5km a day, work in some crunches, squats  & curls…  aghem and a glass of wine or two…

London was easy to get back into the swing of things… As I cursed the crowds on Oxford Street and Top Shop I basked in the energy and excitement of it all.
I arrived exhausted, slightly broken and very ready for a glass of wine, spending my first day mainly sleeping and chatting… Saturday found her pace lunching and pinting (verb; enjoying relaxed pints of your choice) with friends and then climbed UP to Primrose Hill, though a part of Regents Park for some reason I had never been there before. The view of London was AMAZING…  I am looking forward to getting back to discover more  (and the same) friends, drink more pints and hopefully catch a few openings. If anyone is up for seeing a show or exploring something interesting and unpredictable, I am in!

I haven’t been able to spend much time writing mostly because of inertia, or maybe sheer laziness… I am too lazy to check, do they mean the same thing?

My time has been busy though, and i am beginning to wonder if a full time job would really work with my hectic schedule. I think I need to be independently wealthy to truly enjoy the free time I have become accustomed too. Shortly after I arrived back from Christmas at home Carla and I went and saw Lalala Human Steps at Sadlers Wells, they are a Montreal based Dance Troupe that seamlessly combines classical ballet with modern dance, we paid for the cheapest seats and when the lights went out we scrambled to seats several price brackets up, I love the dark (and the ballet)!

In between dinners with Alice and her Italian flat-mate, knitting myself something (finally), coffee with my student film friends, Columbia Road Flower Market, cream tea in South Kensington with Mim, and of course the constant & the great debate about where I should go and what I should do next… London, Toronto, Paris… the first two are feasible the last an impulsive dream /potential reality (isn’t everything potential reality?); I have also been to see a house that belonged to a gentleman named Dennis Severs, a beautiful house (where he actually lived in the exact manner it is now left) not unlike Niels’; filled with things things things, gorgeous, half eaten, fictional, non-fictional, demure, impulsive things… set as though someone has just left the room and you will find them down the hall or in the powder room… except they are never to be found, having just moved on to the next room. In the evening the entire house is lit by candlelight and a coal burning fire is alight in each room. Every room has a distinctive smell orange and cinnamon in one, smoky fire in another. Though gone Dennis legacy lives on though friends that tend to his house and honor his vision of becoming lost in another time via this ’still life drama’.

The other most recent and exciting circumstance was a trip to Paris, with many many thanks to our flatmate Ginny, Carla and I were sent to spend 24hours in Paris for an upcoming issue of BMI Baby’s inflight magazine, we were give flights & a hotel for one night in the most romantic city in the world (check out the photo’s under J’adore Paris to the right). The travel portion of our trip was fraught with almost mishap that a second either way & we could have been seriously inconvenienced (stress was the name of the game) but somehow in the end it all worked… with each unpredictable circumstance… (I am talking almost missing trains by 3seconds, having no real train ticket just a few pieces of paper with a reference number, seemingly absent from flight schedules, losing boarding passes in the 15feet between security and the gate, and in the last leg of our journey losing (I personally believe they were never dispensed from the machine) our train tickets home… a mistake that very nearly cost us 100£.

…Oh but Paris, none of our travel woes compromised, undermined or diminished our experiences. We strolled down the streets of Montemartre, checked the dome of Sacre Coeur, perused the bins at Tati, went for a tea, strawberry creme brule & an admire of the male beauty at Mariage Frere, walked to the Islands and enjoyed the grandure or Notre Dame and the intimacy of Ste Chappell, marveled at the treasures at the Musee D’Orsay and enjoyed wandering endlessly down the streets and grand boulevards. We ate crepes, cheese plates, 3 person salads (yes there was only two of us), raspberry tarts, copious amounts of cafe au lait and of course lovely glass after glass of Rose (oh just one more, if you insist…) mostly while sitting on patios under heat lamps while again admiring the sites ahem sights (we particularly liked the tall curly hair, blue & brown eyed beauties).

After returning from Paris I spent my week making mens Tudor hats for Academy Costumes. It was so nice to be sewing… & hopefully there is more to come. That weekend we had a clothing exchange at Alice’s, it was fantastic, very well received and more like a giant Canadian tea party than a clothing swap… I made scones that we covered in raspberry jam and clotted cream, I am drooling just thinking about it! The fun didn’t stop there, on Monday Zoe Kreye arrived for her London mini break. On holiday from school & the German country town she now calls home she came to get lost in the city… I couldn’t be her full time tour guide as I have (as of last week & I will go more in depth about it at a later date) started working on a festival… so my day time was limited… though every morning we started out with a lovely bowl of porridge and fruit… and ever evening we would have a wonderful curry or salad & plenty of time to chat!!!! On Friday we wandered from the infamous Oxford Street Primark through Hyde Park to South Kensington, had tea at Lauderee in Harrods and then in complete contrast hummus & pita on a bench on the side of the road, oh how quickly the mighty have fallen… We then wandered through the treasures at the V&A having one of the most delightful experiences I have had there in a long time… no agenda, nothing in particular to do or see… just a good old wander, a few moments respite in the courtyard basking in the sun & a look through the gift shop.

By the time Zoe left on Sunday morning I was quite used to having someone to share my mornings & evenings with, and totally sad to see her go…

there are more photo’s of Zoe’s time in London plus more to the right under ‘new beginnings’ check it out!