....to miss the States:
WINDOW and DOOR SCREENS.
Would it kill the Brits to put a few metal mesh barriers between their buildings and the great, winged insect outdoors? Especially since the lack of air conditioning makes keeping said windows and doors shut in the summer rather, um, sweltering?
I lost five sweaters, a pair of trousers and a knit handbag while my husband lost an expensive suit jacket to moths last year.
Judging by the nightly visitors drawn to our living areas by the bright lights, no barrier to access system we're operating, I'm afraid the score is about to tilt even more heavily in their favor despite carpeting the closets with various and sundry items meant to keep the destructive critters away. After all, they got to my favorite black cashmere sweater despite:
a) moth sachets
b) religiously dry cleaning each object in the storage bag before putting it away for the season
Seriously, people. SCREENS. They're not that hard of a concept. And yet, when an American friend remodeled her house and wanted to include put window screens in, she discovered they don't exist here. She was welcome to have them custom made or imported from America, at great expense of course...
2007-06-12
2007-03-31
6 June - mark your calendars, London food shoppers!
6 June is circled large on my calendar. Finally, after teasing me with "coming soon" signs for far longer than is necessary, Whole Foods has announced the opening date for its flagship store on Kensington High Street.
But not everyone is as thrilled with having a state of the art organic supermarket that treats its employees and customers equitably in their backyard. Jonathan Prynn, writing in the Evening Standard:
"Whole Foods is frighteningly expensive compared with other US food giants...Back home, it has success simply by being better than the dire supermarkets Americans were used to."
*snerk*
Oh puhleeze. There is nothing more dire than a UK supermarket. Let's compare, shall we?
Choice? Fuhgeddaboutit. No comparison. Last time my husband and I were in LA, we stopped in my old neighborhood Ralph's. I actually took photos with my phone's camera to remind myself what proper displays of produce and wide aisles of more than two brands per category looked like. "Yes, but," I hear you say, "London is an old town with little space for supermarkets and LA is a new city with nothing but space for big stores. It's not fair to compare." Ah, but my husband has one quirky quirk: He loves to try out new grocery stores. And so we have travelled by tube, bus and cab to the furthermost reaches of Greater London to visit the large suburban hypermarkets. Let me tell you: there is NOTHING more dire in the supermarket category than the Asda in North Acton. Don't even get me going on our various Tesco experiences. They define despressing shopping.
Service? Grumpy clerks who may or may not bag your groceries for you, throwing the six pack of soda on top of the fresh loaf of bread, or clerks who generally smile and exchange pleasantries while a second clerk bags for you? Thought so.
Food safety? I've watched Sainsburys employees place formerly frozen items that were left behind at the checkout BACK IN THE FREEZER CASE. On a regular basis.
Oh Ralph's, how I miss thee...Gelson's, Albertson's, Pavillons too. And Bristol Farms...*sigh*
Also, a country that gave birth to Trader Joe's can never have its grocery choices be termed "dire." TJ trumps ALL. It certainly trumps anything this benighted (when it comes to supermarkets) isle can boast.
As for "frighteningly more expensive" - yes, Whole Foods can cost more than Ralph's, but not that much more. Besides, I bought entirely different things at each store. Considering that the supermarkets here double or treble their prices for the organic versions, I would say that Whole Foods prices will come as a pleasant surprise to the British shopper.
Now France...France can sneer all it likes at American supermarkets because French grocery stores are fab. What can I say, I'm a bread, cheese and charcuterie type of gal, and any country that sells not one, but two versions of Special K with chocolate (dark and milk) is my idea of paradise. But Britain...ever hear of glass houses, my supercilious Brit friends?
Whole Foods succeeded in America not because it was better than the other US grocery stores but because it exploited a niche very well. In my old LA neighborhood, I lived within walking distance of a Whole Foods, a Ralph's, a Pavillions and a local independent grocery. They all seemed to thrive in the ten years I was a resident. Whole Foods will not compete with Asda (which, by the way, happens to be owned by Wal-Mart) in the UK - because it isn't meant to. It's a completely different experience. And one I can't wait to have.
But oh! Trader Joe's, if you could be the next to invade London, I'd be very, very grateful...
But not everyone is as thrilled with having a state of the art organic supermarket that treats its employees and customers equitably in their backyard. Jonathan Prynn, writing in the Evening Standard:
"Whole Foods is frighteningly expensive compared with other US food giants...Back home, it has success simply by being better than the dire supermarkets Americans were used to."
*snerk*
Oh puhleeze. There is nothing more dire than a UK supermarket. Let's compare, shall we?
Choice? Fuhgeddaboutit. No comparison. Last time my husband and I were in LA, we stopped in my old neighborhood Ralph's. I actually took photos with my phone's camera to remind myself what proper displays of produce and wide aisles of more than two brands per category looked like. "Yes, but," I hear you say, "London is an old town with little space for supermarkets and LA is a new city with nothing but space for big stores. It's not fair to compare." Ah, but my husband has one quirky quirk: He loves to try out new grocery stores. And so we have travelled by tube, bus and cab to the furthermost reaches of Greater London to visit the large suburban hypermarkets. Let me tell you: there is NOTHING more dire in the supermarket category than the Asda in North Acton. Don't even get me going on our various Tesco experiences. They define despressing shopping.
Service? Grumpy clerks who may or may not bag your groceries for you, throwing the six pack of soda on top of the fresh loaf of bread, or clerks who generally smile and exchange pleasantries while a second clerk bags for you? Thought so.
Food safety? I've watched Sainsburys employees place formerly frozen items that were left behind at the checkout BACK IN THE FREEZER CASE. On a regular basis.
Oh Ralph's, how I miss thee...Gelson's, Albertson's, Pavillons too. And Bristol Farms...*sigh*
Also, a country that gave birth to Trader Joe's can never have its grocery choices be termed "dire." TJ trumps ALL. It certainly trumps anything this benighted (when it comes to supermarkets) isle can boast.
As for "frighteningly more expensive" - yes, Whole Foods can cost more than Ralph's, but not that much more. Besides, I bought entirely different things at each store. Considering that the supermarkets here double or treble their prices for the organic versions, I would say that Whole Foods prices will come as a pleasant surprise to the British shopper.
Now France...France can sneer all it likes at American supermarkets because French grocery stores are fab. What can I say, I'm a bread, cheese and charcuterie type of gal, and any country that sells not one, but two versions of Special K with chocolate (dark and milk) is my idea of paradise. But Britain...ever hear of glass houses, my supercilious Brit friends?
Whole Foods succeeded in America not because it was better than the other US grocery stores but because it exploited a niche very well. In my old LA neighborhood, I lived within walking distance of a Whole Foods, a Ralph's, a Pavillions and a local independent grocery. They all seemed to thrive in the ten years I was a resident. Whole Foods will not compete with Asda (which, by the way, happens to be owned by Wal-Mart) in the UK - because it isn't meant to. It's a completely different experience. And one I can't wait to have.
But oh! Trader Joe's, if you could be the next to invade London, I'd be very, very grateful...
2007-01-10
Non-erudite thought for the day
Is anyone else boggling at all the newspaper stories about the evil paparazzi stalking potential princess-to-be Kate Middleton - but the stories are illustrated by paparazzi photos of the said Miss Middleton?
See: Problem, part of.
See: Problem, part of.
2007-01-08
A typical London weekend
Lest I give the impression that I dislike living in the UK - cease that thought! I am fully aware how lucky I am to have this experience.
For example, take the weekend that just passed. Not a very exciting weekend, judging by the datebook; Christmas and New Year's are over, the dreary days of January begun. And it wasn't action packed by any imagination - we've certainly accomplished far more in 48 hours. But, just a sampling of what we did on Saturday and Sunday:
1) Visited the National Gallery to view the Velazquez exhibition. The exhibition traced Velazquez's career from its beginnings in Seville to his studies in Rome to its apex at the court of Philip IV. While some of his most famous masterpieces, such as Las Meninas, remain at the Prado in Madrid, the Spanish museum did send some fine examples of his work to London such as "Baltasar Carlos on Horseback" and "El Nino de Vallecas." The loaned paintings supplemented the fine Velazquez masterpieces in the National Gallery's collection such as "The Rokeby Venus" and "Philip IV of Spain in Brown and Silver." The gallery was crowded, but the crush wasn't nearly as unpleasant as the throngs at the Holbein exhibition put on by the Tate Britain. And the audio guide was one of the best we've experienced, well worth the three pounds.
2) Went ice skating at the Tower of London. Ice skating. In a moat. At a castle. In the middle of one of the world's most modern cities.
3) Attended a dinner party. The guests originally hailed from the Netherlands, Germany, Korea, the US, and we even had one or two native Brits ;-)
Now, I could have these experiences (well, maybe not ice skating in a moat, but ice skating as an activity) in other cities, but I'm still in awe that this was a typical, if rather lazy, weekend for us. I hope I never lose that awe and take these opportunities for granted.
For example, take the weekend that just passed. Not a very exciting weekend, judging by the datebook; Christmas and New Year's are over, the dreary days of January begun. And it wasn't action packed by any imagination - we've certainly accomplished far more in 48 hours. But, just a sampling of what we did on Saturday and Sunday:
1) Visited the National Gallery to view the Velazquez exhibition. The exhibition traced Velazquez's career from its beginnings in Seville to his studies in Rome to its apex at the court of Philip IV. While some of his most famous masterpieces, such as Las Meninas, remain at the Prado in Madrid, the Spanish museum did send some fine examples of his work to London such as "Baltasar Carlos on Horseback" and "El Nino de Vallecas." The loaned paintings supplemented the fine Velazquez masterpieces in the National Gallery's collection such as "The Rokeby Venus" and "Philip IV of Spain in Brown and Silver." The gallery was crowded, but the crush wasn't nearly as unpleasant as the throngs at the Holbein exhibition put on by the Tate Britain. And the audio guide was one of the best we've experienced, well worth the three pounds.
2) Went ice skating at the Tower of London. Ice skating. In a moat. At a castle. In the middle of one of the world's most modern cities.
3) Attended a dinner party. The guests originally hailed from the Netherlands, Germany, Korea, the US, and we even had one or two native Brits ;-)
Now, I could have these experiences (well, maybe not ice skating in a moat, but ice skating as an activity) in other cities, but I'm still in awe that this was a typical, if rather lazy, weekend for us. I hope I never lose that awe and take these opportunities for granted.
2007-01-04
Fashion Wars
Catwalk Queen, an intermittently witty UK fashion blog, has decided to release their list of the top ten trends spotted on the streets of Blighty.
Their list was inspired by a top ten list put out by TIME magazine. Why a bunch of apparently twenty-something British bloggers felt the need to take a news magazine mostly read by affluent forty-something Americans as the last word in US style is beyond me. Don't get me wrong, TIME was a staple in my home growing up and I still pick it up occasionally - but pulse of the US fashion world?! It is to laugh.
Anyway, the bloggers decided, based on the list in TIME - TIME! - that the US is behind the UK in fashion.
Well, something is a load of bollocks - and it ain't TIME's innocuous, if rather too ubiquitous and mainstream to really be called trends, list.
The Catwalk Queens then decided to create their own list of UK trends.
However, they left off a few.
So here are my picks for the 2006 fashion trends unique to the UK:
1) Exposed muffin tops. You know that band of flesh that flops over your jeans, no matter how well the jeans fit elsewhere? That's a muffin top. British girls LOVE theirs, or so it would seem by how proudly they display them in public. Well-fed by beer, untouched by gym or sun, bare belly flesh is the hallmark of the authentically British female. And it doesn't matter the season: summer or winter, the muffin top comes out to play, jeans belted below it, cardigans stopping above it.
2) Glitter here, glitter there, sequins, sequins everywhere. The Catwalk cats picked sequin dresses as one of their trends, but they left off sequin bags, sequin cardigans, sequin skirts. Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of the occasional spangle, but head to toe sequins doesn't even work in Las Vegas anymore. Pair that with glitter eyeshadow matched to glitter shoes, and you have a fashion trend that Tinkerbell would find over the top. Maybe the love of all things shiny is a British thing I just don't get, like pantomime. Come to think of it, pantomime and this trend have lots in common...
3) WAGs as fashion role models. WAGs (Wives and Girlfriends) was the collective name coined for the expensive armcandy of the England football team. The best known WAG is Victoria "Posh" Beckham, but during the World Cup the papers couldn't get enough of the women's antics. The basic WAG look is orangey tan, fake nail extensions, porn star hair extensions, and designer logos. The overall effect is basic streetwalker.
So if the fact that these trends have yet to show up on the streets of the US (at least last I visited) means that the US is years behind the UK, then long may the US lag...
Their list was inspired by a top ten list put out by TIME magazine. Why a bunch of apparently twenty-something British bloggers felt the need to take a news magazine mostly read by affluent forty-something Americans as the last word in US style is beyond me. Don't get me wrong, TIME was a staple in my home growing up and I still pick it up occasionally - but pulse of the US fashion world?! It is to laugh.
Anyway, the bloggers decided, based on the list in TIME - TIME! - that the US is behind the UK in fashion.
Well, something is a load of bollocks - and it ain't TIME's innocuous, if rather too ubiquitous and mainstream to really be called trends, list.
The Catwalk Queens then decided to create their own list of UK trends.
However, they left off a few.
So here are my picks for the 2006 fashion trends unique to the UK:
1) Exposed muffin tops. You know that band of flesh that flops over your jeans, no matter how well the jeans fit elsewhere? That's a muffin top. British girls LOVE theirs, or so it would seem by how proudly they display them in public. Well-fed by beer, untouched by gym or sun, bare belly flesh is the hallmark of the authentically British female. And it doesn't matter the season: summer or winter, the muffin top comes out to play, jeans belted below it, cardigans stopping above it.
2) Glitter here, glitter there, sequins, sequins everywhere. The Catwalk cats picked sequin dresses as one of their trends, but they left off sequin bags, sequin cardigans, sequin skirts. Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of the occasional spangle, but head to toe sequins doesn't even work in Las Vegas anymore. Pair that with glitter eyeshadow matched to glitter shoes, and you have a fashion trend that Tinkerbell would find over the top. Maybe the love of all things shiny is a British thing I just don't get, like pantomime. Come to think of it, pantomime and this trend have lots in common...
3) WAGs as fashion role models. WAGs (Wives and Girlfriends) was the collective name coined for the expensive armcandy of the England football team. The best known WAG is Victoria "Posh" Beckham, but during the World Cup the papers couldn't get enough of the women's antics. The basic WAG look is orangey tan, fake nail extensions, porn star hair extensions, and designer logos. The overall effect is basic streetwalker.
So if the fact that these trends have yet to show up on the streets of the US (at least last I visited) means that the US is years behind the UK, then long may the US lag...
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