YOLO

Not quite the title most would expect.....but there is so much truth in that word (if I can call this a word) I can't help but remind myself - 'Lady, YOLO!!!'

YOLO - You Only Live Once.

And here lies the 'thing' that underlies my recent decisions/choices.

You see, unlike a cat with 9 lives, I have one. And I owe it to myself to live this one to the fullest.
Mohatma Gandhi once said,

'The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others'

So when I say YOLO, it is a reminder to myself that I owe it to myself to live a live that serves :D 

I am sure someone's wondering - 'Why so serious?'. It's nothing like that. However, as I countdown to the end of 2013 I cannot help but count my blessings. Man! What a year this has been! It's easy to get lost in all the things we are yet to achieve and in the process ignore all the things we did achieve, All the friends and family still hanging around to share these moments of love, laughter and tears.

And even when there are no friends or family, the fact we can experience love, laughter and tears is evidence that we can stay fighting, stay dreaming and stay learning from our experiences. And for that, there is reason to be hopeful indeed!

It's with this realisation that I signed up to volunteer with Crisis UK, taking care of the homeless over Christmas. I am looking forward to spending at least 2 days with rough sleepers, attending to their needs, providing food and a listening ear.

I do it because I love it! It is such an amazing feeling being able to smile at someone and they smile back. Being able to share moments of joy and festivities with people all over. Afterall, isn't that what this season is all about?

I am also writing a list of things I need to do next year! This Womble is a dreamer.....as you may have noticed! My blog persona itself is a dream *chuckle. Although it would be lovely to live wombly free on Wimbledon Commons - no rent! no bills! no taxes! *FingerSnapToReality

I am not going to share what I have written out for myself - Sorry lovelies! *hehe. but rest assured this blog is high on that list! So much to do, so little time......Where to start? Here. When to start? Now.

P.S.

Did I tell you I haven't been cooking a lot lately! I know right! All my random kitchen experiments and hastily taken photographs - no more! Oh but I did attend an Intro to Photgraphy course in September. Maybe I shouldn't have said that because now you'll expect some quality shots next time I post pictures *gulp. Definately no pressure there!

Another 'disaster' is the fact I haven't had the chance to explore this beautiful city like I would love to. I have deliberately gotten myself lost by taking walks down streets, corners and sometime alleys I have no clue about. Things have to change #YOLO

Until next time, take care lovelies!!!! :D

Lady xx

April's the month.....

Yes, it all started in April...

I left my old role on 29th March and headed down to London in a Taxi on 30th March with every single thing I own and could carry....everyone seems to have a laugh when they hear I moved in a Taxi.

Don't be fooled, Lol! I wasn't cash rich. I was just blessed that the taxi driver who came to pick me to the train station was kind enough to realise the stupidity of my intentions and actually do something about it!

I mean, how did I expect to get all my stuff on the train and then on the underground and then to where I was going to live? I know!!! At this point you can probably see how much crazy goes on in my head sometimes *coversface. Well I don't apologise for it....life is for the living. And if I have to be a bit 'crazy' to realise things won't work.....no regrets here :D

Where was I? Yes, so I ended up in a taxi to London with a driver who hadn't driven there before. I promised to stay awake and navigate the route on his iPhone for as long as the low battery would permit. I must say, the ride was interesting. He just gave me jokes. Till date my only regret is I didn't take his number to ring him afterwards and say, 'Thank You'. Maybe even send some Christmas cheer to him and his family eii....Lesson learnt.

He kept asking me if I was running away from a boyfriend. Because in his head he couldn't understand why I was leaving an empty house on a Saturday with all my stuff. According to him, that was the only explanation he could give. I convinced him it was none of that.....this Womble was moving to the big city.

And so began what was to be the biggest roller coaster ride and adventure of my life.....at this point feel free to call me a Londoner. For I am hopelessly in love with this city....

Speak soon

 Lady Womble xx

29.04.2010

So I got home today and decided to vacuum the entire house - yep, all 3 floors of it!

I start with my room and soon after *beep, this text comes in


'Hi Lady, want all images taken during your photo shoot on 29.04.10 at STUDIOLONDON? More than 90% OFF original the price! Reply YES or call'

Being the curious girl I am, I called.No reply. Moments later a man rings back to say I have 57 pictures, can't preview any but if I pay £70 pounds I get a link to all my pictures via email.

Ok, now let me give you a background story - A friend signed me up for a free shoot and when I got the call I thought - ah well, what will it hurt. Off I go to London and spend the day, time and money waiting for my pictures to be ready. Now I was expecting to pay for them - obviously, but when they said £3,000 for the lot I zoned out and switched to autopilot mode.

£3,000 for what? Pictures? Can I resell them? Will they feed me? Pay my rent? Will they lay golden eggs? *PAH!....They obviously noticed the blood drain from my face because I was then offered the soft copies for £824 (I never forgot the figure, it haunted me!) and I could pay instalmentally. Now, I am a Womble and I have a policy - if you can't pay for it in cash now, forget it. *delayedgratification.

2 years later filled with occasional wonder about what had happened to them and I get this? Apparently the Studio went bankrupt (not hard to imagine why!), was bought and now the new guys are contacting people on their database to offer them their pictures at a reduced price.

That said, I told Mr Caller I will ring him back.

In this day and age, £70 is a lot for 2 year old pictures I think. Don't know - to buy or not to buy .....

HELP!!

Picture not taken by me - Web Image

London a la Golden Tours

Yesterday, I spent the entire day in London. I booked a place on the London by Night Open bus tour (Golden Tours). This usually costs £16 but I got it off Wowcher for £8 at 50% off.

I spent all week excited and looking forward to it and I will like to share my experience.

Getting to the venue was quite straightforward as the pick-up point is close to the Victoria underground station. I took the District line to Victoria station and experienced some delays. Getting to the station at  8:00pm, I rang the office to explain that I was running late as we were due to depart at 8:00pm! Since the description I got over the phone was quite vague, it took me 15minutes to get there and the bus driver was waiting as promised over the phone.

The top of the bus was full as was expected so I settled for the lower deck which was practically empty. During the tour, I was unable to take good shots as the driver whizzed throught the City. Overall, we drove past lots of landmark locations as promised but there was practically no stopping except at traffic lights. The tour was over after 1hr and 20 minutes and I admit, I did not have the best seat in the house. In my opinion, this was a nice experience and you can get some nice shots -  if you get a seat on top. I would recommend it for anyone who wants to see key parts of London at night and at half price, it's a steal. However, I believe the beauty of a tour is being able to linger at places that catch your interest.

At the end of the day, the choice is entirely yours :)

Here are some of the shots I got - through the window!

Always start the day with a hearty meal! (Let me know if you want the recipe)

First Picture through the window, the lights were on and when we asked, the Tour guide kindly turned it off. Everyone was so nice!

First shot of London Eye

Better View!

I like this motion shot a lot!

This time I had a black car driving past

Quite impressed with this actually, I could read the building name

Lovely Apartment building!

I kept this shot because of the motion

Through a window - is it obvious?

These atheletes are so inspiring, I had to take this shot, I was enthralled....

Piccadilly Baby!

Back at the station, heading home.......

I always love the adverts in the underground

What I am reading tonight

Worn while in London - Earring from Debenhams £6, Ring from Dorothy Perkins £8.50

I need to study my camera and maximise it's potential

Dress I wore on trip to London. Head turner - Warehouse £75

Web Image of my dress from Warehouse online