MY THANKSGIVING - LONDON STYLE

me and hampus bernhoff, a womwenswear designer who i am shadowing.

in true zandile fashion, taking notes and listening in on a critique of georgy, a menswear designer i am also shadowing.

those bags i am carrying are from, guess where? marks and spencer. i'd just bought my dinner and some water and was heading right back to the library. i made the security guard take the photo. LOLZ!

an apple pie from mcdonalds. this is really better than crack. or maybe crack manifested as a tasty treat. or maybe a cocktail of crack, heroin and arbor mist wine cooler (which i am addicted to). but i digress...this pie is really good.

me on a class assignment to discover more about the designers, 6267. i tracked down a store that sold their clothing and tried it on. looks good and feels fabulous. but at $3,000, it's a bit out of my price range.

hey guys! wow! i got so excited about my lace front weave that i just forgot about updating you on other parts of my life. my third week in london was fabulous. i am really starting to get into the groove of my life here. on days i have class i get up early, run, check email then head off to school. after that, i spend time with two saint martins designers, who i am shadowing for a project then go off to the library to work on my articles and blog for the blay report. on days i don't have class, i get up early, run, check email then head to straight to the library. it sounds nerdy. but i am enjoying myself and enjoying the steady rhythm of work and school.

i'm discovering some really cool stuff too....LIKE MCDONALDS APPLE PIE! ofcourse, i knew about this in america. but why is the one in london tastier and crispier. i think they deep fry it - so you can imagine the cholesterol filled goodness that it is. i'm working on my fitness, so i don't over indulge. but trust me, i'm tempted everyday! oh! and my love affair with marks & spencer is growing. why did the cashier there tell me yesterday that tescos is more affordable. i said, "i know. but marks & spencer is my weakness. i'll just eat less." lol! for real.

do you want to know what i bought? well, since it was thanksgiving, i decided to have myself a merry little dinner to give thanks for all my blessings. soooooo, of course, i had to buy a bottle of wine, some AMAZING rustic bread which was just baked (tasty and soft!!! omg!), cheese, cured salami and fresh salmon. ALL FOR 19 pounds - which is really $40. but still a bargain! and i got some breakies - which are smoothies with oats. mad good.

so today is friday, i have loads on my plate. i have to catch up on email, i have a meeting with a web designer for my school project and DRINKS IN THE EVENING with a wonderful woman i met two weeks ago. she's a friend of my friend laila and invited me out for drinks. can't wait. will have pictures for you. in the meantime, enjoy the ones above.

MY LOVE OF LACEFRONTS

before: looking beautiful, but still needing that extra oomph.

here it is in a flawless, natural looking and feeling, indian remy, lace front weave.

a part that shoes a natural scalp.

my side burns with baby hairs

had a fabulous weekend. still can't believe - and totally thanking god - that i'm having fun here. saturday i focused on articles all day, and then in the evening went on a "date" with my boy nicholas who lives downstairs from me. for a girl that likes to walk, it was an evening from heaven. we literally walked from bankside in southeast london , where we live, to north east and west and west west -lol. we found ourselves in hackney, shoreditch, and a bunch of other places i'm learning to know. it was pretty cool. sunday, went to church and then spent the entire rest of the day eating jerk chicken and getting my lace front wig put on. see the photos above! if you are interested in buying on, reach out to me at zandile@zandileblay.com.

UNIQLO IN LODON

a really bad shot of me and the uniqlo guy. but you get the point.

a super busy oxford road (?) where uniqlo and other major stores are located

the opening night of uniqlo's london launch was something fierce. my classmates snuck in and said the had a fabulous time. the next day, i was running errands on oxford street and bumped into a bunch of the workers outside. ofcourse, i started convo with them. and above is my picture with one of the guys. they got paid $120 a day, just to hand out uniqlo flyers. not a bad gig.

i noticed some really cool stores on that stretch as well: i forget the names now, but one sold express sushi. it was amazing. salmon roles - individually wrapped for $2. edamame $2. almost everything was $2. it was a cute concept, a really clean store and a nice way to have a healthy meal or a cheap snack.

i'll take a photo later and post.

THE BEST MEAL EVER

i only remembered to take a pic after i'd wolfed everything down. it doesn't look that savory, but trust me it was de-li-cious. (as my momma would say.)

okay with this much focus on food, doesn't it sound like i'm fixin to get fat out here? no such worries. i'm wathing what i eat like immigration watches mexicans AND i'm working out daily. but since we are on the topic, i had the best meal ever the other day. ofcourse, it was from marks and spencer! i bought whole wheat pita bread, organic hummus, and fresh scottish salmon and carrots and paired it with a sparkling bottle of spring water. SO YUM! i took a picture to share. don't worry about the presentation, just salivate over the description.

SEDUCED BY THE SANDWHICH

me and dan at wagamama. nikki, i give it an 8.

wagamama at low tide. just 45 minutes earlier it was packed to the brim.

so guess what i've been eating nonstop for the past four days? sandwhiches! london is obssessed with them. everywhere from marks and spencer (really fresh and yummy ones) to the little stores in the subway sell sandwhiches here. and the interesting thing is how they package and market them. they are always cut in half and put in a clear triangular container. and they are keen on letting you know that it's "fresh" and the sandwhiches are nutritious and delicious. i've reallly NEVER been a sandwhich girl myself, but it's hard not to get seduced.

my place of choice to buy them is pret-a-manger (they are litttered all over london) where i get my fave chicken and avocado on oatmeal bread with letttuce. so yummy!

and speaking of yummy food, i finally made my way to wagamama, as suggested by my girl nikki. there's one in my good, right on the river thames. the ambiance is really fun and the food is fresh, but at roughly $16 - $20 usd a plate, it's pretty pricey for my pockets. never the less, dan koday, a friend of mine from seventeen who is visiting london, and i jetted down there to check it out. i had wheat soba noodles with chicken and prawns (read: shrimps) it was tasty. my " raw" salad was pretty tasty too. i enjoyed it. won't make eating there a habit though.......

CAN YOU SPELL V-I-V-I-E-N-N-E-W-E-S-T-W-O-O-D

me on my first day of class! what you don't see are my super hot, shark gray stilleto booties!!!

me with my classmates. from left to right: valentina, edyta,mari, alahna and zoe!

we all had to spell a designer's name. above is our handy work!

after about three years of working as a magazine journalist - with a full year as a freelance writer - it's wierd to be back in school again. but it feels good. my classmates are cool and my professor is inspiring - so what more can i ask? to top it off, we actually had a spelling bee in class - fashion style. our professor made us go up and spell the name of fashion icons. peep my - correct! - spelling of vivienne westwood at the bottom of the board!

A COSTLY LOVE AFFAIR

you can get with this

or you can get with that....(but it really is kinda wack.)

so i'm obsessed with marks & spencer. the british retail chain sells everything from clothing to cosmetics to croissants. although i'm not too keen on their clothes, i LIVE for their food. it's so fresh and tasty and organic. and maybe because i'm a writer, i am totally turned on by their packaging. in addition to pretty pictures, there's lots and lots and lots of words on it. they go out of their way to describe the food, where it's from and why it's so tasty. i have a strange habit of keeping the packages while i'm eating to read the ingredients and description over and over again.

case in point: my "nutrionally balanced singapore noodles" meal. it is described as "chicken and prawns with fine rice noodles in a delicate curry sauce." they go on to say "our chefs use wholesome ingredients to create these declicious dishes which are 'nutritionallly balanced' for calories, fat, sugar and salt, (based on government guidelines); helping you to achieve a healthy, balanced diet."

i am reading a health book right now about just that, so i feel so proud of myself with the marks & spencer meals. i'm talking fresh banana's, delicious lasagna, walnuts, almonds, sparkling water, and this delicious thing called a "breakie" which is like a smoothie with oatmean in it (actually quiet tasty.)

but here's the rub: sooooooooo much money! or so i'm told. it doesn't feel that pricy to me, but everyone tells me if i am trying to save money, that's not the place to go. instead, they suggest tesco or sainsbury local. i have yet to go to tesco, but i've been to sainsbury and it aint savory. i'm not checking for that spot. i'd rather cut back on some meals so that i have the extra funds to eat where i want.

is that crazy!? i feel like i'm dating a bad boy who everyone wants me to dump. but i love marks (and spencer!)

INSPIRATION POINT: THE BANKSIDE NEIGHBORHOOD

i am back in london and - oddly enough - loving it! i am still apartment hunting, but have decided to love where i live until i find where i'd love to live. i actually came across that today - the neighborhood is called bankside and it is situated righ on the river thames. SO SEXY! i have decided to make it my route for my morning jog so i can bask in the fabulosity of the location and pretend i live there for an hour. i also FINALLY met someone to talk to in my dorm. her name is monique and she's a super sweet girl from manchester. she's also a csm student like me, but is studying textiles. i am finally warming up to this place and it feels good. i just have to work on finding a job so i can afford to eat and travel.

I LOVE/LOATHE LONDON!

wooooooooooow! so this is purely for therepeautic reasons. i already have an awesome fashion news blog with solid readership: www.theblayreport.com. but i needed a place where i could talk about me and how i'm adjusting to my move in london. this will be a very barebones blog. no sophistication. pictures here and there. it might be entertaining/and or boring. i have no idea. but what i do know is: i want it to make me feel good. i want it to make me feel less lonely, less in sticker-shock, less home sick and more thrilled about this amazing, two-year journey to learn more about fashion, europe and myself. ironically, i'm writing this from new york. i had to comeback here for paperwork to replace my greencard. so this blog won't get poppin' until the end of the month when i go back to london. so stay tuned!