london calling

so, i've been in london for about 36 hours, and in typical jessica fashion, i have exhausted myself trying to cram as much in as is humanly possible. because for some reason, i seem to think that i'm leaving, like, tomorrow or something? really i think it's because i like to visit everything once, surveying the scene, and then i return to make 'important' decisions. by important i mean,"what should i buy?" the problem with this plan is that i've already run myself a little ragged, a lot ragged really. and the real work hasn't even begun!

after arriving at heathrow at 10:00, i made my way to my tiny studio by about 1:00. and then:


i ventured out to the bust craftacular, where i met gemma correll! sadly, her pug, mr. pickles, had been evicted, so i was unable to meet him. but i got some swag...and then, on to liberty of london.


i want to live here, really. correspondence and confections? i love it.


at a certain point, i just had to leave because i couldn't take it any more. i knew that there was serious danger of me spending every little penny i have in this emporium of mindblowing awesomeness. more on liberty later...i have a feeling i'll be back several times, by which i mean nearly every day. after escaping certain financial ruin, i wandered around carnaby street and the surrounding streets, and i found a muji, making this the third country in which i have patronized the store. this time i only bought a washcloth. clearly i was still coming down from my liberty high.


i also found a super cute baby super store called mamas and papas. it was about five gazillion times better than babies r us, and they sold cute onesies like this:


by now it was about 7:00, and a normal person might have gone home for the night, due to having been awake for approximately 30 hours straight. but lest you forget, i am a crazy person, and since the tate modern is open until 10:00 on saturdays, i trekked on over. and when i say trekked, i mean it, because after alighting at the southwark station, it felt like i walked twenty miles. this was, in part, because i was exhausted and also because my body was literally freaking out on me.


and because i am a RESPECTFUL museum-goer i have no fancy tate photos. seriously, i saw one kid just snapping FLASH PHOTOGRAPHS of PAINTINGS without even looking at the labels. and trust me, he had no idea what he was looking at. maybe when i return i'll get something better than this accidental photo. it kind of sums out how i felt when i was walking back to the tube. slightly crazed, with blurred vision, and in a state of transformation. i was about to fall apart. and i only saw half of the tate! back for sure, one of my favorite museums, as always.

on my way home i stopped at the grocery to get some crucial items: bread, cheese, water, and hoegaarden. and then i collapsed. in a heap.