Fun at the Flower Market

Sunday Morning Anna was alive at 5 and ready to roll. I was a bit dreary from our boozy dinner but up for anything.
We dressed and jumped into her car to head to the Flower Market on Columbia Road.

I had never been and it was such a romantic and cozy event. Albeit LOUD with flower vendors screaming and kids tugging, it was amusing none the less.

We strolled about and found some hyacinth and lillys for the house, stopped into a cafe for sausage on pap and then tooled around the flea market.

Anna found this darling kiddy coat that is a spitting image of the current Prada collection!
Well spotted you trend forecaster you.

I spent the rest of the day in Clapham Common visiting a friend and drinking pints.

Perfect Sunday!
x

Dinner Party at Anna's

Yes, this was the most excitement I have had in one day since arriving.
After the moustache pub we headed to Anna's for a delicious philo/spinach/feta dinner with copious amounts of wine and champagne.

I adore how everyone here has dinner parties. They are so much more informal and fun. And one has much more quality time with ones friends than in the trenches of the Beatrice.

A highlight of the evening was poor Lina who had a claw removed. Her vet sent a note home about keeping her Elizabethan Collar on at all times. ONLY IN ENGLAND would the vet call a dog cone a fashionable piece of jewelry!

Of course I had to model it.
Curtain down...

Moustache Mania

To celebrate our afternoon jaunt through the park Ashleigh and Billy wanted to take me to a special pub they knew I would love. The Windsor Castle off Edgware Road used to be their local when WGSN was located in that neighborhood so they knew it well.

Decked from floor to ceiling with tea boxes, figurines, pictures of royal weddings and royal commemorative wedding plates with a stone stacked fireplace as the centerpiece, the Windsor is straight out of Mary Poppins.

One corner is especially entertaining, the Moustache Members table. Again, not an inch of space is spared a picture of all the the members drinking pints, celebrating a birthday or attending a football match. I was very jealous of the red sweaters all the members have with a little moustache logo on the left breast. We downed several pints of lager, consumed vast amounts of crisps and marveled at all of the upper lip action that surrounded us.

My favorite pub so far. I was just sorry I could not compete with the pictures on the wall. I'm starting to grow mine out again today!

Horse Ride in Hyde Park

Look! I’m doing something amusing! After days of working away and nights at pubs Ashleigh and I decided to book a ride in Hyde Park.

We were looking forward to a brisk canter through the bridle paths and the famous Rotten Row as tourists gawked and swans flew overhead.

Well, it wasn’t all we had hoped but pleasurable all the same. We found the stables quite charming and the owner a bit oddball. But what city stable have I been to where the owners aren’t a bit off? The wouldn’t let Billy ride because he was vastly overweight (!) This tall and skinny Scot didn’t weigh in at the 180-pound limit (and I barely did) so he had to wait it out at a local pub.

Ashleigh and I waited around until the horses came back from the last tour of the park and we mounted and were ready to trot off when we see a lead tied to our horses. Surely this is just for getting us through the streets of London. Wrong! We are tethered the entire trip! Ashleigh was quite smooth. She found out her guide was an Iranian show jumper and she spouted off that she was indeed a jumper for the Scottish National team. And with that she looked at him doe eyed and said, "So you think you can un tether me?" Nope.


So we had a nice hack and a bit of a trot around the park, which was lovely but not all, we had hoped. Ashleigh was irate that our horses were not thoroughbreds. I had an Irish Cobb and she had a mutt, but her horse had a moustache! Check out the picture. Perfectly sausage curled and all! It was foreshadowing our pub experience later. But I didn’t mind. They still smelled delicious and were good boys.


Afterwards to celebrate our ride we headed to The Windsor Castle. That is another post!

Just living in London

People keep on griping I am not posting enough, but honestly there is nothing to post!
Just working alot.

Went to Geo Trumper on Jermyn Street for a hair cut and beard trim. Total heaven. Ended up snoring in the chair with a hot towel on my face. Classy!

Went to the Covent Garden Hotel last night for an unexciting drink. We ended up next door for an amazing french dinner and ended the day at a local pub mourning Heath Ledger. I tried to put my HP in my London Pride. It didn't work...

Off to the V&A for tea with my friend Leela who works there. More soon!
x

Love from Leatherhead!

I can't believe I am finally here doing this damn thing I've been talking about since May. I have been a bit under the weather since being here but I think it is mostly my body just detoxing from all the stress build of of coming over. It couldnt possibly be from my last wild night in New York with Fay, Alexis and Justin. NEVER again will I fly with a hangover. It was truly horrid.

London has been great. Ashleigh and Billy have been the best hosts. Ashleigh gave up her flat and has ben camping at Billys. She lives on a swank street in Notting Hill called Dawson Place. Madonut just bought a house four down from her flat. My time in London has been pretty low key except for the night we decided to start drinking at 4pm and didnt stop until 11 when I passed out in a cab on the way to another bar. A proper English session!

Briony invited me, Ashleigh, PHJ and her hysterical friend Marilyn over to her new house boat under Battersea Bridge for an amusing dinner. Briony is a great cook and it was good to catch up with everyone.

Now I am in Leatherhead with my old friend Teresa. I havent seen here in about eight years and she is now married with three kids, Oliver 4, Milo 2, Emily 1. Chaos! But good times. I about lost it though this morning when Oliver called me into the bathroom and I found him on all fours with his ass in the air, "I just took a poo and I need you to wipe!" Teresa came to my rescue just in time.

I have not watched so much kiddie TV in years. I love 'Something Special' created for disabled kids. The clown narrorator signs through the show and all the kids on are a bit re re. Its quite sweet and progressive. I also love 'Midnight Garden' created by the Teletubbie man. Wow, he has done some good drugs, these little characters are insane!

My online writing course has just begun and so far has been a huge help. Looking forward to getting into it!

Here is a retarded picture of Teresa, Emily and me, one of Milo and one of my favorite Midnight Garden character. More soon!

London Bound!

Tomorrow morning I head over the pond for a month in London and surrounding areas.
I am taking a 4-month sabbatical from freelance to work on the book I have been talking about for YEARS.

I'm back in NYC February 11th and will split time between here and Atlanta with a definite pit stop in San Francisco to see Tali and Adam's new digs.

I have been worried for months about what to pack.
Luckily at lunch last Monday, Patrick eased my fears with two great packing tips:

1) Doll, pull a Quinten Crisp and bring just one suit and loads of different accessories!
2) Remember six pairs of panties can turn into 12 when you flip them inside out!

Thanks Patrick! I’ll send you my cleaning bill.
I will be posting updates often so stay tuned...

Vermont with the Pimps!

For a fun company retreat, the Brand Pimps decided to take the entire crew to Stratton Vermont for a long weekend of skiing and bonding.
I am neither a skier nor a snow boarder but I do love a roaring fire and hot toddy while peering out on the majestic mountains and that is exactly what I did for three days.
Since Minya is preggers and Bahr and Joy don't ski either we spent Saturday in town shopping at outlets in quaint little Victorian houses and eating the best damn meatloaf sandwich on earth!

The best part, our chalet was called, 'The Bear House'!
Who's your daddy?

Fire and Brimstone!

On January 3rd, the carriage house turned church on my block went up in flames.

Luckily nobody was hurt (even the trannie living on the top floor gurl!)

But we are all wondering what will happen to 215 West 122 Street?
Nobody seems to know where Bishop Mark's is and nobody knows who owns the church.

What we do know is that it is one of New York's oldest carriage houses and that Harlem real estate is on fire! (pardon the pun)
Stay tuned to see what happens to this gem of Harlem.

Thanks to Frankie for climbing to our roof for his Live at 5 coverage!

Oyster Roastin' on New Years Day

We all seemed to survive New Years Eve unscathed. I slept in a bit and Claire prepared her newly discovered Gourmet Magazine recipe for eggs in a ramekin, cheese grits and biscuits. YAY I’m in the South!

We feasted and then dressed to head to a neighbors country home for an oyster roast. Rockville is like the Hamptons of Charleston. Originally plantation owners built small homes out here to escape the heat and be near the cool marshes. Today Charlestonian's have bought up these old homes for weekend retreats. We arrived to find a steaming pot of oysters, children and dogs running rampant and the largest oak trees I have ever seen.

All of the guests were lovely and low key watching their kids with lots of eye rolling and paying more attention to the dogs, food and beer. My kind of people!

After several mounds of Hoppin' John for New Years luck, Claire, Marco and I toured the area and found the old Sea Island yacht club where a rough looking Hell's Angels type told us he was coming back shortly with his cannon to shoot off for the New Year. Why don't you?

We also found our dream home on an amazing piece of land that had just been restored. We poked around and decided it would go for around $1 million. As soon as we get home we google it and find it is going for $2! Oh well.

Later we bid farewell and head over to visit Angel Oak, a Lowcountry marvel at 1400 years of age.
The park was closed but we peaked through the fence and marveled at massive limbs reclining all around the trunk.

The evening was spent watching Current TV and feasting on leftovers.
The perfect way to start the year and it was the one day I could say, "I haven't had a drink all year!"

New Years, Charleston style

For the third year in a row I drove down to Charleston to spend some festive time with my C- town gang.
As always, the weather was perfect, the food was amazing and my dear friends, wild as always.

For the big night we ate at Fig, our favorite 'farm to table' restaurant.
We then headed over to Abby's home where her brother, Nick, was hosting a bevy of frat boys for dinner. I of course fit right in! I motor boated all of their girlfriends and at the strike of 12 brought out the sparklers. We then all took turns giving our best Olin Mills looks in front of the massive Christmas tree.

Thank God some of us were not drinking because I had to get to the 'Groovers Reunion' which was put on by all the party promoters and DJ's that were hot on the scene when I was a raver in Charleston back in 1994.
It was surreal seeing everyone still kickin', doing well and with their partners. The music was amazing and we all got our groove on for a while and reminisced about the olden days.

Around 1am we headed home where we all put on our pj's and I feasted on peppermint pie, cookies, more pie and washed it down with some Vodka. Claire was sure I was going to be worshipping the porcelain God but alas, I passed out at 2 and woke up fresh as a daisy.

2008 is gonna be great!

Dinner at the House with a Heart

For ages I have sworn that I would take some time out of the whirlwind holiday week and spend some time with the guests at the Atlanta Hospital Hospitality House.
AHHH is a non-profit that is very close to my heart.
As their website states, "The Hospitality House has strived to provide a "home away from home" to outpatients and relatives of patients hospitalized in 21 Atlanta area hospitals. We offer lodging, meals, supportive companionship and comfort from a committed staff, volunteers, and fellow guests, during what is often a crisis period."

It was also the home of my great grandfather and namesake, Cator Woolford. It is always such a pleasure to visit the house and meet these people who are going through such a difficult time and regale them with stories of the house in its heyday, the garden parties, the Christmas fetes and of course the antics of my grandmother and great aunt who grew up there.

My sister, niece, mother and I drove down to have dinner with guests and employees and had a blast!
We brought a mound of scrapbooks and photos and chatted with guests about their family members and the holidays as we feasted on fried chicken, greens and iced tea.

It was a quiet, cozy and special night for everyone and we also learned about the progress of the new building they are hoping to start on soon. My grandmothers 'dollhouse' has served as a handicap accessible guesthouse for decades. After 70 years the termites got the best of it and it is time to scrap it and build a new one better suited for guests. The renderings look great and we are looking forward to seeing the progress.

When I'm back in Atlanta in March I should have more information on the project, stay tuned!