The 'hood.

This is Traveller's third proper fall in a row and, despite the fact that it's starting to get cold, she still loves it.

She especially loves her pretty little London neighbourhood...

That's all.

Traveller's little street.

Traveller lives on one of the prettiest little streets in North London.

It is full of bustling cafés, yummy delis and quaint little shops.

The best part is that it's close enough to the city {only one stop from Paddington}, yet far enough away to be quiet and village-like.

Celebrating on Primrose Hill.

This year Traveller and hubbie celebrated New Year's Eve with friends at their little London flat.

They furthered celebrated by walking up to Primrose Hill to cheer in 2010 and watch the fireworks.

The yummiest part?

T made some s'more cookies.

The most lovely part?

It snowed just after the countdown.

{magical}

Traveller has learned a thing or two...

This summer, it was Traveller's aim to learn a few things before school went back. Nothing too academic of course but, you know, things to get you by in life. One of the domestic skills T learnt was 'how to grow salad'. Impressive!

It was T's sister-in-law who inspired her. In her little North London backyard, she has managed to grow aubergines, tomatoes, herbs, apples, courgettes, salad, beetroot and carrots! She gave Traveller an old plastic box to get started (cause our garden is actually our balcony).

What T did to get started:

1. Put holes in the bottom of the plastic box with a screwdriver.

2. Purchased rocks for the bottom, organic soil, rocket & mixed salad seeds.

3. Put the rocks and soil into the box (in the amount required on the seed packet).

4. Watered the soil well.

5. Planted the rocket in a line, 3cm apart.

6. Planted the mixed leaves in a line (20cm width from the rocket), 3cm apart.

7. Covered the seeds with a little soil.

8. Voila!

And now, only 5 days later, there are already shoots coming through!

Truthfully, is T a nerd to be so excited? She seriously can't wait to eat home-grown salad!

Oh, how I weep for Maida Vale....

On Saturday, Traveller and her hubbie decided that they would devote their entire weekend to flat hunting and Monday morning is now a cruel reminder of their failed mission. In their P.J's, they lazed on the couch, scrolling through pages and pages of possible flatshares looking for the home with the best features - top on this list are: closeness to tube, safety of area, value of rent, and friendliness of flatties.

Gumtree.com is the place to find flatshares in London, and they scoured the site for any flats in North London. They found three possible prospects, and spent Saturday and Sunday checking them out. The first was located in Hyde Park Mansions. Alas, mansion it was not. It soon became quite apparent that this was an area that Traveller would prefer not to live - a little scary and too busy. There were eight people living in the flat - with one tiny kitchen as a living area. No thanks!

Next on the list was a flat in Maida Vale which is two tube stops from Traveller's brother. This was placed at Lauderdale Mansions and this time it was, indeed, almost as luxurious as a mansion! Much cheaper then the previous prospect - it was in a gorgeous area (wide, tree-lined streets - loads of families, parks and boutique shops). It was very clean, 5 mins from the tube, had lovely flatmates and now for the clincher...... Gordon Ramsay had just opened up a Gastropub on the very same street! Sold!
(NB: Gastropub is a british term for a pub that serves gourmet food.)

Sadly, it seemed like the rest of London thought that this particular flat was stunning as well - and the competition proved too stiff for Traveller and her hubbie, who were informed the following morning that they had been unsuccessful. Big bummer! It was going to be tough to find something else which was as perfect as Maida Vale.

Sunday saw one more flat and 'twas in a beautiful area, Dorset Square, but it was as big as my brother's living room (about the size of our garage at home) and we were to share with one other person! Not much privacy at all....and it cost more than dear ol' Maida Vale.

Oh well, hopefully you will read some good news next week on our search for the perfect place to hang our hats (and coats, scarves and mittens!)