Love is a Label That Never Goes Out of Style

Wednesday was my last full day in London. I got a late start to the day following my Tuesday afternoon lounging in Regent’s Park in the 23 degree heat and evening of Tiramisu martinis – from a recipe from a single bartender at Freedom in Soho, that he only serves to regulars. Yah, I got connections. I’m big in Europe.



I was with my friend Ozzy who claims that his friend who’s a merchandiser for Topman said it’s coming to Canada. I told him not to f*** with my emotions. So we shall see.

Anyway, on Wednesday afternoon, I met up with Steven at Oxford Circus. We weren’t sure what to do. I asked if he wanted to see my Manchester pics and he asked ‘Are they all of buildings?’ Yes they are, you jerk.  I successfully talked him into going to see the Sex and the City movie [hence the title of this entry]. It’s been out for 2 weeks and I think I was the last person in the world to see it. It was fantastic – funny, depressing, but with a happy ending and a couple of surprises. Afterward, Steve and I had separate commitments so we said goodbye for another year and a half.

I got on the tube and headed to Bounds Green to see Nik. I did a double take when I saw the world's funniest PSA:


Nik lives in a newer 7-year-old townhouse. There 3 floors with a kitchen, reception room and 4 bedrooms. The townhouses had a fairly small footprint, were only about 12’ wide and had long, narrow rear yards that backed onto the rear yard of adjacent townhouses.

I took a photo of the rear yards because they looked so interesting and compact. Nik laughed and asked if it was a ‘planning photo’. Naturally. Then I told him about the accessible parking in Derby. I commented on how warm the reception room was on a cold night. It seems that’s because of the building materials. His parents recently built an addition on their house and the building code dictates walls be made of two rows of cinderblocks with insulation between and then a row of bricks on the exterior. The result is a wall that’s nearly 2 feet thick made of a material that slowly absorbs the heat of the day and then slowly releases it at night [into the dwelling]. I asked if houses were built with wood frames and he looked at me like was mad. After a gossip sesh, song sharing and ice cream, Nik showed me this awesome website – asos.com. It stands for As Seen On Screen. It’s a British site that rips off celebrities’ outfits and sells them at affordable prices. It has a Topman style about it AND they ship to Canada! Why didn’t I know about this?

I said goodbye to Nik for another year and a half. He’s promised to come visit [if I’m ever living in Toronto again] as I explained to him that flights are a mere 325 quid in the off-season]. Toronto’s nicer in the AUTUMN anyway.