SEE: SAATCHI GALLERY

The Saatchi Gallery is located in Chelsea, just a few minutes walk from Sloane Station. The gallery is known for it's selection of contemporary artwork and it's reputation for launching new careers. 

The minimalistic layout is easy to navigate and the nice thing is, you really only need one-two hours to leisurely walk through the entire gallery. 

If you're interested in abstract, contemporary or modern art, this place is for you!

For more information about the Saatchi Gallery go to:

http://www.saatchigallery.com/

These next two pieces were my favorite... Can you guess why??

I am a HUGE Tom Hanks fan! I can recognize those eyes anywhere!

This last picture is of an installation that is the only permanent installation at the Saatchi Gallery. I won't explain it or tell you what it is... You will just have to go and find out for yourself!

Afterwards, I treated myself at the Gallery Mess bar and absorbed all of what I had seen.

Overall, it was a very relaxing experience and I would go back again.

For more pictures from the Saatchi Gallery, CLICK HERE!

WEEK NINETEEN

Did you know that our January was the wettest January in 248 years? Yeah. That's what we've been dealing with recently. The. Rain. Just. Will. Not. Stop. And don't even get my started on the wind. I hate wind. How am I supposed to look cool in a fedora if you're trying to blow it off my head every second of the day? GAW...

Specifically, these past two weeks have been drab and unmotivating. The tube was on strike Tuesday-Thursday of last week and will continue to strike Tuesday-Thursday of this week, needless to say, there wasn't a lot of sightseeing going on. You would think that I would have used this down time to catch up on the blog, but I didn't. I have like six SEE, EAT&DRINK and WALKABOUT posts that need to be written, but I am just uninterested. I don't know, maybe I've just been a bit blogged-out recently... Hopefully things will pick up soon!

Since the tube strike was starting Tuesday afternoon, I decided to stay local and take a walkabout around Islington. There are a few cute areas of Islington that I want to highlight in future blog posts, so I was heading out to get some pictures and inspiration.  

Little did I know what I was going to find!

Entrance to the Secret Garden?? I don't know... Let's find out!

Right behind one of my favorite streets in Islington is a canal that I had no idea about! How cool is that to find a canal only a couple streets from you? I found it endearing. Obviously, I am a Pisces-- we are water people.

Those skinny boats actually had people coming in and out of them. So I guess people are living on those boats.. How cool is that?! I don't know, I was just really amazed by this gem tucked back off the main road.

I will post more pictures from my Islington Walkabout at a later time (or will I???) but here are a few other pictures of what you can find in my neck of the woods!

Wednesday night. Standard. Girls/Bachelor night and a crockpot meal ready for James when he gets home from work. Done and done.

Spinach and Sausage Tortellini Soup

Just to give you some insight on how bad the tube strike affected the city-- my friend Kristen was on a bus for almost 3 hours and eventually got kicked off and then had to take a taxi to our friend Ali's flat. Realistically, it should have taken her about 25 minutes via tube or 50 minutes via bus. I might be a little off on those stats, but seriously, what a disaster! We had pizza, hugs and wine waiting for her. Glad you made it Kristen! xo 

My friend Sophie invited me to a preview of an art gallery called Desert of Humanity in Central London. I was very excited about this opportunity and I was even more excited that James had agreed to accompany me! YAY! Hubby and Wife time!  What I wasn't excited about my transportation situation. I got kicked off my bus twice and had to walk the rest of the way in the rain, but eventually we made it.

Here is a clip from the press release to explain the premise of the show:

"Deserts of Humanity is a project that aims to showcase and explore the alienation, isolation and frustration that modern people, mainly in megacities, experience and how that phenomenon has been depicted through the practice of emerging artists who either work or study in the UK. How do young artists perceive and respond to those notions and which forms and structures do they select to visualise their concerns? The show features eleven emerging artists who, through different mediums; painting, video, photography and installation, present works that contain elements of isolation, introversion and distance from the energy and the joy of being alive."

art show or funeral? gotta love london.

NOTE TO SELF: use these pictures as a reference for future white walls in future home. 

Overall, we both enjoyed the art show. The artists are very talented and I am very grateful to be a part of their opening night. If you're interested, check it out yourself-- Deserts of Humanity is located at Morley House, 26 Holborn Viaduct London, UK EC1A 2AQ. 7 February – 21 March 2014 Opening Times: Monday-Friday 12PM-6PM

I was looking forward to Friday all week. Karaoke Night!!! 

The girls and I met up for some drinks at John Salt before heading over to the karaoke bar.

After half-priced food and drinks, we finally arrived at Lucky Voice in Islington. I didn't do any research on the bar ahead of time so when we arrived I was really confused. I assumed that this would be a stereotypical karaoke bar where you stand up on the stage and embarrass yourself in front of a large crowd. But au contraire! at this karaoke bar, you only embarrass yourself in front of your own party! I was so surprised to find out that we had our own private room! Well, this just opened up a whole new can of worms and the gloves came off!

We had a great time! It was the perfect girls' night. Lori-- you're going to love this place! 

Karaoke ended at 10:00 PM, so we met up with James and Ali's husband, Paul, who were having their own boys' night at the Hope and Anchor. The night came to an end around midnight and everyone went their separate ways. 

Saturday and Sunday were a recovery days for me and work days for James. Standard.

A couple of things:

J and I are so pumped to be heading to Amsterdam in two weeks! Eeeeekk! If anyone has any suggestions on places to go or eat, please let me know! I am doing a lot of research to make sure we hit up all the must see areas.

Also, If you follow along with the blog, please vote for Team Starnes Takes Lundun for the “Top 100 International Exchange and Experience Blogs.” Voting ends on the 17th and it doesn't look like I have that many votes, so I would seriously appreciate it! 

http://www.lexiophiles.com/english/vote-for-your-favorite-IX14-blog

Alright! Well, hopefully this week will be more of a success than the past two. 

Wish me luck! xo

i XX 14 COMPETITION

Hey guys!

Team Starnes Takes London was nominated for the “Top 100 International Exchange and Experience Blogs” and the voting starts today! Any person can vote once until February 17th and then the winners will be ranked according to the number of votes and announced on February 20th. If you don't mind taking a minute out of your day to vote for me; this might be a random competition, but I want to win anyways! gimme gimme gimme.

Here is the link to the site: http://www.lexiophiles.com/english/vote-for-your-favorite-IX14-blog

There is also a voting button on my sidebar.

The blogs are listed from A to Z, so you can find 'Team Starnes Takes Lundun' towards the bottom. (Hopefully if I make the list, they will correct the spelling of my title!)

If you feel compelled to spread the word, please do! The more the merrier!

Thank you much for listening to my spheel! Now go vote! 

Cheers! xx

WALKABOUT LONDON: SHOREDITCH

Follow me on a Walkabout around Shoreditch! 

I read a blurb about Shoreditch from this book to find out the must-sees of the area before heading out. 

Who knows if I ventured into other areas outside of "Shoreditch," but I thought I did a fairly good job of not straying too far from Shoreditch High Street.

From Islington, Shoreditch is a quick 10-15 minute bus ride on the 205. I got out at Shoreditch High Street and just started walking around aimlessly.

Immediately, the first thing you notice when you step off the bus is the street art or graffiti, depending on what generation you're from. It definitely has an urban/trendy/hipster vibe. It's very young and unpretentious. I think it's great! People from New York equate it to Brooklyn; people from Charlotte would probably equate to Noda. 

It seems generally liberal, but that's to be expected. It's all part of the experience, y'all! Loosen up! The street art is AMAZING! These artists are so talented. It's awesome that these people are able to live or hang out in an area that allows them to exercise their freedom of expression. Very cool.

even as a tranny, he is still sooo handsome! :)

Like I said, this is a young, hip area, so all the passers-by were dressed-up in their trendy, hip clothes and make-up. This, my friends, was not lost on me.

Thank god I added that hot pink lipstick at the last minute!

In common London-fashion, Shoreditch has its fair share of beautiful buildings and architecture.

Shoreditch is not lacking in the restaurant and boutique department. Everywhere you look you find a packed coffee house, a trendy shop and tons of restaurants getting ready for the nightly crowds. 

Something unique to the area is the BOXPARK Pop-up Mall. It is just a bunch of old shipping containers lined up, one next to each other. They are used for pop-up shops for clothing, knick-knacks, shoes, music, etc... I'm pretty sure I saw a DJ hanging out in the back of one, just jamming and looking to start a dance party. It was cool and like nothing I had ever seen before.

I was almost ready to head back since my hands were frozen from taking so many pictures, but something caught my eye. I noticed that mischievous egg peeking its head out, high above the skyline. 

It's taunting me...
Why is it following me?
What does it want from me?

I am constantly being drawn to this building. So, once again, I set out to find it and get a better look.

I had NO IDEA the Gherkin building was so close! On my last walkabout, I really thought I was going on an adventure, and heading off course to try to find it, but it turns out, I was much closer to home than I knew!

Overall, Shoreditch is a very pleasant place to hangout or potentially live. I would like to learn more about this area. If you have any suggestions, please share them via a comment or twitter! xx

CLICK HERE! for more pictures from my Shoreditch walkabout.