Dublin

Girls weekend in Dublin...highlight of the trip, Guinness Storehouse!

My life in London so far...

Southfields, where I live now. Photos below are from my flat in Great Portland Street. Was only there for the first 2 weeks.

Big Ben.

Tower Bridge.

Pub next door my temporary flat.

My flat building in Great Portland area.

Hello World! It's been 2.5 weeks since I moved to London and I'm proud to say I'm surviving. The flight over was pretty uneventful and when I arrived at Heathrow airport, I was warmly welcomed by my new Director of Sales, Marion. Together the two of us took a cab over to my new flat (pics posted). Four Seasons organized a studio located near the Great Portland Street tube stop. I wasn't due into the pre-opening office until the next day, so I took the day to explore my new posh neighborhood and began the process of getting over the major jet lag I was experiencing. The first week at work was dedicated to learning the new product I will be selling. The new hotel is going to be absolutely AMAZING! Currently, we have over 600 construction workers (ohhh laaaa laaa) at the site and I have to admit, my favorite part of this entire process so far has been my hard hat tours of the hotel! During my second week, I went on site inspections of the other 8 hotels in my comp set and worked on setting up appointments for my sales trip that I am currently on now. I am writing this from my room at the Four Seasons in Dallas. And let me say, jet lag is back. Boo.

On the personal front, there have been some bumps in the road ...but nothing too unbearable.

1) finding a flat is nearly impossible! The standards are much different here then what we are accustomed to in the states. I knew my days at 222 E. Pearson would not exist in London. At least I found some comfort once I found out that flat searching is a nightmare for everyone who moves down here and the whole situation is like a rites of passage for some reason. Luckily, I found a room to rent in an old victorian home located in Southfields. My flatmate, owns the place. This is a temporary situation for me as Southfields is a lovely place, but a little too far from the city for me. Door to door my commute is 40 minutes to work via the District Line on the tube. I prefer to be in the thick of it all, so as soon as I return to London, I'll be flat hunting again :(

2) opening a bank account in London sucks. I managed to do this the 2nd day I arrived! Kudos to me! However, it has been 1.5 weeks since I transferred money from the states and my new bank account still says I have a balance of $0.00. After 3 visits to the bank, 2 lengthy phone calls back to Chase in Chicago, my money has been located and has been held up in London for clearance. I'm crossing my fingers it will show up in the next week. Patience is definitely a virtue.

3) I have been to 4 shady shops and no one in this damn country can unlock my iPhone! So frustrating. Especially cause you all know my entire life is connected to this phone and their are advertisements everyone promoting phone unlocking specialists here. In the UK, the iPhone goes for 450 pounds, which means $650. They are clearly smoking something to sell iPhones for this price. I think I will be buying a Nokia, yuck.

It is my hope that you will find humor in what you've read so far. In spite of these minor qualms, I am having a great time. I will end this post with a quote I recently came across... "If you always do what you always did. Then you will always get what you always got."

London or Bust

Once again, I have news to share. After seven years of working in the
hospitality business, three hotels, two moves back to Chicago and one
resort, I've decided to take my Four Seasons career abroad.

On May 24th I'm relocating to the country of Shakespeare, Winston
Churchill, the Beatles, Sean Connery, and Harry Potter. Home of the
Queen and I'm not talking about Elton John...LOL. I'm moving to London
(in case there was any confusion as to where I was going)!

As a member of the Pre-Opening sales team, I'll be covering the North
American group market at the best address in London. The new Four
Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane will have 192 rooms and suites,
10,000 sq.ft of meeting space, Amaranto Restaurant, Bar and Lounge and
a rooftop spa overlooking Hyde Park and London landmarks such as Big
Ben.

Hopefully I will be able to find a place to live that won't cost me a
million pounds. Either that or I'll find an English sugar daddy who
can put me up in his plush Notting Hill flat!

Love to you all and remember there is always a place for you to stay
(may be as small as a card board box) across the pond...