December 18th

I met with the solicitor. Here's the run down. I have to apply for my visa from the States. My flight is booked. And I've been packing up and sorting what I need.

The good news is I get holidays with my family and I will be working at Matthew Michael's a few days a week. So if you would like to get a cut or colour you can book an appointment starting tomorrow.

I don't think my visa process willtakemore than a month or a month and a half to process. Just send happy thoughts. As nice as it is to come back to FL. London has really become home. The nice thing is that its been snowing here. I'm going to miss the cold and so much more.

But I know I'll be back soon and this time with out any issues.

The coin toss

I've been in London now for a little over 5 months. To be completely honest it's probably been the best five months of my life. I love this city, I love everyone I've met, and I can't imagine being with out it.

I'm trying to get my work visa. But this process takes some time. At this point I'm waiting for my sponsorship certificate that allows me to apply for the work visa. The visa I'm currently on runs out in December. So here's my dilema.

On Thursday morning I will be meeting with the solicitor to see if I can either speed up the process or file for an extension. The worse case scenario is that I come back to Florida for a couple of months while I wait for my visa, which takes longer to process when outside the country. Although I was promised that my job offer would stand regardless if I'm sent back.

I know there are much worse situations to be in. It's just hard to imagine a bit of a set back in living/ working in London. The good news is that I can work for a bit to save up more money for London. If I find out I'm coming back I'll start to take appointments for haircuts and colour. Downside is that I would be leaving again for anyone who had finally accepted that I wasn't coming back.

The hope is that I can get things sorted without having to pack up the stuff I need, leave what I can and not to spend the money on two flights particularly during holiday season. If I can apply from with in the country it's only a 4 week wait. If I apply from outside it's probably up to about a 3 month wait.

I'll keep everyone posted on the situation.

A night in East London

The area I moved to in London is pretty well known for being young and pretty trendy. Needless to say I had to venture out to see what the night life is like. I did this with my trusty partner in crime Cara.

We started at a bar called Light bar. Not my scene, the people we're pushy, as in they would push you out of the way when there was definitely another way of going. I wasn't in the way to begin with. We finished our drinks and moved onto another bar. The second bar was called 333. The music sounded like menu music from a poor quality DVD. The kind you wake up at 4am wanting to throw the remote at the tv all the while wishing you hadn't fallen asleep with a movie on. But it had a second bar upstairs.

Don't know what its called but the music was good, the boy to girl ratio was in my favor. And best of all Cara found me a new tasty shot. Tequila Rose. It's a strawberry liqueur. It's like a happy mini smoothie of fun. We danced and danced. Than bad new struck. Cara's phone was stolen. We figured this was a sign to end our night and it was about 2am. So we began to head home.

Than a cute boy began chatting up Cara. She was upset so it helped. He asked if we were going to "____" clearly I was paying attention. Apparently its a strip club by day 1950's themed late night bar open past hours by night. He offered to buy us drinks and it was on our walk home. So we figured we'd stop in. It was awesome. Lots of cute boys, we got free drinks, and it was fun to dance to the music. Randomly a guy starts staring at my arm. I'm used to it but since I had had a few drinks I was willing to explain it, not always the case. He couldn't seem to gather what I was saying. I moved on. About 5 minutes later I look over and he's snorting cocaine. Welcome to London I guess. He was kind enough to offer me some. I politely declined but it explained why he couldn't comprehend what I said and why he thought I was Irish. No clue.

That was our cue to leave. We said thank you to the boy who bought us drinks and headed back to my flat with a small detour. In Florida late night drinking usually led to dodgy hot dogs. In London my drinking snack is chips or rather french fries. Something about those freshly cooked bundles of joy just manages to always bring perfect closure to a good night.

I had so much fun, I found some new place to go to, and new people to avoid. Hopefully Cara and I can have another night like this soon.

Also I found my car. It's an automatic so I can actually drive it here, but I still don't have a license. So cute.....

Defeated

I quit the coffee shop. Shortest time I've ever held a job. I'm going to find another way of doing things. Working there didn't feel right. Its hard to work a job when your dream job is waiting just around the corner.

I've been defeated by a cold, or something. I've been out of commission. Runny nose, cough, a fever. This has been my day. Up side, the being sick thing totally justifies eating cookies and cream ice cream all day long. I do love spending all day in my flat. I'm not sure why. I really probably should have left or done something productive. But couldn't bare the energy to get up and go. Stupid cold. Get me another pint.

That's a picture of my staircase in my flat. The upstrairs is a little living room/ kitchen than there's a spiral staircase to my bedroom and bathroom. Loves it.

Big Brother

If you've ever watched Big Brother UK than you know what this is. It's the chair from the confessional room.
I went to my audition for Dating in the Dark. They made me answer questions, do tests, solve puzzles, and than asked me questions on camera. It was actually more intense than any job interview I've ever been on. The open casting will continue for another month. So I won't hear anything back for at least that long. Though at this point I don't think I will hear anything back and I have this overwhelming desire to work on my math skills. Yeah that kind of testing.

I started at the coffee shop yesterday. It's definitely a physical job. It seems like it's meant for a youthful strong guy and I'm not that. I have blisters from the first day, no joke. I'm not sure if I will keep the job. I already called in, I've been fighting off a cold and it hit me pretty hard today. They wanted me to work until 1am and come in at 7am. I'm going to give it one more day. But I don't think I'm cut out for this. Plus I drank 3 coffees in a really short time and it gave me the shakes real bad.

Today isn't over yet. But I doubt anything exciting is meant to happen. I'm beat to hell and not ready for an early day tomorrow. Wish me luck.

Since

I'm trying to stay here. I figured I should be a little more diligent about this blog. Not to mention that while my visa paper work processes, I have some time to kill.

I managed to talk the local coffee shop/ shisha (hookah) bar into letting me work there for cash. Tomorrow I start at 7 am bright and early. Its going to be interesting. I've never worked in a coffee shop, let alone one that also has a hookah bar. I've never even smoked it.

I did this amazing fashion show with the salon I'm going to work for. The models looked amazing, I did hair and make up together. I couldn't have asked for a better night. If this is a foreshadowing of things to come, I'm an insanely lucky girl.

I also decided that I'm going to try and take a picture a day of something I see in London. Whether it makes sense or not, these are some of the things I'm seeing. I really can't explain this one, but I was in Bricklane and someone had take the time to make a sticker of this and than they even put it on a light post.. No clue, welcome to London.

I've slacked off completely...

But I wrote this out and figured I'd post it on here..

They say if life hands you lemons, make lemonade. But I think sometimes life hands you lemonade and you just have to enjoy it.

Not too long ago I came across an agency that posts CV's (résumés) for salons. It was a sketchy looking website and you couldn't even upload a document. Out of boredom (mostly I had been sick and funds were low) I posted my half assed CV, with little hope.

A few days later I got some phone calls from various salons but none of them were even decent salons. I thought, "Well Celina, sketchy website equals sketchy salons, or should I say dodgy" Than I got a phone call from a salon. They asked for an actual CV and I did a mini phone interview.

I didn't think anything of it. But than I was asked to do an actual interview with the manager. I started really researching the salon, its an incredible company. I figured what's the harm in an interview. Which turned into a trait test or technical interview with two models, than a second trait test with two more models. I honestly didn't think I would even get an offer. Regardless of skill level, I'm a government issue. That's right, an immigrant.


I still have to be approved by the UK Border Agency to stay. But that's the next step. I've thought long and hard about this. It's a big change and it's not exactly an easy process. But I can't pass up the opportunity. I've been handed lemonade.

I'm going to miss seeing my regular clients, my friends, and my family, I already do. But i've been offered the chance of a lifetime. I'm the only one in my course from the states who has stayed, and only 2 in the entire course of almost 20 to stay in England. I worked hard to get to London to train here, and now I've been offered a chance to work here, to learn more from some amazing stylists, to try out this city, to challenge myself in a completely new way.

I look forward to the adventure, knowing that I'm risking everything, but I just can't pass it up. A good friend of mine told me, "Life won't wait," and it's true, London won't wait either.