fall has settled

any chance for a summer comeback has long gone. It's sweaters, raincoats and tights season. I miss the colours of Ontario - but the excellent warmth that most England homes aspire to excel in the fall and winter makes up for it. Personally, my fall colours are definitely inspired by the front page of Habitat - I want that yellow cashmere throw. I'm looking forward to pubs with chandliers, dark wood and a few extra glasses of a Bordeaux wine.

Image via (great house tips too to create your own warmth this winter)

The little things

On strict orders by the certain someone, I've added some pictures to this post and will henceforth add pictures to the majority of my posts. The last few days have been speeding by. I still know the schedule to way too much daytime television tv, but I'm starting to develop some routines in my daily life.

I've made some inroads into the job hunt. I was able to meet an employee in the UK office of my previous employer. She gave me a lot of insight, and (cross fingers) the ability to meet a "powerhouse" in my field. If all goes well, I will be meeting him next week. I will be studying up on all recent communication trends all weekend. Don't worry, I'll never post on something that dull. On that note though, I have no real job prospects from this week. I definitely have to keep telling myself that finding a job within a week (that's right I've been here for only nine days) is near impossible and an unrealistic expectation. As long as I'm active in my hunt, I'm hoping something will work for me.

But it's mainly the little things that have kept me busy this week. It's amazing how much you take for granted when you have lived in a country all your life. I've had to apply for my National Insurance (SIN card), register for a doctor, and get a bank account. Thankfully, all have gone without a hitch so far - but I did discover that all of this really reiterates to me that I am here indefinitely and that is not a holiday. I've had to prove my identity over and over again. To get my NIN number, I have to go through an "identity interview". In which I must bring everything that I possibly could to make sure they know I'm a real person. (passports, previous residences, mail, testing?) I'm not looking forward to it, but I am enthused about getting a reduced tax break.

Finally I got my library card. I'm super thrilled about that as the library is only two buildings over, I have free access to books and dvds. I never did get around to doing that in Ottawa, and with the building so close it will be easy to be a constant reader. Soon, with some improvements to my flat, this really will be my neighbourhood. Below are pictures of the borough.

This is my underground station - Clapham Common. All the buildings behind that station are about the height of everything in the neighbourhood.

This is my library. - The Starbucks is just to the left. I have everything I need within a 30 second walk from my flat!

My common - I apologize for the bad pic. It's also much larger than it appears.

Side note, made it to the west-end - though busy, it is stunningly beautiful with its old white buildings and sooo much theatre it makes you inspired to go everynight.