Home again, home again, jiggety-jog

Home! It is so nice to be back. I am feeling a bit confused time-wise, and a bit sleep-walker-like, but am mostly intact. My brain is porridge, however, so I will make only a few observations today.

1) We went to Venice Beach and Santa Monica yesterday, which was lovely. I spilled a bit of cream on my silk trousers, though, which was less lovely. Anyone know how to get stains out of silk? Or do I have to bite the bullet and take the garment to the drycleaner's? (I do, don't I? Darn). LOML bought me a new skirt to replace the stained trousers, though, so I didn't have to wear them for the long plane journey. This brought the lovely back again.
2) There was a long queue for the toilets on the plane last night. One cubicle in particular was busy for a full half-hour. When the occupant eventually emerged, he revealed himself to be a young, sweaty man clasping two copies of Playboy. This was rather revolting. I am adding it to my mental list of 'disgusting things I saw on this trip' which includes a woman shaving her armpits into a bathroom sink (pub, Northern Ireland) and a man clipping his horrid yellow nails on a cafe table (Barnes & Noble, Fashion Island, US).
3) The very first thing we did this morning was pick up Mink from the cattery. He was thrilled to come home, and has spent the day wandering around the house and garden making sure that no one has dared to move anything. He comes back inside every half-hour or so to give us a cuddle and follow us around talking loudly in catspeak.

Normal service will resume tomorrow!

Laguna Beach!

Sorry for the absence, everyone! After the 11-hour flight from London (which felt like nothing after the 36-hour trip from New Zealand, and which I spent watching Benny and Joon twice), I've been relaxing in Laguna Beach for the past few days. Our hotel is right on the beach, and we've been having breakfast on the terrace every morning, overlooking the breaking waves.





I spent Thursday and Friday relaxing on the beach, reading and developing a mild addiction to iced tea and mocha frappuccinos while LOML was working. I also got sunburned. I fell asleep in the shade, and woke up to find that it was no longer the shade and that I had turned a delicate shade of puce. Sunburn is rather like a hangover: no one has much sympathy, because it is avoidable and self-inflicted. But it's sore!



Today we drove out to Huntington Beach and Newport Beach ...

... and this afternoon we visited Fashion Island. Oh my goodness. Betsey Johnson and Kate Spade. So many polka-dots, so much tulle; heavenly. I was hoping that a game show host with too many teeth would appear and offer me a giant wad of cash, but no luck. We also went to the pet store, where there was a disproportionate amount of tiny and expensive dogs. Very cute, though. The shop assistant asked us if we were looking for a dog. We said that we would love one, but that we live in New Zealand.

"They have planes for animals, you know," she said.

Oh well then, it's a completely practical idea.

We're relaxing in the hotel room for a bit, and then we'll head out in search of dinner. And tomorrow night we leave for New Zealand! I'm really looking forward to getting home again - seeing friends and family, getting stuck into work and a routine again and, most importantly, picking up Mink! I've missed him so much.

A bracing post (see what I did there?)

Since we're nearly at the end of our holiday, I thought I would post a few of the photos that LOML took on our journey.

Berlin:




Northern Ireland (there aren't any from London because that was a bit of a blur):



See you in L.A.!

Boat trip!

These shorts were purchased yesterday in honour of the trip - I searched for a high-waisted pair, but had no luck. Admittedly, I was only looking in charity shops, and my budget was £2. Anyway, I loved the detail of this pink gingham pair, so they had their maiden voyage today.

LOML and I took turns steering (watched closely, of course). We pottered down the Avon River and out to sea, wandered around for a bit, and then came back. As you can see, LOML borrowed a snazzy hat from my grandfather ...




Just two days left! I'm so glad we're staying in the States for a few days before flying back to New Zealand - it makes the flight far less daunting.

On the beach

My beautiful grandmother and I went for a long walk along the seafront this morning, to a neighbouring town. It's a place popular with holidaymakers (or 'grockles', as my great-grandmother calls them. I'm not sure of the spelling - or if there is an official spelling - so please tell me if you know!).


I love beach huts. They remind me of the Wendy-house I had when I was little - everything in miniature, right down to the little hob for the kettle! There is something quintessentially English about sheltering from the sand-speckled wind in your beach hut, drinking a cup of tea and eating a ginger biscuit (which you dunk in your tea, of course).

I can't believe we only have another four days here before we fly to L.A. It has gone past so quickly. I am already starting to miss everyone, even though I haven't left yet, and everything feels remembered and nostalgic even as it is happening - as if I'm looking back on it all from somwhere far in the future. It's awful living so far away from family, especially as they are all getting older.

P.S. A couple of you have asked how long I'm in the L.A. area. Only for four days! We're actually staying in Laguna Beach, not Newport Beach (which was the original plan).

Great craic!

LOML and I have been spending a lazy couple of days here in England - mostly napping! I think our travels have caught up with us a little bit; we seem to be sleeping all the time. LOML is off to London today for a week of work, meeting clients around the UK and over in France. I'll be staying here while he's away, spending time with my family and catching up on some work. My agent is expecting the new manuscript in October, so I need to get that finished fairly soon.

We've downloaded some of the photos of us from the wedding in Northern Ireland last week. LOML's grandfather runs a bar, and we had a pre-wedding party there on the Monday night. The regulars were quite disconcerted to see such a big crowd, I think - particularly such a large crowd of women! So few women venture into the bar that there isn't even a ladies's toilet - only a gents'. There is an outhouse, though, if you're prepared to brave the darkness and spiders.

LOML's grandfather is 94, and still going strong. He stores all his favourite jokes on bits of paper in a jar behind the bar - some of them date back to the Second World War - and brings them out to show visitors. He was happy to show LOML the whole lot, but had to censor a few for me. He doesn't want to put ideas in my head, he says.

We met some great people there - mostly friends of the couple's from university or work.

The wedding was on Tuesday afternoon. I had left my original wedding outfit back in New Zealand (silly me), and so bought this dress from Monsoon the week before. I do love it, though. As you can see, I'm standing in one of the two upstairs sitting rooms in LOML's family home - it used to be a hotel, and so has a labyrinthine series of bedrooms, bathrooms and sitting rooms. It's an amazing house, really, old and rambling. Out the back are lofts, barns and stables; we found a box of books in one of the lofts that dated back to 1804.

This is Charlotte, my second cousin and new best friend.

We walked from the house to the church where the ceremony was conducted, then headed off to a local hotel for the reception.



It was a really beautiful day. After the dinner and speeches, the tables were pushed back, and the next several hours were spent dancing - both modern and traditional Irish dances. The party didn't end there, however: the following day, one of LOML's uncles roasted a whole lamb on a spit out in the yard, and about forty people came over for a barbecue. I spent most of the day sitting on a chair watching it cook, sipping Pimm's and reading a book. My hair still smells of woodsmoke, but it was totally worth it.

London and general exciting-ness

It's our final night in London, after two days of heat and rain and walking and meetings! I still can't quite believe that it has all happened. I met my editor at Random House yesterday afternoon. I arrived painfully early, and so spent a few minutes walking round and round the block until it was a respectable time. I dispelled any chance of appearing suave by staring at the building in awe, and then struggling with the complicated doors for a few minutes while the receptionist looked on in amusement. My editor met me in the lobby and took me for coffee in the Random House canteen, and we chatted about the book and how the pre-publication schedule is going to pan out over the next eighteen months. The cover design is one of the first things on the list! So exciting. When we had finished our coffee, she took me upstairs to meet the other members of the editorial team. It was fantastic - they were all so passionate and enthusiastic about the book.

When we had finished looking around the offices and meeting people, she took me to the impressive wall of bookshelves that spanned the entire room.
"Would you like some books?"
"Some ... you mean, some of these books?"
"Yes. Go on, take as many as you want."
"Seriously?"
"Seriously."
Kid. Candy store. I didn't want to take too many, as:
a) I secretly believed that I was hallucinating and that a security guard would appear at my side as soon as I started rummaging
b) We're travelling, and I have to be careful with suitcase weight
... but I came away with a large stack anyway. I looked longingly at the new hardback A.S.Byatt.
"Go on, take it."
"I'd love to, but it's so heavy ..."
"Ah, fair enough." She scribbled herself a note. "I'll post it to you in New Zealand."
Honestly, I feel like I'm living in the book equivalent of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at the moment. This is what I have been working towards for my entire life, and I still can't quite believe it's real. Although it feels considerably more real after meeting everyone in person!

I wanted to celebrate, so spent this morning dragging poor LOML around Oxford and Regent Streets. I tried on a dress in French Connection that I've been lusting over for ages, but even at half-price it was still too expensive for me. I bought a hat, though!

I met with my agent this afternoon, as well as the lovely ladies who are handling my foreign rights and my film and television rights. It was so good to meet my agent - she has worked so hard to find a good home for the book, and with such a great result.

Tonight, LOML and I met the lovely Fleur, who is even more beautiful in person. I felt quite shy at first, but she was so nice that it wore off quickly. We had a lovely dinner, looked at photos of each other's cats and chatted. Towards the end of the evening it started to bucket down with rain, and we all got soaked (as you can see).

Look how pretty she is! She's so pretty. I'm still starstruck.

Thanks for all your comments and good wishes, as always! Sorry I can't reply to all of them at the moment; computer time is limited. I'll catch up eventually. Speaking of which, computer time is up and I feel like I haven't even begun to go into all the great things that have happened over the last two days. Expect more!

Berlin!

Take a deep breath, everybody, because this might be a long one. LOML took far better and more numerous photos than these, but they are on his camera and so will come later. These are some of the considerably less awesome ones that I took.

IWe spent the whole of Thursday travelling - first up to London, then to Dusseldorf, and finally to Berlin. We stayed in the Courtyard Marriot, and it was just wonderful, I can't recommend it highly enough. We had a gorgeous waitress who was very understanding of our attempts to speak German, and who taught us some very useful words and phrases!

The hotel restaurant had absolutely wonderful food - we ate there every night (and had the rest of our meals out). Naturally, we had to try the local beer.

Our hotel was very close to where the Berlin Wall used to be. We went for a walk after dinner on the first night and found Checkpoint Charlie practically on our doorstep. I formerly had only a very scanty knowledge of the events leading up to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, but after visiting Alexanderplatz and reading the story on the installation there, I am even more moved and impressed by the struggles and heroism of the German people as they worked towards reunification. I won't recount the story here, but if (like me) you have never really studied it, you should definitely look it up. It's hugely inspiring (and harrowing). LOML posed with a statue of Axel Springer near some fragments of the old wall.

Our first full day in Berlin was Saturday. The weather was just gorgeous, hot and sunny. We strolled down Unter den Linden from Alexanderplatz to the famous Brandenburg Gate, stopping regularly to look at the many amazing old buildings, monuments and statues along the way. And there were so many! Berlin is such a great city for walking, and LOML and I felt perfectly comfortable exploring on foot. For such a large city it has a very laid-back, almost peaceful atmosphere. We had to take the obligatory tourist photographs in front of the Brandenburg Gate, naturally.


We spent the whole of Sunday in the Berlin Zoo - a really amazing, vast place. I had never been to a 'proper' zoo before - all my experience of wildlife growing up was in game parks. It was a beautiful place, with large and luxurious enclosures, and I saw so many animals that I had never before seen in real life: brown bears, pandas, sea-lions and very hot-looking polar bears sweltering on rocks. An orangutan who looked like a gigantic orange shag rug put on a show for us, swinging and somersaulting from his ropes, and a very friendly little goat followed me around for a while in the hopes of acquiring some food. I was especially thrilled to see the otters - I know they're not the most spectacular of animals, but they have a special place in my heart. They seem like little underwater cats. Perhaps I was an otter in a previous life?


I was impressed by the size of this rhinocerous's rhinocer-arse.


I feel like I'm not doing justice to this wonderful city at all, but I would be here all night if I tried to. More and better photos will be forthcoming as time wears on and LOML downloads them, but I wanted to catch you up on our doings.

Thanks so much for all your comments while I was away! I was thrilled to find out that I had been selected as one of the Wardrobe_Remixers of the Week this week, too, which is a great honour. We're here with my grandparents for the day tomorrow, and then on Wednesday we set off for London once more. I'm meeting with my editor on Wednesday afternoon, and my agent on Thursday. A busy week ahead!