Dating in London: Part 3: What not to do on a first date

I have been dating for nearly 2 decades, so I think I have some advice to share.
I have dated men from all over the world. I have shopped around like my Mamma told me. But, here in my quest of trying to find Mr. Darcy and kissing a lot of frogs I would like to share some advice for all the blokes and dudes out there on what not to do on the first initial date, which usually predict the success and ensures a second date.This is meant for men. Here's some advice for all the men out there.

Don't's for Guys:

1. Don't be too desperate to try to kiss her
or hold her hand- let things develop naturally.

Story: I was at my brother's wedding and an old boyfriend from 20 years
back was there. He tried very hard to kiss me and chased me all over the dance floor and through out this very elegant hotel my brother had his reception. It was really embarrassing for me. When I found out that he was going to be there I was excited and anticipated something romantic. But, he was so aggressive that he turned me off and made me realized he hadn't changed much from way back when we were in high school.

2.Dont' talk about the future with her. Don't try to create a relationship when there's none. Don't start to ask her if she's seeing other guys. Or, if she's waiting
for you. Or,if she'll have your children.If you are meeting with friends:don't imply to your other friends that you make a cute couple.

Story: I had a date I met through Craigslist and we were getting along and he mentioned to me that he wanted to buy property with me. He asked me how many children I wanted to have. I know you are trying not to waste time out there and your trying to find out as much about me as possible in as short of time as possible, but puuuuuuuuuuuuleeeeeeeeeeeeeze can you be a bit more subtle?

3.Dont' boss her around. It seems like a lot of men like to give advice, but it's unsolicited. Or men are really interested in material toys and so they want everyone to have the same toys as they have. This is great with another gal that's into material things but if she's not, you are gong to turn her off. I personally don't enjoy people to tell me what to do ,( unless it's my parents, family or a really good friend or maybe my future husband) which is why I run my own business and why I don't like to work for other people. Anyway, there are women that like to be bossed around, but I am not one of them. I don't think most intelligent, educated women enjoy being bossed around. So anyway, don't do it. It makes you seem a bit chauvanistic and wankeristic.

I dated a man once who was clever, funny,ambitious,charming but then he annoyed me. He annoyed me because he started telling me how I should buy a new camera. It really made me mad, because at the time I quite fancied my camera and secondly I didn't have the budget to buy a new camera. What if she doesn't want to buy a new camera or she can't afford to. Your advice will be resented. It's the first date, who are you to tell her what she needs to do.

4. Don't talk about anything remotely that has to do with sex
You want to get to know someone gradually. You don't want all the fire to burn out in the first date.Or do you?I am not sure, but men should just learn to control themselves.They'll go farther faster if they just don't act like such love sick high school boys.

Story: This man on our second date over drinks said that he liked porno and that he bought some movies yesterday.I was so utterly repelled,I excused myself to go to the powder room and never came back.

5.Don't talk about Kama Sutra and how you would like to try
out a new position with. This really shows a lack of taste and grace.
And, it makes the lady feel that your just out with her for one thing only. Even, if she has attraction for you, she'll be immediately turned off, unless
she's Samantha from Sex and The City.

Story: I really had a date once that half way through the date everything was perfect:he was really cute, charming and sweet.I thought we were getting on. And then he had to ruin it by asking me if I would like to try a Kama Sutra position. I was turned off and disappointed, especially since we had been having so much fun.The truth is I told my date how disappointing I was and he apologized and said that he was sorry that he hadn't had much experience dating.Fair Enough.He was very young so I cut him some slack. I felt really sorry for him and just changed the subject.

So, you see men with some advice from the opposite gender you'll begin to see the way women see things and perhaps it will open up a different world for you.Either way, it will give you some things to think about and ponder.

Stay Tuned for more
Look for More Dating DONTS for Men in coming SABRINA'S LONDON DIARIES

Shakespeare's Contribution to the English Language

William Shakespeare contributed more phrases and sayings to the English language than any other individual - and most of them are still in daily use. Every week, in my blog,I will be writing about one of the 135 phrases that he coined.

ALL THAT GLITTERS IS NOT GOLD.

Meaning: A showy article may not necessarily be valuable.

Origin: The original form of this phrase was 'all that glisters is not gold'. The 'glitters' version of the phrase long ago superseded the original and is now almost universally used.

Shakespeare is the best-known writer to have expressed this idea. The original Shakespeare editions of The Merchant of Venice, 1596, have the line as 'all that glisters is not gold'. 'Glister' is usually replaced by 'glitter' in renditions of the play:

MOROCCO:
O hell! what have we here?
A carrion Death, within whose empty eye
There is a written scroll! I'll read the writing.
All that glitters is not gold;
Often have you heard that told:
Many a man his life hath sold
But my outside to behold:
Gilded tombs do worms enfold.
Had you been as wise as bold,
Young in limbs, in judgment old,
Your answer had not been inscroll'd:
Fare you well; your suit is cold.


A VIDEO OF MERCHANT OF VENICE



MORE IN SABRINA'S LONDON DIARIES

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- Fashion in London Part 2

-Dating in London: Part 3. How to Cause a Stir

London Fashion Part 1

What is fashion? Is it all about keeping up with the trends or being a unique individual? To me fashion has to do with personal style, attitude, and charm. To me, you can wear a £2,000 Marc Jacob coat, but can you pull it off. Do you have the panache? do you have the attidude? Do you have the bearing to wear it or does it wear you? To me style is all about being yourself and trusting your instincts. It's being comfortable in your own shoes. It's about confidence. You can wear a £10 jacket you bought at the Charity shop and you can look like a million bucks if you have the confidence to wear it. Once, I bought a Cynthia Rowley Vintage jacket at The Salvation Army in Los Angeles;it was worth about $500, but I only spent $8.00.It was a steal!Everytime,I wear it I feel like a rock star.I get tons of compliments. In the end, do you want to be swallowed up by the fashion industry or do you want to make your mark in your own way?

Here are a some photos I gathered from seeing people walking in the streets
and admiring thier uniqueness and courage to follow thier own sense of style.
London Steet Style:A bright orange sweater bought at a charity shop,a green baseball cap worn with orange garden shoes,a khaki jacket with the only acessory a gorgeous smile,a nice fluffy scarf,butterfly belt worn with converse shoes. Are the 80's back?It's neon to die for! A beautiful Irish lassie wears sophisticated black in a sexy sweater and skinny black jeans. A fedora hat worn with bohemian tunic and leather purse. A bright purple shirt worn with head bandana, and converse shoes. Whatever it is, make it your own. Do whatever it is to express who you are and your uniqueness.Make it your style and no one elses!

 

 

 

 

Borough Market- The Oldest Market in London

When I first came to London I lived back in October 2008, I lived in Southwark at the St. Christopher's Hostel. Just 2 blocks down was the fun, eclectic and energetic Borough Market, which made it bearable to live in the loud hostel. It also helped me make up my mind where I was going to root myself in this great big daunting uknown city. I loved and still love going there on Saturday mornings just with a spirit of adventure trying to new foods,like Ostrich burgers or cassoulett. It's a favorite of Londoners on Saturday mornings. You can have hot apple cider from England's best Apple Farms. There are hundreds of vendors there selling everything from tortellini, truffle oil, to the most authentic Indian masala tea( you must shake your head back and forth). You may also just buy exotic fruits and veggies. I didn't think London would have exotic fruits and vegetables, but they do, some I have never tried. You can also sample Basque ham, foie gras, goose fat, confit, bouillabaisse, regional wines, chorizo, Arabic spices for a true Morroccan cous cous, Somerset jams, organic cheese, and tempting tantalizing artisanal bread. It's a Foodies heaven ! (Julia Child should have visited a few times, if she did. Speaking of Julia Child did anyone see the movie Julia and Julie?) The sad thing is I can't pack this food home back to the USA, but just live with the memory of savouring the gastronomic delights that is both a feast for the eye and the pallette.

But, what's so interesting about this market is that it's been around since the 13th century. Borough Market is London's oldest food market. It was established on the south bank of the Thames when the Romans built the first London Bridge. It has occupied its present site for 250 years. The romantic in me pretends I am in the renaissance times, in a big huge corsetted dress with a bustle (that my skullerymaid has taken 1 hour to help me tie up the laces) wandering about the Market trying to gracefully dance through the masses of people, smelling this bread, touching those apples as I fill my basket with the abundance of this great earth. Lovely !
















For hours and Location
http://www.boroughmarket.org.uk/

Etymology of Words: The Origin of P.O.S. H

A word that many Londoners or English use is the word posh. In British culture, something posh is elegant or stylishly luxurious; somebody or something typical of the upper class. " Posh" is an acronym for "Port Out, Starboard Home.

Here are some examples I have overheard in everyday speech where the word posh is used, abused and overused. I really wish people would vary their slang, it gets quite boring to hear that word posh used so liberally, without much rumination or deliberation.

Some Examples of using posh in a sentence:

1. I really don't like those ladies with their fake posh (prententiously aristrocratic) accents they sound like Madonna when she was the Queen of England.

2.Those girls with their posh (upper-class) accents really get on my tits
(they are annoying me)!!.

3.Sasha:" That is a really posh (expensive)handbag!"
Chloe: "Thanks darling, they only sell it at the very posh ( the very chic)Harrods."

4. I just ate at Claridges the most posh (elegantly) restaurant in Mayfair.

5. Lady Darlington: At that low brow garden party the host is so posh( stuck up), he didn't even kiss my hand when we were introduced.
Lord Fitzwilliam: Oh the nouveau riche are so posh (prentiously superior)(HA!)

So,what is the origin of the word posh?

The story goes that the more well-to-do passengers travelling to and from India used to have POSH written against their bookings, standing for 'Port Out, Starboard Home' (indicating the more desirable cabins, on the shady side of the ship). Unfortunately, this story did not make its appearance until the 1930s, when the term had been in use for some twenty years, and the word does not appear to have been recorded in the form The best known and most widely believed story is that it comes from old-time ship travel from Britain to India on the packet boats run by the Peninsular and Oriental Steamship Company. It supposedly stood for “Port Out, Starboard Home”. It is explained that somebody who had a cabin on the port side on the outward trip, and on the starboard side on the return trip, had the benefit of the sea breeze, and shelter from the sun, on the hottest part of the journey through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea. Such cabins were reserved for the most wealthy passengers, we are told, and the P&O company stamped their tickets with POSH to show their status. 'P.O.S.H.', which would be expected if it had originated as an abbreviation. Despite exhaustive enquiries by the late Mr George Chowdharay-Best, researcher for the OED, including interviews with former travellers and inspection of shipping company documents, no supporting evidence has been found.


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- Harry Potter in London
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-Dating in London: Part 3. How to Cause a Stir

The Etymology of Words: The meaning of DARLING

All the men living in the UK whether they are Pakistani, Indian, English, Scottish, Welsh, Irish, Egypitian, Iraqi, Spanish, Italian, Polish if they have lived here in London long enough they acquire this charming habit of calling everyone darling. I like it, it has a nice sing song and is very sweet and endearing. It's refreshing, because I remeber back in the USA NO ONE would call me darling unless it was my best friends or my family or my husband.(Oh, or my charming girlfriend Renee Rudzinski. She was known to always call me darling.) But darling is very popular and everyone is calling you darling. Darling is not a word just limited to sweethearts. They call you darling at the reception desk to get your hair done, they call you darling at Tescos when you buy your cheese, they call you darling when you buy flowers from the man at the corner market, they call you darling when you go to TOP UP at the Tube Station. All the men in the UK call you darling!! And, the women do it too, but it's less common. Usually, it's the lower middle class or the working class that call you darling. But, I don't care. I don't discriminate with compliments and sweet words. I take my darling anywhere I can get it. (HA!)

A definiition of the Word DARLING:
dar⋅ling
  /ˈdɑrlɪŋ/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [dahr-ling]
–noun
1. a person very dear to another; one dearly loved.
2. (sometimes initial capital letter) an affectionate or familiar term of address.
3. a person or thing in great favor; a favorite: She was the darling of café society.
–adjective
4. very dear; dearly loved: my darling child.
5. favorite; cherished.
6. Informal. charming; cute; lovable: What a darling baby!
Origin:
bef. 900; ME derling, OE dēorling. See dear, -ling 1

Related forms:
dar⋅ling⋅ly, adverb
dar⋅ling⋅ness, noun

I like this, darlingness.. Have you ever heard of that?
His dear darlingness brought me my slippers and made me tea.