This weekend I went to Brighton. Friday was supposed to be rainy and Sunday was supposed to be rainy, so I opted for Saturday, which was .... rainy. Like the kind of rain where it's pouring so hard and it's so windy that it's coming down sideways, rendering my umbrella useless.



Royal Pavilion (amazing inside!)


There are like roller coasters at the end of this thing!


Ugh.

I had fun, going inside the Aquarium and seeing the turtles, the interior of the Royal Pavilion was awesome (no pictures allowed, sorry!) and bopping around the Laines. I suppose the part I liked most was that after only an hour I was outside of London and on the beach. So much fresh air.

Who oh who did I spot today next to me sifting through tops at Miss Selfridge's? Carmen Electra! I noticed her coat first, it was gorgeous. I walked past, looked at her face and thought, "No way...." That's when I noticed a guy, dressed in all black, who certainly wasn't shopping but just following her at a distance and watching her every move. Definitely a bodyguard. (Why must they always wear black?)

This brings my London celebrity sightings to a total of 6:

1. Martin Freeman
2. Goldie Hawn
3. Kurt Russell
4. Ivana Trump
5. Charlotte Church
6. Carmen Electra

I like that Martin Freeman was my first, as seeing him really stuck home that I was in England now. (And when I tell Americans this they always respond, "Don't you mean Morgan Freeman?" No, no I don't.)

I feel like the number should be a lot higher seeing as how I've been here 19 months now since London seems such a bastion for celebs. Gwyneth, Madonna, Gwen all live here now. Surely I can score higher!

My office picks for the Grand National are Juveigneur and Cornish Rebel. I didn't get to pick them myself, but threw two quid in the jar and got my two picks at random. As of today they were both 25-1 odds, not too bad I think because it always seems that the 5-1's never win like everyone thinks they will and the 400-1's is just absurd wishfulness.

Somehow I totally missed all this last year even though office mates swear up and down "everyone was in the pool." This definitely seems to be a national tradition. Apparently it's a horribly difficult course and some horses don't even finish. But they said it's not as a bad now since animal rights activists went to town on it and ruined it like they ruin everything (hey hey, vegetarian's are allowed to make those jokes!!) Looks tough, tougher than any steeple chase I've seen in America...

At least one guy from here predicts one of mine as a winner! Wish me luck!

Ah the serendipity. This is one of those things that I've seen on just about every other London blogger's site; I never went searching for it. I just assumed if I ever ran across it I'd be more of a Londoner than if I didn't; and if I didn't then it wasn't meant to be.

Make of that what you will, either way, makes for fun pictures!