Secret Gardens by the River

I have been doing a lot of cycling around London. My favorite ride so far has been to cycling west along the river. There are the most delightful gardens next to the Chiswick Eyot. Each one is so sweet. There are neatly trimmed hedges and wooden gates. Enormous weeping willows stand over perfectly groom flower beds. There's always a bench or a humble wooden seat. I can't imagine a better place to have tea. Each one feels like a secret garden.

Finds: for Jon

My friend Jon has become quite the cyclist in the last year. He is regularly doing 25+ mile bike rides and he recently put together his own bike. Love this mug for him.

From ABikeShop in England.

Inspiration: Liz Clark

I guess it's always hard when you are in a new place. You don't have a community yet. You don't have friends to help you laugh and de-stress. I have definitely felt like I have had some pretty depressed moments here in London. But some people make it look really easy. Like this gal, Liz Clark.

She's so inspiring! I stumbled on her blog while looking around at surfing stuff. She is a professional soul surfer who seeks out waves from her sailboat - solo. She sailed around the Pacific and logged stories from her journey along the way in her blog. I spent a couple of hours going through the backlog, and it's well worth it if you need reminding about the infinite possibilities of life.

The idea of sailing anywhere alone is pretty intimidating to me, never mind traveling in a totally foreign place alone. There's just so much to go wrong on a boat. But she doesn't seem fazed.

I have been reading a lot about healthy relationships and realizing that I need and want to be a stronger person. Reading Liz's blog definitely gave me someone to look up to.