Fakesgiving!

I nearly forgot about our Thanksgiving feast! Or should I say Fakesgiving, since the holiday isn't really legit in this country.... Anyway we had a wonderful feast! We had a big group, of about 12 I believe! John (of London), Tom (of DC), Zack, Bouquette, and Jale (of Zurich), Marie and Jerry (of Paris), Daniel (of Dalton), and of course us Londoners (I'm going to include myself in that group haha). It was great fun! There was probably 50 pounds of stuffing, 2 turkeys, mushy peas (actually quite good!) and other wonderful concoctions. I baked 2 pies all by myself, homemade crusts and all! I was very nervous. I've never made a pie all on my own before. They turned out well, though :) There were of course enough left overs so I could take some back to school with me. I think they fed me for about 2 days haha! Anyway, I think a good time was had by all. I know I did. Just wanted to share my Turkey day experience with you. Thanks for reading - again... ;)

Lots of Stuff

Hello everyone. I know, I know... Where have I been?! It's been forever since I last wrote. Life has been cRaZY for a while. Near the end of term and all the work I haven't done is suddenly in my lap. I'm not doing too badly, though. I'm even turning a paper in one day early! That's a first! haha

Lets me see if I can begin to account for all I've done since I wrote last. Shopping in Picadilly Circus, getting stuck in climate change protests, lots of paper writing, shopping on Portobello Road and having my first Churro, going to the Winter Wonderland German Christmas Fair in Hyde Park - So much fun! Hot chocolate, hot dogs, finding 10 pounds on the ground! Good times :)

The other evening I had my first London (well Clapham Junction, but hey it's still London..lol) club experience. My friend Clarissa and I decided since it was the last one of the term, why not! So, Monday evening we went to The Grand, and of course the theme was Christmas. Lots of fun! Free Santa hats and a sit-in Santa Clause for pictures! Fun stuff!

This term I joined a choir (well 3 actually...) and over the last couple weeks we had several performances. Campus church services and such, with lots of little after parties. We did pretty well :) My college, Digby Stuart College, had a little Christmas dinner and then of course an after party at the Belfry Bar on campus! I will miss the Belfry....

Yesterday it snowed big fat flakes here in London! I was lovely. It didn't stick, but I don't care. I love snow :)

Today it will be paper writing, and tonight I have a farewell dinner with my two closest friends here in London, Sam and Clarissa. Then we are off to a Christmas party on Sam's floor. Tomorrow, I will turn in my paper -early! :D- and then I help Clarissa to the airport so she can go home to Ohio :( ... I am excited to perhaps be able to see one of my English friends from school last year while he is home for Christmas break! Other than that, I will be doing my final London activities in the next few days.

Hope this has not bored you to tears haha. Just wanted to catch you up to speed a bit. Thanks for reading :)

Yodel-lay-e-hoo!

Hello everybody :) I apologize for not updating, again, as much as I should. It's been a bit crazy.

The week before last was reading week at Roehampton. Yes I did do a bit of reading, not enough, but some. Anyway, my friend Clarissa and I decided to take a long weekend and to make a little visit to our friend Noemi in Zurich. We left from London Gatwick on Thursday evening and arrived in Zurich about an hour later. Noemi, being the wonderful hostess she is, picked us up from the airport and let us stay at her apartment during our visit.

Seeing that we arrived Thursday evening, we didn't really do anything (except watch episodes of our favorite show Chuck on dvd that Clarissa had brought with her). Waking up the next morning, in Switzerland, was amazing. You see, Noemi has a nice apartment on Lake Zurich with a gorgeous view of the mountains. After breakfast on our fist day in Zurich, Noemi had to work so Clarissa an I walked allllllll around Zurich alllllll day long. We visited the Swiss Museum - very cool! I couldn't read about half of what I saw but I still feel like I learned something. We walked along the cobbled back streets and along the river. We saw beautiful architecture and very high priced menus (we searched everywhere for some place to have lunch, but everything was so expensive! We ended up going to Starbucks and having coffee for 7 Swiss Francs. And, even though the Swiss Franc is about even with the dollar, everything was doubled in price. Crazy, crazy Swiss...). Because we couldn't afford anything else, Clarissa and I bought chocolate - something that we weren't going to leave without getting. Finally we met Noemi for dinner. After, we returned home, snacked on chocolate and Swiss Christmas cookies in our pjs, and watched more Chuck :)

On day two we made a quick trip to the store, made some sandwiches, and headed to Luzern for the day. We tried to go to the top of a mountain but the lift was REALLY expensive :( So we resorted to having our little picnic near a lake with the beautiful mountains in the background. Really breathtaking.... Of course, afterward, we found a bakery and had dessert. Then we found a factory and museum where they made glass. Apparently that area is famous for it. We watched them make the glass: they pour the molten glass-stuff into a mold, shape it, blow it, and other stuff but that's what I remember most lol. Anyway, it was very cool. Next we made our way to Luzern. We walked, and walked, and walked, until we finally crashed in Starbucks and took a little power nap. We woke ourselves up, got some caffine, and after a bit met up with a friend of Noemis. We went out for dinner to a little Italian place. Very good. After dinner, we decided to go out. First we went to this American style bar (What are the odds. I go to Europe to get away from America, and end up in an American bar haha...) called Road House. We had a drink and talked for quite a bit, but Noemi and her friend wanted to dance and the music at Road House wasn't very good so we moved on. Next we went to Black sheep, a fun little club that was absolutely packed. I've never seen so many people in one space before! We were probably breaking some kind of fire code there were so many lol. We danced the night away and finally got back home at like 2:30 or 3. Fun night :)

Day 3: We definitely slept in.... We took our time with breakfast, at about noon, and finished our season of Chuck. Finally we got dressed, and Noemi took us to this lovely vineyard near by. The grounds were beautiful. The fall colors were still hanging on and were gorgeous. We walked all around. Some parts of it reminded me of the mountains back in GA in the fall. So lovely. When we finished we returned home for an early dinner of fondu... MmMmMmMm :) Brad and melty cheese with white whine - what could be better?! Following dinner we got our things together and headed to downtown Zurich to hang out for a bit while we waited for our flight.

I loved Switzerland! It was so beautiful. I could not stop staring at those snow capped mountains and clear clean water of massive Lake Zurich. If everything hadn't been so expensive, it would have been a perfect place :) And that is the story of my trip to Switzerland.

The End

Thanks for reading. Stay tuned.

Night at the Opera

Yesterday was a good day. After much confusion, mom and I finally met in Trafalgar Square and walked over to Leicester Square. There we bought theater tickets - after mom confused by the number of 1/2 price ticket stalls and thinking we should be selective in choosing one - for The Phantom of the Opera that evening! So excited. But, seeing the show was at 7:30 and it was about 2:00, we had some time to wander about a bit.

With our extra time I thought it might be nice to show mom Fortnum and Mason, the lovely kind of department store in Picadilly Circus. She loved it of course - the teas, chocolates, pastries, dishes, Christmas stuff, etc, etc, etc. We wandered from floor to floor and had a lovely time. By the time we left it was about dinner time, so we stopped at an Italian cafe for pizza and beer. Good times :) Next we went to Uni Clo! Love that store.

Finally it was time for the show. We get to the theater - Her Majesty's Theater - and find our seats. But, of course, I was sent after some pre-show cocktails :) The show was wonderful. I've always wanted to see it on stage! I enjoyed it so much. I definitely cried a tiny bit once or twice. It's probably my favorite show.

Seeing it was late and dark, I thought it might be best to escort my mom home to Beth's.

That's my latest adventure. Stay tuned. Thanks for reading :)

Granpa Dan and Granma Charlotte's visit to see the Little Prince

For the past week, I've pretty much been living at Beth and Josh's house and it's been great fun. The parents and I have done lots of fun stuff together, like the British Museum, seeing The Mousetrap, going on a Shakespeare and Dickens London walking tour, and lots and lots of great food :) and in that I of course include Josh's infamous macaroni and cheese..Mmmmmm.

The main event, though, of course, has been baby watching. Baby Xavier has been the center of attention. We've all been bonding with him. I didn't think it was possible but he gets cuter and cuter each day. He's a great little guy :)

Today I've finally returned to the real world; back to the dorm and having no food and actually having to do some school work. Oh well. I'll probably go back in a couple days and have some more great fun :)

Playing Catch Up!

Hello! So sorry it's been so long since my last post! I'll try not to leave anything out.

Let's see... The friday after my birthday some friends and I attended the weekly BOP - this weeks theme being cowboys and indians :) Big fun! haha

Last Sunday I attended the Frieze Art Fair in Regent's Park. It was so amazing! Frieze is an annual fair that houses about 180 or more different small galleries, and displays the work of even more artists! It is a lot to take in. I didn't even get to see everything. I am so glad I got to go. There was tons of very cool art, some different art, and then some down right strange art haha. I guess those were above my artistic understanding....

Nothing really the week following Frieze, although I did have my very first piano lesson! I am excited to be finally taking lessons!

This weekend a couple friends and I took a trip to Ireland! We left Friday afternoon, and in about an hour we were in Ireland...love that! We got to our hostel, settled in, and then hit the town. We walked to Temple Bar and had dinner at a great little cafe. Great food! After we went just across the street to the famous Temple Bar for a (half pint of) Guinness, which I actually like now! Not wanting to head home yet we wandered about for a bit and found another bar to sit down a bit and have a pint. Headed back after that one, for it was getting rather late and cold.

Saturday: We spent all day exploring Dublin. We visited beautiful Trinity College, Dublin Castle, St. Patrick's Cathedral, the Viking and Medieval Museum, and last but not least, the Guinness Distillery, where we got free pints of Guinness! For dinner we went to O'Shea's Restaurant/Hotel/Bar. It was lovely :)

Sunday: Took the train (only 4 euros and 25 minutes) to the fisherman's village of Howth. It was absolutely stunning.... We walked along the pier and into the town; we walked around the ruins of a very old church and graveyard; we walked to the top of a nearby hill and enjoyed the view; we visited a market that had gorgeous and delicious looking pies and cakes and cookies and cupcakes... It was wonderful. We watched the seals, from the marina, begging for us to toss some food their way. We had fish and chips, and bought cupcakes. Just as we were finishing our fish and chips and getting ready to head to the train station, it began to rain. It was cold and windy, but I didn't mind.... I was in Ireland! :D We got back to Dublin and got ourselves to the airport, very early, so to pass the time we had our cupcakes and a final drink.

One more important thing to mention, that of course the day I leave for Ireland - just about to board my flight actually - I get the call that my nephew was born :) I met him today, and he is the cutest baby ever. I can't wait to see him again tomorrow :)

My Birthday

My birthday was a good one :) It really started on the night of the 14th for me. I met my flat mates (hall mates) at the Belfry bar. We sat around, had a drink or two, and then headed back to our kitchen to hang out some more. We waited for midnight and they sang to me. When it was time to go to bed, they all followed me to my door, only for me to find that they had decorated it with banners and balloons. It was a nice evening :)

On the actual day, I met up with Betty and we went to the Tate Britain museum. Saw some Turner and Sargent. It's very nice and I'd love to go back. Following that we had lunch in Beth's cute little neighborhood. I had a croque madame....yummy :} (I know I often talk about food. Sorry I can't help it haha. I'm a big fan of it).

When I returned home I rested for a bit. That evening I met friends and we rode the bus to Putney to have dinner at this neat Thai restaurant. I'd never had it before, but I really liked it! After dinner my friends and I went to a bar near by. We danced and drank and had a good ole time. I think a good time was had by all. When I got back to my flat, my flat mates came to my door with a cake, all lit up, and they sang to me. Plus they had gotten the whole flat to sign a card for me. They are a great bunch :)