my dog of 15 years is being put to sleep today. RIP Muffin.

this weekend was full of adventure. friday, desi and i went to startucks and had good chat for a few hours, decided we wanted to see random london, so we got on the tube and went to cockfosters (cuz we're mature) went to the harry potter platform 9 and 3/4, went to barnes (the area) and saw where rob pattinson's parents live, then went to gloucster arms, then imperial. after imperial we decided we wanted to go somewhere new, so we found this place in northeast london called the hideway, and went there with chris (alex's friend). cool place, but there was a private party downstairs, so we'll have to go back again when the live music area is open. one thing led to another, and desi got this idea to road trip to the lake district to see alex. chris has a car, so the idea was for us to take the train to cambridge (where chris lives) and then drive to the lake district. desi was serious, so in the morning, we woke up and got the first train to cambridge. on the way, we discovered alex was actually in liverpool, so slight change of plans. got to cambridge, and it was gorgeous. chris's house is straight out of the movie "the holiday". we had to walk up dirt paths and muddy stone walkways to get there and it was in the middle of nowhere. the house was so small and adorable. i felt like i was stepping into a harry potter movie. it was perfect. i cant even say how perfect. straight out of a movie. i wanted to stay there forever. he let me drive his car down the road by his house. it was probably the highlight of my life! the majority of cars in the UK are manual, so that made it even better. obviously the gears are in the same place, but your sitting on the opposite side, so everything seems backwards. the clutch was still on the left though...very weird. ate lunch in the eagle pub, which is where the discovery of atoms and dna was made... i thought of you dad :) ... cambridge is such a cute little college town. driving to liverpool was cool. left side of the road, roads smaller, everything is just new and different. apparently in england it's illegal to pass on the left when there is more than 1 lane of traffic going the same way. you just have to get in the far right lane and people are supposed to move over for you. got to liverpool after dark. found alex's grandparents place (well, desi worked that one out :) haha) ... desi convinced alex that she was watching a live satellite, so the poor guy came outside to wave to it...priceless :) ... went inside and had a chat with his parents, met his family, had some cake, endured the awkwardness, and left for the pub. after much drama of trying to find somewhere to park, we located an irish pub. they had karaoke, and needless to say it was a very good night :). i met a german boy who i talked to for like 2 hours. he was really sweet. ventured around liverpool some more, desi peed on my burger and didnt tell me until today, and slept in the car. i think we were in the country somewhere on a back road, and the person who owned the field def knew we had slept there. haha...oh boy. went to the beach, walked around. drove back into liverpool, ate lunch on the pier. it was beautiful. drove around/more sightseeing. back to west kirby (suburb of liverpool) and had a coffee at the cafe by the beach. oh, and you could see wales from the beach! it was very cool. we all said our goodbye's to alex, and headed back to london. i got to sit in the front on the way home, so that was interesting...i felt like i should be driving since i was on the left side...but after spending nearly 15 hours in a UK car, it almost felt normal - the driver being on the right. driving into london i got to see the city from a different route. london is very different when you are driving in car as opposed to the tube or the bus. got back to the dorms, skyped with mom, then brittany, then went to bed. woke up and my throat was swollen shut (figured out later why...thanks des) haha. didnt go into work, didn't go to class, instead went to a concert with desi, jen, and emily. at a place called the social. it was very cool. really chill, the bands and music were great, and they had delicious strawberry cider. reminded me of when i went to the RFGF concert with brittany. :) such an enjoyable night. marcus foster and tom somebody were there...apparently they are best friends /w rob pattinson. i know this cuz of desi, lol. pretty sweet life eh? chillin at a cool pub in london on a monday, rubbin elbows /w the rich and the famous. :) america is gonna be so boring when i get home.

yesterday went on a field trip for work. went to south london to a place called oval house. kennington area. there's a stadium called the oval and it's where they play their national cricket tournament. it lasts 3 days and is super intense. ate at a cute cafe by the oval and got a tour of south london by my boss, john. since it was wednesday, went to imperial. last night cuz they have a 3 week break in april.

random british words i keep forgetting which results in embarrassing moments:
pants = underwear
trousers = pants
cheese toastie = grilled cheese
takin the piss = giving someone a hard time
prawn = shrimp
telly = TV
zed = the letter z

average day in england. i woke up (on time actually), went to work, drank 2 cups of tea and 3 cups of coffee, met some students from oxford university, got back late so ate dinner and skipped class, now i'm doing laundry and on the computer in the common room. i'll probably watch a movie before bed tonight, neglect the fact that i should get started on my final essay for fashion and media, and sleep like a baby.

2 differences that are going to be weird when i come back home: 1-pick up trucks...dont see those in england...i have seen 1 since i've been here and it was a mazda...so idk if that even counts, lol 2-being able to drive...and driving on the right-hand side of the road....weird.

today was a good day. i woke up and went to church at westminster abbey, and it was delightful. good worship, good sermon. had coffee and biscuits afterwards and lunch at the church. met this cauuutee old lady who introduced me to all these ppl at the church and chatted with bunches of ppl. went to hyde park and watched a few games of street hockey and read some. it was a beautiful day out. really sunny and perfect for reading/watching hockey in the park. oh, i really wish i had my rollarblades with me. i wanted to play sooooo badly, but watching was better than nothing. sunset and got some biscuits @ waitrose for dinner... gonna watch the wild game tonight online, and hopefully get some homework done.

life in london is not perfect. def been a lesson learned this weekend. (should've waited a day to read the blog britt ;) haha just kidding) ... there are still awkward moments, friendships are hard, and sometimes life here is lonely. but this place is so beautiful and i can't help but love it. went to stonehenge and bath today. stonehenge, well its a bunch of rocks, haha. its really cool, just not the most thrilling thing i've ever seen. i'm glad i saw it thought. then we went to bath. wow that city is gorgeous. it's where jane austen lived. saw the bath's and learned a lot about roman culture. i always learn so much when i go places here. going back to the states is going to seem boring...no historical background to every step i take. weird. i got the fur hat that i've been wanting for forever! wore it today...and wore my wellies :) ... def gonna miss london fashion. also, another downside to this fairy-tale life is reality: money. went through my finances again (i've been avoiding doing it since my mom left) and idk what i'm going to do. i always think im going to have enough, but then the exchange rate changes, or prices on things change, or i have to pay for more than i thought. idk. def one the constant dampers on living here....stupid money. i was going to go out with friends tonight, but i think im gonna just stay in. i went out with some other friends last night. my bank statement is telling me i should stay in tonight. oh yea, i got my jacket stolen when we went out last night. i never check my leather jacket that i got from primark cuz the thing was 8 pounds...if i checked it everywhere i went it would buy me 3 more jackets, haha. well, at o'neills i put it on the back of some chair in a corner and when we went to leave it was gone. i told the bouncer (my friend chris, haha) and he said to call and they might have it if someone turned it in. not likely...but w/e....it was an 8 pound jacket...nbd.

yesterday was st patrick's day. went out with some friends and had a good time...got an email from mom today that muffin is sick and might have be put down. that was a damper on the mood, but o well. been a good morning at oxford house. andy's been funneling more tea and cold/flu medicine into me, haha. he's like having an extra parent around, always making me drink hot fluids and take this nasty medicine. its cute, haha. working on a paper that's due this friday for my british culture class...1 page down, 4 to go. stonehenge and bath this weekend. skyped with brittany and bailey earlier in the week...overall, its been a good few days. life is good.

so things have settled down since mom left. i've been back to work and life is back to normal - eating crap food in the cafeteria, skyping @ night, not doing homework. its a good life. :) haha. so i was thinking about why i love london so much and suddenly it came to me....i love the feeling i get when im here. i love riding the tube with my earbuds in and feeling like there's a soundtrack to my life. i love being surrounded by all these huge amazing buildings and wondering about their history and marveling at their beauty. i love the nature in the park and the animals that run around crazy there. i love the people here - their accents and their kindness...sometimes i even like the stand-offish people cuz then i dont have to be bothered. the way they make the english language seem like a poem, even if their swearing, haha. and the music...londoners have great taste in music and im def going to miss that. not once have i had to listen to country while over here...its been bliss :) haha. i like feeling independent and growing as a person.

oh boy. i haven't blogged in over 2 weeks. this is gonna be a hummdinger.

so basically i spent the first week of march getting ready for mom to get here. i finished the itinerary and spent time /w friends and went out. in order to prevent this blog from being massively long im gonna timeline it

Saturday:
picked up mom from the airport (freaked out she wasnt on her plane, but she was)
went to portabello market...bought black booties!! and other things
ate @ da maria (cute lil italian place where the owner/server is adorable and friendly)
back to my place, found cheap phantom of the opera tickets for saturday, skyped with dad, and went to bed early

Sunday:
left for dublin at 4 in the morning
almost missed our flight...we were literally running through the airport and skipped the ques. it was intense
got to dublin and took the bus into the city.
walked around, ate breakfast, cute coffee place called butlers
bus tour through southern ireland. GORGEOUS!!! sun was shining, everything was beautiful. went to the gardens and walked around...BEAUTIFUL!
shopping, shopping, shopping. band playing on the street - really cool
dinner at a nice place, food was delicious - broasted chicken.

Monday:
up early again to fly back to london
mom flagged down a coach bus, haha. the look on her face was the best
back to london and landed in luton. no idea where that is...not actually in london. some podunk place an hour outside of london. £20 to get back to london.
took mom to oxford house. showed her around, ate lunch in the cafe.
sent her to primark while i finished the afternoon at work.
met her at primark after work and bought stuff.
went to giraffe for dinner. food @ giraffe is soooo good. loved it.

Tuesday:
i went to work and mom went sight-seeing around london.
hyde park, natural history museum, westminster abbey, houses of parliament, etc.
met her at starbucks by st james's park and we went to a pizza place by my dorm.
went on the london eye!! omg it was so gorgeous. amazing. wow...breathtaking!
mommy bought me a teddy bear from the london eye :D :D :D :D i love him. i love her.
went to the pub (builders arms by my dorm) and got dessert

Wednesday:
took the eurostar to paris. slept most of the way. we're pretty tired by this point in the week. planned out our time in paris.
got to paris and went to bastille. market was closed cuz it was a weekday, but we got crepes. they were delicious.
went to the louvre and the arc de triumph. walked to notre dame.
shopping along the way of course
went to the eiffel tower. more shopping.
bus to the airport. fly to venice. arrive in venice. it was snowing and wet and cold and miserable. took a boat to san marco and some italian guy who didnt speak english walked with us to our hostel cuz we couldnt find it ourselves. went to dinner at the cutest lil cafe ever. ricotta was amazing. i was starting to feel sick so i got some tea. went to bed. shared a room with another girl named natalia from russia. red hair.

Thursday:
explored venice. lots and lots of shopping. exploring was amazing. that place is beautiful. exactly how it looks in the pictures. so amazing.
gondala ride!!!! so much fun. best thing ever. we were serenaded :)
ate some gelado. more exploring.
went into a few places that idk the names of.
bus back to airport, flight back to london.

Friday:
i was feeling pretty crappy, so mom went to buckingham palace to see changing of the guard. turns out its tomorrow. get ready and go to tower of london. didnt go in today, but we walked across tower bridge and ate fish & chips at the tower.
went to evensong at st pauls cathedral. wow. really cool. wish dad could've been there. he would've loved it.
took the tube to harrods. like a museum for shopping. cheapest thing in harrods is a keychain for £75. thats like $115 american. wow.
took a cabbie to piccadilly circus. mom's 1st cabby ride :) so fun
tourist shops and sight seeing in piccadilly
ate dinner at THE cutest japenese place. the food was on a moving belt and in colored bowls. loved it!! so great

Saturday:
went to changing of the guard. so many ppl. too crowded for me
went to camden market. so cool! love that place. got some wellies!!! :) :) and a sweet feather headband and so much cool stuff. mom bargained with one of the vendors and got a £45 coat for £30. :) its very cute. bought brittany and aubrey and hannah something. :) excited to give it to them.
went to tower of london. got a tour by the Yeomen. really fun.
phantom of the opera tonight. soooo good!!!!! we were so close i could see the performers faces w/o binoculars. we were on the left edge but it was so amazing. oooo i loved it. so good. so so so happy.
went for drinks. mom doesnt like alcohol, lol. she drank about 3 sips of her cosmopolitian. hehe. my 1st dry martini. no olives. i was dissapointed.
skyped with laura and dad.

Sunday:
wanted to take mom to buttercup but it was closed. went to cute lil french cafe instead. delicious. mothers day in london. i should've gotten her a card. ... maybe i'll mail her one.
to the airport and mom flies out. walked around oxford circus on my way back to kensington. spent the rest of the day doing homework and catching up on stuff i've fallen behind on while mom was here. cleaned my room.

just got back from a weekend in SCOTLAND! :) so i wasn't sure how great scotland was going to be because it's this small, remote country that's not that exotic. but guess what...i loved it! i went to edinburgh (and don't say it edin-burg like a burger. its said edin-burah) ... or something like that. i got corrected a lot. but anyways. i went friday with the school trip. i kinda stayed out late with amanda witt the night before (thursday) so i was super knackered but i got to sleep a little bit on the train. sleeping on the train was a bit of a challenge, but i was tired enough that i could do it. we got there and kinda got lost cuz our leaders werent sure exactly where the hostel was. it was raining/slushing and i was freezing, but eventually we got there. because i went with the school the hostel we stayed in was super nice. kinda fake first hostel experience, but oh well :) haha i liked it. i roomed with victoria, jessica, and jen. the beds were amazing! so much more comfortable than our beds back home in atlantic. ugh, i wanted to steal one of the beds. so first thing we did was find a pub cuz we were hungray!! we walked up the street and went to the 1st one we saw that looked scottish, haha. it was great! right when we walked in i felt like i was truly in scotland. the carpet was plaid, the pub had like an old victorian home feel. and the food was super good. the scottish def know how to make cheesy garlic bread. then we were gonna go to a place we had seen that said student pub, but turns out...to the scottish student means old people...like over the age of 60, haha. so we ended up going to the place next door to where we ate. that place was really cute too. a little smaller, but the rugby game was on so we stayed and watched that. it was a good time.

saturday we woke up and went to the castle. oh, i loved the castle. it was amazing and gorgeous and i took a thousand pictures :) haha. then we did a little bit of shopping, which of course i enjoyed. :) then we went on a walking tour with one of leaders from our group. since scotland is known for its whiskie (ever heard of scotch?) me, victoria, jessica, and jen decided to do the whiskie tour. it was really cool. it was only £8 for students and we got a souvenir whiskie glass. they took us on this ride type thing that gave us the whole history of how you make whiskie and all the different types. whiskie itself is disgusting (there was a whiskie tasting as part of the tour) but it was cool to learn about it, haha

we had dinner at a different pub and it the food was just as good. seriously, scottish pubs are so cute and the food is awesome. love it! so the other girls wanted to go on a ghost tour, but i heard they were rubbish. instead i went on a pub crawl with a couple other girls, emily & kristin. it was really fun! we went to 4 different pubs and ended at a club. we met a bunch of irish people at one of the pubs. it was super random cuz one of the guys said he wasnt drinking cuz he was a christian. he started naming all these christian singers (i dont really know who they are) but emily knew them, so they hit it off. turns out the entire group of irish students (about 30 or more of them) were all social sciences majors! haha, it was great. i ended up hanging out with them the rest of the night cuz emily and kristin headed back to the hostel. it was loads of fun. :) loved it! and of all the irish ppl i met, not one single one of them had red hair and freckles. they all actually had really dark hair and their skin was def not fair. so there goes all irish stereotypes. next time i see a redhead with freckles i'll assume their scottish, haha.

sunday was our last day in edinburgh (i was really sad). we went on a tour of mary king's close. apparently edinburgh was built on top of itself, so there's old streets and houses that are still intact underground. it was super interesting. a little pricey, but a cool experience. never knew the little city had so much history. lunch at a cute scottish cafe and then packed and ready to take the train back to london. oh, almost forgot. we went to this place called chocolate soup for dessert and it was sooo good. seriously, i was like in a sugar coma from all the chocolate and carmel i had. probably not the smartest/healthiest choice, but hey. i was on holiday and ur only in scotland once right. :) well it was delicious and i loved it, so no regrets. the trian ride back was long and miserable cuz they overbooked and it was way too crowded, the outlets didnt work, and it was freezing. but eventually we made it home :) good 'ol london. no matter how much i love the places i visit it's always wonderful coming home to london. :) so glad i chose to study here and not somewhere else.

i watched canada vs the usa!!! i have few words for the game except for wow. such good hockey. i obviously had to cheer for usa cuz its my country, but there are a lot of players on the canada team that i love and have watched for years. like brodeur. such an amazing goalie. he didnt play though because he really botched the 1st game against the US. haha...he's such a cocky pighead he'll probably try and spin this as discrimination or something. great goalie, crappy person. crosby of all people scored the winning goal. not only does he get the stanley cup last year, but now he gets the gold. such a good player. i love watching crosby in the NHL, but the olympics are at such a different level. the play is swifter and its about the game, not the money. i liked seeing the players in a different setting. hockey is such a beautiful sport.

i had to finish my journal after that. got a page into it and fell asleep, haha. woke up early today to finish. oh, and i skyped with bailey and brittany!!!! ah!!!! how i love them!!!!! don't get me wrong, i love to skype /w each one of them individually (lil bit of one on one time) but to skype /w both of them was almost as if i was living with them again!!! agh! it was so good :) def the best end to the best weekend: scotland, hockey, and my roommates :) ... and i talked to my parents a lil too...only thing that would've made it perfect would've been talking to laura and matt :) hehe...but i'm talking to laura tonight, so im not complaining :)

ok...i should probably do work now. im at oxford house, haha (i love how i always blog here) ... reception this morning. baz is training in new students, so i feel like the expert...even though im not at all.

going to go make an itinerary for when mom comes! :) :) hehe...and go through my finances...that gets no smiley faces. i hate looking at my finances. ugh.

ok...over and out