Goodbye London

This was the final week in London for the summer.  We are all seriously considering not getting on the plane tomorrow.  I am very excited to see everyone but I am almost in tears typing this right now.  Our flight leaves in about 16 hours and that is simply just not okay.  But on a happy note it was an amazing last week. I will recap everything and bring some closure to this blog.  

So, where I left off.. Tuesday night we went to a pub around the corner for a cider and reflected on the summer.  Actually, there was a lot of reflection this week.  It brings tears to my eyes every time we talk about what we are going to miss and I have to keep telling myself that I will survive and be okay because at least I will get to see everyone.  It will be quite a culture shock to see more than 5 people, that I know and like, in one day.  We are all just so used to being with each other.  

Wednesday was a super fabulous day.  Danna, Ally and I ventured to Brighton Beach.  We hopped on a train and traveled for about 45 minutes to the pier.  The weather was beautiful and there was talk about stopping and getting a piercing or something to commemorate the summer but that never happened.  We went on an intense swing ride on the pier and sat on the pebble beach for a while.  The three of us probably looked pretty cute falling asleep to the sound of the waves crashing in the background.  We had a sushi lunch and decided that someone should open up a conveyor belt sushi place in Columbia.  It is the best thing ever, and smart on the owners because sushi is more tempting when you look at it rather than when you read the words on the menu.  We walked around the town and enjoyed the beauty of it before heading back to London.  

During the evening Jen, Danna, Ally and I went to Brick Lane.  It was suggested by one of Danna's co-workers.  The street is known for their authentic Indian food.  I had never tried Indian cuisine before, except for on the airplane over here (reminder: we fly AirIndia....sketch), and I was pleasantly surprised.  After Indian, we went to O'Neils for some live music, danced the rest of the night away, and batted away some creepsters while enjoying the loud American music being sung by British rockstars.  

The next day was a nice romantic day for me and Ally.  We slept in, which was well needed and then reserved tickets for Buckingham Palace for Friday.  We had a nice lunch on the steps in Trafalgar square, did a little bit of shopping, and then spent a long time debating on whether or not to go out.  We ended up at a pub that we had been at in the beginning of the summer after the Chelsea game.. and took a long walk home.  

Friday was London's way of saying that she is sad to see we are leaving.  She started to cry by raining all day and continuing randomly throughout the weekend.  A tour of the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace cheered us up a little bit, followed by our final traditional English meal of fish and chips and mushy peas at a pub.  We then got on a ferry to Greenwich, saw the prime meridian and I walked around the town with Ally.  One of my goals was accomplished: being in two places at once.  This goal, of course came from 'A Walk To Remember'...and I think that being in both the Eastern and Western hemisphere at the same time is something to brag about.  

Being one of our final nights in the city, we had to go out of course!  We gathered up the crew and began at Carnaby street.  It was busy and fun and we then attempted to walk to a club, while following some guys we had meet out last week.  Everyone got lost and split up and we never made it farther than the bus stop.  There were some bathroom issues on the way back but all was dealt with fairly tastefully.  

This morning it hit me.  We had one more day.  It was depressing and I could hardly even talk about it.  Emily, Danna and I went to Portobello Road for one last time.  It was just as wonderful as ever and I was terribly sad to leave.  We met up with Ally and then did one final touristy thing: Abbey Road.  

Danna and I then fit in one more show, Spamalot.  It was funny and weird.  

Tonight the roomies all went out for dinner together at an Italian place around the corner from our flat.  And I was almost in tears the entire time.  Man, this blog post is kind of depressing I just realized.  Dinner was special, followed by packing and now bed.  Must wake up super early to make myself tired for the plane ride that is to come.  

I love London. I will miss everything about it. There are a few movies that i must see now after being here... all relating to the summer in some way: 

1. notting hill 

2. the lizzy mcguire movie 

3. mona lisa smile 

4. love actually

5. ps i love you 

6. braveheart 

7. a christmas carol 

8. bridget jones's diary 

9. about a boy 

10. wimbledon 

11. my fair lady 

12. under the tuscan sun 

13. the da vinci code 

14. ratatouille 

15. the hunchback of notre dame 

16. an american in paris 

Things I will miss the most 

-markets 

-my roommates 

-pub culture 

-work 

-cider 

-movie premiers 

-the people here from mizzou 

-seeing the same people every day 

-emily's travel alarm 

-my bunkbed 

-our screwy shower 

-flat 5 

-earl's court 

-covent garden 

-pistachio gelato 

-not having a 'real' phone 

-blogging 

-public transportation 

-our flat's intercom 

-the different languages you encounter 

-weekend traveling 

-walking everywhere 

-never driving 

-fish and chips 

-cool weather 

-umbrellas 

-london fashion 

-shopping 

-crepes 

-digestives 

-the movie theaters 

-the accents 

-'cheers' 

-ethnic cuisine 

-trying new things 

-meeting new people 

-the parks

-the streets 

-the general day to day life 

-walking home from picadilly by myself 

-window shopping 

-the pound 

-the queen 

-william and harry 

-the red carpets 

-lunch breaks 

-tea every hour 

-last minute musicals and shows 

-the history 

-the free london paper 

-the woman's voice on the tube

-the museums (esp the v&a) 

-the a to zed booklet

-the freedom 

-feeling like an adult 

and so much more. The list could continue for miles...

I will return to London in the near future, I have no doubts about that.  

A week without work

The blogs are going to come to an end soon.  I’ve used the term a lot lately but there is no other way to describe it but “bitter sweet.”  Not going to dwell on the situation, which is why we are all living up our last week in London!

 

Friday was my last day at work, and I held in the tears.  It helped to not be leaving right after work was over and to have this week.  After work I went to a screening on “My Best Friend’s Girl,” Kate Hudson’s new movie with Dane Cook and Brian Biggs.  It was a typical Kate movie and of course I loved it! It was a good chic flick to start off the weekend.  Friday night we headed to a pub that Emily has been to with work people.  We all thought it would be open later, under the impression they had a late liquor license… so no one was in a rush to get there.  We were wrong.  Luckily we got there right before 11 and were able to get a pint of cider before they rang the bell.  The pub is owned by a private distillery which is awesome because all of their beer and cider is cheaper… and organic… and really good! 

 

On our way to the pub, we ran into Elise White.  She has been here for a good while now and we have constantly been trying to do dinner or a club with her but our schedules have been hard to match up.  She joined us at the pub for a pint and we got to catch up on Chi O gossip with our fellow sister. 

 

Saturday morning Ally, Danna and I hit up Portobello Road.  With all of our traveling, we haven’t been there for so long which is sad.  The market at Portobello Road is one of my top favourite parts of London.  It just makes me happy in general.  It is blocks upon blocks of vintage goods, fresh fruits and vegetables, yummy sweets and other foods, new designers clothing and accessories, and other fun goods waiting to be purchased.  I found a beautiful vintage Chanel handbag, circa 1980 and spent the day debating on whether or not to purchase it.  It drove me crazy, as well as Ally and Danna…and I ended up behaving throughout the day and buying it on the way out! Yahhh.  We found a few inexpensive and new jewelry designers that I decided I might have to go back to next Saturday for one last Portobello purchase.  Ahhh pure bliss. 

 

While at the market we switched up the normal ritual of a savoury crepe with a falafel wrap.  Danna often gets them for lunch from Pret and has been wanting me to try one.  We found a fresh falafel stand and the wraps were delish!

 

The day continued toward Kensington High Street, were we browsed through a few more stores and window-shopped.  At night we decided to go to Carnaby street to a random pub and then to On Anon, a club we have made an appearance at before.  My evening ended shortly after arriving at On Anon.  The woman who’s job is, well WAS, to hand out paper towels in the bathroom freaked out at me for taking a piece of gum and ended up bringing me to tears and I skeeted out of there fast to avoid embarrassment and hassle.  The other girls had a good time dancing the night away. 

 

Sunday we started off with a morning walk and brunch at My Old Dutch, a pancake bakery.  It is completely normal here to eat your pancakes with cheese and veggies on them…which is very different than what we are used to. But they are surely scrumptious.  The day was kind of gross and ugly so we decided to go to the Science museum.  We were like kids in a candy store.  There was a bunch of fun, hand on exhibits that we took part in, along with an I*max 3d film entitled “The Deep Sea.”  Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet were the narrators, and the visuals were bright and real and awesome.  We also did a motion simulator that was barely worth the 1 pound 50 pence.  It was a simulated roller coaster and was definitely meant for children.  We enjoyed the museum none-the- less.  Because the rain was putting a damper on the day, Emily, Ally, Danna and I decided to make a comforting Sunday dinner and cuddle up to a movie.  It was relaxing. 

 

Danna and I took advantage of having off yesterday and went to the Imperial War Museum.  We spent about 4 hours in the Holocaust exhibit, which was intense.  After that we couldn’t handle more museum so we attempted to head to Wimbledon and failed due to a fire at a tube station. So we opted for sushi in South Kensington, pistachio gelato and then I had class.  It was the final class of the summer and GK cut it short, giving us the evening to plan the rest of the week and catch up on computer correspondence. 

 

One of my going-away gifts from Lillian was a gift certificate at her hair salon, Adee Phelan.  It is were David Beckham goes…! I had my appointment this morning for a well-overdue trim and style.  It included a head massage, a perfect cup of English breakfast tea, relaxing time with a Grazia magazine and tips on how to make loose curls.  My hair now has fresh ends and I will hopefully not shed as much anymore. 

 

I then went to the final Bauer lunch at the Century Club, and took a walk down Oxford Street and through Notting Hill.  The weather was not superb today but the walk was still nice.  Not sure the plans for tonight, but maybe a local pub! 

Loving London more and more every day

While at work on Monday I was dreading going to class but broke up the day with a nice lunch out with Danna. We went to the first hummus bar in the UK, hummus bros. and it confirmed the fact that I now love hummus. I might try to go vegetarian again or maybe vegan once I am back in the states. It’s a possibility, and if Victoria Beckham can look that good while eating Vegan, I think I could do it too! Soooo to continue, as I was checking popsugar at my desk trying to not think about sitting in class … surprise! Denise was to the rescue. She had a client back out and had an extra ticket to the Mamma Mia play. I was offered the ticket, I phoned George on his mobile and got permission from ‘the master’ to entertain clients and forego class.

The performance was great. I feel as though I am now a Mamma Mia expert; after seeing the Broadway show with Kevin in March, then the movie and now the London performance. Sophie, the main girl, was better in London…while the mom, Donna, I liked better in New York. The overall show was great, and the English accents definitely added a little something special.

Tuesday Danna and I did some shit shopping…actually found some decent gifts. It is very hard, like I mentioned before, to find gifts that are souvenir type but aren’t a stupid piece of plastic that does a special function like sharpen a pencil.

Lillian took me out for my going away lunch yesterday, to a Malaysian style restaurant. They recommend that you order 3 dishes per person. We were both picturing a tapa type place. (My experience with tapas has not been super great…) Our waitress said we ordered the perfect amount but we ended up getting so much food that they had to pull over another table to sit it on and we didn’t even touch half of the stuff. It was great tasting none the less and was really great to be able to sit down and talk to Lillian. We have never been able to have just a conversation between the two of us so this was nice. She, along with everyone else from work, was very interested in sorority life and the recruitment process. It was really funny to try to explain but she was loving it! Lillian decided that she wishes she could go back to university now and join a sorority. It is something that has not yet become anything in the UK but definitely should! They would love it, because you can tell that they love the concept (and the only thing they base their decisions on are what the interns tell them and from movies like Legally Blonde).

After the multi-hour long lunch we headed back to the office and then I continued on to a screening of Tropic Thunder with Danna. It is the new film that Ben Stiller directed. Get this: Matthew McConaughey, Tom Cruise, Robert Downey Jr., Ben Stiller, Jack Black, and more. I hated the movie. Love all of the blokes in it but was about to get up and walk out of the theater; I thought it was so bad. I checked my watch like 10 times throughout just hoping it would be over soon.

We ventured to the Absolut Ice Bar after the movie and met a group of girls there. The entire bar is made of ice, the chairs, the cups, everything. You go in for a 40 minute session and they give you a cape to wear. It was cold, and I was a little worried that my toes were going to get frost bite but it was really cool. We all looked like Belle from Beauty and the Beast when she is in her cape in the snow.
The day was never-ending and we decided to go listen to some live music at O’Neils. While watching the band, I happened to look to my left and who did I see? Andrew Born! Hempfield people are just attracted to each other like magnets. It was bizarre.

Tonight we did the London Eye, pretty much a huge ‘ferris wheel’ type thing that you ride for 30 minutes and can see a panoramic view of the city. It was beautiful with all of the lights at night. Tomorrow is my last day at Bauer and I am sad. I foresee tears maybe…. But it will be nice to have a week to do last minute London things and get everything in I possibly want to do before leaving this amazing city. (I might ‘accidentally’ miss my flight home….)

Champagne, Crepes, Croissants...the French know what they're doing.

So with about 2 weeks left, I am running out of underwear.  What is the logical action point to take? Do laundry.  This is what I would normally do and what I have done all summer but now it is slightly a different story.  There are only two weeks left (very bitty sweet) and I have debated this for a few hours now.  I think it would be cheaper to purchase a pack or two of new underwear to last me the remainder of the time instead of paying to get my laundry done again.  I have plenty of clean clothing to make due and this way I win both ways: I spend less and I have more underwear in the end.  The only losing factor is that I will have more dirty clothing upon my return to the states and that the nice lady at the laundry place won’t fold all of my clothing is very tight neat piles which would make for easy packing. 

 

Anyway, the more interesting stuff: PARIS. Started off with the coach ride there.  We were waiting to pull out of the station when a very smelly boy plopped down across the isle from us.  Sickkkk. The body odor must have dispersed because it ended up being hardly noticeable and the ride was bearable.  We made it into Paris and found Ally’s cousin’s apartment.  It was pretty much the most beautiful apartment ever and her cousin is living a storybook life.  After studying abroad in France, she moved to Paris and got married.  Her current French lover/husband, Nico, is adorable.  They have two boys, who are also cute as a button.  You would think that we met this family to know how cute and perfect they are.  Nope. We just stayed in their apartment.  We met Nico, who drove us around the Arch and a little bit of the city and gave us trendy recommendations.  We also met their oldest son (he’s 6) for about 15 minutes.   But majority of what we know is from their beautiful apartment that is filled with photographs of them.  Nico enjoys photography as a hobby and this is very apparent with the vast amount of pictures covering the walls and countertops with his pretty family in them. 

 

The apartment was about a 10 minute walk from the Eiffel Tower, had 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2 kitchens, 2 living rooms and other rooms we never went into.  If that doesn’t impress you yet, every single room looked as if it popped directly off of the page of a Pottery Barn catalogue.  We were in pure heaven.  We finally got to sleep in comfortable beds, take showers with proper h2o temperatures and just love our surroundings to the extreme.  Nico suggested a bakery for breakfast, where we got the best croissants I have ever tasted.  He then drove us around for a little (on the right side of the road…hello London, learn something from your surrounding countries) and dropped us off at a photography exhibit.  The exhibit was all pictures taken by an American photographer.  Many were of important political figures, celebrities, musicians, models, etc.  It was cool to see an exhibit on photography, since most of the museums we have gone to are filled with more sculpture, paintings, etc.

 

Speaking of art, we then ventured to the Louvre.  The building was spectacular.  We walked into one of the most anticipated rooms in Paris, and probably in all of Europe.  Standing in the middle of the room is a huge wall divider, with a tiny picture in the middle that is about 8.5 by 11 inches, a little larger, and it is covered with thick glass.  There are guards on either side of the wall, and a massive crowd surrounding the painting.  The Mona Lisa.  I went and I saw it and I was not super impressed.  It looks like any copy we would have seen in art class in elementary school and it is so much smaller than a lot of the other masterpieces in The Louvre, and in most museums and galleries actually.  We did venture through the Louvre and saw the famous winged statue of Venus one of Aphrodite.  I enjoy sculptures.  They are so smooth and intricate and look impossible to do…and I just find them very impressive.  The David, in Italy, was the most impressive to me but I like them all. 

 

Paris continued with Notre Dame, the Ile of Saint Louis and a walk along the river back to the apartment.  Notre Dame was breathtakingly beautiful.  Ally and I sat in a pew and stared for a long amount of time.  The stained glass was the prettiest than any of the other churches we have gone into…and we have seen our fare share of churches.  My grandma taught me to make 3 wishes every time you go into a new church.  She told me this on my first trip to St. Pat’s cathedral in NYC, and I have done so ever since.  I also tell everyone else to make their wishes too.  I make the same 3 every time, and after this summer, they better all come true because I have been able to wish the same ones over and over and over again, all in new churches of worship. 

 

Business Traveler recommended a sorbet/ice cream place in the Ile of Saint Louis so we figured we might as well try “possibly the best ice cream and sorbet in Paris.”  Couldn’t find it.  We gave up and gave into a different place with a long line.  We have learned that any place with a line or that requires reservations… it is probably worth the wait. 

 

We returned to the apartment and got ready for a nice, fancy, trendy French meal.  Around the corner of the flat was this awesome restaurant.  We sat outside and had the view of Napoleon’s tomb.  Our waitress helped us translate the menu and we had a fabulous French dinner, trying new foods.  My family would be proud to hear I tried encompote…which is like a steak.  Considering I didn’t eat meat for a few years, and didn’t eat red meat basically my entire life… I have done a pretty good job this summer trying new foods.  My meal was served with fries.  I found it kind of ironic to be eating French fries in paris,… they are not really a French food, but whatever.  The crème brulee was a perfect ending to a perfect meal. 

 

We finished off the evening with a bottle of champagne in front of the Eiffel Tower.  It was a lot bigger than I expected.  But it was lit up blue.  Kind of tacky, I thought.  There were a ton of people on the park area in front of it, so we joined in and enjoyed the warm Paris weather, under the stars, sipping some bubbly, the four of us (Megan, Ally, Danna and I). 

 

At midnight the Tower all of a sudden began this crazy light extravaganza show thing.  We thought maybe it would go for like a minute and this was a daily occurrence.  Not the case…the flashings lights when on for a few minutes before going crazy fast and then stopping.  It was humorous. 

 

Sunday Ally wasn’t feeling up to par, but Megan, Danna and I took a train to Versaille.  We waited in a windy, long line for the Palace.  It was worth the wait.  It was beautiful.  Megan continued on into the Gardens while Danna and I got crepes at a ‘famous creperie’.  That’s a bunch of bull.  They were not that great, and we were both kind of unimpressed.  This was made up for at dinner when we got some off the street and they were simply melt in your mouth fantastic.  After Versaille, we traveled back to the center of Paris (only like 30 minutes) and did some shit shopping.  We now call all souvenir shops shit shops.  I can hardly get myself to buy anything from them, because most of the goods are just crap and pointless and I don’t understand who buys or uses or wears any of that stuff.  We kind of gave up on finding stores that stayed open on Sunday and Danna and I ventured to the red light district in Pigalle to see the Moulin Rouge.  It was an interesting street, and the Moulin Rouge looked like I pictured it but a lot smaller.  It was more extravagant in the movie.  The Eiffel Tower made up for the small size of the Rouge. 

 

Oh! And Sunday was the end of the Tour de France.  So there were tons of crowds and bikers and fans.  Kind of cool to say we were there.  My guess is that Lance was there as a sponsor at least.  We didn’t get to see him though. We just saw the set up in the city centre and heard some announcing going on in French. 

 

Sunday night it was time to hop back on the overnight bus and head back to our summer home in London.  This trip was simple, because I was just exhausted from the long fun filled weekend.  And soo sleepy from the amount of walking that especially Danna and I fit in on Sunday…I slept the entire way back.  Made the bus ride go so quickly. 

 

Paris was beautiful and I could see why it is considered to be the city of romance.  We witnessed a lot of snogging going on at the Tower Saturday night… but all tried to just ignor it, have fun, and love the city being in the presence of each other.  I had an amazing time and was not ready for our short weekend trip to be over.  It was like a little tease.  I wish I knew some French, so it would have been easier to communicate and to understand.  But none the less, it was a perfect weekend and I think I can speak for all 4 of us when I say that we enjoyed every last minute of France and we were sad to go.  AND… we did not have one problem with rude staff.  Everywhere you look, they warn you of the ‘rude French.’ That’s a lie.  We were in touristy places and non-touristy places and didn’t encounter the apparent rudeness.  Maybe we got lucky, or maybe we are just pretty and it is hard to be mean to us… I don’t know but it was fun ;-)

 

Miss you all, more later!  

If my boyfriend were Batman...

If my boyfriend were Batman, I wouldn't want to know, because I would be nervous every night that he was going to get killed or cut up.

Catch up on the simply fabulous week I have had so far.

Tuesday evening was very chill, filled with a home-cooked meal of what else? Pasta. I am going to be so sick of noodles by the time I get home. They are the cheapest meal to make. You can buy a bag of pasta shells and some parmesan cheese and that can last you 2 weeks at least. Trying to save some mula here… because I would much rather spend it on other things besides food. I took a long walk along the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Walk. It is by far the best walk, in terms of sights I have taken in London.

After work on Wednesday Danna and I decided to be very cultural and go to The Mikhailovsky Ballet of Spartacus. It was beautiful. Made me wish I was that talented and that I was built like a professional ballet dancer. It was a great performance. We were both a little bit confused during the second act but it didn’t matter because it was 3 hours of my life that I would do again. I am looking into seeing one more show, either another ballet or a musical before we leave. It is really easy to get tickets, and you can get them for half price the day of; which is what we do. We get great seats for a low price and get the full experience. Plus it adds a little bit of spontaneity with the not knowing for sure if you have tickets until lunch time the day of the performance.

Thinking that the ballet made my week complete, I came into work happy yesterday (Thursday) and to my surprise was pleasantly given more great news! There was a chance I could go to a screening of The Dark Knight. It came out today, and we went to a pre-screening last night. Not having tickets, or technically being on the list made Blake and I a little jittery, but we made it in! It was by far one of the best movies I have ever seen, due to Heath Ledgers acting. There were scenes in the film that you almost forgot he was acting, it seemed as though he was not a real person and must have been like the Joker in real life at all times. Scary. I went into the theatre thinking that it was going to be good but I wasn’t sure if it would live up to all of the hype. Considering the film got loads of press after Heath’s tragic death, you never know if it would have gotten such great reviews had that not occurred. This was not the case. It deserves every great review, and every nomination that I’m sure it will be up for. Fantastic film, brilliant acting. It was a great night.

This morning Blake and I continued our movie dates with a screening of ‘Jesus is Magic’ – the new Sarah Silverman film. It was filled with racial ‘jokes’ and made me feel slightly guilty and uncomfortable for watching. There were some funny moments in it and was everything I expected out of Ms. Silverman. It was kind of sad that she mentioned her ‘boyfriend’ throughout the film a lot, but popsugar has informed me a few weeks ago about their Jimmy and her breaking up. Sad story. They seemed so happy together and are both funny creatures, that it makes me wonder what they would ever fight about.

We are leaving for Paris tonight. Doing an overnight bus and should get there early tomorrow morning (8ish). As horrible as it sounds, the overnight bus really isn’t that bad…we can sleep the entire way there and when we wake up the beautiful, romantic city will be at our fingertips. Flying is definitely more posh and convenient, but saving money always makes me feel good.

Work is continuing to go well. I went to a presentation yesterday at COI, one of our major clients. From my position, taking notes in the corner, it seemed to go really well. I think they enjoyed the effects I added into the power point, and all the time I took to make sure all of the fonts were the same. Such labour intensive work…! Two of the interns left yesterday, and it made me think of our last day coming up. I will cry, most likely.

Kevin has complained about my use of ‘ou’ in spellings. I apologize if this is annoying but often I use my spare time at work to write these entries and my computer uses the British spell check. Therefore I throw out a lot of weird spellings.

I was happy to hear from Dad that he reads this thing, because I do not get any comments and therefore I never know if I am writing this for no reason…or only for the reason that I can then have the written memories upon my return. So I hope someone gets pleasure out of hearing about my day to day adventures in Europe. It is much easier to type it all on here than repeating it to everyone over the phone. I am sure I will still have many stories for the family over thanksgiving break, but still this is a good backbone.

PS I Love You

So I have some updating to do… a lot of exciting things have occurred. Let’s begin with the premiere of ‘Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging’…It was adorable! I felt like I was fourteen again and throughout the movie I cried, sighed and laughed. After the film, we went to the after-party. The ‘stars’ of the film were all there. The boys were cute. Well…they looked cute on the big screen and the band was good looking from the stage but then when I saw them face to face I realized that makeup and airbrushing can sure do a lot and they all definitely looked to be not old enough to drink (and the drinking age is 18). So that was wayyy out of the question. Good movie though. I don’t believe it is coming out in the states but purchasing or renting the movie would be well worth it. I think Aunt Shell would like it a lot.

Work took us to the Horse Races on Thursday night. I have never bet on anything before, and I made two small bets on beautiful horses. Lost them both, so that was a bummer. The races were followed by a Girls Aloud concert. Everyone loves them here, and I don’t understand the fascination. I was not impressed. We left and went to a comfy pub/café with the co-workers for a little while before calling it a night.

At work I have been continuously working on the Retail Council and some random little projects. Lillian is eager to give me things to work on that I can use in my portfolio later, which is good. They treat me very well here and I feel like a princess being pampered with premieres and fancy lunches and parties and whatnot.

After work on Friday I wondered around looking for this vintage store for ages and never found it. I think it must have closed down since the address is non-existent. Sad for me.

Danna and I left super early on Saturday morning for what turned out to be a perfect weekend.

BACK UP… I forgot a very important story!! Thursday morning I got into work and was told to walk around the block to see Keanu Reeves. I left immediately. He was sipping on a cappuccino outside of the Covent Garden hotel (like 30 feet from the entrance to Bauer). After walking past him about 3 times, I ducked into an ally across the street from him and took a paparazzi shot. Then I came back to the office and recruited a girl to go with me so I could get a picture with him. She agreed and I then introduced myself to Mr. Reeves, got a picture, told him he looked good, and now we are going to get married and I’m going to be famous by association.

Okay, so we are not really going to get married but I did meet him. (For proof check my fb pic).

So the weekend:

We arrived in Dublin and decided to walk around and observe the city without a map for a while. We saw St. Patrick’s cathedral which is located on St. Kevin Street (Kevin was meant to be born on St. Patty’s day!). The Georgian doors were really good and the history behind them was interesting, especially how the one that is different than all of the others (it is a double door) was because the mayor was visiting and refused to walk through a single door so they had to change it and it is now very intricate and has a fancy white design on it. I thought the doors were fun.

We sat in a park and enjoyed the nice weather then made our way to a pub to try a traditional Irish coffee. As much as I hate whiskey, it was really good! We went to the Guinness storehouse, and I tried my first pint of Guinness. Not a fan. It was a weekend of a lot of firsts for me, actually.

After struggling to find a restaurant for dinner, Danna and I had to settle for this sketchy burger joint. No one warned us that the Irish don’t like to eat after 8 o’clock. Oh well... the burger was sketchy and good enough. We met some equally sketchy men at a pub in the Temple Bar area, and literally ran out of the place away from them.

My favourite part of Dublin was the live music throughout the streets in Temple Bar. They bands and individual musicians were great. I purchased a few cds actually, and made them all very happy I am sure.

We got to do some shopping on Sunday and found a great restaurant for traditional corned beef and cabbage boxty. Danna’s mom always made corned beef and cabbage for st. pat’s day and she was determined to try it somewhere in Ireland. We succeeded and it was good! As soon as we were seated at dinner, in the basement…this man stood up and started giving a toast to the entire room in a different language. Really weird. We then realized that everyone else in the room was together and there for a work function deal from Germany. I think they forgot to reserve a table for us and threw us into their banquet kind of. It was strange but we ended up meeting a few of the younger guys and going dancing with them after dinner.

When I say younger, they were 19 and acted as though they were about 15. Danna’s boy was loving her and we were just having a good time dancing and enjoying our wine. It ended up being a really late night followed by an early morning. We had to be up to catch a coach for our ‘Wild Wicklow Tour.’ It was beautiful! We stopped by the coast, then went to the Guinness Lake and toured the hills of Wicklow.

We stopped by St. Kevin’s monesory. GET THIS. As we were walking from the bus, I saw three girls and one was wearing a Hempfield sweatshirt. I didn’t think it was possible but yep! From Hempfield.. in Lancaster. We got to talking and I found out they knew Mark, and his ex-girlfriend was there. It was crazy.

So we kept walking toward the park and ran into more Hempfield people who I either knew or I knew their siblings (Greg Vardaro’s sister and Zach Murphy’s sister were there). I met Marky’s girl, and she was so sweet and so pretty! I was in shock and looking pretty dirty, which is embarrassing slightly. But that was a very ironic and small-world 30 minutes. Of all the places that I could have been, and all the people that could have been there…crazy! Danna and I were loving it.

Walking through the park was beautiful, and it really reminded me of PS I Love You. Maybe because we were in the town where they filmed the movie!! So cool. We tried some more traditional Irish food and took the scenic route back to Dublin on the coach. The tour guide was a great time, and he loved us for sure.

Overall.. the weekend was perfect. It was an amazing holiday weekend, and was more than we expected. The airport was a different story. We had issues finding food, and then once we found it we were not allowed to go into that area. It was difficult but we survived, and made it home to London safely...and tired from the 4 hours of sleep a night we were averaging.

Back at work today, and dreaming about the rolling hills of Ireland. It is prettier than the scenes from PS I love you. It was just breathtaking.

Currently, I am working on finding another vintage store because I am determined to find one like the one that I searched for forever on Friday. It will happen. No worries.

Wed. Update from Work

Yesterday after an amazing Dim Sum lunch I had the afternoon off. I strolled through Hyde Park, as it was beautiful outside. I walked the Diana Memorial walk and then went to The Supreme's Exhibit at the V&A (my fav. museum here). My afternoon was filled with Diana loving; with the princess and D. Ross.

I then window shopped through Harvey Nichols. I was telling Kevin that one day, when I am successful I will be able to buy something from there. It's depressing knowing that even though it is July any everything is like 50 to 70% off, I can still not pay those prices. It's crazy, but someday... someday...

Last night Danna, Emily and I went to O'Neils. We tried a traditional Irish mixed drink, Clover Top. D and I were prepping ourselves for the weekend. Cooke met up with us after her dinner/movie date with her boss, who I really would love to meet soon. She sounds like an interesting character.

I'm sporting my 'birthday dress' today for the premier of Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging. The film isn't coming out in the US so I'm excited to be able to see something special and British. As always, I am excited to walk down the red carpet and pretend I am glamourous.

I am a little nervous I just accidentally drew on my face with my pen. Oops. Must fix that before lunch at the Century Club.