Back in the States

Hey Everybody!
So, I don't know what happened to December, but here are all of the photos since my last post! Before I left for home, I went to Wales to visit Hannah, we had snow, I did a wedding cake class, went to a Paramore concert , the ballet and Oxford. Lots of fun stuff!
Hope you enjoy seeing what I was up to and I am very happy to be home and excited to go back again soon!
<3

The wedding cakes I made from the workshop.

Sarah and I tried out my new techniques in the Lobby.

Paramore at the O2

Oxford

The Oxford Camera

Hannah and I in Wales

                                                  Spontaneous snowfall in Cardiff!

Snow!

The Christmas Tree Lighting in Trafalgar Square

Snowy London Streets

Opera House

At the Ballet

In the Tube.

Wicked

Wicked was fantastic. I saw it last night. Before we left, we did a roommate photoshoot of us all dressed up to go out. When we came home, we looked at the pictures and seriously spent an hour laughing so hard that we couldn't breathe or talk or anything. It was so painful and really fun. If you have any interest in seeing them, I think they're on facebook ( :
Went to the war museum today and was permanently scarred by their recreation of the WW 1 trenches. They were pumping this horrible smell into the room, which I am convinced was supposed to be the smell of dead bodies and stagnant water. So horrible, not just for your nose, but psychologically as well. I'm discovering that I am really a lightweight when it comes to scary or unsettling things. I went on a "Jack the Ripper" tour a while ago and still get creeped out when I'm alone at home!
Anyway, hope everyone is doing well! :D
<3

Tube Barrier

Today, I was walking through the tube barrier and eating a take-out box of salad simultaneously when the mechanism decided it didn't accept my oyster card and the doors slammed shut on me. The salad flew up in the air and landed all over me and the floor. I was angry, embarrassed, guilty (for the mess on the floor) and covered in caesar dressing. Good times
( :

My sketch of Rodin's 'the kiss' at the Tate Modern!

Family visit

I'm sorry, this post has been moved to my new website. Find it here!

Greenwich

Yesterday, I went to the prime meridian and the set of Pirates of the Caribbean 4!!
:D
We went back this evening to try to meet Johnny Depp, but he had already left the set. But we had a fantastic girl's night out at a pretty good Mexican Restaurant called 'Desperado's' in Greenwich.

Alisha and Lauren Pease

Emily and I

This weekend

Hi everybody!
This weekend, I have been staying up and sleeping in very late. I feel like I'm having the true college dorm experience: sharing a living space, putting hot sauce or peanut butter on pretty much everything indiscriminately, having people talking til 5 am somewhere around here and sharing lots of fun times with my roomies ( :
On Friday, we went to the science museum for Corbin's birthday, which was really fun! I bought a chocolate cake and decorated it with cadbury's candy and we all sang happy birthday. The candles were puddly by the time Corbin showed up to blow them out (bad planning on our part), but it tasted delicious!
I've been playing guitar a bit more this weekend, but I'm trying not to subject my roommates to it too much and hope to get some more time in while they're at class and I'm not ( :
I have SO much homework to do tonight, so I'm going to start that. It's four thirty here, so it's practically bedtime and we all just woke up! School tomorrow, but there is a tube strike, so we will have to get very creative with transportation!
<3

TGIF

Made it to another weekend! ( :
Had a very good week!
Monday: Art class and Shakespeare class.
Tuesday: Math in the morning,then ....wait...I can't remember what I did after math.
Wednesday: Shakespeare class. In British Life and culture (BLC), an MP (member of parliament) came to speak to us and then we took a tour of the House of Parliament and the House of Lords. THEN I ran home to drop off my heavy backpack and went to see Henry iv part two. It was raining and I got my feet soaking wet / : Then , I got there and oh yeah...the Globe Theatre has no roof and I have a standing ticket in the yard! So, I went and paid ten pounds extra to get a seat with a sort of awful view ( ; But I was able to stay for the whole show! Brian Massey-Todd stayed too. Everyone else (including our Shakespeare teacher!!) left at intermission.
Thursday: Yesterday was nice ( : I went to math class, then to the train station to order train tickets to visit my family! (accidentally bought the wrong ones, oops). Then, I went and got tea and scones and a really yummy sandwich (cream cheese, walnuts and bell pepper) at a little shop called "The Muffin Man" with my roommate, Emily. We went shopping for a bit and then split up. I took a very long walk in Hyde Park because it was warm and sort of sunny yesterday! Then, I went shopping and got really cheap, nice sweaters at H and M and bought boots at ecco (finally, no more wet feet!)
Friday: today, I will go get new tickets at the train station, hopefully do some homework, hopefully read too. Probably make a cake for Corbin's birthday and I think we are going to the Science Museum for it!
Thinking of you all at home with the nice California weather ( ;
<3

One of my roommates, Emily

Platform 9 3/4

Today, I went to see Platform 9 3/4! It was a little less exciting than I had anticipated, only because nothing magical happened. When I first spotted it, though, I have to admit that I screamed really loudly, "there it is!!" and identified myself immediately as one of those loud, American tourists. I got a couple pictures, which I'll post when I can.
The fact that I can not post pictures is pretty frustrating, but hopefully I'll be able to fix that sometime soon.
I also got some really great Italian food and started the quest for a guitar! (the hsop was closed, but now I know where it is)
Quite rainy today. School tomorrow. Still searching for: boots, and an umbrella and a few more sweaters, since it's much colder than I expected!
<3

Corbin and I at Platform 9 3/4!

Portobello Market!

Today, I went to the fantastic Portobello Road Market. It was SO exciting and fun!
For 2 BP, I got a box of glow-in-the-dark stars and now Lauren and I have them in our room ( : (we aren't allowed to damage the walls by using tape or tacks, but the stars will come off easily. Other than them and a few paintings, our walls are bare.)

A little girl who lived in the apartment was selling little playdoh animals and drawings in the looby when I got home today! They were 2 pence each, but I gave her 50 p. So, now I have a very cute little brown playdoh snail on my nightstand ( :
Goodnight!
<3

London nights

Hey everybody! sorry I haven't posted anything lately! The internet at my apartment is truly awful. Went to a blues bar with a few friends tonight. Got home and am making pizza and chocolate lava cake from the British equivalent of a seven eleven. The food is VERY sketchy..../ : Sort of tentative about it.
Got a sudden yearning to play guitar. David let me borrow his for the night, but I think I'm going to buy my own while I'm here!

<3

Great things about London

1. Heated towel racks

2. Peanut butter on oreos. Yeah, you can get them at home, but the peanut butter here has something special ( :

3. The THEATER!!!

4. This restaurant called "Itsu" that has amazing, HUGE, scalding hot noodle soup bowls with vegetarian dumplings in a spicy, zesty lemongrass broth for only 4 pounds and 99p.

5. The money is pretty here

6. The palaces

7. The nightlife. It's neverending (maybe a bad thing as well as good)

8. The accents. Not Just British ones. SO many people from all around the world live here. It's really fascinating

9. Packs of cigarettes are required to have huge stickers on them that say things like "smoking kills" and "smoking is proven to cause lung cancer". So, they're making an effort. (Downside is, people still smoke a ton. I feel like a smoker sometimes just by proximity.)

10. The weather :D I know I may become disenchanted, but I love the weather so far. It can be frigid, but still have clear skies.

11. The people are really very friendly for the most part

12. I am so impressed by the way public services are run here. The parks and recreation, the arts, public transit. The museums are all FREE. You have to pay a fee often to see featured exhibits, but other than that, it's free. Students have lowered rates at theaters because the British government feels that it is important for young people to be exposed to the arts. And the tube is just phenomenal....well....sometimes, the train stops for minutes at a time in the tunnels and I swear to myself that I will never get on it again, but it really does run very smoothly and they make it almost condescendingly easy for everyone to get from place to place, above ground or below.

I haven't been doing too much in the way of tourism, so I plan to get out this week and weekend and see much more! I have a Lot of homework, which is keeping me quite busy.
Love to you all at home!
<3

London!

Been getting all settled in here. Moved into my apartment with my three other roommates. They're all really nice and fun!
Gone out to a bunch of pubs, learned how to play darts...
Let's see...
We had an absolutely fantastic bus tour of London the other day ( : The guide was hilarious and did not stop to breathe for a moment the whole time!
I have been taking the underground to school. It's fun and public transit over here is SO GOOD!! I wish we had that at home! But I guess things are way more spread out at home anyway ( : But it's just so reliable and easy.
Had some good food. They have a lot of vegetarian food here. There is really great pre-packaged food at every cafe and everything that is vegetarian has a huge "V" on it, so it's really a no-brainer ( ;
One of the pubs we went to has an open mic on Thursday nights, so I might go do that in the next few weeks.
I have yet to contact my family over here, but I hope to soon.
Been learning so much about London and life and my classes started yesterday. They're really good.
Much love to you all at home!
<3

England Day 2

So, today we had orientation. It was a long day and we talked about cultural differences. Got my box of textbooks and a nice letter from Mom. Thanks mom ( :
Got VERY familiar with the underground. My roommates and I think we're experts now. We went and bought towels and a bathmat and a laundry basket for our apartment!
We got a list of cultural activities and I signed up for ALL of them :D
Sightseeing tomorrow.
<3

England

Just got settled into my apartment today! Very sleepy, so I'm going to bed! Hopefully will be able to upload all my pictures now that I'm here! Goodnight all!
<3

Our Apartments

Two more days at home

Just two more days left! Where did the time go? Yikes

Got my clothes laid out for the big day!

                                                                        

All packed up

Armed with a Dictionary of Brit slang ( ;

All ready to go. Just need to ditch the butterflies!
<3

15 days before take-off!

Countdown Paris is underway!
Just 15 more days before heading off into a world full of French pastries and Belgian chocolates, British theatre and culture shock! I'll update this blog as best I can in the next 3 months! <3