14 November 2010

Whew, middle of November already. Should be working on a paper on sustainability for my class but while i'm cooking my gorgonzola and walnut tortellini I figured it would be the perfect time to blog about life. Starting today and working backwards-

Today: I met with Jessica Charde (my study abroad advisor from Albany) today. I was excited last weekend when I received an email from her saying she would be in Albany and wanted to grab a cup of coffee with me. I met her at the South Ken tube stop and brought her to the Hummingbird Bakery on Old Brompton Rd. It's the cutest little shop with pink tiles and cupcakes lined up in the window. I got a red velvet cupcake that was delicious! I got to tell her all about my experience and how glad I was that she recommended going here. I was able to show her around my flat and it was overall a good afternoon.

Despite a great meeting with Jessica, I am having a homesick kind of day. It's such a different feeling because I don't want to go home in the slightest bit from London but at the same time I have a pang of sadness. Christmas music on Pandora may just have to be the cure for today.

Yesterday: Megan's 20th birthday! woo! It was a good day, I unfortunately had a group meeting for our presentation on the smoking ban in England but afterwards we got to have dinner all together. We first attempted to get to the Hard Rock Cafe but it was really busy, and it was a bit difficult to get there because there was something going on with the tube lines. We took the bus a little past Sloan Square and jumped off there and decided to walk home. It was nice because it was a crisp outside and we got to walk by the Natural History Museum where they currently have an outdoor iceskating rink. There were christmas lights and numerous people skating on the rink. Also, since the HRC plan fell through we got our favorite GBK (Gourmet Burger Kitchen) and ate it in our common area/living room/dining room. We put up a caution: happy birthday sign and balloons around the room for Meg to feel special and had the table all set for dinner with enough plates and cups for 10 or so people.

After dinner we went to a club called Embargo. It's right in Chelsea and we've gone before so after a little bus ride with around 30 people we made it in. One of the girls next door called ahead of time to put us on the guest list so we were able to go right in and I didn't have to pay the 15 pound cover this time. (phew.) I did however by a peach drink that cost 6 pounds 95 and tasted like it had zero alcohol in it. After that it was around 12:30 and people were starting to get annoyed by the snooty crowd that seemed to have been surrounding us and we decided to go home. I got into my warm bed and watched A Little Princess and called it a night.

Friday: Friday was a work day. Internship isn't going that horrible. A lot of googling but I guess things could be worse! We were able to get out of work quite a bit though because we had a meeting with our boss, John that took quite a bit of time. We also got to run a few checks out to people down the road. The checks were refund checks for the Christmas lights/electricity bill from the past Christmas. Our street and Bond St are turning on their Christmas lights on the 18th of November so I am looking forward to Thursday after work to go see all the lights and I believe they will have a lot of fun events going on. Such events like REINDEER that we can actually go and pet. (!) Exciting.

Wednesday: WEDNESDAYo t was pretty cool actually. I bot to go to a photo shoot with Buccellati as their official representative. I got to the storefront at 9:30 to meet Michael, the bodyguard for the jewelry, and our car to drive us to the shoot. A Mercedes Benz with heated seats (my favorite part!). It was sort of a long drive since it was at an old house in Greenwich and traffic in London is just plain horrible. When we got there I was amazed at the house. I've never seen anything like it in my life. It was over 300 years old and this really old woman owned it and was quite the pack rat. The decor was the most interesting thing i've seen in my life and where we had to sit on the 3rd floor had 0 heating. Of course it was one of the coldest days in London as well. Overall, it was a really cool day where I got to watch Tatler magazine hold a fashion shoot, meet a photographer and makeup artist (who was FABULOUS and from Connecticut) and even the 3 models there. Two were from Australia and were very friendly. I was able to help them put on the jewelry, too. The theme was Brazil so it was very colorful and vibrant. I'm really glad I got the opportunity to go there, even it was cold!

I believe that's all the blogging I have time for tonight. More to come! Prague this weekend as well and I am beyond psyched for it! xx

7 November 2010

I've been slacking on the blogging... SO disappointed in myself. There was a night that I was sitting at the kitchen table and eating a dinner I just cooked and started to blog. I accidentally deleted it and was really upset about it. I've been so so busy and doing so many amazing things I wish I wrote it all down at the time. Since the 11th of October I have had my interview for Buccellati (my internship), went to a photo shoot for high end jewelry, mom and dad came for a visit, went on a walking tour of parliament, finished two of my classes, and finally it was my mid semester break and Anthony came to visit. We went to Barcelona and Dublin and had an absolutely amazing time. After that was Halloween, which was very fun (I dressed up like a red neck man and Maddy was my pregnant red neck g/f.. we're very cool). That finally brings me to this week!

I started my internship on Tuesday and on Thursday all of flat 14 went out to celebrate at Dirty Martini in Covent Gardens to celebrate! It was really fun, and 1/2 off martinis! I got a chocolate one, which was delicious! Then switched to champagne to really celebrate our first week in our internships. Last night (friday night) after work we all were kind of tired and just laying around and didn't feel too much like going out. Except for the fact that two of the girls are working for a P.R firm (Halpern Associates) and they said they could get us on a VIP guest list for a club called Embargoes which is right in Chelsea not too far away. So after getting excited, having a few glasses of wine and dancing in the common room we went out. When we got there, to our dismay, we found out that after 11 there's a 15 pound cover. (barf.) Which by the time we got there and all the effort of pre-lashing (aka pre-gaming in british-talk) and getting ready we decided it was worth it for a night of fun. A bottle of beer ended up costing me 5 pounds 20 so after that I called it quits. Overall it was a really solid night, so much dancing and singing and having fun with my flat and that's what a night out should be!

Tonight was amazing as well. It's Guy Fawkes weekend to celebrate our capturing of him in 1606 when he thought that he could try and bomb parliament. So there was fireworks all around London but we chose to go to Battersea park and pay 6 pounds to see the show there. The show was so great with music to go along with the fireworks and I was smiling so big during the entire thing. It was worth the money to me. And they had a huge bon fire there, too. The biggest i've ever seen and it was a crisp night out and was perfect to huddle around with a group of friends. Not to be too cliche or anything, but during the fireworks they started playing green day "time of your life" and I got a little teary eyed. Just thinking how happy I was with my new friends, in a new place that I love, and looking at this spectacle in the sky I was just overwhelmed with feelings for the moment. "So take the photographs, and still frames in your mind. Hang it on a shelf in good health and good time," "It's something unpredictable but in the end it's right, I hope you had the time of your life."

To be honest, everyone uses that song as their high school song and remember all the great times from then, but I never thought it really applied to me. But listening to it and being in the environment that I was in I felt a strong connection with the lyrics. I really had no idea what to expect from this experience but I've never felt better about a decision I made in my entire life. I've had a really great college experience but I really think that my choice to go abroad made it that much more memorable.

Sometimes it does get hard. I've felt homesick a few times, and especially seeing life in Albany without me there makes me feel a little sad. It's especially had being without Anthony and Emily for this amount of time. We do talk and catch up but it's just not the same relationship being over 2000 miles away. In that case, I do admit that i'm very excited to go home and be with my family and friends (and it will be christmas!!) but I really am not ready to leave here in the slightest bit! Since they don't celebrate Thanksgiving here everything is already decorated for Christmas and looks so pretty! My street that I have my internship on doesn't turn their lights on until the 19th of November but I'm so excited for when they do! Harrods is already decorated and so is all down Oxford Street and store windows. I'm in christmas heaven :)

It's 1am here and i'm getting a bit tired but I will promise to set out time to blog soon. There's a Chelsea v Liverpool game tomorrow that I must attend to (in a pub of course) but there will be more to share soon. Until then... x