How can it be almost over?

WOW haven't written in forever. Last week seemed very short - our last day of work was uneventful, but bittersweet. I spent the better part of my week in that office, and it was sad to say goodbye to the girls, but I had a huge smile on my face when I walked out the door. After work, Elizabeth and I went for enchiladas with Faisal and his friend, then since it was already 11 met our roommates at a bar and had a great time together - our last going out together as hosuemates :( Friday, we went on a field trip around London with our marketing professor, then to a pub wtih him and his wife. After, Elizabeth and I went to Stella to collect our free things, which turned out to be only 2 things from a rack of Adidas stuff, but still cool that I got some free running gear with Stella's name on it!

Friday night, we went to a really cool club on a rooftop aptly named "Rooftop Gardens" on High Street Kensington b/c they were having an event - everyone there was super old though, so we left and went to O'Neils and had a GREAT time. On our way there, Kristin tripped and fell up the escalator, which ended wtih she and I spending half an hour in the tube station control room getting her bandaged up. I asked if we could rewind the security tapes and watch it again, while Kristin assured the man that she was "totally fine - I haven't felt that toe in like two months anyway." Elizabeth and I caught the night bus home (my first time - lazy me) from the bar and it dropped us off right near our house!

Saturday, we did homework and stuff most of the day, then the girls went to a pub together at night and split some Cuban punch and snacks before heading home and having an early night because we all had to get up and study for finals. Sunday, Kaitlin, Adrienne, Eugenia, and I went to the Flower Market. SOOO gorgeous and smelled great, then had lunch at a French cafe nearby. Came home and did a lot of paper writing, then went for a kebab for dinner with Adrienne. The guy behind the counter goes "you guys are still here? I thought you left already. You come your last day here and I'll take care of you." Kind of sad when the guy at the kebab shop knows everyone in your house huh? They should SO open one at home though - here there's one on every corner and they're unbelievable. Worked on a presentation for today most of Sunday night - one of our group members kinda fell off the radar, and she had written a huge chunk of our paper. We were scrambling for it, so we all took a part and rewrote it, sending her millions of emails and calls, only to find out this morning that she got hit while on a bike last weekend at her parents house in the country had had been in and out of consciousness for hte last week. Talk about feeling like a bad person. We told her no worries, if she did the final edit on the paper then she'd still get credit for doing her part. Life's too short ya know?

Today, I had my oral exam, kind of like defending my thesis for my dissertation, then had a presentation in my IHRM class, which went pretty well. After, all of the IU kids (we're all in the same class) went to a pub (notice a trend in my life here? my poor liver) and got some dinner, because some of the boys are leaving wednesday for a monthlong European adventure, so I wont see them until the fall. So strange that I wont bel iving with these people after this weekend. I packed today! One suitcase to store,a nd one to take to Italy. My room is naked, and it's weird and slightly depressing.

Saturday morning, we set off for Italy!!!!!!!!!1 Rome for 3 days, Florence for 3, and Venice for 2. Then it's home to see all of my friends and family! i'm getting SO excited to see everyone. Miss and love you!

34 page paper? check!

Sorry it's been so long since I've written, but I've been so busy writing my internship dissertation. This weekend I didn't do much; Thursday night I went out with the boys and their friends from home to O'Neils bar, and Friday and Saturday I watched movies with Bita and Audrey all night. Yesterday I went to Mass with the boys for Easter; it was very interesting. Morracas, tambourines, all kinds of stuff.

After Mass, I went over to Redcliffe and had a big cookout with the kids in their "backyard" for Easter, and we had cake for Vanessa's birthday. Then I came back here and worked on my paper a little bit, and talked to Logan before going to bed. Today, same old same old, but it's finally a pretty day again. Just got back from a run in Hyde Park, gorgeous, and am finishing my paper so I can just be done with it! I think I want to print an extra copy of my paper, just so I can burn it and feel the satisfaction. :)

Tonight, just more of the same. One more paper and a final left to go, so I'm going to get started on the paper. My last obligation is a week from Wednesday; my Marketing final, and immediately after I'm going to the Chelsea game!!! A ton of people are going, and it'll be such a great way to end the semster together, especially if they win.

Love you all! Happy Easter!

A 12 Hour Day

Worked for 12 hours today and just got home, but I MET STELLA! She was very nice, and super cool. We got to wear her clothes for an event tonight, a VIP thing for her best customers. Was super busy all day getting a million sendouts ready, and helping Imogen finish a bunch of stuff before she heads to Dubai on holiday. It was also a very destructive day; I broke the office digital camera and Elizabeth was wearing Stella jeans during the event and knelt down and ripped a huge hole in the knee. Nice - one point for the Americans. We're getting a lot of help from everyone with our papers though; they're happy to give us anything they know, which is great. ONly 5 more days of work, and 2 of them are half days! I can't believe how soon I'll be home.

In other news, I GOT AN INTERNSHIP! With News American Marketing in Chicago for hte summer. I'll be in the sales department, not sure doing exactly what, but I'm SO excited. Gotta go make dinner, get my class schedule in order, etc etc. Love you all!

"I'll have a coke light...with gas"

Title referring to the way they ask you how you want your water in Prague...with or without gas? What a perfect perfect weekend. Every single minute of it was fun. We stayed with Caitlin, who is Erin and Haley's roommate in Bloomington and studying there, which was nice because not only did we not have to pay for a hostel, but we got a personal tourguide for the weekend. We got up at 3am on Friday to take a taxi to the coach station to go to the airport, and finally arrived in Prague around 9am ready to rock n roll. Caitlin met us at the airport with tram passes for the weekend and we headed to her dorm, dropped off our stuff and hit the town. First we went to a really cool little cafe called the hanging cup, it's a tradition in Prague to buy two cups of coffee, and leave the second on the table for a homeless person to get to drink. Then we went to Prague castle and saw the changing of the guard. We walked along Charles bridge and shopped a little - there were a bunch of artists painting on the bridge. Then we went into Old Town, where they were having the Easter celebration - they have it for a whole month. There are handmade crafts, LOTS of food, and games for kids. We hung out there for awhile and watched the enormous crowd of Greek men dressed in football jerseys singing songs. Very cool to see people get so passionate about a sport. It's like American football on steroids. we walked to a really cool park with peacocks, huge ponds, and a wall made of dripped concrete that has secret faces built into it. THen we went to see the "peeing men," a statue by a famous contemporary artist of two men peeing. We sat at a cafe and had coffee and just people watched. People from all over the world got a kick out of the statues, and it was so funny to see their reactions. Then we followed a Hare Krshna parade down the street, which was really funny, and hung out around the bridge to watch the sun set. We took a short nap before going to dinner at a place called Beer Factory, where there's a keg under every table and huge taps for everyone. We met the boys who live in my flat there, and had a great time. There were kids from all over the world, and we talked to a bunch of Germans and Italians, and Brits who loved that we were studying in LOndon. After that we went to a club called Lucerna, which was having an 80s and 90s dance party. I, of course, was all over that. We left pretty late, and got Czech sausages before heading home. Saturday we got up and went to Bohemia Bagal, an American bagel place. It was so funny, it was just like being in Bloomington - everyone in there was American. We went shopping for a little bit, and I got another stein for dad and a present for Chris and Neil's newborn baby boy. Then, we took a boat cruise down the river becuase it was a GORGEOUS day. We saw a woman get proposed to! It was so romantic. After, we went shopping again for a little bit, and then rented a paddle boat and took it around the river at sunset because we couldn't get enough of the weather. It's like all of Europe suddenly decided to be sunny and awesome. We went home to shwoer and get ready, and went to an amazing vegetarian restaurant. I didn't think I liked hummus or grape leaves or things like that, but we got a great Mediterranean plate for an appetizer, then pasta (duh) for my main course. After dinner, we went downstairs to the club that was under the restaurant. It was hilarious - I have never seen so many interesting outfits in my life. Great people-watching. we met some Irish guys and talked to them for awhile, then danced our butts off the rest of the night. We stayed really late and the party was still going strong when we left. We got a cab home, and Haley, Erin and I shared a twin bed because Caitlin's roommate came back from Vienna early to see Obama speak in Prague this morning. There are hilarious pictures of us all snuggling. I couldn't believe how cheap Prague was - SO refreshing after living in London. Different currency too - they're in the EU but they used crowns instead of the euro - it's about 20 to 1 to the US dollar, so it was hilarious to have a 1000 crown note in your hand, feeling really rich even though it was only fifty bucks. Also, I never knew what a difference it made that London banned smoking indoors. My eyes hurt so bad whenever we went inside because of all of the smoke, and my hair still smells like it - glad it is banned at home too it makes such a difference. We flew home and were delayed b/c Airforce One was ahead of us on the runway, which was pretty cool, then got the Gatwick Express and caught the tube home. Now I'm just unpacking and catching up on things - only 2 more weeks of work and 3 more weeks in London - I can't believe it. Love and miss you all!

Obama came to town

All kinds of excitement in London today as Obama got here for the G20 Summit. There were all kinds of protests in and around London all day, and some of hte tube stations were closed. There were protesters dressed in weird costumes on the tube too, scary stuff. It was eerie to walk past the Ritz hotel and see all of the windows boarded up as a precaution, and the STella store closed at one becuase we are on the route they were planning to march, and they thought our windows might get smashed. THe Rolls Royce dealership down the street emptied all of its cars, and the restaurants adn pubs near work all closed at one also for safety. So far though, I havent heard of much damage being done - most of it was peaceful protesting, and all violence I've read about was directed toward the police officers barrcading the protesters from getting too close to bankers and other professionals as they walked into work. We were all discussing this morning if the "riots" came to Stella, we'd all head down to the archive and take cover under magazines and use the new Fall stillettos to protect ourselves. Our boss Imogen said she'd be like, "step away from the Plexi heel!!!" Also, our water was out all day in the office today; luckily Elizabeth and I got to leave at 12:30 for class, but they were stuck until at least 3 before it could be fixed. They should have just closed our office too, but Stephane is coming tomorrow so God forbid everything isn't perfect when he gets here :/ But on to better things..

I'm about to sound really spoiled, but there really aren't many things better than taking a run in the spring in Hyde Park in the evening. It was like my legs wouldn't stop going because they wanted to soak it all in. There are daffodils everywhere, and dogs, and people jogging and relaxing; it's perfect. I went on a run, then ran to the grocery to get my dinner, and it made for a great evening. Now, though, I have to continue work on my 30 page dissertation that is due in 2 weeks on PR in Fashion, ugh. Also, i'm heading to Prague on Friday morning! Can't wait to see what it's like there, but it's my last trip of hte semester before we're done with classes :( Then it's work, finals, and off to Italy for a week, then HOME!!!! Can't wait to see everyone I miss you all!

Wales: Adventurrrrrreeee

Just returned from Wales - when they called it an adventure weekend they sure as hell weren't kidding. Friday, because of traffic it took us almost 9 hours to get to Wales, so we just checked into our hostel, ate dinner, and hung out inside before going to bed. Our hostel was in the middle of nowhere, and up a tiny hill, it's a small miracle that our giant bus made it there without doing too much damage to the surrounding area. The only thing we did was knock down a fence, that Chad nicely said was the mountain lion pen to scare everyone :) It was pitch black all around the hostel, so I wasn't about to venture out in the dark, even if it was an adventure weekend. Friday night, we all just played cards and had a few beers, then went to bed early in anticipation for Saturday.

Saturday morning, we woke up early and hit the trail. We went to an outdoors adventure company, and split into two groups. My group sea kayaked in the morning, and it was such an arm workout. The wind was blowing really hard, and it was freezing, so we wore wetsuits and windbreakers and paddled around, even stopping in a lagoon to play polo! Nearly everyone tipped over into the freezing water because the boats were so little and unstable, and we got out a few times to go on "fun runs" to keep ourselves warm. Needless to say, when we came in after 3 hours, we were ready for lunch. After lunch, we layered up and went rock climbing in an old slate quarry! It's heyday was in the 1860s when it produced nearly all of hte world's slate, and stopped operating in the 60s, but rock climbers still come all the time. We put on helmets, harnesses, and started climbing with our guides teaching us how to tie proper knots and feed rope to people climbing. We also went down into a huge hole made by so much dynamite blasting and explored down there for awhile. After a few hours of this, it was time to head back. We were all exhausted and hungry; we took showers and had spaghetti and garlic bread for dinner, then all just laid around for awhile and went to bed early. Today was the best part.

This morning, we got REALLY layered up. By this, I mean I was wearing: 3 pairs of socks under hiking boots, 5 shirts including a sweatshirt, my northface, a windbreaker, and 2 pairs of pants, sunglasses, a hat, and thermal gloves, all of which were taken off and re-applied at various times of the day. We set off at about 9:30 int he morning up the mountain; it was 7000 meters high, so as you can imagine it took us awhile to get to the top. It was one of hte most physically demanding things I've ever done. When we got to the top, there was a little bit of snow and ice, the wind was blowing about 40 mph, and it was freezing. We ate lunch in a little manmade shelter out of rocks, then set off again. The views wer INCREDIBLE; some of hte most beautiful I've ever seen. It was like the last scene in the Sound of Music; you could see for miles and miles, and it was such a clear and beautiful day. We made our way halfway back down, then up a smaller mountain, then slightly down again before heading all the way down a few more miles back to the camp. THe whole thing was 10 kilometers and took us about 6 hours. Talk about exhausted. And, there were sheep EVERYWHERE. They just graze free, then at sheering time the farmers just each round up their own based on the markings. Every muscle in my body hurts. On the way back (a 5 hours trip this time, luckily) we stopped at a rest stop and we all got KFC for dinner. I got to the end of my drink, thinking there was ice in the bottom, only to open the lid and find the NOZZLE of the diet pepsi dispenser int he bottom of the cup. I took it up to the counter, and the girl laughed and said "oh yea, I was wondering where that went. Do you want another one or something?" Lovely. Chad and I, to end the adventure weekend on a proper note, then played shoot-em-up arcade games for awhile, which I proved to be rubbish at. I killed the wrong people on numerous occasions. Now back at home, and about to head to bed - can't wait to get a good night's sleep, but have to get geared up for the week - Stephane is in the office all week, so it should be very itneresting - lots of stories to tell I'm sure. Love and miss you all!

Due to a massive infestation of cockroaches, troubador has closed

That would be a reference to the small club/bar we tried to go to last night near Redcliffe. We've been there a lot, and it's always fun and cheaper, which is a plus. It was hilarious. The rest of the sign said "hopefully we can kill them all by MOnday and re-open" Not exactly great for marketing :)

This was the best weekend ever. I met the boys at the airport, and we came back here and I showed them around the neighborhood and we went for a pub lunch of fish and chips at the Champion, which they loved. It's totally stereotypical London, which was perfect. After that, we came back here and took naps because they were tired from their other travels, which was fine with me because I had gotten up early to go get them. Thursday night we went to Pizza Express (the London version) for dinner, which was really good, then hung out here and had some beer before meeting up with all of the other kids at a club called Roxy. It was great for Logan and LUke to get to meet all of the kids in the program, and we had a great time.

Friday morning we got up and had a nice big breakfast, the three of us then watched LOST which was so fun - they get to see how I have to watch all of my shows while I'm here. Then, we went touring. We went up in the London EYe, walked around Westminster, saw Big Ben, then got a personal tour of Parliament from Chad, which was great for the boys to see. The best part was going out on the terrace, where normally only members of Parliament and people who work in Parliament get to go, and had a beer! It's right on the Thames, and it was a beautiful day (we couldn't have had better weather all weekend). Made for a perfect afternoon. After that, we came home and went to Gourmet Burger for lunch/dinner, and got ready to go out with everyone. We wanted to beat the 10:30 cover, so we all rushed to get to O'Neils, a bar/club. We were there for 4 hours! It felt like 15 minutes though, we were having so much fun. Everyone loved Logan and Luke, and we all had a great time. We grabbed a cab home, and got dropped off one tube stop away, my new trick to save 5 pounds.

Saturday was Beatles Day! We went and saw Abbey Road, Saville Row where the rooftop concert was, and where JOhn met Yoko, which is next to where Jimi Hendrix played his first gig in England. After that, we ran home to get our Chelsea jerseys, ate fish and chips AGAIN and Champion (best food EVER) and went over to Chelsea to watch the game. We found a really cool place that was actually showing the game, full of true Chelsea fans. There's something very satisfying about being handed two pints from a guy wtih no teeth calling you "me love" and hearing old men scream "Come on CHELS!!!!" We had a great time, and even though Chelsea lost (1-0, devastating) it was so so cool to be there.

We got to go to the stadium after, which was really neat to see, and almost got the best picture ever of LOgan but my stupid camera of course died right before. It was a picture of the team with a blank space and a chair for people to be part of hte team picture. Oh well. Then we rushed home so Logan and I could get ready for dinner.

Last night was the best ever. We went to Gaucho, an Argentinian steak place that dad had taken me when he was here. It is literally in the shadow of Tower Bridge, the most unbelievable view I've ever seen. We had a really long dinner, and nearly forgot to eat (yes, me) because we were talking so much. Perfect, perfect night :)

This morning we got up a little after 5 (horrible) and went down to the tube station, only to find that the stupid thing was closed, so the boys couldn't take the tube to Heathrow. We convinced a cab driver to give them a discount, so it ended up costing them about 20 pounds each, which is pretty steep, but not unheard of. Plus, then they weren't late and went straight to the terminal. I was in a bad mood all morning, sad that Logan left, but it's so great that I only have a few weeks until I get to see him again! It was the best present ever, him coming here, and made it so much easier to cut the time we are apart in half.

Time to go finish a paper and get ready for the week! Love you all!