back to England!

I am safely back in the UK after two weeks in America!  I had a great time with my family, and loved getting to see Abby.  Of course the highlight was LOGAN!  I just can't get over how cute he is!  Katie, move to England so I can see him all the time.

I'm having a horrible time adjusting back to British time.  My flight was during the day so I stayed awake and got home around 1 am.  Tried to go to sleep.. no dice.  1 am is only 7 pm in America.  I was up until probably 4 am, then slept until noon yesterday.  Today, same thing! Up until 3-4 am then slept till 1130.  Tomorrow I'm going to force myself to get up at 9 am so I can get back on some semblance of a normal UK time schedule!

I'm going to do a massive grocery shop today.  Mat and I have about 2 things total in our fridge and one is ketchup so we'll starve if we don't go grocery shopping.

And of course, it's raining. Oh the joys of British life :)


Also, British people spell "pajamas" with a "y"..... pyjamas. Seriously?

Lost wallet and more bad stuff.

Here's how my day has been....

Mat was up sick all night, bless his little cotton socks!  I feel so bad for him. He still hasn't gotten out of bed :(

However, because he was up all night, so was I.  Then I was late for work this morning.  Then, the little girl I was babysitting knocked over a glass of chocolate milk, spilling it all over her dad's cashmere scarf and onto the off-white carpet in their rented apartment that they're moving out of tomorrow. Seriously?

Then, little girl and I are going out for lunch.  We walk by a pharmacy and I stop to buy Mat some medicine, only to realise I'd forgotten my wallet at their apartment. So we walk all the way back to the apartment, get my wallet, throw it in the stroller's basket, back to the pharmacy to pay........ and my wallet's not there. It's amazing. I have no idea what happened to it!  One minute it was in the stroller basket, the next it was gone.  It either fell out when we went over a curb or someone stole it. No idea. I retraced our steps 3 times to no avail.  So now I'm wallet-less.  Very convenient since I'll be flying back to America in 3 days.

Now I'm home, trying to cancel my credit cards.  I've been on hold with Barclays for approximately 25 minutes now trying to cancel my debit card.  You can't do it online and they're "experiencing high call volumes." Fair enough Barclays, but while you're experiencing high call volumes, someone in South Kensington is probably using my card to buy a new laptop.

COME ON.

To top it all off, Mat and I have tickets for a play tonight but he's too sick to go. And all 2 of my friends are busy.  So looks like I'll be going solo!

I just need today to be over.

Arsenal fans

Some men are gentlemen... and some are not, as I figured out this afternoon!  I got on the tube after the Arsenal game this afternoon and ended up being the only girl in the train car I was in, which was full of male Arsenal fans.  I was also the only person standing.  14 seats full of 14 men for 10 stops (approximately 35 minutes) and not a single one offered me a seat.

Moral of the story: Arsenal fans (see below) are assholes.

December

I think I'm going to have to purchase more photo space on my blog, or else delete photos from all my old blog posts because it will only let me upload 1 more picture!  So sad :(

Anywho.. my first big paper is done, just being proofread by every member of my family (thanks guys!).  I'm going to make the finishing touches tonight after the kids I'm babysitting go to sleep and turn it in on Monday - two whole days early!  I feel like I'm doing well turning it in early but there are people in my program who turned theirs in weeks ago.

Only 6 more days until I'm back on American soil for a couple weeks!  SO EXCITING!  Definitely a bummer that I won't get to spend Christmas with Mat, but at least I'll be back in time to spend New Year's in London.

I will, however, be spending a lot of my Christmas break writing my dissertation proposal (it's due the day we get back from holiday).. which is no fun!

Not a lot has been going on here.. babysitting my life away and spending a lot of time in the library. The Chocolate Festival was on the South Bank yesterday so Amanda and I walked around and sampled a lot of yummy chocolates.  Then Ollie (Mat's brother) was up from Dorking so we went out for dinner with a few friends at Canteen:

Off to South Kensington to babysit now!

Dublin

I apologise for the prolonged absence from my blog.  I've been really busy!  I'm a bit stressed about choosing a dissertation topic because I choose a new one almost every day.. and I'll be 100% sure that my chosen topic is what I want to research/write about, and then I read about something else interesting and change my mind.  I need to just pick one topic and stick with it but everything is so interesting!

On a less stressful note, we spent the weekend in Dublin, Ireland - very exciting!  We were at the airport at 5 am on Saturday morning, in Dublin by 8, and at the Guinness Storehouse by 10 am.  We did a tour, learned how to pour the perfect pint of Guinness, and drank in the Gravity Bar (360 degree view of Dublin).  We needed a nap after leaving Guinness at 3 pm (we were up at 330 am and drinking didn't make me any less tired!) so we went back to the hotel and took a nap.  We went out to dinner and exploring on Saturday night, then got quite an early night.  

Sunday we went on a free tour of Dublin.  That's right folks, FREE walking tour!  It's run by Sandemans (here's their website http://www.neweuropetours.eu ).  They have free tours in most major European cities.  You'd think a free tour would just be mediocre, but it was incredible!  Our tour guide was fantastic - really knowledgeable and really passionate!  It was raining and freezing and we had really wet feet, but still a great tour.  We had dinner at a restaurant in Temple Bar called Brasserie Sixty6, which was really yummy.  We were back to the airport at 630 am this morning and back in London by 10! 

Now onto the photos!

First picture in Dublin!  This is the old post office. Our hotel was right down the street.

Pretty Christmas tree!

So pretty after getting up at 330 am... SIKE.

Mat is handsome.

Mat and his nice Irish breakfast.  

I made the mistake of ordering pancakes and this is what I got:

I wish I was kidding. And this is what they gave me for "maple syrup"

So gross. I've never been more disappointed with a breakfast in my entire life.

Walking to the Guinness Storehouse.

City Council or something? That cool sculpture is made out of wood.

The Four Courts (Ireland's Supreme Court).

I've never seen Mat so excited.  I think he'd move into the Guinness Storehouse if he could.

<3

Inside Guinness.

After learning how to pour the perfect pint :) We got certificates and everything!

Mat is so proud of this picture.  He claims I look at him like this all the time.. probably because he says stupid things :) 

Pretty.

Amateur photographer cut our beers out of the picture!  Inside the Gravity Bar at Guinness.

Neeeeed sleeeeep

Such pretty Christmas lights.

We learned on our free tour that Baile Atha Cliath means "Town of the Hurdled Fort" in Gaelic.  It's the local name for Dublin.

No more Guinness for me! I learned that I don't actually like Guinness.  People say it's better with a splash of blackcurrant in it, but they wouldn't do it at the Guinness Storehouse.  I'll have to try it sometime!  I moved onto drinking vodka-water.

A few minutes later at the bar.. it's 9:45.......

And I was falling asleep. Pathetic, I know!

Beginning of our free tour!

Tour guide inside Dublin Castle - it doesn't look much like a castle at all.

This part was castley.  Dad, want a turret like this in your dream house?

Dubh Linn Gardens.  It serves as a posh helicopter pad for people visiting the state apartments in Dublin Castle (not in the picture).  Such a pretty place!

I made Mat take my picture with all the Christmas trees and lights (just for you KATE CARLSON!) This was in the courtyard of Christ Church Cathedral. 

Trinity College.  It was too late for us to go into the library to see all the cool stuff there (like the Book of Kells).  Looks like we'll have to go back to Dublin!

It rained the entire tour, so we were absolutely soaked by the time we got back to our hotel.  This is me attempting to dry/warm up my feet.  I couldn't feel them for a good hour after we got back in the heat.

One last Christmas tree shot :)

Mat's last Irish Guinness.  He was depressed about it.

That's all for Dublin pictures.  My blog won't let me put anymore pictures up, so I'll have to figure out how to fix that!

Off to watch Master Chef and pretend to research my dissertation.

Thanksgiving and stuff

Our first British Thanksgiving was a success!  We had a house full of Americans and lots of yummy food :)  I have to say 14 guests for our first attempt at cooking a full Thanksgiving dinner was a bit ambitious but we did it!  I didn't take any pictures, unfortunately.. but Naomi did so here are a few!

Turkey before it went in the oven!

Girls from University plus Amanda's friend Veronica.  Veronica flew in from New York on and overnight flight and arrived Thanksgiving morning.. and still managed to make it to Thanksgiving dinner!  What a trooper!

FOOD!

Turkey - post carving.

Yum.

So many Americans!

Keys family tradition!  When we aren't together for Thanksgiving we make a sad face plate.  My sad face plate had a bib and arms this year :)

After everyone left Mat had to make stock, of course.  This was about 1 am.

That's the end of the Thanksgiving pictures!  A good time was had by all.  I should have taken a picture of all the alcohol.. definitely more than enough for 14 people ;)  At midnight (after everyone left) Mat, Paul and I did tequila shots for my birthday (big 2-4!).. then I remembered why I don't do tequila shots. So gross! 

On my birthday Mat and I took Flat Stanley out around London!  A guy I went to college with teaches third grade in Iowa and a student from his school sent her Flat Stanley to me.  We went to Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Tower Bridge, and out for tea (doesn't get much more British than that!).  

Mat and I in Hays Galleria on my birthday. Such pretty Christmas decorations!

Flat Stanley with Tower Bridge.

After exploring London, we came home and I took a nap.  Mat made me leftover Thanksgiving dinner in bed (he's so good to me - I got breakfast and dinner in bed for my birthday).  Then we ventured back into central London to go to a comedy club in Leicester Square.  It was a successful birthday I'd say!

Today we had a volleyball tournament.  We won every game (yayyy Go King's!).  Tomorrow I'm playing with the mixed team.  It's been a volleyball filled weekend!

This is a random picture from about a month ago.  Amanda and I went exploring in Sloane Square/Chelsea/South Kensington and found this cool bridge.

Mat got me these cute slippers for my birthday :)

That's all for now!