happy monday- oh crud. happy saturday.

What you need to know about the past is that no matter what has happened, it has all worked together to bring you to this very moment.  And this is the moment you can choose to make everything new.  Right now.

-Unknown

* explanation of title: for the life of me i couldnt remember today was saturday. it felt like a monday. tonight preston mentioned seeing me at 7 30 tomorrow, and i was so confused. he had to mention it was for church before it clicked. im glad he said something, otherwise i might have missed church. phew.


*explanation of the quote: i didnt know what quote would adequately fit today. but this morning running we passed a quote about the past that i loved- however, i dont remember what it was, so i was looking online and came across this one, which i love, enjoy.

this morning started bright and early with a 7 am run to buckingham. which is surprisingly a fairly quick run. you can get there in 25 minutes. which is shocking because it takes about 45 on the tube. it was a beautiful morning though and the run was invigorating. along the way though we passed someone who yelled "go cougars" which made my morning. five miles later we returned to the flat to stretch and do abs and talk to amber. i adore her. she asked our opinion on a controversial show she is wanting to do which sounds fascinating with what she wants to accomplish with it.


breakfast, shower, get ready, and then we were off to portobello with ashlee, cali, and elly. we headed down to gloucester to hit up the atm (which still was not working) and take the tube (which was crazy busy, and the other girls needed to top off their oyster card) both of which failed. so we headed back up and just walked to the market. the market was wonderful. i love the smells, the sounds, and just everything of portobello. we explored and all came away with a good amount of loot. i got a cardigan, more scarves (only a pound), and a watch. now the only worry is getting everything home.


after portobello it was home to work on homework that was due at midnight. can i just say how much i dislike writing papers when there is a great big world to explore.


after getting the majority of the paper done we headed to the British Museum. which was grand. my goal for going. see the rosetta stone. which was amazing! it is amazing to think what that one rock has done for societies knowledge. it made translating hieroglyphics possible. we also saw cleopatra's mummy, and statues from the parthenon in greece. but once again we were all museumed out so we went at an incredible speed which was perfect.

rosetta.

unfortunately the reading room was closed. so we just pretended. and becca this ones for you. dum dum want gum gum? how i love night at the museum, and my sister.

with cleopatra.

ready for the masquerade at the gift shop.

up close and personal.

funny story of the day: i put on pants i hadnt worn the whole time ive been here. and i was a little worried. after all chocolate has been high on the list of foods eaten. and as my mom said "be careful- you dont want to come back a porker" oh mothers. but no worries, they fit. and not tight. it was a very happy moment in my life. moment shattered when they ripped while at the museum after sitting criss-cross apple sauce on the floor. i am now in desperate need of new khaki's considering we have to wear them monday of efy. also at this moment i was very very grateful for having a long shirt.

good-bye pants. you did me well.

then it was of to hampstead to get the most amazing crepes of my life. elly and cali had gone on tuesday while i was at the ballet and swore we had to go back. i see why. i got an asparagus cheese crepe and oh brother. most delicious thing in the world. they were just at this cute little crepe stand off to the side of the street, but oh brother! we ate our crepes as we walked to a park to eat our crepes at. however, they were all gone before we got there. but the park was beautiful.

yum.

so excited for our delicious crepes.

the beautiful view from the bench we sat on.

we then headed back, but made a quick stop at king's cross station to get a picture at platform 9 3/4. unfortunately the station is under construction, but they have a fake one set up outside you can take your picture with. while we were there this two drunk guys came up to us and were going on about taking a picture of them. it was odd. oh london after a futbol game ends. the tube was packed but we eventually made it home to finish papers and get to bed.

livin' the harry potter life.

on the way home we made a quick stop by tesco to get food for sunday. and corners were on sale. corners are our love. they are the best things in this world. meet delicious yogurt. meet delicious mix-ins. put them together and you have corners. we are all obsessed. we blame rodger who brought them for devotional treat once. they are grand. we eat them like candy.

a little bit of rain never hurt anyone...

today was an adventure filled day.


we had a tour at the globe starting at 10 (we thought) so we left at 9, so we could get there around 9 45 because he told us to be early. we got to the tube station and there were closures because of maintenance meaning we had to get off three stops before where we needed to be. so the problem solving kicked in. we found if we transfered at westminster to the jubilee line we could get pretty close the the globe. so transfered we did. we got out and followed signs to get to the globe.


have you ever thought about how choices affect you. if you had made one choice differently you wouldn't be in the spot you were at the time you were. in benjamin button they have a seen all about that. well because of our choices in which tube line to take, and how fast we walked it meant we were outside the southwark tube stop just in time to pass by a very crude group of  boys. This was the first time while in london i have actually been disgusted with the human race. They were offering us STDs, and saying 30 pounds, and just being awful. My eyes were locked forward, for which i am very grateful, because what i found out later was one of the boys flashed cali. it just makes me sad to see people like that. what has there life been like to make them think that is acceptable. it just makes me sad.

waiting at the globe.

we got to the globe right on time, 9 45, and were surprised to see no one there, including our directors. It turns out the tour wasnt until 10 15, and they told us 10 to make sure we were on time. so we spent the next half hour sitting in the globe exhibition. now you might think "thats awful, how boring" but it was anything but boring. because the two workers working the desk had the most hysterical relationship ever. here is an example of part of their conversation (note this is all said in amazing british accents) (ps. m stands for man, w for woman)

m. we need the rain

w. we meaning personally or london

m. london

w. no we dont

m. we are 3 to 4 feet lower than we should be in all the resevoirs 

w. i dont care

m. you should, if you want to drink wanter

w. its okay, ill just drink coco-cola and they import that. and they bottle water and we import that from france. its call evian

hysterical. and then the conversation turned to the Thames, and the best line was

w. someone once told me if I put my feet in the Thames my skin would rot off

their conversation made the wait so grand. eventually the group showed up. people were way late because of the tube closure, so we didnt start out tour until a little after 10 30. the tour was amazing though! jon our tour guide was grand and told us lots of fun tidbits about the globe and how it was back in the day. it was amazing to hear that boys would wear fake tummys to look fatter to show they were rich, and they layers and layers of clothing the wealthy were. while we were in the globe the actors were practicing so we couldnt take pictures, but one of the actors was jeffery from the fresh prince of belair, which was amazing. oh how i loved that show back in the day. thank you will smith.

during the tour. this was after the actors left, no worries, i wasnt breaking the rules

jeffery from the fresh prince of belair. unfortunately the next time we saw him he was smoking in the street.

one of the costumes. it was amazing the amount of fabric. they exhibit said it could take up to 90 minutes to get ready.

the architecture of the globe was amazing to me. the fact that they left the roof open so get sunlight because they couldnt light the area, and that they wouldnt stop the show for rain. you could and still can stand right in the front of the stage for 1 pence, these were the groundling. no a days they can fit around 700 people in, but back in the day they would squeeze as many as people in as physically possible. fitting up to 1000 people. i am very grateful for the seats we had on tuesday and that we didnt have to stand the entire show. can you imagine standing in that small of a space for the upwards of three hours?

after the globe we jetted over to the rose theater, which was not what i was expecting. the rose was one of the first theaters in london and they were trying to excavate the remains. however the remains started to crumble so they had to cover it with sand and water. so you cant see the actually remains, but rather red lights lining where the walls would be and then they put on shows in a tiny tiny space for people to see, to the side of the remains. 

the rose theater.

overall, the field trip was wonderful. it is so nice to have tours scheduled with the group. i dont think i would have done that on my own, but i absolutely loved learning about it.

walking back from the globe. here is a better view of the harry potter bridge.

after the rose we went to portobello road again to get a rose ring. badumchuu. but i got the ring i have been wanting for the last week, and i absolutely love it. i also ended getting a headband...woowhoo! it was originally 5 pounds but she dropped it down to 4.50. and we got lunch at the jamacian stall that we had seen the week before and it was scrumptious, and then got these yummy pasteries that elly loves! they were huge!

this is the headband i got. im in love.

i love these bracelets, they are beautiful. this will be what i ponder on for the next week.

where we ate. the guy was so great, there was a huge line and he kept saying theres food for everyone, no rush, we will help you all

the yummy jamacian food.

the biggest pastry in the world. good thing i have the biggest mouth ever.

cali and i slowly walked back from portobello, just soaking in london, and being exhausted. as we walked through hyde park on our way home all i wanted to do was to lay down in the grass and sleep, but we kept moving. we took our shoes off to enjoy the grass of the park and it was splendid.

walking home. soo sleepy.

my watch and saving grace for this trip. except it keeps getting farther and farther off.

barefoot in the park. i love the feeling of grass between my toes.

when we got home we collapsed on our beds. ive never been so happy to be off my feet. unfortunately, i had some homework i had to finish. but once it was done, a short nap was all i could think of. the aimed 20 minute power nap turned into a much longer nap- ending up being around and hour and a half. but it was perfect. 

but it was perfect because when we woke up there was excitement because someone had seen anne hathaway doing a photoshoot around the corner so cali and i jumped up and ran, but we didnt take the time to get good enough directions so we went to the wrong place. which was the saddest, but a good lesson in taking time to understand.

i then got to skype with my family, which was perfect. i didnt realized how much i miss them, but seeing chelsea and james and warren, i was the happiest person in the world. they are just so wonderful and i love them so very much.

cali and i then went picture jogging. in the movie yes man they do it. its basically running with your camera and take pictures while running. it means your pictures arent the best but it definitely keeps you entertained during your run. 

a perfect way to end the run. chocolate cake and milk.

after that we showered, and just lounged, and then we had bonding with everyone where we just sat around talking and asking questions to whomever was in the hot seat. it was grand.

bare essentials

This morning Cali and I woke up bright and early to make our way over to hyde park for a new saturday tradition- running the perimeter of the park. It is a little over 6 km to run around the whole thing...no not miles, dont worry when i mapped it i was way impressed with how far we went in 54 minutes with stopping to look at monuments and such, but it ended up being only 4ish miles. But our new tradition is to do the same run every saturday we can and work on getting our time down. But along the way we passed by some amazing things and we were way sad we didnt have our cameras...so we will soon start jogging photography like they do in "Yes Man". but highlights of what we passed: a memorial for the bombing of the tube on june 7, 2005, the coolest water fountain in the world, the beautiful river we had gone reading at the night before, a ferris wheel, a merry go round, a memorial park for princess diana, and the most beautiful trees ever! I love the trees sooo much!


We then came home and quickly got ready for the day and then were off to Portobello road, which is one of the largest outdoor markets ive ever seen. It was amazing! We had a huge group together but as soon as we hit the market everyone was gone. Luckily i had cali and we stuck to each other like glue. Portobello was amazing though- i loved it lots and lots...enter pictures to help explain...

On the walk through the park towards Portobello Road. It was wonderful and perfect weather!

we passed these beautiful homes on the walk and i adored them. They were so quaint and lovely, one day i will live there and will be the happiest girl in the world.

One of the street performers. This guy was my favorite. You can look him up on you tube, his name is robbie boyd.

We saw this little crepe stand on the side of the road and got really really excited so we had to get some. I got strawberry and nutella and cali got banana and nutella. It was delicious but very tricky to eat. Unfortunately for me, a good portion of my nutella ended up on my lap. Luckily i was wearing jeans so it was harder to tell, and was able to come home and change, but i was a little embarassed. Here is a video of us attempting to eat our crepes (pre ellie spilling)

*so unfortunately it wont let me upload the video but you can see in on my facebook page... sorry about that*

Did you see that pub in the background that we "didn't go into"? we ended up going in there for cali to use the restroom, they don't have many public restrooms and where i could try to wash off the nutella.

we then hit the food portion of portobello, which all looked amazing. we hadnt known it was coming when we got our crepes which was slighly sad, but i loved the crepe so it was all okay. It just means we will have to be back next saturday to eat more food!

This is the place we will be going next saturday! It smelled sooo amazing. They had jamacian food cooking in those huge "vats" (i dont know what you would call it) but it looked amazing and smelled even better.

This was my heaven. I absolutely love hair things. But no worries, i didnt buy any. the only this we bought were scarfs. 3 for 5 pounds. Cali and I split the deal, she got a pink one, and i got a blue one and a green one. Ive already worn the blue one twice i love it.

There were so many falafel places and it made me think of my mom. She likes falafel a lot. Mom, if i could i would buy you some and mail it home to you..but i highly doubt it would still taste good. I guess you will just have to come visit me.

This is for my brother matt. good work graduating from law school brother-o-mine, your the best.

So this one time my sister was getting rid of clothes and gave me a cardigan that i loved more than anything in the world. It is green and has lace and i adore it. Well when a friend admired it and asked where i got it i had to text her. her answer. london. well thats tricky for her. but guess what...yes above you can see the stall that sells the lovely cardigans. I might come home with the same cardigan in 5 different cardigans.

Cali looking adorable in a british hat. One of our goals is to get a hat, however im not sure if i would ever wear it and then that would be a waste of money. maybe i will just have to start going to the races and other high class places.

A look at the craziness of portobello market. i love it.

So this one time brits drive on the wrong side of the road. or just the other side of the road and it is so very confusing. I know i will eventually get used to it, but i feel like that day will never come. However they are the smartest people ever and write on the road so you know what way to look. Thank you britain for helping me not get killed.

On the way home from portobello we went on a little adventure going down a cobblestone road that was filled with the most quaint houses. This one was my favorite with the bikes outside! however because i wasnt paying attention we ended up missing our turn and getting lost. but what a better place to be lost in that beautiful london. after wandering for a bit we got on the nearest tube stop and took it home. We were so happy to get home after being on our feet literally all day. it must have been close to 10 miles run/walked by the end of the day. phew.

after our lovely morning we headed back to hyde park to do the reading we had to for class. i know, who does homework while in london. we do, thats who. But i actually really enjoyed the play. its called alls well that ends well by shakespeare and it has the craziest plot ever. im impressed shakespeare. good work. Helena the main character loves Betram but he doesnt love her. but she makes him marry her because she helps the king and he says she can have whomever she wants. but then he goes to war so he doesnt have to be her husband once married, and she follows him to italy and plots with the girl he is now interested in and tricks him into sleeping with her (being helena) and gets her pregnant. and its just crazy. but i dont understand why she wants to be with someone who doesnt want to be with her. if there is one thing i have learned in life its that i want someone who wants and adores me. Why would you want to trick someone into being with you. Helena's character was just so fascinating to me. But i realized she was experience eros (a type of love) which you can have even if it is not reciprocated.

while there i couldnt help but take a break for a galaxy chocolate bar. im in love. but no worries i am trying to limit myself. i realize saying no chocolate would never work, never ever. but i am allowed to eat one the days i go running and i got the fun size. im in love with none american chocolate. love love love.

there are these things that i like to call "fluff fluffs" that are constantly falling from the sky (or trees) and makes it looks like it is snowing spring. however, the make allergies not the most fun thing in the world. cali was the luckiest and had a chorus of sniffles while she read. My nose decided it would be fun to run a marathon and it was on a mission to get first. Luckily for me, my roommate lauren gave me some allergy medicine. she is lovely.

another adventure while at the park was getting welcomed to the nudist scene in europe. because it was such a beautiful day people were in the park enjoying the weather and soaking up the sun, but one woman took it a little farther and was there sun bathing without a top on. cali and i were shocked and then giggled. it was comical, and thought provoking. I couldnt ever imagine doing that, but i guess that is how they have been raised. they dont see it as wrong. it is just shocking to us americans.

next on the days list of events was going to see the tempest at the little angel theater. It was a child's play and they used puppets for ariel and caliban. it was so well done. it was in a very small theater and our group probably took up half the theater. the actors did an amazing job! they mixed the play with a music under theme and they did a good job of using song to describe what was going on for the kids. the actors played multiple parts and my favorite was the one who was stephano. he was hysterical! and i adored him. we lingered outside just talking after the show and the actors came out and i so badly wanted a picture with him, but i felt like it might have been a little awkward so i refrained myself. unfortunately though i fell asleep during the middle of the play. it was awful. i feel like every time i sit down i fall asleep. but amber (who i was sitting next to) was a doll and nudged me and then i broke out some trail mix to try to stay awake.

we then jumped on the tube and headed home to finish up some homework before sunday. and there was the most amazing performer who was playing music and just being hysterical. he of course was playing elvis. random, yes. but he was joking with us that hundreds of people dont make him nervous, but one camera does. he was grand.


elly, cali, and I then quickly stopped by the grocery store on our walk back and i grabbed some juice because i was craving it for some random reason and elly wanted a magnum bar. the walk home was grand just talking and all getting to know each other. it was amazing. but in our talking elly was telling us that mcdonalds have cadbury egg mcflurries and then cali and i started wanting them really really bad. like real bad. so we started asking everyone where the nearest mcdonalds was but no one knew. and then we looked it up when we got home and there is one right by the high street kensignton tube stop but after much debate deciding to go and then changing our mind, we decided to save it for another night. so added to the list of things to do...cadbury mcflurries.


i also got to skype with my parents which was wonderful. i love them lots and lots. but for some reason i have had this terrifying fear that my dad is going to suddenly die. so it was wonderful to see him alive and kicking and he promised me that he wouldnt die. i sure hope he keeps his promise.


the end of my crazy but lovely saturday.