DONE!!!!!

No more stupid BU people, although I do still have to check out so pray for no ridiculous fines. Although our RA is a pompous ass so who knows! I just finished packing everything except things I need tonight/tomorrow/for the airport and unbelievably everything fits. I seriously never thought that would happen, I'm amazed. However I will have to wear my rainboots which will be awkward because it's going to be a perfectly beautiful day andddd I put all my jeans in my backpack in hopes that my checked bags won't be overweight but now I think it's too heavy for me to carry so that may need to be adjusted...I'm taking the Tube all the way to Heathrow  with another girl in the program which should be verrrrry interesting and I am not in the slightest bit looking forward to it.

We have our end of semester party tonight which I'm looking forward to, except I'm still kind of recovering form the Paul Smith Christmas party. Since my office planned it everything was free all night at a club who's cheapest cocktail is like $14. It was kind of awkward at first but so much fun after; everyone was so nice and I'm definitely going to miss them, but not the work. That was on Tuesday night and I thought my exam was Wednesday so I left early. Didn't feel so hot the next morning but I rolled out of bed and off to take my exam without a minute of studying. Got to the academic building and found it odd that nobody else was there so I asked reception...my exam was today. I knew it was on the 9th but for some reason thought yesterday was the 9th. That was fun. Went back to bed after that, well I tried but it was difficult with the construction workers hammering away right on the other side of my wall. Ahhh I'm going to miss this place. But my exam was really easy seeing as he told us everything that would be on it...my paper may not have been so good. We had to create and ad campaign for microwaveable omelettes - a ridiculous concept.

I just had a Skype interview for Orientation Leader so cross your fingers!!! I'm meeting Harriet for coffee tomorrow at Portobello Market, might get some last minute gifts since Dad is literally the hardest person in the world to shop for. Welp, that's it for now. Back to packing and cleaning!

So close to freedom

I'm nearly done with ever having to deal with BU assholes again. My exam is tomorrow at 9 and then I'm free!! We had to put bunkbeds back together and oh my god, I hate bunkbeds. I'm on the bottom and honestly my entire bed shakes with the tiniest movements from my roommate so just imagine how much it moves when she rolls over or something. Thankfully it's only for 3 nights.

Oh and I haven't mentioned that they've been doing construction in our basement from 8:30 am until like 4 pm or something. We were never informed this would be happening so imagine my shock as I rolled out of bed in my PJs to find strange men in the hallway. The hammering and drilling noises as well as the smell of paint fumes have made for an even more pleasant environment. Yeah, they would fix the windows right as we're leaving. Incompetency is great huh?

I still haven't heard from the guy in Boston about my housing refund request...that doesn't make me happy. Can't wait to be done and back to Saint Mike's where everyone's nice! :)

And the countdown begins.

http://www.metro.co.uk/film/849579-the-kings-speech-wins-big-at-british-independent-film-awards

I told you all this film was amazing...go see it. It's winning all these awards and I get to say I saw the premiere, pretty cool if I do say so myself :) I've watched Love Actually like 3 times in one week, almost forgot how ridiculously amazing that movie and Hugh and Colin are.

Also, the night before my birthday (the 4th) the cast of Glee was performing on X Factor, which is like American Idol. So we were like they're toooootally going out after and there are pictures of them outside this club Mahiki from the last time they were in London, so maybe they're going there. We go there every week for free because a kid in my program's internship has something to do with club promoting I think? Who knows. Anyway, I was so down to go even though we probably wouldn't be allowed in and if we were it would cost around £20. But then the night went downhill; my friend lost her wallet she and some other girls stayed in looking for it. So a few of us ended up hanging out then going to the club two doors down that never has any people. It sucked. Then I spent my entire birthday writing a paper until dinner when we went to my favorite Indian place. The guys there love me because my roommate and I are usually the only ones in there so they gave me the Chef's Special dish for free :) Would have preferred a dessert but I'll take it...

One paper (an ad campaign on microwavable omelets...such a ridiculous assignment) and one final left! All done on Wednesday, hoping I finish early enough Tuesday to go to the Paul Smith Christmas party, which is ironically at Mahiki.

COMING HOME THE 11TH NOW!!!!

Almost done

   I can't believe I'll be home in 9 days, this trip flew by but I'm definitely ready. As departure day approaches, I have realized how much I love London. Hate BU...but love the city. Yesterday was my last day at Paul Smith. I did my normal shitty jobs all day, then we all got take out pizza and cupcakes which was really nice, then I did some other work, and then it was time to go. It was actually sad to leave, they kept saying "don't leave, we'll never make you do hangers again!" Which was almost tempting, except I knew that was a huge lie. Still, everyone was so nice and I am sad to leave them, just not the job. They gave me some of my stuff from the sample sale for free and a little gift bag of Paul Smith goodies which was unexpected and so nice. I might see them all Tuesday at the Christmas party if I decide to go/can get my work done. I have a paper due Monday and a big project along with a final on Wednesday. Going to be a stressful birthday weekend...

It's cold.

   Why would I have ever thought it would be a good idea to study in a city that basically has the same climate as Vermont, but generally with less snow? Snowed a lot yesterday but none of it really stuck to the ground here. Other parts of the UK got hit real hard and a lot of trains and airports are down because everything's frozen. Today it was just absolutely freezing with the wind, but I bought myself a lovely Euro winter hat! Our bathroom's been really really cold lately, which I thought was weird because it's tiny and our room's hot so it should be spreading...then I realized it must be because of the giant hole in the ceiling. I think I should have studied in Nice.

   Today was the sample sale. People get CRAZY at sample sales and the only people allowed at ours are employees of the company so I thought they'd be calm. I stayed out of the room until it settled down because it was so overwhelming. We played a game called find the ugliest thing in here. It was pretty easy...there's A LOT of hideous things. We don't buy our stuff until tomorrow when the head of the office is back. I'm hoping that means we get a discount? I found another cute baby thing and I almost bought a trench coat but it was like $110 and I couldn't bring myself to do it...but it had a weird top anyways. I got goodies for lots of people! No one gets theirs until after secret santa though, because if I only make some people pay me back, it would give it away, sorry! :)

   I decided to request a housing refund because my room sucks and they knew that coming into the semester and are fixing it AFTER we leave. So I figure it doesn't hurt to try.! And in case anyone forgot, my birthday is on Sunday, I'll be 21...no big deal.

Dear Steve Jobs,

I just spent $77 on a new charger because my old one began spewing out sparks and making crackling noises. After already paying around $2,000 for my laptop, isn't another $77 just a little ridiculous? I think this is the only thing that's been cheaper over here, though..by a whole $2! Damn MacBook.

Christmas in London

    It's officially Christmas time here in London and I am obsessed. Alex and Julie left for Paris this morning, which was sad...but I'll be home 2 week from tomorrow! :) We did a lot while they were here, including some touristy stuff I hadn't done yet, like going into Westminster Abbey, going on the London Eye (went up when Greg was studying here), and saw the changing of the guards. Westminster Abbey was amazing, it's too bad you're not allowed to take pictures in there though. The changing of the guards was really cool, but insane because there were soooo many people and it dragged on a little bit, which may have been nice if it wasn't absolutely freezing outside. We did the Eye at sunset and it was really really pretty. While Julie and I stood in line for tickets, I sent Alex to find somewhere for us to eat and he stumbled upon the Christmas market right there. We were pretty upset when we failed to get our Thanksgiving meal Thursday night (thank god we got to watch the Pats) BUT one of the huts at the market had turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and peas. It may have been a day late, but it was absolutely delicious, but not nearly as good as Mom's stuffing of course. No one here knows what Thanksgiving is about, I had to explain it to everyone at work.

    Winter Wonderland opened in Hyde Park last weekend while I was in Prague and I'd been saving it for a trip with Alex and Julie. WOAH. It's way better than I imagined. We went two nights in a row. They have rows of markets, Christmas lights everywhere, yummy food and deserts, lots of German beer and jäger (Alex insisted we take jägerbombs), rides, games (Alex lost), a skating rink, a circus, and "Alpine" huts with tables, drinks, and live music. The guys singing last night were so good. They sang Matt's new favorite song, which he somehow just learned the real lyrics to? Forget You...and some other great songs. I plan on going almost every night this week then all out for my birthday. It will be epic. 
     It's my last week at Paul Smith and Tuesday's the sample sale. I already know what I'll be doing...hanging up clothes and restocking the sale. Cool. I have a project due tomorrow so I should probably start that.

Praha

  They say Prague is one of the most beautiful European cities and I'd have to agree. Despite the fact that hardly anyone speaks Czech and that their currency is extremely confusing (100 koruna = $5), the architecture was amazing and its really cheap there, so after my very expensive flight that was a nice, especially in comparison to London's absurd prices. It's always great seeing people from home, so spending the weekend with Katie was awesome. My favorite places in Prague were probably just the view from the top of the big hill and the Lennon Wall. Her friends are really nice, and she has a single with a private bathroom - both of which are larger than my double. I finally figured out something to get Dad which will prove to be very useful in Maine and I got myself a pretty sweet sweatshirt. 

   Christmas lights are almost all up in London! The best part is that "Winter Wonderland" in Hyde Park opened this weekend so we'll be going next weekend and I caught a sneak peak last night...it looks AMAZING. Alex and Julie come in 3 days for some crazy Thanksgiving festivities and we will of course be checking out those xmas lights :) Anyways, I just had to listen to my professor who has the most monotone and annoying British accent in the world for 4 hours so I'd say it's time for a nap. Keeping this one short and sweet so Matt doesn't have to read too much.

Random thought: Why do the British put minced onion in their meat? It's absolutely disgusting.

Naked black babies with
no  faces represent communism?

A Jolly Good Week

    So much to catch up on...I was so excited about Wicked/Alex Watson last week I forgot to talk about my day trip to Cambridge. There's literally a different campus for each "school" which is constituted by what is studied there. Each campus is beautiful with huge courtyards and the buildings are so old and pretty. Just like good ol' Saint Mike's. I can't imagine having tourists around my school every day taking pictures...seems odd. Everything in the town is SO OLD. There was a church from 1092, it's crazy. But it's very quaint and pretty, there's a nice little river with gondola-type boats. So I'm glad I went, it was really cool. Here are my many favorite pictures :)

    This week's been really busy at work but I finally got through a whole week without dreading it. We started setting up for the sample sale and since we set it up/run it, we get to put aside anything we want to make sure no one buys it first, pretty good deal. So I set aside two t-shirts and a little bag for myself, a scarf for mom, a surprise for dad, and some cuff links for Matt, Greg, and Alex (Greg's the only one who has confirmed that he wants them soooo get on that boys), AND the cutest little onesie for the new Monahan baby. But ya, moving all of this season's clothes and accessories downstairs then moving next season's into the showroom was a lot of work...and it's still not done. Today we had an event from 3-6..it was the grand opening of Paul's new store in Claridge's, a really old and famous hotel in London. It was absolutely beautiful. So Paul was at the opening and it was a bunch of journalists and stylists I think, but we had to dress up and wear all Paul Smith things so I got to raid the sample sale with one of the girls and tried on a bunch of stuff. I looked so European it was awesome. I decided I might buy some high-waisted black trousers because they looked fantastic on me but need to be hemmed. I figure they'll come in style in the US by next year...
    Yesterday, I looked out the window and saw 6 police cars (including 2 riot vans) and an ambulance. I was like WHAT THE HELL? Then I remembered there's a mental hospital/housing facility across the street. So naturally, I decided to be nosey and watch the drama unfold. About 5 minutes later, 2 cops came out and opened the doors, then 3 more came out restraining this poor mentally ill woman, who were followed by another 2 cops with riot shields. I couldn't help but think all the riot bits were a little much but hey, who knows. So anyways, this poor woman was screaming and resisting the whole time saying she wanted to go back inside to where it was warm. It was really sad. They were putting her in a van so I walked away. Then I went back about 10-15 minutes later, and I see they're all still out there and they're just handcuffing her. She was still yelling which was still just as disturbing. THEN more cops and EMTs came out with a man (I assume also ill) in a wheel chair and he had a bloody bandage around his head. It made me sick to my stomach. I officially left after that...clearly she had attacked him. I thought it was a pretty good story....

   GOOD NEWS THOUGH!! I found out that I can take a day off for Thanksgiving/when Alex and Julie come IN ONE WEEK! :) We're going to try this "American BBQ" restaurant that has a big Thanksgiving dinner special...should be interesting!!

LEAVING FOR PRAGUE TO SEE KATIE TOMORROW!!!!!! :)

.....and more of my favorite new pictures.

People were actually petting these...

Covent Garden X-Mas Lights! (where I work &
clearly where Quincy Market/Faneuil
Hall got their inspiration)

One month from today...

I'll be on my way to Heathrow! :)