life in londontown.

now that i have officially been in london for two weeks, i suppose it's time for an update. when i last wrote, i had just moved into my hostel, where i spent my second week. that meant moving all of my luggage via tube from central london to northwest london. one roundtrip with some 50+ pound suitcase took about 2 hours. so imagine doing that twice. oh, and not to mention some of the tube stations don't have elevators (lifts). the hostel was nice and specializes in long-term stays for people who have just moved to london. i was fortunate enough to meet some really nice people who i have been hanging out with. it's nice to finally be meeting people.

after the chaos of first arriving and getting everything for school straightened out, i began the 'flat' hunting process. fortunately, the second place i went to look at was perfect. i am living in the clapham area located in southwest london. it's considered zone 2 (zone 1 is central london). the tube station is about a 5 minute walk from my flat. there is a nice park about 10 minutes away, although it's too cold to actually want to go out there. the area is pretty lively, with lots of restaurants, stores, buses, and tube stations around.

school officially starts next week. last thursday-sunday were two big design events in london and as students we were able to get in free. i met a few people from my program at these events. this week, I met everyone from my program for a meet and greet session on tuesday. today we had a nice gallery tour with one of our professors. our first stop was the wellcome collection. there were two nice exhibits focused on science, the body, and various health related topics. the collection housed some very interesting older cultural artifacts, as well as some thought provoking pieces on issues relevant today. from there the group proceeded to the british museum. i have been there before. the museum houses far too much to see in one day, and we just poked around a few exhibits. we then went to the john soane museum. it is located in the holborn area of london, it's really a beautiful part of london. when i studied in charleston, we discussed this museum. it was nice to finally see it, and not just read about it. john soane was an architect and collector. he designed his house to display all of his objects. there are lots of neoclassical and older cultural artifacts. some original models soane did, as well as original piranesi drawings, and other paintings, etc. it's quite a hodgepodge of items, but very interesting, nonetheless. next tuesday and wednesday will be my first day at the design museum and my official first day of class. i'm looking forward to finally getting into a routine.

overall, i am getting acclimated to the lifestyle here. i now know, unless i am going somewhere just a few blocks away, i can plan on it taking me at least 30-45 minutes to get anywhere. the tube is easy to navigate, although there are lots of weekend closures, which complicates things. i learned the hard way on sunday when i couldn't change lines and had to walk about 15 minutes in the cold rain to get to the station i actually wanted to get to. with the exception of 3 days last week, the weather has been cold, and windy. there's been a few rainy days, which is to be expected i suppose. it's been between 55-60 everyday. everyone keeps saying it's actually quite unusual and feels way more like winter than fall. i've visited the tate modern and the sunday brick lane market. beyond that, i haven't done anything too touristy. the british-american language discrepancies are quite entertaining. i've had fish n chips, but that's about as much british food as i've experienced to date. oh, i've definitely consumed my fair share of tea as well. ok i think that catches everyone up to speed...for the most part. more to come soon!

greetings from across the pond.

just a quick update...i arrived in london bright and early tuesday morning with D and her mom. i had a direct flight which was quite nice. and managed to take most everything i packed in my slightly overweight suitcases. we took a lovely taxi from gatwick to our condo. the past few days have been quite a whirlwind. i think i've spent more time on the tube and southwest train or staring at the computer searching for flats than anything else. moving luggage and in and out of various flats/hostels has constituted more of my time here than i'd care to admit. on the whole D and i (and D's mom) have all felt waves of stress, tiredness, hope, confusion, and shed quite a few tears and had a some laughs. after a high strung night on thursday, things have been starting to look up. friday we had to move out of the nice flat we stayed in, right behind the london eye and big ben. currently, we are staying in a hostel in northwest london for a week. it's actually pretty nice despite shotty internet, and being in a slightly inconvenient location. but the neighborhood is quiet and pretty. not too shabby for a last minute accommodation. otherwise, nothing exciting. i have done zero sightseeing or really done anything fun or relaxing besides grabbing a meal out. i kinda figured the first week would suck and that's pretty much been the case. however, i am starting to feel better about things and i am no longer totally doubting this trans-atlantic move like i was on days one-three. also, it's quite brisk in london. it's been about 60 everyday...overcast a lot, sunny occasionally. on our first day london so kindly gave us a sample of what's to come-- chilly, gray, and rainy weather. my already aggravated sinuses have not been taking to this well. so i'm battling a bit of a cold. good thing the cold medicine i packed isn't in any of the suitcases i have with me. how naive of me to think i wouldn't need it for a few weeks!

things i've accomplished to date:

opened a bank account in the uk

gotten a cell phone

found a flat!!!

learned the ins and outs of waterloo station

seen several tube lines and trekked around various areas in search of a place to live or sleep

moved about 150 lbs of luggage across the greater london area

well, i think that about sums up my life for the past six days. as you can tell, it's been super exciting. don't be too jealous!

ps my camera battery officially died, so i'll be lacking in the pictures department for a few weeks. (sorry dad, i wanted to get a picture of big ben for you! i guess you'll have to wait a while.)

behold, the future.

for those of you who care (or only keep up with me via the blog?) i finally, finally, finally have a plan! drum roll please.....in one week, i will be moving to london. yes, i realize this sounds all too familiar. this go round i will be working towards a masters in curating contemporary design at kingston university. kingston is a small suburb on the outskirts of london. i will be studying there, as well as working with the design museum in central london. unlike the failed au pair trip, or europe round two as i like to call it, i will not be going alone. by shear luck, i met a girl from greenville who also will be studying at kingston. i have learned, by trial and error, about power in numbers, or rather the comfort of having a familiar shoulder to lean on.

currently, this post finds me packing and wondering what the future holds. i have all those similar feelings of anxiety and anticipation that lingers with the beginning of something new.

i now have one week to soak up the good ole us of a and take full advantage of my parents' good graces. next time i check back in, you will probably learn more than you ever cared to know about flat-hunting in london and all this mishaps that will undoubtedly follow me during my trans-atlantic move.

summer 2010.

so summer is basically over. mostly i've not had a summer due a job in the wonderful thing called 'the real world.' don't get me wrong, i like my job and i am grateful for it. and i always have had a summer job, but this is the first summer that hasn't spurred some sort of change of pace or new job. i suppose there has to be a first time for everything though.

since i last wrote, i've read quite a few books. i mentioned reading an old favorite, the shadow of the wind by carlos ruiz zafon. it takes place in barcelona (my adopted city) and is truly a wonderful story set in a beautiful city. i also reread the seventh harry potter as a refresher before the movie comes out in november.

currently, i am in the midst of reading the stieg larson 'girl' series. i needed to find out what all the fuss was about. the girl with the dragon tattoo was a little slow at the start, but definitely picked up the pace. i guess i wasn't paying attention to all the media buzz, but i wasn't anticipating the series to be such thrillers. the girl who played with fire was much faster paced than the first of the series. it ended with quite the cliffhanger and i've only just begun the girl who kicked the hornet's nest. all in all i like the series. i also was not expecting such dark and misogynistic, and even some feminist undertones. the series will keep you on edge while you're reading, but i'm not sure i quite understand all the hype. regardless, the books are all enjoyable and worth picking up.

the girl who kicked the hornet's nest is currently on hold, and i am reading little bee by chris cleave.

la furia roja!

i'm so excited that spain won the world cup today!! i had world cup fever like i get with all international competitions occurring only every four years. i enjoy the games and the international rivalry, but the eye candy definitely vamps up the world cup appeal.

my top three looker teams in no particular order:

spain--torres, casillas, villa, ramos, navas, need i say more?

us--gotta support the boys namely bocanegra, bornstein, feilhaber, donovan, dempsey, etc.

france (only because of this hottie)

favorite world cup moment:

landon donovan's goal in the 91' in the algeria group game.

thanks for the eventful month, until next time world cup...

book club.

it's time for yet another book club post. i'm still failing miserably at wicked and the devil in the white city. about a month ago i read the queen of palmyra by minrose gwin. yet again it was another book about a girl growing up in the south during the 60s. the book was enjoyable. it touched on some darker issues, moreso than i was expecting. overall it was a good read.

i also read a 'fluff' book called the ridiculous race. it was co-written by two los angeles writers, steve hely and vali chandrasekaran. the two friends start in la and race around the world, with one going east and the other going west. the only rules are they can not take without airplanes and they must cross every longitude along the way. all in all it was entertaining, both from a travel perspective and from their banter and bashing of one another.

currently, i'm rereading an old favorite. the shadow of the wind by carlos ruiz zafon.

poptarts.

so it's been awhile since i've last baked. due the recent acquisition of a kitchen aid stand mixer, my new favorite website, and just my all-out desire to bake and try new recipes, i've been going a little crazy in the kitchen. ok, not crazy per-say, but baking much more than i have the past few months. sunday morning i decided to test the waters with some homemade poptarts.

one of the first recipes i saw on this site was the homemade strawberry poptarts. as soon as i saw it, i knew i was going to make it this weekend. they tasted great. i think for an icing i would just mix up some confectioners sugar with a little bit of milk. the dough was easy to make, but i found it very difficult to roll out and maneuver onto the pan. the heat may have had something to do with it. next time i might just make them more like biscuits and add the filling after the pastries have baked. or before i refrigerate the dough, section it off so i don't have to roll and cut so much at one time. despite all the minor mishaps they were delish. the recipe can be found here. i didn't actually take pictures of mine/they didn't turn out as pretty as deb's.

enjoy!