my bags are packed, i'm ready to go...

My time here in London is coming to an end in just 30 hours, and it is definitely a bittersweet moment. I am going to miss so much about my time here. My amazing friends that have made this journey so much fun, the wonderful food and interesting new things that are always there to try, the insane shopping (harrods will miss me, I'm sure), and the beautiful weather (when it's not raining) to name just a few.

This experience has taught me so much about life and different cultures and I feel like I've really grown-up a lot over these past few months. I don't even know how to describe how I've changed, all I know is it's been for the better. I think I am a much more understand person when it comes to others, I've learned to go with the flow and that not everything is in my control. I think this mostly comes from being dependent on others so much, like the public transportation for instance. It has taught me that the world will not come to an end if I'm a little bit late somewhere because of something I couldn't controls, like the tube isn't running on time or whatever it may be.

I've come to appreciate even more how amazingly fortunate I am to live in the United States and appreciate our freedoms and form of government, even though I've also become a bit afraid of what we might become if the current government gets its way with things like socialized healthcare, like they have here in the UK. I've decided that I need to start paying more attention to what is going on in the world, not just in the states. That is something I definitely noticed about Europeans - they seem to know a little bit about most countries generally form of government. Even though generally I find their opinions of the US government to be skewed (you've never seen so many people in LOVE with Barack Obama) to me it does say something that they know about our government. Seriously, how many Americans can name the British Prime Minister. Maybe this has to do with the fact that all of these smaller European Nations are joined through the EU, therefore they learn more about each other - I'm not really sure. All I am sure of is I wish I had learned more in high school about global history/politics than I did.

University here in London (which, you might remember, is the reason I came here) was a completely new and interesting learning experience, that's for sure. The teachers and students here were...interesting to say the least. Compared to college in the states it was definitely easier, which was a nice break and just added to my amazing experience abroad.

I guess the thing I will miss most about my time here in London are the people I've met. I know it seems weird, I've only known these girls since February 1st when we met in the cafe of Nido Student Living, however I've come to treasure my friendships with some of them so much. Sally left a week ago, but it seems like longer. I am so happy that we will be able to see each other back in Texas, she is such a sweet girl and I don't know what I would have don't without her while I was here to talk about the things we missed about home and go on adventures around the world together. Natalie has taught me to appreciate living alone and having my own space. Not that I didn't have fun having a roommate, and Nat and I got along really well, nothing bad ever happened, but it really makes you thankful that you don't have to worry about making too much noise or bothering someone else all the time. My closest friend during my time here has probably been Lindsey. For some reason right from the start we just kind of clicked. We're basically opposites, which is probably why we get along so well, and she reminds me SO much of Amanda and my Mom in her sweet, giving, and generous personality - another reason we became such good friends I am sure. I am going to miss being able to walk down the hall to her room, or suddenly decide to adventure off to Harrods or some other random locale in London with her SO much. I can't wait to be back in the states to go visit her and have her visit me, and of course to travel with her in the future. It's strange how much someone you've only known for such a short amount of time can impact your life so much, I know we are going to remain friends for a long time to come - for that I am so grateful.

Tomorrow I leave for Paris to meet up with my Mom and Ashley, I can't wait to see them and experience the City of Lights with my two favorite people in the world. Thanks to all of you who have read this blog, it's been so much fun writing it and I can't wait to go back and read all of my posts to reflect on the wonderful times I've had this past semester. I wouldn't have changed anything that's happened since January 25 when I arrived in Europe, I hope you've all enjoyed reading my blog and I can't wait to see you all when I'm back stateside! Love you all!

-audrey

So I officially have less than one week left in London before heading to Paris to meet up with my two favorite people in the world: Ashley and my Mom. Words can not describe how excited and ready I am to see them - it is so weird to go so long without seeing the people who mean the most to you in the world.

However, as excited as I am to see them, I am making myself enjoy my last full week in London as much as possible. This all started on Friday, my first official day to be finished with school. Lindsey and I wandered all day and had a ton of fun - we went to Portobello and Borough Markets and it was super entertaining. The markets around London are some of the best places to people watch, and since Lindsey had some summer school reading to catch up on I got some magazines and we hung out reading and people watching for a good portion of our day. I've been so tired and just worn out lately, I'm assuming from the stress of final exams and being ready to be home, that I was so EXHAUSTED Friday night that I went to bed at 730pm. That's right folks, the sun was still out and so was I. Of course, this led to me getting an insane amount of sleep seeing as to how I didn't even wake up until after 11am when Lindsey called and woke my butt up so we could go play :]

Saturday was absolutely disgusting here in London - in the mid 50s and raining and humid - so all together not the best day to walk around. This is when Lindsey had the brilliant idea for us to go see 'Sex and the City 2', because what better to do on a rainy day then head to the cinemas?  We both enjoyed the movie and thought it was hilarious, all together a successful day I think.

That leads us to today, Sunday. Its 1:20pm and I'm still in my pj's trying to decided if I want to do anything. I know I said I would enjoy London as much as possible during my last week here, but this is enjoyable to me (staying in my pj's all day and doing nothing)...so I really need to decided something soon so I don't waste away the rest of my day.

I'll try to blog at least 2 more times before I leave for Paris on Saturday, until then, love you all!

-audrey

Finals are consuming my life, sorry for the non-posting lately, but between studying, taking my exams, watching the season finale of greys anatomy, seeing my friends, and sleeping/eating I just haven't had much time to write in this thing. I only have to finals left, one tomorrow and one Thursday, then I'm free until the end of August. Today was supposed to be spent studying, however I recently discovered the amazingness that is 'Alias'.

This all happened because I watched the movie 'Valentine's Day', which has Bradley Cooper. Naturally, after I finished watching the movie I went to imdb.com and looked up what else Bradley Cooper has been in, because he is super cute, and I discovered he was on Alias. Now, I already knew that Michael Vartan (from 'Never Been Kissed') was on Alias, so I thought about it for a second and thought to myself, 'Maybe I should watch Alias and see the two super hot guys act with Jennifer Garner who I also think is just adorable and seems like such a normal person. As stalkerish and weird as this all sounds, thank god I am a HUGE dork because this show is super good. Now, back to why this is affecting my studying. You see, when given the option of watching Alias, which I describe as a mix between 24 and Lost (AMAZING) or studying for my biological bases of behaviour final it is pretty obvious which one wins out. Therefore, I spent all day Saturday studying, gave myself today off, will study tomorrow before my final, and everything will be just dandy.

Another super fun thing I did today was go to dinner with Monique and Danielle (my cousins in case anyone that reads this isn't related to me..doubtful). I don't get to see the too often and even though we didn't see each other very much when we were younger I just love these girls (and TOTALLY missed Alise who was at home with my GORGEOUS new baby cousin Natalie and adorable cousin Spencer). I am so happy that as we're getting older we are keeping in touch more, because they're my only girl cousins (1st cousins) and we have a lot in common it seems and they are just so nice and I have so much fun when I get to see them, so that is going to need to happen more often I've decided. They're on vacation with some friends for a week here in London and Paris. We had a great dinner and I got to show them around Piccadilly Circus a bit, it was a great night. Next time we better make sure Alise and Ashley are there though, because that would make it a million times better.

Anywho, I should probably go to sleep because I'm supposedly wakening up in 6 hours to study for my final, but I am so not tired and kind of want to watch another episode of Alias. Oh the decisions I must make in my life, it's great to be me :]]

Until Friday (at the earliest because of my finals, lost series finale, 24 series finale, and my newly required obsession with alias) I'll talk to yall later.

-audrey

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! I hope you have a fabulous day in New Orleans with Dad, Ashley, Aunt Marie and family! I love you so much and can not wait to see you in 3 weeks and 1 day! I promise that next year I'll be there to celebrate with you.

As this week is coming to an end I still can't believe that in 3 weeks time I will be packing up and getting ready to leave London, its nuts! While I am SO excited to go to Paris with Ashley and my Mom its kind of bittersweet, because I also have so much fun to look forward to once I get back home I wish I could just go straight home from London. I get to sign my apartment lease and start to buy stuff to decorate it with - which I can NOT wait to do, not to mention the trips I have planed for this summer AND I get to see Scout. I've been looking online at furniture and what style I want to decorate my apartment in - at first I decided that I wanted it to be fairly modern, color pallet of silvers/grey/black/white, sleek and sophisticated and clean lines and contemporary - COMPLETELY different from how my room at home is decorated. Now however, I've been thinking that maybe I should just do something more traditional, something that will last a long time and not go out of style, and I want a big comfy couch and lots of fluffy pillows, more along the lines of a Pottery Barn catalogue...so yeah, who knows how my apartment is going to turn out. I couldn't be trying to decide between 2 more different styles of decoration - I just want to LOVE what I pick to decorate my first apartment, no regrets. I'm seriously considering going with what I call the 'Pottery Barn' look, simply because I think I'll regret my choices with that less. Hmm, we'll see, I still have time (like a month and a half).

Anyways, I'm going to read 'True Believer' by Nicholas Sparks today and tomorrow, then its time for this girl to start studying for finals. I normally don't take my finals at UH because I exempt out of them, so this should be interesting. These grades I make will affect my GPA at UH so hopefully I don't screw up too badly - I think I'll be ok but you just never know.

Alrighty, I'm off to look at more websites for home decor ideas.

-audrey

So I'm finally finished with school, with the exception of finals that is. I have two next week (the 17th and 21st) and two the following week (the 24th and 27th). I should be spending most of my free time studying - of course that isn't happening just yet. I did succeed in reading two Nicholas Sparks books yesterday though - 'A Bend in The Road' and 'Nights in Rodanthe.' They were good, you should read them. Today I'm going to read 'The Wedding' and maybe get some studying done, we'll see.

British Airways is driving me crazy. So my mom and ashley are supposed to fly out on June 4 to arrive in Paris June 5 and I'm going to meet them there. Well, BA Cabin Crew just announced that they will be striking from May 30 - June 3 and June 5 - June 9. Now, this might not affect my mom and ashley's flight, but I'm scheduled to fly from London to Paris on June 5...PROBLEM. I mean, I can always take the eurostar or another airline, its just a huge hassle. UGH, annoying.

Alright, thats enough of me complaining, I'm off to watch last nights episode of 24.

-audrey

I went and saw 'The Las Song' with Sally today. It was so so good! I read the book, and loved it, but I was a little worried about the movie, mostly because it stars Miley Cyrus. Now, I'll be the first to admit that I am NOT a Miley fan, or I wasn't until I saw this movie. As much as I didn't want to admit it, she did a really good job in this movie. I think the method of first writing the screenplay then writing the book really helped make the two match up much much better - making me a very happy camper. I always hate it when you read a book that is super good and then the movie is terrible. I understand that not ever part of a book translates well into a movie, but this is probably the best Nicholas Sparks book that has been made into a movie, other than the Notebook maybe. Anywho, I loved the movie and yall should all go see it  :]

Since the movie of course takes place in the south it made me want to be home, but I know that I only have few weeks left here in London with all of my friends. Now all I have to do is finish my finals exams and get ready to see my family! My cousins Danielle and Monique are going to be in London at the end of May so I can NOT wait to see them - I don't get to see them too often back home either but I just love getting to see them so I'm sure I'll have a great time showing them around London. After they leave I only have a week left in London until I met Ashley and my Mom in Paris - so that will be a super exciting few weeks. Anyways, I just wanted to share my thoughts on the movie since I enjoyed it so much, I'm off to do something fun!

-audrey

I've been neglecting this again, sorry about that! I think as my time in London is winding down I am forgetting more and more about writing in this - I'll try to be better about it, I know how much my mom enjoys reading it (hi mom). I went to Barcelona this past weekend with Natalie - we had a wonderful time walking around the city, seeing all of the tourist sites, and eating way to much tapas.

We arrived late of Friday night after our flight was delayed, and quickly checked into our hotel, ordered room service and put on a movie. We both miss having a TV so we took full advantage of it during the weekend.

On Saturday we met up at Park Guel with some of our friends from London who also happened to be in Barcelona - it was an absolutely gorgeous park that gave us amazing views of the city - even if I did have to climb a freaking mountain to see it. After we decided to head over to Las Ramblas for some last lunch and sight-seeing. From there we all wanted to head back to the hotel - however non of us knew what bus we needed to take, the metro didn't go to that part of the city, and all 5 of us couldn't ride in one cab. Since no one wanted to pay for a taxi (i offered but i didn't want to pay for 2 cabs and no one would pay for the second) we started walking. We walked, and walked, and walked for over 2 hours, well over 5 miles I'm sure along the beach until we reached our hotel. So basically, on Saturday, I climbed a mountain and walked forever - not my idea of a fun vacation. Oh well, i earned my ice cream that night :]

On Sunday I basically slept the day away, until 4pm, before deciding to wake up and go out with everybody for food. This time I decided to pay for our taxi's back to the hotel because 3 of our friends needed to get to the airport, and even though they weren't willing to pay for their own cabs to get their stuff and make it to the airport on time, there was NO WAY I was walking home again and I didn't feel comfortable taking a taxi alone. Long story short, I paid for 2 taxis to take us to our hotel, my friends left, and Natalie and I decided to stay in for the rest of the night and watch TV - exciting stuff I know.

We had all day Monday since our flight didn't leave until 10:55pm so we were wanting to finish up our sight-seeing and go over to the shoe store that Lindsey had told me about (it was closed on Saturday for May Day and closed Sunday, since it was Sunday). Well, fyi, its not open on Monday's either - bummer! So sadly, I did not accomplish my goal of buying super cute flats in Barcelona, it just wasn't meant to be. Rain however, was meant to be. It rained from the moment we woke up until the moment our plane took off that night, NOT fun. We ended up walking around a shopping mall for a few hours. This turned out to be my favorite part of the trip because I saw an ADORABLE westie in H&M named lupe that was 3 months old and SO SO SO CUTE. It made me miss Scout way too much, but I pet it and gave it kisses anyways - LOVE IT. After that it was only 3:30 and we still had 5 hours of nothing to do, so we went back to the hotel which was holding our bags and planted ourselves on the couches in the lobby bar. I ended up taking a nap, natalie used their gym for a shower, and I kept ordering diet coke so they wouldn't ask us to leave. That is where we stayed until we left for the airport. We finally made it home around 1:30am that night and went straight to bed, we were SO tired.

Today I got to hang around Nido not doing much until I met up with Chelsey for dinner at Benihana's - it was delish. In other exciting news, my cousin Alise had a BEAUTIFUL baby girl today named Natalie Gayle Hagan, 7 lbs 7 oz, 20 inches long. Both baby, mother, daddy, and big brother Spencer are doing great. I can't wait to go home this summer and meet them - she is GORGEOUS. CONGRATULATIONS ALISE & KEVIN, i love yall!

Other than that I just have to go to class tomorrow, Friday, and Monday then I'm finished with the exception of final examinations. Hopefully i'll be able to update this sometime soon!

-audrey

So how many of you are as shocked as I am that it's almost MAY. I don't know where April went but I'm excited for the remainder of it. I only have 2 weeks of 'regular' class left, then final examinations, but those don't start until May 17 so I can't wait to play around london, and study of course. I actually accomplished things today, I get Lindsey's birthday gift (even though her birthday is in July, I just couldn't wait to get it once I knew what I wanted to get her), I got my Mom's mothers day/birthday gift (i hate to only get her one thing for both days, but I know she's going to love the gift I picked so I don't feel too bad about it) and I got my laundry done. Now I have the rest of the day to read my new Chelsea Handler book, its hilarious.

Tomorrow Donah is coming into town to see Chelsey. Chelsey is in Barcelona until tomorrow afternoon though so I'm going to go meet Donah at Heathrow and say Hi and get some things from her in the morning, then I have to turn in my paper, go to class, and pack for BARCELONA - I leave Friday afternoon. I'm a little bummed because Barcelona has had the most amazing weather for the past week and a half and on Friday its supposed to start raining, and continue to rain for the ENTIRE time I'm there. It's kind of disappointing, but I'm sure Natalie and I will make the most of our time there, heck, if all else fails I can always just shop :]

I get back from Barcelona on Monday really late/early Tuesday since we have off from school on Monday. Next week I only need to write one last paper that is due May 10 and go to my last revisions lectures and I'll be all done until my final exams. I am so OVER school, I can't wait to be home and go to Escondido and play on the lake and see Scout.

I'm so excited to see all of my friends, and my Mom and Dad and Ashley, and go to physical therapy and see Christy and Suzanne, and stop by the office and say hi to Dr. Pat, Mary, Patricia, Tracy, Tracie, Margaret, and Cherissa --- I have a lot to do when I get home. Not to mention moving into my new apartment, going to Las Vegas with my parents, going to Oklahoma to visit Allison, going to Louisiana to see my new baby cousins, AND going to Disney World with Ashley, all before mid August (and I don't get home until june 12). Ok wow, thats a lot when I list it off like that. But I'm so excited, I cant wait!

OH, I also wan to take some sort of cooking class/cake decorating class sometime this summer or maybe this fall - I took one in high school, but I don't really remember what I learned (if you don't use it you lose it) and I really want to get some skills and get a job in a bakery of some sort. Hmm, I guess we'll see what happens.

Alrighty, I'm off to enjoy my new book - have a wonderful Wednesday everybody!

-audrey

So the study abroad program at my school occasionally gets all of the study abroad kids tickets to see shows and throws random shindigs for us - normally I never partake in these events for reasons even unknown to me. HOWEVER. Last night, we went and saw Wicked. I love wicked, it was my fourth time to see it, I just can't get enough. Now let me start off by saying, the fist time I saw it was on Broadway, with most of the original cast - so my standards are very high. Not to mention I listen to the soundtrack a lot, therefore I am used to the amazing original cast members singing all of my favorite show tunes. Now, last nights experience.

For starters, they all spoke with their British accents (except for The Wizard who sounded like he was from New York). Now I know you're all thinking, Audrey, you're in London, what do you expect, so let me tell you. I expect American accents. That is how it originated, that is how I like it - it was just weird to hear some of the songs in British accents, not to mention some of the dialogue changes to "british" words - I just really didn't like that about the show.

Next complaint - the actress who played Glinda was EXTREMELY annoying. I'll admit, her singing didn't suck, not at all, but compared to some of the other Glindas I've seen I wasn't too impressed by her. Elphaba was played by some girl from Northern Ireland, she's only been doing the show for 1 month and considering that she did a great job. Her voice cracked a few times during some of the songs but overall she was pretty good. When she and Fiyero sand As Long As You're Mine she sounded amazing, but my favorite song she sang was No Good Dead - she killed it. Fiyero, well the actor had blond hair, was really tall and thin, and just way too different from anyone else I have ever seen play the role, but he was pretty good.

Now the worst part for me was the orchestra. I don't know if it was smaller than normal or they were missing some players or they changed the music up a bit or what the hell was going on, but you could BARELY hear them. Like, I don't know how to describe it, it just sounded incomplete - just not all there. So, that was way disappointing. Hell, maybe it was because our seats were in the balcony level and I'm not used to being that far away from the orchestra, maybe it always sounds like that from up there, but I don't think so.

I know it sounds like I'm complaining a lot about the show, but I actually enjoyed it - other than those critiques. Maybe I'm too hard to impress - I don't think I am, I just don't think this was as good as any other production I've seen of Wicked. I would have been majorly upset if I had to pay for the ticket, but considering it was free (well it was probably "included in tuition") I can't really complain too much more.

Other than that the major news over here in Londontown is that there are PLANES flying. Not MY plane that was supposed to take me to Dublin, which was cancelled, but other planes to everywhere else in Europe (it's a long story basically ending in RyanAir being stupid losers). Another big deal here: the weather.

It has been SO BEAUTIFUL here in London for like, the past 2 weeks. I don't know what's going on, maybe the lovely volcanic ash cloud is keeping the bad weather away, but it's kind of freakishly nice weather here (not that any of us are complaining). This entire week it's supposed to get up in the 60s, and I don't just mean like 62 -- on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday of this coming weekend/week it's supposed to be 67 degrees or higher. I can't wait!

Other than that I've just got a TON of school work to do, we only have a few weeks of class left until final exams start, but a lot of my professors have alternative final assignments for study abroad students (i.e. extra papers to write instead of taking the exam) so I have been and will be one busy girl for the next two weeks are so, not to mention my trip to Barcelona next weekend. I'll try to keep yall updated :]]

-audrey

Well its a gorgeous day in London, a bit colder than last week but still nice out. I am so ready for summer time in Texas though, I've been listening to all of the music I grew up listening to in the summer: the big chill soundtrack, dan fogelberg, wilson phillips, ect. I can't wait to be out on the lake.

Our trip to Dublin is officially cancelled. Natalie applied for a refund for our flight and I just cancelled our hostel - I guess I just wasn't meant to ever stay in a hostel (haha YAYY). While I'm bummed I wont be able to see Ireland, which I hear is beautiful, I must admit I'm a little relieved that we aren't going. I have so much coursework to do and a test to study for so I know I'll be busy this weekend. Next week we have Barcelona - now I will be VERY upset if I don't get to go on that trip, keep your fingers crossed that this stupid volcanic ash doesn't come back!

Alrighty, well I'm off to watch last nights episode of 24 and get my laundry done, and when I saw get my laundry done I mean go sit downstairs for the guy to pick it up and wash it for me. I can't believe my time in London is ending in less than two months, it flew by.

-audrey

So I'm supposed to be traveling to Dublin this Thursday - but I'm starting to doubt that will happen thanks to the lovely volcanic ash fluttering about. Honestly, I'll be bummed if I don't get to go, but I'll be even more upset if I have to miss out on Barcelona the week after, there is this shoe store in Barcelona that I REALLY need to go to and this whole no flying thing is not helping me acquire some new shoes.

In other news, I hate feeling sick. This past week I've been feeling like such crap, headaches, stomach ache, my hip/back/neck are killing me and my right shoulder hasn't hurt this bad since I had surgery on it. I'm sure everything is ok, I probably just have some little bug or something, but damn it I wish I could be home and Christy (my amazing physical therapist friend) could jut tape up my shoulder - I know exactly what I need done, just have no idea where I could go to get it done :[

I think Im just all of a sudden homesick, probably cause I don't feel well, but I just wan to go home and sleep in my own bed with Scout and wake up and go to PT and then go home and just hang out with Ashley. And I want mexican food. I had a dream about it last night, it was a bad dream thou. I dreamt that my Mom wasn't going to allow me to eat any when I got home since I gained weight while here - the weird thing is I know she would never do that and I haven't really gained weight here...

Anyways..I just woke up from a nap, its 10:00pm, I still have an appetite, but I know I shouldn't eat anything (as if I have any food in my room), but I can't go to sleep now. Annoying. Anywho, I think I'm going to go pout in bed while watching Dirty Dancing, that always makes things better.

-audrey

I'll be adding more pictures to my webshots account finally, so those of you who aren't of facebook can see everything I've been up to. The only thing is, that website takes FOREVER to upload pictures, and I've got a lot to upload, so you're going  to have to be patient. Once I'm done I'll post the link again. I'm so happy its Friday, all I have to do is go to Developmental Psychology and I'm free until Monday. I really want to go to Cameden Market this weekend since I haven't been for a really long time - hopefully I can make that happen!

Well, I'm off to get ready for class, its an absolutely beautiful day here in London, I can't wait to go out and enjoy it. Hope everyone has a great day back in the states!

-audrey

Im about to go grab dinner at the yummy italian restaurant literally outside my front door with Lindsey and just felt like blogging a bit. I've been looking online and stuff for my apartment and I am getting SO excited about moving home and being able to decorate. On another note, my cousins Joe and Andre' are competing in a the New Orleans Ironman competition on Sunday which includes some crazy amount of swimming, biking, and running - everybody wish them luck and hope that no one ends up injured! I've got to go now, love you!

-audrey

Im back to school this week and getting right into work - I have a paper due this week, Im going to Dublin next week, the day I get back from Dublin I have a test, 2 days later I have another paper due, then the next day I leave for Barcelona. Its going to be a crazy few weeks, thats for sure. Today will be spent doing homework - not my idea of fun, especially when all I really want to do is look online and find some concerts to go to this summer, no luck so far.

I cant believe that I only have 6 weeks left in London, followed by 1 week in Paris then home - in 7 short weeks I'll be back in Spring. While Im excited to be home, obviously, I am still having such a good time here in London. I have already decided the first thing Im doing when I get home though - on the way home from the airport Im making my parents take me to Pappacitos - its not debatable.

Alright, well I just wanted to update and let yall know that I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, Im just busy with school. Until later...

-audrey

Sorry its been a million years since I last wrote in this thing, I've been really busy traveling around the world (jealous, I know). Last week and this week is my Easter Break from school and I've been making the most of it!

Last week I went to the Atlantis in Dubai with Lindsey and Sally. We had such an amazing time! While the Atlantis there is only 1/2 the size of the one in the Bahamas it is very pretty and being brand new just helped that. I must say, I like the one in the Bahamas better, maybe that's just because that is what I'm used to, but the hotel in Dubai was still amazing. All I did was lay out by the beach, sleep-in, go to the spa, read, play in the "lazy" river and go to the most amazing mall EVER. The Mall of Dubai is probably the largest mall in the world at 51 million square feet. We spent 3 hours there and I know we didn't see the majority of it. I got an adorable new bag and wallet so overall my shopping trip was successful :]] After arriving back in London on Saturday I spent the afternoon unpacking, cleaning my dusty room, and re-packing for Scotland, which is where I jetted off to Easter Sunday.

Sally and I wanted to take a short trip somewhere else over our break, and Edinburgh was the perfect place for a quick getaway. The city, while small, is absolutely gorgeous and full of history. We visited Edinburgh Castle, The Palace of Hollyroodhouse, The Royal Mile, and today we took a day trip up to St. Andrews. I fell in love with the tiny seaside town of St. Andrews! We went to the British Museum of Golf where I got to see the REAL Claret Jug as well as a lot of really cool old and new golf memorabilia. After that we took a few pictures by the beach before walking along the 18th hole of The Old Course. I saw the famous bridge over the Swilcan Burn and got to putt on one of their links-style greens. Of course I bought some souvenirs, especially since that is where the British Open is being held this summer.

After I bored Sally to death with golf stuff for about an hour we headed up towards St. Andrews Castle and St. Andrews Cathedral, both of which are now basically ruins. Beautifully landscaped on the cost we saw tons of sea gulls and got some great photos before my camera died :[[

Tomorrow we plan to finish up some of the sights here in Edinburgh before flying back to London last Wednesday night. Natalie's birthday is Thursday so I cant wait to celebrate that with her and her family who are in town, AND Lindsey's wonderful mom is in town and I CAN NOT wait to meet her. I feel like I already know and love her, she even brought me some grape jelly (which they don't sell anywhere in London). I can't wait to be back in beautiful London to see my friends, meet new friends, and sleep in my own bed! Until later, love you!

--audrey

Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I was super busy with my last week of school before easter break and getting ready to go on holiday that I just didn't have time to sit down and write it all out.

On Wednesday Caitlin and I did a day trip to Stonehenge, Bath, The Cotswalds, and Stratford-Upon-Avon. We had such a great time, but the day was very long and by the time we got home we were both ready for bed. My favorite part of the trip was the town of Bath, I wish I had more time to see it all, maybe I'll go back one day.

I had a paper due on Friday and TONS of errands to run to get ready for holiday so Thursday kept me very busy and way too stressed. I finished my paper Thursday night after running all of my errands earlier in the day but ended up staying up super late to pack my bags.

Friday morning was hectic, I had to go turn in my paper at school and print off all of my confirmation emails for our trip. At 4:00 Sally, Lindsey, and I got picked up to go to Heathrow for our flight to Dubai.

It will come as no surprise to any of you that I like nice things, I'm used to nice things and am completely set in my ways. You'll be interested to hear that for our 7 HOUR flight to Dubai I flew coach. It was only the worst thing I've ever done, I am so not looking forward to the flight home on Saturday. We landed in Dubai at 8:30am today and quickly made our way off the plane, thru passport control, luggage collection, and customs with no problems. It was actually MUCH easier than entering the US and I was a bit surprised.

Our car was there and waiting for us to go to The Atlantis. We arrived around 10am, but of course our room wasn't ready. We walked around a bit before finding The Shore Restaurant and grabbing some lunch. After that we stumbled upon a henna tattoo station, sat down, and got our beautiful designs. I got a floral design on my inner wrist, Sally got hers done on her foot, and Lindsey got a gorgeous design on her hand. Over all I would saw we had a successful henna session. Our room was finally ready around 1pm so we went up, unpacked, and got settled. I hadn't slept much on the plane so while I napped Lindsey and Sally headed down to hang out by the beach for a few hours.

Dinner tonight was AMAZING. We ate at Ossiana, a gorgeous restaurant that served a delicious meal. Little did we know when we sat down that we were about to embark on a 3 hour, 12 course meal, but that is exactly what happened. The quality and preparation of the food was exquisite and we had the cutest waiter from Spain. I had veal for my main course, a chocolate sponge cake with vanilla ice cream and molten chocolate inside among many other dishes. We were SO full when we left that we just came right back to the room and got ready for bed.

Tomorrow will be spent exploring the property, laying out by the beach/pool, and enjoying the warm temperatures of Dubai. Until Later, love you!

-audrey

Sorry I haven't written in a few days, honestly I haven't been doing too much and didn't really have anything interesting to tell yall!

Yesterday I met up with Lindsey and her friend Adriana (from home) at Borough Market. There were food stalls with every imaginable produce/meat/ethnic food you could imagine, and even a few exotic meat stalls (ostrich anyone)? My favorite part about the market wasn't any of the food, but an ADORABLE dog that we saw. When i first spotted it it reminded me SO much of a westie, but it was black, which made me confused. We walked by at first, and I just kept turning around to look at this adorable little thing, he looked so playful and cute and I wanted to go hug him. So I turned around, walked over the the owner, said hi, pet the puppy and asked what kind of dog it was. Get this. It was a poodle WESTIE mix. I was right. It was maybe the cutest thing I've seen since I got to London. I want one for Scout to play with, I would have a matching set, one in each color!

Once I tore myself away from the little guy we decided that we had had enough of the market and it was time to head over the my favorite place in London, that's right, we went to Harrods. It was around 2:30 now and I hadn't have anything to eat all day so by the time we got there I made a beeline for the food hall and we were quickly seated in the cafe above the produce section. I had a delicious bowl of cheese ravioli with a creamy chicken sauce -- AMAZING. Adriana had never been to Harrods before so we showed her around, took her to the pet kingdom, watched the puppies playing, before we decided she had seen enough and we wanted to continue our shopping adventure over in Covent Garden.

I have something to admit. So, I leave for Dubai this Friday, and lately, whenever we go shopping, if I see anything I want it is automatically "so perfect for Dubai", and I buy it. It's becoming a problem. I was being good, only having bought some cute westie items in Harrods, that's it, until we got to this store called karen miller. I crumbled.

There was this FABULOUS dress, bedazzled and gorgeous and so cool, I had to have it. I ran over, found my size, and quickly made my way to the fitting room. I'll be the first to admit that sometimes, I fall in love with clothes that just don't look very good on my/my body type, and not to sound arrogant or anything, but this dress looked really good. Like fit me perfectly. And then the sales lady brought me these heels that match. Im not always one to go for matchy-matchy but come on, the amazing shoes that match the amazing dress, it was an easy sale. I cant wait to wear my new outfit to dinner in Dubai, I'll make sure to get pictures for everyone :]]

After that we walked around a bit more, but I was super tired for some reason, so I left Lindsey and Adriana at the tube station and headed back home for a easy night in. I really need to write a paper that I have due on Monday, and for some reason I woke up today at 6:00, so maybe I'll do the paper today..who knows. Until later, love you!

-audrey

Yesterday Sally and I went to Brighton for the day. This adorable seaside town was the perfect way to start my weekend.

Brighton was only a 40 minute train ride away and we got there nice and early, around 9:30am. We walked down towards the beach but quickly got sidetracked by a mall. There aren't shopping malls in England, not like the ones back home, so when we saw this one we had to go inside, plus it was so cold outside we needed to be in the heat.

I got a cute top from H&M and once again we were on our way to find the beach.

Most of the shops on and around the pier didn't open until 11:00 so we just walked along the beach (its made up of pebbles, not sand) taking pictures of all of the seagulls and the beautiful clear water. Once the pier opened Sally and I got some cotton-candy to much on while we tried to find a place for lunch. Most of the restaurants and pubs around here don't start serving food until noon, but we were welcome to sit in the bar and wait, and that's just what we did.

After lunch we wandered up to the Brighton Pavilion, a royal house built by King George IV. The entire thing was built in an Asian and Indian theme and the interior decorations were completely different from any of the other building I've seen yet. It was beautiful and fun to visit, but the best part of the entire thing was the fact that we were able to get inside and out of the cold.

We decided to walk down to the marina, which was entirely across the town. It took us a good 35-40 minutes to walk there, and at first all I did was complain about being cold, but we quickly warmed up a bit and enjoyed the leisurely stroll along the beach. Down by the marina there is a bowling alley, cinema (movie theatre), restaurants, shopping, and obviously, the marina. The shopping was nothing special and most of the stores were closed actually. Once we stopped walking we were both so cold and had a lot of time to kill so we decided to go see a movie, if only to stay out of the cold.

It turned out that the only show we could catch was the new Matt Damon movie 'The Green Zone.' I didn't know what it was about but I love Matt Damon, so we decided that we should give it a go. The movie, while entertaining and suspenseful, was defiantly not something I would have chosen to see had I known what it was about. Basically, it's about a soldier, Matt Damon, who is in charge of finding WMD's in Iraq during the beginning of the war in 2003. Damon's character quickly becomes questioning of where the intelligence of these WMDs is coming from, and from there the movie moves on the criticize the Bush administration's reasoning for entering into the war, in not so many words. Like I said, the movie was entertaining and a good way to stay out of the cold, but it was a bit too much for me to watch and try to completely ignore the lies put forth by the screenplay writers.

The film ended around 7:00 so Sally and I decided to stick around the marina and grab some dinner. Afterwords we hopped in a taxi and went our separate ways, Sally back to the pier and me to the train station to grab a magazine and wait for the train, which didn't leave for another hour and a half. I basically froze to death waiting, and when we were finally able to get aboard the train at around 9:30pm I wanted nothing more than to be home in my warm bed. We got back into London around 10:40 and got back to Nido a little after 11. It had been such a fun-filled busy day that I went straight to bed and slept soundly until noon today.

London doesn't participate in Day Light Savings Time, so luckily I didn't loose any hours of sleep :]] I only have class on Monday this week because for my other classes I have a "reading week." Basically its a day off from class that allows students to catch up on any homework, yeah right. I plan on sightseeing and enjoying the supposedly warmer temperatures (it should be in the low 50s this week!)

-audrey

that was the summer of 1963, when everybody called me baby, and it didn't occur to me to mind...

I saw 'Dirty Dancing' last night. It was amazingly cheesy and completely fantastic.

Let me start off by explaining to you how much I love the movie Dirty Dancing. Everything about that movie is fantastic and so entertaining, I remember the first time I saw it, I was like 8 or 9 and it was on TV and I watched it with Amanda Williams. It was an edited version obviously, and I had no idea what anything was about, but I loved it.

When I found out that there was a stage version of the show playing here in London I knew I just had to see it, and thats exactly what I did. Natalie, Caitlin and I had seats in the stalls (that's the main floor area) three rows from the back, our view was a bit obstructed from the overhang of the balcony above, and it was completely fine with me. I seriously was just happy to be there. Line for line the show followed the script of the movie, for the most part. There were bits of information thrown in about what exactly a freedom ride was and what was happening in the US during the 1960s (I assume this was since we're in England, and the people here might not have learned that in history class).

As much as I loved the show I was a bit disappointed with the acting. It was obvious they looked for dancers first and actors second, but with a show like Dirty Dancing I don't think it could have been done any other way. I must say, I love all of the music from that time, I probably should have lived in the 1960s.

I dont really know what else to say about it, other than I absolutely loved it and I kind of want to go see it again...dorky I know, especially because it was really cheesy, it actually kind of reminded me of a high school play, but I just loved it. The next show I want to see is 'Love Never Dies'. It's the sequel to 'The Phantom of The Opera' and it just premiered 2 nights ago. I SO want to see it, hopefully I can make that happen.

Well I'm off to eat a quick lunch and go to school, I have a paper to turn in and no idea where the room I turn it into is, wish me luck!

-audrey

Last night I got to enjoy my birthday gift from Natalie with her when we went to see The Lion King. Now, this is probably my favorite Disney movie, or maybe a tie with Beauty and the Beast, so boy was I excited!

We had a yummy dinner at a little italian place near the theatre before going to pick up our tickets and being seated. I must throw this little bit of information in for yall..there were like 200 stairs we had to take to get to our seats. Im not even kidding. Everywhere you go in London there are so many stairs, I swear to god I'm never using stairs once I get home again unless thats the only option. I know that sounds lazy but come on, my legs are tired. Anywho.

So about 5 minutes before the show starts this really cute little girl and here mom take their seats directly next to us, I actually thought it would be fun to sit next to a child while watching the show because I knew she would be so in awe of everything. WRONG. The little girl really wasn't so bad, but her mother, OH MY GOSH. She didn't shut up the entire night, and I'm not saying she was whispering to her daughter, she was freaking carrying on a conversation with the little girl the ENTIRE show. That got annoying real quick. Other than that little incident however I had the BEST time.

The show is so amazing, if any of you haven't had the chance to see it you really need to go. It was incredible to see how they took things from the animated movie and put them on stage, it was SO cool. I enjoyed myself as much as possible during the first act while the mom next to me just talked away and the little girl complained that she was tired. Then came intermission. I was hoping the lady would just agree to take her daughter, who kept saying she was ready for bed, home, but  no such luck. They went and go ice cream, a slushy, AND chips to eat DURING the second act. Joy. So the first song of the second act is Hakuna-Mattata. Mom over here decides to SING ALONG. I kept giving her mean looks but I guess she didn't get the picture that she was being SO rude. Next thing I know the little girl is ASLEEP on my arm with her head like basically in my lap. Dear old mom just looks over at my shocked face and does NOTHING. Now I wasn't about to dump this little cute girl on the floor or anything, and it didn't really bother me, so I just let her sleep the rest of the show, but COME ON, this lady was INSANE. The show ended, the little girl woke up, and I quickly got out of there when the girl started to whine. I'm sorry, but a 7:30pm showing for ANY young child (i'm talking like a 4 year old) that doesn't end until 10:00pm is TOO LATE.

Despite all of my complaining I really did have a wonderful time and I was so thankful that Natalie got me that awesome gift! Tonight Natalie, Caitlin, and I are going to see Dirty Dancing. I can't wait. I'm pretty sure it only runs in London, and I watched the movie on iTunes last night, I am SO excited. I'm not sure if its a musical, it probably is, but that might be weird. Maybe they should just have it be a play with OTHER people like with the orchestra singing. Im sure it will be amazing, I'll let yall know how it is tomorrow!

-audrey

I woke up today with the best intentions of working on 3 essays for school. I am sad to say that nothing scholarly occurred in my room at all today. I did succeed in painting my nails, cleaning out my fridge, taking out the trash, and watching 2 movies. Getting up early has its benefits I guess.

So, as I'm sitting in my room bored I decided to look at the four season hotel website and pick a dream destination beach resort in a part of the world that I haven't been to. I know, its sad that I pick my travel destinations by the hotel but what can I say, I know what I like and I know what it takes for me to have a good time. Generally a four seasons hotel in involved. Or a Ritz-Carleton, I'm not picky. Anyways, so I type in www.fourseasons.com. DO NOT DO THIS. I have probably done this 5 times, and every time I do I have a mild freak out and quickly close the web browser. This website will take you to a nudist hotel. The home page has pictures of ugly naked people. You would think I would remember that this IS NOT the correct website for the four seasons..hopefully after today I will remember that.

I just thought I would share that little bit of information with you. Now I'm going to go google the four seasons hotel and find where I want to take my next dream vacation. Fiji anyone?

-audrey

Just got home from seeing 'Alice in Wonderland' in 3D. I really liked it! I had completely forgotten the ENTIRE story line of the movie so it was fun to see it. The 3D show was fun as well, and surprisingly didn't give me a headache. This weekend isn't going to be too exciting for me, mostly I will be doing homework.

I have a paper to write for each of my four classes, and one of them I actually have 2 papers. They aren't all do next week, only one is, but I'm going to try to get as many of them written this weekend as possible. I've been planning some more weekend trips over the last few days so I want to get the homework out of the way now so I am free to travel later.

Im off to bed now!

-audrey

Im sick today. It sucks. Not enough for me to drag myself to a doctor, but enough for me to sleep all day. I have to actually get dressed (im still in pj's) because my laundry is going to be delivered in 30 min. Oh joy, at least I can take a shower after that, I havent been able to because stupid me put ALL of my towels in the bag of things to be washed. Yesterday was fun, I went to Kensington Garden and walked around. There were SO many adorable puppies there, it was fun to see them playing. I went by the Peter Pan statue and sat in this area with multiple fountains with ducks and swans in them. It was beautiful.

Thank god I didnt have class today because I didn't get out of bed until 4:30 and as soon as I can I plan on going back to sleep. I need to stay up a bit though so I will actually be able to sleep. dafhka I hate being sick. I'll probably start the antibiotics I brought with me tomorrow if I dont feel better. Boo. Ok, enough complaining, I'm off to lay down until my laundry comes.

-audrey

I am in such a good mood today! I woke up and got to enjoy a yummy french toast breakfast with Sally, it was delicious. Then I started getting ready for my day and I opened my window and what do I find, a SUNNY sky and about 45 degree temperatures. It is absolutely beautiful. So while I wait for the laundry man to come pick up my dirty cloths so they can be washed I decided that after he gets here I am going to Hyde Park and Kensington Garden. Its is the perfect day for that so yay! I'll make sure to take lots of pictures for you all. Ohh, AND lifehouse's new cd came out today, its amazing and I love it. Today is just awesome.

-audrey

Wednesday was my 21st Birthday and it was SUCH a fun day.

The celebrating started at midnight when Sally brought me a delicious chocolate cake and ice cream. Not to mention Natalie had already given me my gift, tickets to The Lion King, Caitlin got me a really cute apron and oven mitts with the British Flag on them, and of course you already heard about Lindsey's gift, The Wedding Show! My friends here are all so nice and I am so lucky to have gotten to celebrate this special birthday with them.

Ashley called me at right at midnight to say happy birthday, as did Allison :]] Anyways, after we ate cake and ice cream we all went to sleep so we could wake up early and start the day.

Everyone else has class on Wednesdays so I met up with Lindsey and Natalie at Primark to buy the party favors for my birthday party, and then we went and got lunch. Lindsey got me two yummy cupcakes (peanut butter and red velvet) which we shared after lunch, it was so much fun. From there I wanted to buy 'Scrabble' so I knew there was a toy store near where we were so while Lindsey and Natalie went back to school, I set off in search of Hamleys (the toy store).

After walking around lost for about an hour it finally came to me to use my iPhone to look up where the store was. I had actually walked past it like 3 times, it wasnt on the main street but a cross street, so yeah..that was FUN. When I got to the toy store, which is basically London's version of FAO Schwarts, I went right up to get the game and what did I find, A Build-A-Bear Workshop!! I had to make one so I made St. Patrick, a really cute green teddy bear specially for St. Patricks Day, hes adorable.

I headed back home to hang out before getting ready to go out. There were 13 of us who went to dinner at The Texas Embassy, and it was so fun and very yummy. I got lots of flower, a beautiful orchid plant, and two boxes of chocolate so over all it was successful. I even had a drink, a very tasty strawberry margarita. I was somehow convinced to do some sort of shot with rum, pineapple juice, and pomegranate juice. It was so good, but i only did one cause I defiantly did not want to be anywhere NEAR drunk. And I never got near drunk, not even tipsy (ashley thinks i look drunk in my pictures, but i tried to explain that that is just how i look...how nice of her to think that, lol).

After dinner we all headed back to Nido so I could show my friends that don't live here where I live and go out for after dinner drinks. We went to a place right across the road from where I live called The Big Chill House. I like it because it reminds me of listening to the soundtrack to The Big Chill on car rides when I was little. The music they play is nothing like that music, but still. I got a white russian there. I love white russians, they're just like milk shakes, but better. Once again I had one. According to my friends I wasn't even tipsy because my lips weren't going numb. Of course I'll just have to take their words for it because we all know I have nothing to compare it to.

We got back around 11:30 and went our separate ways around 12:15 after playing some gin rummy with Lindsey and Sally. I am lucky enough to be allowed to sleep in on Thursdays since I don't have class until 3:30, so there I am, in bed, reading a book around noon when the fire alarm starts going off. I didn't really think it was a real fire, so I grabbed my room key and looked into the hall to see if anyone was leaving. There was a guy going down the stairs so I figured I would just go down, find out it was a false alarm, and go back to bed. Boy was I wrong. So I get downstairs in my pajamas and socks, NO jacket, NO shoes, and I'm told that there really is a fire and I have to go outside and around the block. They wouldn't even let me go get my shoes. Luckily it was't very cold out, maybe the upper 40s, so  I wasn't very cold, not for the first 20 minutes any way. All together we stood outside for about an hour, were told we could go back in, and that was that. I didnt get any details of where the fire was or how it got started, I'm going to ask today thou. I think we should get to know. I would put money down that some stupid person was trying to smoke inside and their fire alarms went off, it always smells like cigarette smoke in the halls, even thou the building is non-smoking.

Anyways, I'm off to find some food and get ready for my day of running errands before I go to class at 4. Its sunny and so pretty out today, yay!

-audrey

Today is my birthday. I'm officially 21 years old, and technically at this moment in time I am older than Ashley, by 6 hours. That wont be true at 6am my time, but for now I am not the youngest. My friends here are absolutely AMAZING.

Lindsey already gave me my gift when we went to the wedding show, it was SO much fun and I love her so much for that. I got my gift from Natalie tonight - she got us tickets to go see The Lion King!! I am so excited, I CAN NOT wait to see the show in a week and a half, we're going to have such a good time. Then there was a knock on my door and in walked Sally with a birthday cake and ice cream, candles and singing took place as well. While we enjoyed the yummy dessert I felt so happy that I have such great friends here to celebrate such a special birthday with. Ashley and Allison both called me right at midnight to say happy birthday, it meant SO much to me. I love them both more than words can say.

I can't wait to wake up in the morning and start my day getting ready for a super fun night eating mexican food with all of my new friends and one really great old friend. I'll blog more then!

-audrey

national wedding show

Yesterday I received one of the best birthday presents EVER from Lindsey. She got us tickets to go to the National Wedding Show. Anyone that knows me knows that I am completely obsessed with all things wedding, I even have a wedding book at home with pages of magazines ripped out. So we got to the show and there are so many different vendors for every imaginable thing you could possible need at your wedding. We're pretty sure that you're not actually supposed to go unless you're GETTING married but we didn't care about that.

The best part of the day had to be the fashion show. I love fashion. Considering I wear jeans and t-shirts a lot I really do enjoy fashion so for me, wedding fashion is the end all be all of fashion shows to see. That lasted about 40 minutes and it was FABULOUS. Words can not describe how much I enjoyed myself.

Afterwords we were in a shopping mood so we went to Harrods, a store that is quickly becoming one of my favorite places in London. I got the CUTEST pair of shoes (and they aren't even heels) and a new dress. I wanted to wear the dress for my birthday BUT they wanted me to pay 80 pounds just to hem it. That is almost 1/2 of what the dress cost, which is RIDICULOUS. I happily bought the dress and tomorrow I will try to find someone to alter it for cheaper, so it might not be ready to wear by Wednesday, we'll see.

Thats all I did this weekend, today I slept WAY too late, until 2:30. I can't tell you when I last slept that late, if ever. It's pretty nuts. I hope I can fall asleep tonight since I have class tomorrow.

-audrey

Yesterday was such a fun day. I got to sleep in until 10 before getting ready for my day and going to class. I had developmental psychology. You see, last semester at UH I took child development, which is different because the course here spans the entire life, not just childhood. Basically my course here is going to be a joke. We went over such basic information my Mom could have probably answered the professors questions (my mom went to the first 2 weeks of school last august with me after my surgery so she knows stuff). Class got out 30 minutes early which is always enjoyable.

I met up with Lindsey, Sally, and Caitlin at Kings Cross to decided where we wanted to go for drinks and dinner. We originally wanted to go to South Kensington but the Piccadilly Line was completely insane, not running in some spots even, so we couldn't go there. We decided to go hang out by the river which turned out to be tons of fun.

Caitlin, Sally and I left to go see the movie Precious. Wow. The film was so hard to watch, so sad, but very good.

Got to go now, love you all!

-audrey

I was so productive today. I actually didn't do much today but I got done what needed to be done so yay for that. Caitlin and I went to Primark this afternoon, and it was INSANE. All of the kids are out of school this week and I swear to you, they all decided to go to Primark. NUTS. After that we came back to Nido before going to the grocery store to stock up. It seems like all I do is go to Tesco, but when all you have is a mini-fridge that you share with a roommate you cant exactly stock up. I cooked potatoes tonight...I can't call them mashed potatoes because of course I forgot that I had nothing to mash them with...so I ate boiled potatoes with cheese. Not the best meal every by any means but it was edible. Tonight I'm just uploading some new pictures so go check those out.

-audrey

pictures

here is the link to all of my pictures so far, i'll be updating the album as i take more pictures. enjoy!

London Pictures

rainy day

Sorry I haven't written in a while, i've been busy with class. Today was very uneventful. I slept in and it was amazing, then I went to lunch with Caitlin and Natalie. Afterwords I just came back home and watched 24 and hung out in my room. Pretty boring I must say. I booked by room for Spring Break in Dubai! I can't wait, my friends Lindsey and Sally are going with me and it is going to be such an amazing experience :]]

I found out that my dog Skye who is 11 has cancer today so I was pretty sad about that. The prognosis isn't good, only about 6 weeks left at best. I obviously don't want her to be in any pain but I'm so upset that I wont get to say goodbye to her. We got her when I was in the 4th grade and I cant believe that when I get home in June she will be gone.

Anyways I just wanted to touch base and let yall know that I haven't fallen off the planet, just been busy. Hopefully next time I write I'll have something interesting to say!

-audrey

dubai it is

I just found out that my parents are going to let me go to Dubai for Spring Break! I am so excited, my friend Lindsey and maybe my friend Sally are going with me and we can not wait to be there :] I'll be staying at the Atlantis property there so I'm sure it will be wonderful. I didn't do too much today, just went to Harrods and I am very proud to say that I only bought the one gift I intended to buy and nothing extra -- yay for me! Well its late here and I'm going to get up early tomorrow instead of sleep in like I did today. I wanna give a quick shout out to Christy and Suzanne, the only people I'm not related to that I know actually read this blog. Hopefully you don't find it too boring!

Lots of Love

-audrey

Day 2 of Class

My school schedule is pretty strange, I must say.

I go on Monday from 10-12 and 2-4 (sometimes i have seminars in between but i only go to that 4 times) and then I don't have any more classes until Wednesday. It's almost like I have a weekend in the middle of the week :] On Thursday I go from 3:30-5:30 most weeks and sometimes I have a seminar from 2-3 and on Friday I go from 2-4 and i have seminars from 4-5 some weeks. Its pretty strange. The way they do it here is that you only go to your class one time a week, for 2 hours, and then you have 4 one hour seminars for each class throughout the semester.

So today i will be going to Personality and Social Psychology. This might be my toughest class simply because its going to be a lot of work. I haven't even been yet and I already know I have 2 papers due this semester and a final at the end. College sure is fun. I can't wait for tomorrow thou because after I have Developmental Psychology, which should be easy since I took child development last semester at UH, we're all going to go see Valentine's Day. This movie looks so good, I can not wait to see it. Some girls are going to the premier tonight to stand outside the red carpet and get pictures of all of the celebrities but it's too damn cold to just stand around for hours to glimpse a few celebrities. It's actually snowing a bit right now, very pretty but very cold. The snow never sticks to the ground thou so that's nice.

Until tomorrow,
-audrey

Avenue Q

Last night Lindsey, Sally and I got super cheap tickets to see Avenue Q and it was AWESOME. We got there and the guy was like, "oh, this section of seats isn't open tonight" and I almost freaked out a little until he told us that because the section was closed our seats had been upgraded. SCORE. Then we got to our new and improved seats, which really really good considering we paid 12 pounds for them and the show started.

It was hilarious and very entertaining. I highly recommend you see it. But the best part was yet to come. So we're sitting there and intermission just started and who comes into the theatre? People selling these really cute tiny cartons of ice cream!!! It was basically amazing, so I went down and got my cookies & cream ice cream and thoroughly enjoyed it until intermission was over. According to Lindsey this occurs at most of the plays in London so I'm pretty excited about that, I must say.

Today I dont have class so I got to sleep in before doing some laundry and working out. Now I'm just waiting for my cloths to dry and hanging out in my room until tonight when Lindsey and I are going to Cirque Du Soleil!!

-audrey

Ready to Start School

Today was my last day of freedom before classes start. I go tomorrow at 10:00 for my first class (Cognitive Psychology) and after that at 2:00 I have Biological Basis of Behavior. Fun stuff. I spent the day running errands and buying school supplies. Afterwords me, Natalie (roommate) and Caitlin (friend) went to find our school. We got to one part of campus ok but because it is spread out over the city we needed to take the tube to another part of town. Well the tube station we needed to go to only has 2 lines that serve it and both of them were shut down this weekend for repairs. We figured we could just hop on a bus and be there no problem. PROBLEM. We defiantly took the correct bus in the WRONG direction and ended up in the projects. By the time we figured out our mistake we had to get off, change buses, get off that bus and onto ANOTHER bus and about 1 1/2 hours of riding on multiple buses we never got to the other part of campus and gave up and went home. Oh the joys of learning your surroundings. 

I have a friend Sally (A&M girl) who is in all of my Monday classes so tomorrow should be fun and we're all going out to get Mexican food for dinner, YUM! 

Im gonna give a run down of my friends that way I won't have to keep putting in paranthesis who everybody is. Here goes:

Natalie is my awesome roommate from California.

Sally is my friend from A&M, shes originally from Dallas and lives down the hall.

Next to Sally is Lindsey, goes to Clemson originally from Baltimore. Shes super cool.

Caitlin lives upstairs and goes to school in Idaho but is originally from California too and down the hall from her lives Jessica. Jess goes to school in Reno, Nevada and I love her hair (its red). 

Thats pretty much everyone I usually hang out with, they're all really nice and cool and it's too bad you don't get to know them. 

I've got a lot to do tomorrow and I still need to do my hair tonight so I can sleep in a bit in the morning.

Lots of Love,

-audrey

Cameden Market

I went to Cameden Market yesterday and it was SO cool. Every weekend this market opens and there are so many different vendors its insane! The food you can buy there is so fresh, authentic, and amazingly tasty and there are so many vintage clothing, home goods, and everything else you could imagine booths. I got a really pretty purple top at one of the vintage "shops" and enjoyed some delicious food! Afterwords I decided a nap was in order so I headed back to Nido and slept for a bit. Yesterday was my friend Sally's 20th birthday so we went out to eat Chinese food. It was super yummy.

I start class tomorrow so that should be interesting, I think today I'm going to go to campus to check out where each building is that my classes are going to be held in. Its different here, each course has a lecture that everyone goes to and then throughout the semester there are seminars that are assigned to each student that we have to go to for each class, but they aren't every week. So even though my schedule says I have 4 classes on Monday most weeks I'll just go to the 2 lectures and every so often I'll go to seminar.

I need to hunt down some school supplies and send some mail today so I'm sure I'll keep busy. Until later, GO SAINTS!

-audrey

morning

Sorry my post yesterday was literally 2 lines, i still dont have internet in my room so i was in the cafe and my computer had 1% life left when i started writing it...i guess i should check the power next time! Today is a day for shopping and exploring around London. I have to go by the apple store to find out why the internet connection on my computer isn't working with an ethernet cord so i'm sure that will be entertaining. After that I guess I'll just explor with some friends and run a few errands that need to get done. That's all for now, hopefully by tonight my computer will let me get online with an ethernet cord in my room! Its the little things in life that count, right?!

-audrey

a day on the river thames

Today my school set up a bus and boat tour of London. We drove past all of the usual tourist stops, most of which I had already seen before heading to our river boat. It was fun.

Sorry this is soooo short but my computer is about to die! More tomorrow!

-audrey

orientation.

We're still in orientation although today was much shorter. My friend Lindsey and I walked around Oxford Circus which is a really cool area with shopping and pubs. Around 6 we headed back to Nido to make dinner and hang out here for the night. My internet isn't connecting in my room for some reason and I've tried 3 ethernet cords so I'm kind of annoyed about it. Im not sure if it's my computer or the outlet in the wall but I defiantly need to get that figured out because I don't want to not have internet in my room for the next 4 months.

My mom went home today, hopefully she had a good flight. I'll miss her but I'll get to see her in a few months and we'll get to skype so I'm sure I'll survive.

Anyways were off to hang out in someones room where I wont have internet so I'm off. Havent taken too many picture the last few days so sorry but hopefully I will the rest of the week!

-audrey

Move In Day

The last few days have been pretty busy.

We went to Windsor Castle on Sunday which was really fun. It's so beautiful and if you ever get the chance to go you defiantly should.

Today I got to sleep in a bit before heading out to Nido Student Living to move in and meet my new roommate Natalie. She is such a sweetheart so that's good! After seeing our tiny room mom and I made a list of things I needed to by and we set off shopping.

After putting all of my new purchases in my room and unpacking we had our housing orientation. This was basically a big huge waste of time but it did allow us to meet some more people. Most of them seem to be from New York or California with a few guys from Wisconsin and one other girl from Texas. Afterwords a big group of us went out to a pub near school and grabbed a bite to eat and got to know each other.

I decided to stay at the hotel one last night with my Mom as tomorrow is her last night and tomorrow afternoon I have more orientation. Off to bed, goodnight!

-audrey

Day 5.0

Today we met up with Chelsey to ride the London Eye. Its basically a big ferris wheel encased in glass that gives you amazing views of the entire city, especially those historic sites along the River Thames. We were lucky that today was such a beautiful and clear morning so we could see everything.

After that we wandered around until we found a great Italian restaurant to eat lunch at. We then headed over to Bond Street for some shopping. We found some really great chocolate shops and silver/antique shops that were great and they're all mixed in with the top fashion and jewelry stores (Louis Vuitton, Chanel, De Beers, Tiffany & Co, etc.) Everything here closes rather early (around 6) so we ended up leaving around 5:00 to head back to the hotel. After dropping Chelsey off at her flat, which is in a gorgeous location much better than where I'm going to be living, Mom and I ended up just staying in again tonight.

Tomorrow we plan to go visit Windsor Castle which I'm sure will be beautiful and highly informative.

-audrey

Day 4.0

Today started off not being too cold but it quickly got to be easily our coldest day here. We started off going to the Victoria and Albert Museum. Wow, this place is HUGE and has so much art, jewelry, textiles and much much more. In all we probably spent about 3 hours here, most of which was spent in the jewelry exhibit. All I can say is I want it all - SO much gorgeous jewelry from such a long time ago (they had perfectly preserved jewels from the 1600s)! From there we decided to grab a quick bite to eat at the restaurant inside the museum (I had roast turkey with potatoes and my mom had roast lamb -- the best "quick service" meal I've ever had).

Our next stop was Westminster Abbey. This place is magnificently beautiful. Words simply cannot do it justice but I'll try. We decided to do the guided tour and luckily we only had 1 other women with us! The Abbey was believed to originally be built in 960 in a part of London that was then an island. King Edward (later named Saint Edward the Confessor) in 1065 began construction to enlarge and richly endow the church. However the building we see today is not that built by King Edward. King Edward was eventually buried in his abbey in 1066. Todays abbey, built in the French Gothic style, was completely rebuilt piece by piece on the orders of King Henry III between 1245 and 1272. During that time the King ran out of funds and in some parts of the abbey it is quite obvious - the ornate detail simply stops with about 100yards of marble arches left unadorned.

About 3,300 people are buried in the Abbey including Kings Edward, Henry III, Henry V, Queen Elizabeth I along with her half sister Queen Mary I (their father was King Henry III, Elizabeth's mother was Ann Boleyn). Although not buried at Westminster there are shrines to great authors in the poets corner including William Shakespeare.

We learned all about the ceremonies that occur during such events as coronation and weddings. Normally seating around 2,200 people during Queen Elizabeth II coronation extra seating was built and over 8,000 were in attendance! Whenever attending services at the abbey (which the Queen does about 3 times a year) she has a special seat in the quire next to where the choir sits. The Queen is the only person of the royal family allowed to sit in this seat and even if she is not in attendance the seat is left empty unless the Dean of the Abbey sits there. Well, can I just tell you that WE got to sit in her chair!!!! The tour guide says he has never allowed anyone to do so before but because there were only the 3 of us on the tour he didn't see a problem with letting us sit in her chair for a quick moment. Now how many people can say that?!!

Over all the tour took about 90 min. but I'm sure we could have spent much longer in there! It is defiantly a must see for anyone visiting London, even if you aren't religious, it's just AMAZING.

The rest of our day was pretty boring after that, we just ended up heading back to the hotel and eating room service for dinner - I was so tired and SO cold. Tomorrow we're going to ride the Eye and hit up Bond and Oxford streets for some shopping so that will be load of fun I'm sure!

-audrey

UK Mobile Number

Just wanted to post my UK mobile number incase any of you want it so we can talk/text. It's 07970813001.

Off to do more touristy things today!

-audrey

Day 3.0

Today was such a great day here in London! First I started with a 90 minute hot stone massage, and even though I had to wake up at 8:00 to get it the early morning was well worth it (8 isn't even that early really so yay!). Let me just say this: come to London, stay at the Lanesborough, and go get this massage - you will LOVE it. 

From there mom and I spent the entire rest of our afternoon at my new favorite place - Harrods. Oh my gosh this place is AMAZING. All 5 stories plus the basement level are filled with every item you could possible imagine, from clothing to shoes to home ware and kitchen appliances it is INSANE. There is even the hall of foods - basically a gigantic grocery store IN THE MIDDLE of the building. They offered everything from produce to meats and fish to prepared foods and flowers. I guess the best way to sum it up is with this statement - they have ENTIRE pigs in their butcher shop, they're in pieces (but the head is on display) but still, any part of the pig you want you can find at Harrods.  

After about 4 1/2 hours of shopping it was time to head back to the hotel and get ready for an amazing dinner. As some of you may know my friend Chelsey, who I've known since kindergarten, is also studying in London so we got to go out with her tonight. My freshman english teacher Marilyn Todd's (who I must say i just love and still keep in touch with on a pretty regular basis) son Ryan lives here in London. He graciously offered us advice and help during our time here and we met him tonight at the restaurant as well. We ate at La Boudin Blanc, a really cute french bistro type place and the food was great. 

After that we just ended up going back to the hotel and talking for a bit until Chelsey and Ryan went home and I decided I should write down what I did today so I don't forget. I already am finding the days running together and I want to make sure I remember as much of this experience as possible! Mom took pictures today but I'm not sure if they'll make it onto facebook...maybe I can do that for her sometime before she leaves. 

-audrey

Day 2.0

Today started with a quick breakfast in the room before mom and I were off. We went to the Tower of London first, way cool. There was a guided tour with a beefeater (yes, he does eat beef) followed by a trip through one of the towers to see the Crown Jewels. I must say, as a lover of all jewelry I was disappointed. I thought there would be a lot more jewels to see, even though what we did see was absolutely amazing I just assumed there would be more. It was really cold and sprinkling/sleeting a bit so we tried not to be outside much but at the Tower that is kind of hard to do. All together we probably spent about 1 1/2 hours there before grabbing a quick lunch at a nearby restaurant.

From lunch we decided it was time to do some jewelry shopping of our own and quickly got in a traditional London Taxi who graciously took us to Hatton Garden, THE place for jewelry shopping. The first shop we went into specializes in Antique and Estate Jewelry, right up my alley (www.berganza.com). Of course the first item I asked to see was what I though to be a simple pearl and diamond necklace (ok, it wasnt simple but I didnt think it would be too extravagant). Boy was I wrong. Not only was the necklace from the 1910s and made with real sea pearls of course it was strung on platinum. OF COURSE. The time came to find out the price and it cost...get ready..18,500 pounds (that's just under $30,000). Needless to say I wasn't allowed to get the necklace :[ For those interested if you go to the website above for the store and type in item number 11199 you can see for yourself how absolutely gorgeous this timeless piece of jewelry is. One day I'm going to buy it. When I marry my prince and get married in a castle.

We wandered into the next jewelry shop where I found another beautiful necklace, this time a diamond and aquamarine necklace. Thankfully this one was in our price range and the store even offered to lower the price, so I was able to get it as an early 21st birthday gift. It's from the 1920's and I love it, even though it isn't the pearl/diamond necklace it is still BEAUTIFUL and I'm so thankful I was able to get it.

After that adventure we hopped into another taxi and went to Nido Student Living near Kings Cross, which is where I will be living this semester. I move in on Monday anytime after 2:00. It looks like it will be a fun and safe place to live and there are plenty of restaurants nearby. Its comforting to know that I at least know where I will be going Monday, now we need to find were my school is. From there we decided to head back to the hotel which is where I am now just resting until dinner tonight.

We decided to eat at the hotel restaurant which recently received 1 Michelin Star so hopefully it will be great. That's all for now, I've been putting pictures up on facebook since this site won't allow me to, so go take a look at those!

-audrey

day 1.0

I'm finally here! After a long and rough flight (especially when we we're over the atlantic near Canada) I am now in my room at our beautiful hotel (the Lanesborough). The plane was super cool and our food on the flight over was delish - I started with grilled prawns in a salad, then I had the lamb shank shepherd's pie followed by a slice of honey almond cheesecake.That was my favorite part--honey should be involved in every desert, its delicious.

Our flight landed around 7:00 am and we made it to the hotel around 10:00. I had ideas of everything I wanted to do today seeing as to how we arrived at the hotel at like 10:00 am...those plans so didn't happen. I fell asleep. until 4:00. So that wasn't really very much fun but now I'm ready to go. I'm sure mom and I will go out to dinner somewhere tonight.

My first impression of London: people are helpful when asked but not very polite. Maybe I'm just used to a different sort of person but not one man allowed me and mom to get on the train at the airport together, everyone is in a race is seemed to get out. Thats fine, I wanted to take my time but its just different than I'm used to. A women dropped something and I noticed but she didn't seem to. I walked over to tell her and she just looked at me, picked it up, and turned around. No thank you. Now thats just weird. Maybe she didn't speak English..who know?!

Anywho if that is the biggest problem I will have to face I know I'm going to LOVE it here. Our taxi driver was a very nice guy who has been to the US 14 times! Thats a lot of times to visit one place. He gave me his business card and let me know that if I need anything, even if it's just to ask a question, to call him and he'll let me know his opinion on things. So, thanks to him!

Well, I'm going to do a bit of unpacking and get ready for dinner, I can't believe my first full day in London will be over in a few short hours. Its amazing.

-audrey

48 hours

At this time in 2 days I will be on a plane headed to London and I can not wait! Packing is still taking place and probably will do so until sunday (tomorrow) night. I've already packed 2 bags and no clothing has been packed yet, besides my coats/jacket. That probably isn't the best news but I can take 3 bags and so can my mom so that should help. I'll be pretty busy my first few days in London getting settled but I'll try to update as soon as I have something exciting to say. Hopefully I'll even figure out how to post pictures on here too, that would be much easier than using a separate website for that.

Ok, I've got to go get ready for the last supper (last family dinner) before I leave. Tonight more packing shall commence. Joy.

-audrey