so . . .

sorry for the extended absence. i've been pretty busy. doing stuff. like seeing these things. understandable, right?

we had a guest speaker in our Innovation in UK media course today. (have i told you guys about this course? sherri culver is teaching it. she's a temple professor- super super cool lady who has worked on some baller projects- and she's with us in london for the semester. the course deals with creativity and creativity in media and creativity in managing- just a whole bunch of stuff. very interesting subject material too- stuff i would never normally consider. i feel like it's spawning a lot of good discussion and reflection for me. a +. this was a total sidenote. sorry.)

ANYWAY. we had a guest speaker. his name was DK (donna karen? donkey kong? dangerous kangaroo? devil's kin? fornwald and i were having fun guessing what it stood for.) and he talked to us about mediasnackers, among other things. basically, homie is super friggin' cool. he's all into how people communicate and use social media (not just networking site, but google docs and wikis and skype) and his career path is insane. he basically just lives his life and gets paid to talk about it and educate other people about how to use social media. he said something along the lines of "i'm really lucky- i don't have to work." how awesome is that? absolutely ideal situation.

the topic of social media sites obviously came up and i thought it would be a good idea to link my other sites on this bad boy. i use them all for different things and find them all pretty much equally helpful/fun to maintain. so here ya go stalkers:

• tumblr (for inspiration and scrapbooking)
• twitter (right now it's underutilized, but i'm hoping to use it for sharing stuff. if i find something cool or read something interesting or do something especially exciting, imma tweet it.)
• listography (because i love making lists. good for organizing and daydreaming)
• lastfm (so i can stalk other people's music)
• facebook (for keeping track of friends and keeping in touch)
• craftster (for craft swaps and posting projects)
• ravelry (to look up knitting patterns)
  
• flikr (used to upload a picture a day, though this project has fallen to the wayside)
  

some of these aren't linked (i don't use them frequently enough or don't feel like sharing) but i'm glad i outlined what i use each one for. that's as much for me as it is for you. maybe even more for me. what are your thoughts on social media sites? is it possible to have to many? do you use them frequently? maybe a little too frequently?

weekend recap

in list form:
1. made pumpkin pie bars which were immediately demolished by my flatmates. we're all suffering from a lack-o-pumpkin over here. my body is totally programed to gorge on pumpkin foods as soon as october hits but apparently the brits aren't as into our orange friends. i finally found pumpkin puree at whole foods (which is BEAUTIFUL might i add- i want to live in that store) and decided to make something so it actually feels like october. i'd also like to note that i didn't use any measuring cups. boo-ya.
2. went to a pottery painting place during sherri's class. i made a bowl! figuring out how to get it home in one piece should be interesting.
3. i bought some brie. i've been loving melted brie with strawberry jam. could eat it forever.
4. mercedes came to visit!
5. we went to a rugby game!
6. rugby is the strangest game ever. it's like dr. seuss invented a sport. and named it rugby.
7. watched the mascot fight with a small child then a herd of small children attacked him. i found this hilarious. i even have video footage. i'm not the best at paying attention to sports but give me a kid vs. guy in a bear suit fight and i'm all over it.
8. made a scene with my peers at the rugby field bar. apparently no one likes cover bands as much as we do. we were all screaming and air guitaring and jumping and dancing and everyone else was literally totally silent and standing still. ridiculously comical juxtaposition. we had a blast though and i think some of the brits found us moderately entertaining in that tilt-your-head kind of way.
9. ran around on the rugby field after the game
10. went to hootananny in brixton! so much fun. loved the bands, loved dancing, good atmosphere, adorable singing bathroom lady (i always fall in love with the bathroom ladies), AND AND AND they had a taco stand outside. £1 for 1 taco. so. good. heaven. love love love. we also met some hilarious people on the bus (one guy with facepaint, and two guys in matching sweaters) and generally just bonded with flatmates/had a grand ol' time.
11. bought slippers and an astronaut t-shirt at primark! that store is actually hell. i always feel like it's the end of the world in there.
12. ate spanish food!
13. saw showstopper! it's musical improv (they make up a whole musical!) and i'm working the shows sunday and tuesday. i'm totally blown away. they're incredible and last night show was especially good. it was about ikea and poland and home base (equivalent of home depot.) i was dying.

wonderful weekend! now a busy week. followed by THE BIG ADVENTUURRREEEEE. boo. yah.

AMSTERDAM

i took my first study-abroad-side-trip last weekend to the netherlands! christine, keiran, lauren, and i hit up amsterdam for the weekend. we had GORGEOUS weather. like, totally blue skies, no coats on, sitting in the grass kind of weather. i was in love. and sunny amsterdam is beautiful- with the little canals and all the bikes (it's a TOTAL bike city. so many bikers and bike lanes. and babies riding on bikes! so cute.) and the cute little shops and flowers on boats- it was a serious adorable overload. our hostel was a little sketch (we got separated into different rooms so we were each crashing with seven strangers) but we got free breakfast and we didn't even spend that much time there.

friday night was spent getting our bearings and gorging ourselves on food (amsterdam is like the capital of junk food- fries with mayo, ice cream, candy shops, pancakes, falafel, those dispenser-places where you put in your money and a little door opens and you get a hamburger. and stroop waffles! can't forget the stroop waffles! thin little waffle like cookies with syrup in the middle! so. good. i could eat 100 of them.). saturday we hit up the van gogh museum (art = good, museum layout = meh.) then got lost walking to the anne frank house, eventually made it to the anne frank house (very cool), got pancakes, sat along the canal, got lost going to meet up with friends (it's kind of a confusing city layout- it looks like a spider web cut in half), didn't find out friends, checked out the red light district, got creeped out by the red light district, got more junk food, crashed at home. we literally walked so much on saturday, that by sunday all we wanted to do was sit. we did some people watching in dam square and explored a different area of town before retiring to the park. we watched babies climbing trees and saw these awesome green parrot things. then we ate more junk food (naturally) and went to sleep.

i took an earlier flight home on monday and it was the first time i flew by myself in a foreign country. very strange, but it went rather smoothly. i sat next to an older canadian couple on the plane and the man told me all about his motorcycle adventures and airports he's been to. i think i almost preferring traveling alone- it's just simpler and almost relaxing in a sense. now that the first trip has gone down without a hitch, i'm gearing up for BIG FALL BREAK trip in about a week. ahhhh- so much to plan! but all in a good way of course. very excited.

i feel like i get sappy on this thing way too often, but i'm going through a serious bout of nostalgia. i went through a bunch of old pictures today (we're talking myspace old) and i couldn't stop smiling. i have so many good memories and so many good people in my life. i feel extremely blessed all the time. i'm in one of those moods where i just want to hug everyone and tell them how much i love them. one of my favorite things about my group of friends is the fact that we tell each other 'i love you' frequently. today i was video chatting with my friend eric (who i miss dearly), talking about stuff going on in our lives/recent adventures and our conversation ended with the phrase. the same goes for any talk i have with liz or anna or sarah or joe. it's so nice to hear and say.

keiran was recently explaining a very interesting concept to me- the idea of having multiple soulmates at different levels. so the original soul would split (not in a bad horcrux way), and then those two souls would split, and so on and so forth. your closest soulmate would be the other half of the original soul from which you split, but you're also connecting to the other souls- the ones that you came from and the ones that came from you. it creates a sort of tiered soulmate system. i really like this idea because i do feel like i've found a lot of my 'soulmates' or kindred spirits.

this trip has been incredibly reflective so far and i'm realizing how much i value the people surrounding me. so much of my happiness comes from them. rest assured, everyone will be smothered with love upon my arrival back in the states. expect anaconda hugs and excessive face-touching.

(also, this picture has nothing to do with anything. i just found it and thought it was funny. i'm a cat-eating baby.)

date day

since i have so much free time on my hands and i'm over my minor cold, i decided to take myself out on some dates this week. i took myself to hyde park to walk around and people watch and take advantage of the weather on tuesday. i listened to sufjan's new album and dear lord- it is genius. so good. it's been on repeat since then. you 100% have to listen to it right now. preferably in a park, in early autumn when it's not too cold, with headphones on.

today, i hit up borough market. i had passed it during a field trip at night but wanted to explore during the day and my final assessment- total foodie paradise. so many good things going on. i got a prosciutto, buffalo mozz, rocket, and tomato sandwich on some excellent bread then followed it up with some caramel custard. i got a surprise phone call from my mom which was so nice- i've been talking to her on skype but it was nice to just get a random, unscheduled call. kind of like being back in philly when i had a phone i actually used. i spent a good deal of time people watching and just walking around. this market has so many good things- hot cider, cheese, a bajillion kinds of mushrooms, big cuts of meat, and a thousand food vendors. can't wait to take grandpa there when he comes to visit.

afterwards i went to covent garden. i've decided i'm going to treat myself to a cupcake once a week at a new bakery. i've already tried hummingbird bakery and butter (both in kensington) and decided to venture elsewhere. though a little tougher to find, primrose bakery was absolute perfection. the whole place smelled INCREDIBLE. i couldn't stop talking about how good it smelled and the lady behind the counter definitely thought i was crazy. i got a coconut and lime cupcake ( i know i know, right after i ate the custard. i'm not a good grown up.) with a glass bottle of diet coke (she even gave me a straw!) and my total was still only £2.85. that's less than most other cupcakes cost. crazy. the cupcake was absolutely perfect too. so good. i sat outside and read my book (the not-so-cupcake friendly blood river about the congo) and people watched. a british woman asked for directions at one point (which i happily gave- i'm getting better at navigating) and she complimented me on my accent and asked which state i was from. saying 'pennsylvania' out loud, i was hit was a small wave of home sickness, but it quickly passed.

i hung around covent garden for a bit longer, browsing some shops (they had some awesome toy stores and a place called octopus that has all kinds of funky cheese graters and umbrellas with faces.) my favorite spot was a tiny toy store that sold old timey toys- paper dolls, pop-up paper theaters, animal masks, puppets, tiny music boxes, flip books- i was totally in love and could have easily blown my cash there. it reminded me of the sort of magical play element i associate with my grandma weigel- lots of imagination and antique-y details. i ended up buying some spy pens (they remind me of my mom and the activity books she used to buy us for long trips- they always came with decoder pens. this is becoming a very nostalgic post.) for £1. the weather was absolutely perfect and i took my time getting home. i listened to my music and stopped to read my book every now and then and just soak up the scenery. i'm beginning to really enjoy dates with myself.

also: total sidenote, but BOTH of my shoelaces broke today. it was the first good walking day with my soul mate boots (only $6 at salvation army- italian leather- lace up- so in love) and i think i was tiring them out but jeeze- both laces?!? it happened at seperate times though oddly both occured as soon as i got to the subway platform. i just knotted the lace and went on with my day but it was definitely very odd.

this weekend: to amsterdam! for flower markets and biking and van gogh!

also

it recently occurred to me that i haven't posted any pictures actually of me being in england, so here's a few to make up for the lack thereof in the past. just in case you guys thought i was lying since i didn't have any photographic proof. from the top: this is me in bath! this is me pretending to sit on some pointy things in bath! this is me in front of the globe! this is me with saint paul's in the background! this is me with chrissy at stonehenge! see! i'm really in a foreign country! photo cred to my roomies keiran and christine.

stones and baths

so. i feel like i'm not updating this blog as frequently as i should be but rest assured if there is ever a lull in the blog, it means that i'm just out doing more blog-worthy things and seeking new adventures that i can take obnoxious pictures of and post on here. so it's all good.

this weekend all 43 temple kids plus our professor and her daughter hopped on an early morning bus (8am!) to stonehenge and bath. i slept the entire ride up to stonehenge (despite our tour guide's incessant chatter- this woman literally talked about anything and everything.) and woke up to beautiful blue skies and the gorgeous english countryside. i forgot how much i enjoy seeing all the green and open spaces. london can be kind of gray and blah at times. the weather was absolutely perfect and we took our time walking around the ancient stones. we took plenty of goofy pictures and tried naming the rocks. it's insane to be standing near something that old (even though you can't really stand very close). very cool regardless.

then we got back on the bus and headed to bath. mind you, aunt karen and i had done this whole routine before, back when we came to visit in 2005, but doing it with the college crew added a new spin on things and it was still a lot of fun. of course, we hit up the roman baths that are central to the town (and it's namesake). again- totally insane to think about how old that stuff is! i also love the idea that the city is built upon itself- the ground literally rises a foot every 100 years. so if you were to take a slice out of the city it would be like a layer cake of history. very cool. at the end of the roman bath tour, we tried some water from the hot spring that fills the bath. i was all excited to try real spring water- unnecessarily so though. that stuff was not only really warm, but tasted like weird eggs and awful stuff. definitely didn't finish my class.

we had some free time in bath so we went to lunch at a local pub where we were reminded that london is expensive not because it's british, but because it's a huge city. this pub was so dirt cheap i wanted to cry. i got a steak pie with fries and peas PLUS a pint of guinness all for £5. we ate outside to take advantage of the glorious weather and generally just had a good time talking and eating our super cheap meals.

the bus ride home was a little longer than anticipated but still a lot of fun. full of singing and chatting and my bus buddy beating me at checkers on his ipod touch. saturday night was another bonding night for the program and sunday was spent recovering from our adventures. all the girls in the program went to a really nice 'family dinner' at a mexican place in leicester square and it was a perfect end to the weekend. overall: grade A adventures.