brighton up my day

went to brighton and seven sisters cliff on saturday! it was a program-wide trip so all 40 of us piled in a big ol' bus and took to the country. the cliffs were beautiful and white and ridiculously dangerous- there's no rope or fence or anything so you can just slip off the edge if you're not careful. keiran, christine, and i have been trying to hug more (we're just not a touchy group of people) so we scheduled a hug at the cliffs and it went down fairly smoothly. still need some practice.

after exploring the natural splendor of the coast (i always forget we're on an island. so stupid.) we drove to brighton- awesome sea-side town that's not nearly as trashy as the east coast beach towns i'm used to. we toured the royal pavilion (no pictures allowed = super lame. i snuck one of the awesome carpet though.) where king george IV hung out. it was seriously decked out. used to be a barn but he transformed it into his 'pleasure palace' and did the place up real nice with an ornate, oriental decor theme. incredible dragon chandeliers and lotus blossoms everywhere. they had gilded snake curtain holders too. i was dying. so good. apparently when queen victoria came to visit she described it as "all weird and chinesey" and george's brother hated it because of george's "knick-knackery". (the audio tour was hilarious though i don't think it was supposed to be . . . ) i bought a sweet "keep calm and carry on" tea towel in the gift shop too. (love me some gift shop.)

we had a couple hours to chill in brighton so we got lunch then walked around the pier. lots of arcades but no skee ball! it's a cryin' shame! we got waffles on sticks and cotton candy and took pictures with the strange cut-outs. unfortunately, it was drizzly but i would love to go back to brighton when the weather is actually decent. it had such an old time-y feel to it. huzzah for field trips!

people i love wendesday

i've just decided to start this series. because there are so many people i love and they need to make an appearance on my blog and be celebrated and called out for how awesome they are.

kicking it off: i love leah stoner.

homegirl lives across the hall from me in the flat and is genuinely one of the nicest people ever. 9.99 times out of 10, this girl has a huge smile on her face. she's always so incredibly positive and gives the best pep talks ("i don't know if i want to go to work." "you go to work and you get that work done and you have a lot of fun and go out for a pint with your coworkers!"). even when she's being angry or sassy, it still just comes off as so friggin' nice. example of leah's niceness: last night, she comes in our room and gives keiran and i a box of chocolates from harrods as a thank you for teaching her how to knit. ADORABLE. she's just such a good person to have around- someone who constantly makes the best of things. love this girl.

got 99 problems but a stitch ain't one

sunday was such a happy day. i woke up early and had the entire flat to myself (we have some late sleepers). i listened to some old school brand new and made pumpkin spice cookies and pumpkin cheesecake bars with the mix mom sent me (shoutout to helen!). at 11, we gathered up all the troops and headed to peter jones department store. getting there was a little hectic (there's always a ton of tube closures on the weekend) but when we arrived the store was totally decked out for christmas and they had a fabulous selection of yarns. i helped everyone pick out their yarn and needles before heading back to hyde park. we ordered some pizzas and had a wonderful everyone-learn-to-knit session. i've tried teaching people to knit in the past and i usually get frustrated or they give up, but everyone was so into it this time. some people caught on immediately and were total prodigies but even the ladies who struggled kept trying and really wanted to get it. it totally warmed my heart. i'm so glad i was able to share something that makes me really happy with my fellow TU london ladies. Keiran helped me troubleshoot with the people who were having issues and we ended up knitting for five straight hours. insane. but so good. and i had total yarn envy- everyone picked out such beautiful textures and colors.

it's a couple days later now and people are still knitting. i feel like a proud mama. i hope they all stick to it and create a million beautiful scarves and hats and mittens for everyone in their lives.

the time we tried to save halloween

i had some high hopes for UK halloween. this is harry potter's turf right? the land of witches and wizards? of jack the ripper and mary poppins? it's been the setting of so many magical/fantastical/historical/terrifying/downright bizarre events and stories that i just assumed halloween would be off the hook.

wrong-o.

i came back from paris sunday night to no costumes, no parties, and no candy. i passed two or three people in costume on the subway but that was it. we checked around the web looking for halloween events. nothing. zilch. zip. nada. we talked to a few brits about it and every time they responded with a shrug and a response along the lines of "we're just not that into it." they do have some trick'or'treating but even that was started by a bunch of americans in the area and isn't something widely practiced.

so let me get this straight: no labor day, people aren't really into halloween, and no thanksgiving? how do the brits get through the fall? i love looking forward to holidays- they give me something to break up the semester and things to day dream about. and as soon as one is over, you can start anticipating the next one!

but these folks seem to go straight from easter to guy fawkes day aka bonfire night. (which is actually tonight! we get to go see butt loads of fireworks! yes yes yes!)

highly disappointed in london's haunted offerings, our program threw a separate shindig a few days after the 31st. the whole flat was decked out and everyone came in some pretty decent costumes. we bobbed for apples and danced and ate chilli and compared costumes and swapped fall break stories and all drank our fair share of cider. It was like we had created our own little mock college-basement party right here in london. it warmed my heart.

i dressed as a gnome, using clothes i already owed (i don't know if i should be concerned that my every day wardrobe contains gnome clothes. . .) and a beard&hat combo i crafted out of felt (£1 a sheet! highway robbery!) and some handstitching. the beard was SUPER hat and i was sweating like a mad woman plus it was extremely difficult/impossible to eat in, but overall i was pleased with my costume. halloween redeemed itself american style and only two days late.

for mom

photographic proof that i was in all of these places. by the end of the trip by camera was full of pictures of christine and her camera was full of pictures of me. so here you have it! me standing in front of important buildings and hugging strange bears and hanging upside down for bunk beds and drinking bloody mary's where they were invented and throwing up gang signs at the berlin wall and watching ellen make a pie in prague and sharing my mittens with new friends from columbia. boo ya.