Afternoon Tea and Polka Dots

This afternoon, my two best girlfriends here in London and I ventured up to Highgate for an afternoon tea. For those who aren't familiar with the English tradition, afternoon tea is generally more than just, well...tea in the afternoon. It generally involves baked goods, and sometimes champagne. Ours ended up being quite casual, but super yummy and enjoyable!

We went to an adorable little tearoom called High Tea of Highgate, which is up in north London, not too far from where my friends both live. First of all, the place is obviously precious. Second, they hand bake all of their baked goods in-store each and every day...so when they're out, they're out. They have interesting things like lavender cake, as well as traditional options such as scones and cupcakes. They also had a vast assortment of different teas -- it was hard to make up my mind!

I ended up choosing the strawberry and orange tea (which was amazing), along with a mini vanilla cupcake with vanilla buttercream frosting. Buttercream frosting truly is the food of the gods, isn't it? Kate went with the London afternoon blend with a slice of lavender cake, and Paloma had the strawberry and orange tea along with a piece of lemon drizzle spongecake.

Everyone loved their choices. The mini cupcake was perfect for me, because I wasn't very hungry at all, and those three bites were the perfect amount to feed my sweet tooth. I'm never one to turn a cupcake down -- they are my favorite! Not to mention, these were homemade and truly amazing. But I still managed to get the same amount of satisfaction out of it that I would have gotten from one that was three times the size. I mean, look at that face -- do I look upset in any way?? ;) And while I absolutely loved that cupcake, the real star of the show was the amazing tea. I'm a tea lover, and that strawberry/orange tea may be the best I've had. It was loose leaf, unsurprisingly...and sweet enough without being overbearing. And did you notice that it's pink?!?

We also really liked the cream pourer. Is that a word? Meh, if not then I just made it one. We liked it so much, we spotted some for sale in the shop and ran (okay, fast walked) to them. Err...£25. Adorable, but...well, we are poor graduate students. Couple that with the fact that I'm attempting to run my UK bank account dry before I leave (I think I'm at about £20 left right now), and I think you'll probably guess that I did not come home with a patterned porcelain cow.

It was such a nice afternoon with my girls that I'm going to miss so, so much. **tear** Prior to going out for our tea, we met at Kate's flat with another one of my lovely girlfriends, Emmy, and had a pink champagne toast while munching on some cheese and crackers and catching up. It's just so hard for me to understand and accept that I won't be seeing these girls anymore after a few days.../sigh.

Tomorrow should be interesting. In the morning, I'm going to head over to ULU to have my three copies of my dissertation bound, and then I'll make my way to SPP to turn. them. in. Whoa. It's weird to think that, in a way, this whole year had led up to this point...the turning in of the 'big one.'

After I get that taken care of, it's time to commence the packing! I think I have a lot of work to do. I need to get rid of the things I won't be taking home with me (like some books, my toiletries, my sheets/towels/pillows, etc.) and weed through my clothing to see what I do want to take home. I think three days should be enough time to sort through my life in my little room here!

Okay, time for some more LSAT studying. I haven't been as disciplined this weekend as I need to be. For that, I will now be up for the next 3-4 hours doing work. Party animal.

Last Night

Last night was my last Friday night, and the beginning of my last weekend in London.

We had an IPAS get together up in Camden.

I saw lots of friends.

I cried.

The end.

Holy August, Batman.

I can't believe it's already August...can you?!? August has apparently brought with it some warmer temperatures to London. Today's high is 83 -- I can't remember the last time it was in the 80s here! Wait...it was probably April.

I'm a little sad today, as today is also the start of the Robinson back home. What is the Robinson, you ask? Well, it's a week-long memorial tournament that takes place at my family's tennis club. Robinson Week has always been one of the biggest weeks of the year for my family. Back when I was younger, four of the five of us were usually playing in it. When I was a teenager, I often worked 80-hour weeks during it. Now that I'm even older, I just like to go and hang out, see people I haven't seen in a while, and watch my mom and brother play. It's not uncommon to have a few cocktails during the night sessions, or to take the dogs up there to wander around. They always love going to the Tennis House, but they especially love it during Robinson Week! Anyways, it's just weird to think that this is the second Robinson in three years that I've missed due to being in London. Prior to this, I think I only missed one when I was younger and went camping with my cousin. I even played in the Robinson before I was born, with my mommy! :P

But not to fear, rather than eating all kinds of homemade goodies and watching the kids play today, I'm doing something just as fun -- dissertation editing. Ew, I'm totally kidding. I can't even describe how over this paper I am. I've said it before and I'll say it again -- working on my MSc. has shown me that I have no desire to continue on for a Ph.D. I've really enjoyed this year, and the months of research has been fine...but I would not want to do this for years. Good god, no. This is invaluable experience, because in the past, I thought I would possibly go on for a Ph.D. No, no, no...after I turn in this paper in a week, I am done with academic research, at least in this capacity. This is clearly not to say that law school will be a walk in the park, but I think that's the kind of schoolwork that I gravitate towards. I won't miss the hours spent with SPSS and putting together data spreadsheets and coding and all this garbage.

Speaking of law school, today officially starts Day 1 of LSAT studying. I've already been spending some time going through my books, but I haven't been sticking to any kind of schedule. That changes today...and I need to keep my nose to the grindstone for the next two months so I'm hopefully able to achieve an acceptable score on the test in October!

Not a fun update from me, I know. Here are a few photos I took on my walk/run over to Regent's Park yesterday. Since moving over close to Russell Square, I haven't been up there...but yesterday was a beautiful day and it just seemed right.

10 more days! :)

The Last 2 Weeks...

Well, I've reached the "2 Weeks Remaining" mark here in London. It's crazy to think that around this time last year, I was starting to get things ready to move out here. The year has completely flown by!

I'm sad to say that it's looking like my last two weeks won't be filled with tons of fun moments. Don't get me wrong -- I will make sure to do some of the things I love to do in London, but the amount of work I still have to do for my dissertation feels overwhelming. It didn't help that I had a little mishap with my Macbook last week that left me without it for six days.

As of right now, I'm standing at about 6,500 words written, out of 10,000. I still have to finish and polish up my introduction, add a bit to my literature review and methodology sections, refine my findings/analysis section, and write my concluding remarks and discussion section. So, those remaining 3,000-3,500 words should pretty much take care of themselves, but I have about a week to get through them. I'm also trying to decide if I want to run a certain type of test on my data to include in my paper...I'm leaning towards no, but I always second guess myself.

How boring is this? Sorry. I'm just trying to keep in mind that in less than two weeks, my toes will be in the sand! Yes, I fully intend to go to the beach my first day back...if only to take my sandals off and walk into the water. I feel so landlocked, it's not even funny. I've never spent so much time away from the Great Lakes, and it's a weird feeling.

Another thing to look forward to (besides the overly obvious family, friends, dogs, American food, etc.) -- a HAIRCUT. I feel like a total Shaggy right now, and if I'm being honest, I've needed a haircut since before my family was here. It's remarkable that I could go months and months and months without one when my hair was so long...but at this length, the second it's too long it's just TOO LONG. Thank goodness my madre has already booked me an appointment the day after I get home. :) Priorities, ya know??

Okay, off to write. If I get enough done, I may just get to do something fun tonight. It remains to be seen if that's likely or not...

Harry Potter!!

It's been brought to my attention that I did not sufficiently cover the one fun aspect of my weekend: going to see Harry Potter!  As I alluded to before, Friday was a busy day. This is mostly good, because I got a LOT done -- I worked on my dissertation for a few hours, I made it to the gym (which is an achievement in itself lately), and I did a practice LSAT test. That last one might not sound like much to those of you who may not be well versed in the nuances of the LSAT...but a practice test done correctly will take a good 4 hours out of your day. And it's not fun. And it's tedious. And after doing one, it's not uncommon to want to just flop in your bed and watch re-runs of The Real Housewives of New Jersey all night.

But luckily, I pulled myself together after all of that and headed up to Tufnell Park to catch up with my favorite girls Kate and Paloma at Kate's adorable new flat. First of all, her flat is amazing. She's going to have a perfect little year there. It made me kind of excited to think about how in about a year, I will be moving again into a new apartment, location yet to be determined. Anyways, we had a nice catch-up chat session, since we hadn't seen each other for a week. Lots happens in a week here, ya know??  Kate provided the sausage dip and chips, and Paloma provided the cookies 'n cream ice cream. Perfect combination? Sure.

Around 9:45 or so, we headed over to Camden to go see HP! I won't say too much about it, but I LOVED it. I think it was, by far, the best movie of the 8. Definitely a nice ending to the series (though the epilogue was a little creepy/very humorous to us). Of course movies very, very rarely accomplish everything that the book does, and this was no exception...but it was still a well done flick. I liked that there was focus and closure on a lot of the supporting characters (Neville, Luna, Hagrid, etc.) as well as the main ones. Of course my favorite aspect was a glimpse into the amazing character development that J.K. Rowling achieved with Snape, my favorite character.

Okay, okay, okay...that's enough. Just know that: a) Friday night was a great night with the girls, and b) HP was amazing and you should go see it if you're a fan of the books or movies, or both.

Now, onto another busy day of the same old, same old. Dissertation, LSAT, gym. Oh life.

Not much of an update, but...

I have the best family ever. Seriously. I can't wait to be home.

In other news, I've gotten about 3600 words done on my dissertation...mostly from the introduction, lit review, and methodology sections. I'm expecting the findings/analysis and conclusions/discussion sections to take up around 4000-5000 words, so I'm well on my way. I have to hold off to write those sections until I choose to close my survey and analyze my findings, which won't take long.

Now my next focus is getting serious again about my LSAT studying. It's crazy to think the test is only a little over two months away!

But rest assured -- I've been a busy little bee here in London. Not much time for fun stuff! It'll be worth it in the end though. :)

Change of Plans

I'm super busy today so I'll just be short and straight to the point -- instead of flying back home to Michigan on 22 August, I am now leaving on 11 August! There are a few different reasons, but those are unimportant. I will say though that I am thrilled to be going home soon. I don't think it's necessary to reemphasize how much I do love London...but just in case: I LOVE LONDON! I think I'm just ready to be home. It's bizarre for me to think about the fact that I haven't seen my dad (or my dogs...CRY) for 6 months now, and by the time I do see them it will have been 7! It's only 11 days sooner than my original flight, but that's 11 days more of Michigan summer, boating, the beach, and rooftop wine and sweet potato chips at the Vintage. It will also allow me to be home for my sister's birthday on the 18th, which I'm very happy about. Oh, and let's not forget the Britney & Nicki concert IN GRAND RAPIDS on the 17th! Somehow, I blanked out on the fact that it was going to be at Van Andel...I just assumed it was going to be in Detroit. So yes, that's a must-see. Van Andel is such a great venue for concerts because it's small -- Kel and I (and a couple of her friends) saw John Mayer there the winter before last. Amazing.

I've got lots of good stuff to look forward to, and I'm a happy girl. But now the next four weeks (well, now it's less than four weeks!) are going to be super crazy. I'm now looking to finish up my dissertation in three weeks, and I'm also trying to stay on a somewhat regular LSAT studying schedule. I'm in a pretty decent position regarding my dissertation -- I have about 2,000 solid words done (out of 10,000). About half of the paper can't be done until I close my survey and analyze the findings. Once I do that, I can type up the findings section, as well as the conclusions and discussion sections. Right now, I'm mainly focusing on the literature review and methodology parts of the paper. On top of all that, I have lots of fun to have with my friends before I leave. It's going to be a quick and wild four weeks, I'm sure. 

Okay, that is all the updating I have time for. I am now off to the gym, and after that is more dissertation work. Later on, Kate, Paloma, and I are getting together for drinks and food before going to see Harry Potter in Camden. Yay! 

The end of June and July, thus far...

Yet again, I find myself having to apologize for my absence the past few (er...nine) days. I'm sure you all understand -- I'm busy with my dissertation and living it up in London since my time here is winding down!

Since I last wrote, a few things have happened. 

There was a going away party/drinks gathering combination event for a couple of my friends -- one who recently moved back to Ireland, and one who is old (but fun!). I'm just kidding...he's only a couple of years older than me. The gathering took place at Proud Camden, which is where we had our Valentine's Day event back in February. You know, the place that used to consist of horse stables that is now converted into a pretty cool bar?

(These photos were borrowed from another friend, because I'm a photo failure sometimes.)

So that was a good night. I initially planned on just going to say hi to everyone, and not drinking, since I had a ton of work to do. Weeelllllll, that didn't work out as planned, and I drank far too much wine with my handsome friend Dylan (in the first photo above). It was a lot of fun though, and needed.

The next night, a few of my friends and I had a little nighttime picnic-ish in Hyde Park to listen to the Arcade Fire concert. Mumford & Sons opened, so I was pretty excited about that. We stayed in the park for a few hours, since it was such a nice night. Eventually, we did get kind of cold and found our ways back home.

Then, on Friday, it was Canada Day! I have a few good Canadian buddies here, and they were pretty excited to celebrate the anniversary of their country's independence. Who am I to deny them that? The main festivities were held in Trafalgar Square, so that's where we headed first.

There were vast amounts of poutine, beaver tails, curly fries, and Molson to go around. Canada was certainly well represented on that day.

Somewhere along our journey, we came across this sign, which Dylan and I loved and giggled over for a minute.

Oh, if only. I eventually separated with Dylan and Charlotte and met up with a few of my other friends later on that evening, which resulted in a late pub night with lots of good conversation, bad singing, and cheap beer. In other words...the best kind of night possible.

Since I had a pretty social Wednesday-Friday, I took it relatively easy on Saturday and Sunday, and tried to focus on getting some work done for my dissertation. I did manage to spend some time with a friend on Saturday, so as not to go completely dissertation crazy. 

Finally, this week has been all business so far. I have been super focused (for me, at least) on all the 'not always fun' kind of things: my dissertation, working out, and my future. Right...so, not always fun. However, these past three days have been pretty productive -- I've finally got my official survey up and running for my research, I've been doing a bit of LSAT studying and now have two of my 'bibles' on the way to me here (thanks, madre!), and I feel like I'm making some genuine progress on figuring out my plan for what I'm going to do when I return home in a couple of months. Wow, not even a couple of months...time is flying. Sidenote: I did get together with a friend for a while on Monday to celebrate the Fourth of July. I must say, it's not nearly as much fun here. We joked that we wanted to put on bikinis and drink a lot of booze to make us feel more like we were back home. We still had a good time though.

In other news, I'm sure you've heard or read or seen that Casey Anthony was acquitted on murder, child abuse, and aggravated manslaughter charges yesterday. I can't begin to describe how sick it made me feel to hear the court clerk announce the jury's decisions. I've pretty extensively watched and covered this trial from day one. I didn't know much about it before going in, which was actually ideal as it made me objective to all the internet rumors and miscellaneous evidence that the state chose not to present. I truly felt that the prosecution did an adequate job of proving her guilt in the death of her daughter. I thought the jury would come back with a verdict of guilty on felony murder, though not necessarily murder in the first degree. However, they also had the options of lesser charges second and third degree murder, as well as manslaughter...but did not feel she was guilty. My mind was blown. I have no doubt in my mind nor heart that Casey killed her poor little girl, whether or not she planned in. It just breaks my heart that she will now be getting what she wanted all along -- her 'bella vita' (meaning 'beautiful life', which is the tattoo she got while Caylee was "missing", though according to Casey's story, this would have been while she was grieving the accidental drowning death). She'll be free to do all the partying she wants to now...just like she originally wanted. And on top of all that, she'll be making bank with the book, movie, and television deals she'll be getting. The thing that makes me sickest is the thought that she may decide to start a family again someday. ARGH -- the thought makes me violently mad, to be honest.

Okay, sorry for that tangent...I have a lot of anger reserved for Casey Anthony, and truthfully I'm still a bit in shock that she will likely be walking out of the courthouse tomorrow after her sentencing a free woman (due to time already served). Sickening.

I probably should have saved some kind of good, light news to end on, huh? Umm...we're more than halfway to the weekend? Right. That is good news. I'm looking forward to spending some time with my friends this weekend, after a couple more days of hard work tomorrow and Friday. 

Ah, I have an idea for a good ending. My sister sent me these beautiful photos of our dogs from her Fourth of July gathering. How sweet are they??

The beautiful old girl...Casey

Happy 4th of July from Zo!

Ms. Molly Weasley

All tuckered out after a day of play...

The little Moo Nugget. :)

Okay, I feel better. That's a good note to end on. Until next time! :)

Today's Inspirational Tidbit and a Life Update.

I love that quote. 

Today, my 'can'ts' have mainly consisted of: I can't find the motivation to do this dissertation work, I can't figure out which survey model I'm going to use for said dissertation that I can't find the motivation for, I can't stop watching bad reality television and old seasons of 'The Wire' in an effort to avoid working on said unmotivated dissertation work...and the like. You get the picture.

My next meeting is on Friday morning, bright and early. By that time, I really need to be able to walk into Alex's office with a solid first draft of the survey that I plan to use to gather data for my project. In reality, I do have the majority of the questions that I'm going to ask planned out. The next step is to get these questions formulated into an online survey. To do so, I plan on using my school's survey mechanism, but I didn't realize until today that I had to apply to be able to use it! So, that's on hold until I receive confirmation and a password -- hopefully in the next couple of days, yikes. I also need to work on compiling a basic webpage that I need to use to help prime my survey respondents while they are completing the questions. Those are my two main tasks for the next few days.

Also on the agenda for Friday: moving! SO, packing definitely needs to happen this week as well. Packing and dissertation, packing and dissertation...I just need to keep repeating it to myself and I'll somehow make it happen. 

Oh, but wait -- there's more. MY FAMILY GETS HERE ON FRIDAY MORNING!! That sentence warranted some serious Kanye-capitalizing because it's so major. I'm ecstatic and I can't wait to see them. It has definitely put a little more hop in my step! It's been six months since I last saw them -- that's (by far) the longest I've ever gone without seeing them. Prior to this, the longest was the three months between moving here and going home for Christmas. To say that we're a close family would be an understatement. My sister and brother are my best friends, and I have the best parents anyone could ever ask for. Kellen was obviously here back in November for a couple of weeks, so she's practically a Londoner. ;) But this will be the first time in London (and Europe, in general) for my madre, Brett, and Julie (our dear family friend). I'm so excited to show off my lovely city to them. Wimbledon will be attended, much beer and Pimm's will be had, fish 'n chips will be eaten. In short, it's going to be amazing. The only downside to this trip is that my dad is unable to come...unable meaning there isn't a strong enough drug for him to take to be able to make it through the eight hour flight. Understandable. Flying doesn't bother me, but I totally sympathize for those who dislike it. ((So it's okay daddio -- I love you and will be seeing you in two and a half months!))

I know -- dissertation meeting, a move, AND the arrival of my family! It's going to be a hectic day, that's for certain. My basic plan is to get my meeting done and out of the way early (9:00 a.m., check), head to Heathrow, get the fam-damily situated in their Covent Garden flat, head out for lunch and a walking tour (I know, I'm a nerd), enlist the help of my brother to move me out of my little room, and then head to a pub for dinner and some drinks. Perfect, perfect. After that, depending on how tired and jet-lagged everyone will (might?) be, maybe we'll do a little night on the town. Hey, when you only have eight days in the best city in the world, you need to make the most of it! 

I'm sure you all understand how it's difficult for me to focus on the tasks at hand when such awesomesauce things are on the horizon! I'm already thinking of things I can do to get out and enjoy the sunny, 70+ degree weather tomorrow...I'm thinking a park day with my new book (and I'll most likely bring along the monster LSAT prep book for good measure). 

Speaking of awesomesauce, look what I found at M&S today:

Awww yeah. Chocolate covered pretzels are one of my most favorite things in the world. These babies were new at M&S and you better believe I grabbed them the second I saw them. Once home, they went straight into the fridge to chill for a cool few hours. My tummy was so happy. I would like to note, however, that my original intention going into M&S was to pick up fruit. Judge away.

Okay, Hayley out. I really should try and get some work done tonight...in between episodes of 'The Real Housewives of New Jersey', of course. 

And She Shall Go To The Ball.

Last night was the much-anticipated SPP end of the year ball -- officially dubbed 'A Night at Monte Carlo' due to the blackjack tables that were present. It was held at Opal, a kind of swanky little place down on Embankment. There were 150+ people, and I think a fun time was had by all.

Kate and I started out the day by hanging out at her flat and catching up...so needed. She left for a two week vacation back in Texas early this morning, so we needed some quality time before then! A couple of hours later, Paloma and Harry joined, and we had a grand little time being ridiculous: singing, dancing, eating, drinking, playing games, and finally getting dressed and leaving.

Apples To Apples -- umm, we'll just say it's a fun game. :)

In the middle of our little dance party.

Not sure why we thought this was a good idea but this picture shows pure happiness. I love my Palomy!

She was my date for the night. :)

Keeping it super classy with the huge honking carrots dipped in hummus. And peanuts. And vodka.

Love, love, love my girls. These are two of the main reasons I will miss London so much.

Prom photos!

About to embark on a booze-filled tube ride. Looking back, this was probably unnecessary.

At the actual event.

Overall, I think the event was really nice. It was well-planned (good job, Char!) and I think enjoyed by most, if not all. I, for one, am more than happy to have an excuse to throw on some five inch leopard print pumps, a pretty dress, and red lipstick!

This morning...was a tad rough. I may or may not have stayed in bed until 1:00 p.m. ((You know that means I did.)) Thankfully, I'm feeling much, much better now, and finally feel like I can start being somewhat productive, albeit from my bed. On this evening's agenda is more LSAT studying and possibly a trip to the gym. Rad.

It Has Begun.

LSAT studying, that is.

Never fear: since the test is still months away, I'm just working on some preliminary things. Nothing too strenuous that will keep me from doing much more important things, like park wandering and outdoor day drinking.

I don't think that working on my dissertation, studying for the LSAT, and the above mentioned summer activities will be enough to keep me occupied and happy this summer, however. After discussing it with one of my friends, he suggested I should look into volunteering. Perfect idea. Ever since I made the decision to definitely apply for law school for next fall, I had the idea that I would go home and split my time between a part time job and volunteering (hopefully at the Humane Society or some type of rescue organization). So, I've started looking into various animal charities and homes in London that I could work with. Sadly, most of them require a time commitment of 3-6+ months, but I've been communicating with one organization in particular that seems to be willing to work with my time constraints. Being able to walk and play with dogs a few times a week sounds more than perfect for me. :)

Cross your fingers that that ends up working out for me. If it doesn't, I'll still be on the hunt for something meaningful to do with some of my time. Now I'm off to enjoy the rest of the French Open Men's final! I'd love to see Federer win, but I'm definitely a fan of Nadal as well. Can't go wrong here.

Thank The Heavens Above.

I'm ALL done with final exams for my course. The past couple of months have been completely crazy and flown by, but at the same time it felt like it took a long time to reach this day. Regardless, my focus is now set on working on my dissertation, continuing to work on my running, and to have an amazing London summer. It'll be hard to beat a good old Michigan summer filled with beach days, boating, swimming in the lake, running with my dogs, and Tigers games; but I feel confident that my London summer will be one of the best yet. How can it not be? I'm in the best city and I have wonderful people around me. :)

Yesterday after our exam was finished at 1:00, we all headed to a pub near Liverpool Street and started an extremely long day of drinking that involved tequila shots, many bottles of wine, cider, and drinking games. Oy. It was tons of fun though -- everyone was in a great mood since we were all so relieved to be done.

On a less positive note (at least in the eyes of my poor parents who read this), I may or may not be becoming addicted to the amazing sleep that I am able to get after drinking inordinate amounts of alcohol. And by 'may or may not', I mean that I definitely am. I'll keep ya updated.

Next on my agenda is a meeting with my dissertation supervisor on Friday that I am entirely unprepared for. So, the next two days will be spent trying to come up with some meaningful things to present to him so that he hopefully doesn't think that I am a completely worthless tutee that isn't worthy of his time. Working on that...

It's 9:30 a.m. I've Been Awake Since 8:30 a.m. I'm Going Running.

Who am I?

I feel like I don't even know myself.

While I do generally wake up early(ish), it's usually due to insomniac tendencies which leave me in a severe zombie-like state. Thus, running this early in the morning usually equates to, uhh...waterboarding for me. Okay, torture? That might be taking it a bit far, but it's just not really fun. I'd much rather run later on in the day when I have some energy (read: I've sucked down about 13.4 cups of highly caffeinated black tea) and can enjoy and appreciate my time out there, rather than spending the entire time cursing just about anything that I can think of while doing it in the morning. 

Alas, today I have my second final in the afternoon, and I pretty much plan on heading to the bar shortly thereafter. So a morning run it is! Because plans later? Um, undecided...I just know that they WILL involve alcohol, and that I WILL be forgetting that Public Policy Economics and Analysis was ever a part of my life. I. hate. econ. I decided this after taking my second econ class back at MSU, with the worst professor I've ever had in my life. Let's just ignore the fact that I then went on to take a third advanced international economics course, much like this one. It was a lapse in judgement. Though, looking back, my professor was an adorable and charming elderly British man, and I did do well -- maybe those are good signs for today.

Okay, now I'm just rambling to stall. Off to run a surely less than graceful, uncoordinated, in-a-trance run. Oh, the life of an injured and insomniac runner.

Current Obsessions:

1. The Casey Anthony capital murder trial.

 

Opening statements were today, and OH SNAP, shit's already getting real. Up until today, Casey has never admitted publicly what "really" happened to her toddler daughter, Caylee, who she is accused of murdering. Caylee went missing three years ago. Casey failed to report her missing for 30+ days. In those 30 days, Casey partied it up with her friends and was having the time of her life. Caylee's body was found about 6 months later. Up until today, the main speculation has been that Casey killed Caylee and hid the body her trunk before disposing of it. Now, her defense claim admitted (according to Casey) in opening statements that Caylee died at the beginning of those 30+ days by accidentally drowning in the family's pool, and that her parents forced her to cover it up. They're also trying to paint a picture of a highly secretive family riddled with scandals of sex abuse. Defense is claiming that Casey's father and brother sexually abused her from the age of 8, and for this, she is a mentally disturbed girl that didn't know how to react when her daughter accidentally died.

It's already sticky. I'm already obsessed with watching the live feed. This will definitely be somewhat of a problem in coming weeks...

For those just tuning in, here is an article that goes over some of the "bombshells" that were dropped during opening statements. Also, the live feed I've been using has been the one from CNN Live.

2. Pineapple.

Strange, because I've never particularly cared for it before.

3. Lady Gaga's new album, 'Born This Way.'

Definitely good for the running playlist. The above song is an amazing throwback to late 80s/early 90s pop music (Fashion of His Love).

4. Not into the Mother Monster? Never fear...I'm currently also quite obsessed with Arcade Fire's album from 2004, 'Funeral.' That's right, circa junior year of high school. It's just...good. No more explanation needed.

(Song: Wake Up).

5. Season one of 'The Wire.'

Err, well...if you haven't heard of 'The Wire' then there clearly is something wrong with you. It's an incredibly well written show about crime investigation set in Baltimore. I've watched it all before, but sometimes it's nice to have a little throwback action, ya know? 

One Exam Down...

...and never mind the fact that we technically still have two exams to go, most likely more difficult than the first. My friends and I all still came to the conclusion that the two-hour exam we took yesterday warranted ohh, about five hours of post-stress boozing up at the Union. I've come to find that as stress levels increase, so does the probability of being unable to say no to £1 pints.

Speaking of £1 pints...I'm probably going to have to lay off them if I want to continue to fit in my dress that I bought for our end of the year ball! It arrived today, and the best news is that I won't have to quit eating for the next three weeks. (Food -- why do you have to be so good?) It fits perfectly, so that's good news...no more looking around and worrying about that. Now I've moved on to the hunt for shoes. I'm such a sucker for any occasion where I get to wear a nice cocktail dress and some pumps. Throw in the fact that we're going to be drinking with our professors and dancing the night away to American and U.K. pop hits and it just really can't get much better than that!

That's really all I have to report, London-wise. In other news - who watched the amazing hot mess that was 'The Real Housewives of New Jersey' last night??

Oh. My. Word.

If you haven't, I suggest you run, don't walk, to your nearest DVR and record the next airing to watch with your glass of wine or nightly pint of Ben & Jerry's (or both) tonight. You know, whichever is your poison. But seriously -- these bitches are CAR-AZAY. You will not regret this hour of your life. In fact, in may be the best hour of your week. Just sayin'.

Well, That Didn't Go As Planned...

Oh well. The Wings had a great season in which they faced a lot of adversity -- lots of injuries, and a tough road schedule as usual, and they kicked its ass. It does need to be said though: Pavel's shot was an absolute snipe show.

Damn. He's incredible. Watching the playoffs from afar this year has really got me excited to go to as many games as possible next season! Mother, that means that I need a season ticket in addition to the ones you have. K, thanks! And don't act like we wouldn't have a majorly awesome time with that (yes, I said majorly awesome). Greektown, casino, bakery...oh, and of course the hockey too!

Anyhow, I am completely and shamelessly avoiding studying at all costs. I have cleaned my room, gone grocery shopping, read magazines, uploaded photos, and I'm getting ready to go for a run...yet, I've spent about ten minutes looking through a few slides. I'm truthfully not too worried about my exams, but I really do need to put a little more time in to this whole revision deal. Meh, whatever.

Last night, my friends and I went to Opal, which is down on the embankment. It's where we're holding our end of the year School of Public Policy ball, so we went on a semi-secret mission to go check it out. It was great! As I've griped about before, I'm not too into the whole English house music bar/club scene here. My friends know -- I'm a slave to the dance floor. It's true. But, I just can't get into it with the house music. Luckily, on Friday nights Opal plays amazing American dance music...think: Britney, Gaga, Rihanna, Justin Timberlake, etc. Hello, lover! We had a pretty great time.

The lady that we are in talks with for the event offered us free admission, a private table, and a bottle of wine. Who are we to say no? The booths had these horribly tacky yet simply amazing rhinestone details.

I was craving a Cosmopolitan...don't ask me why. So I decided to have one. Or four.

And Matt, now that you've told me you read this, this photo simply had to go up. He liked my drink. Isn't he so cute??

Oh, so you've also probably noticed that I chopped my hair off. Well, I didn't do it myself -- but I paid way too much money to have someone who actually knows what they're doing do it for me! I was feeling a little too attached to my long, damaged, un-styled hair, and I don't like feeling too attached to anything aside from, umm...my dogs. I thought I'd come out of the experience with a haircut that was okay; one that would be a lot better for the summer and easier to manage. But, to my surprise, I actually really like it. It's super corny, but it really is freeing to cut ten inches off of one's hair. Plus, my head feels very light now...though that may actually just be my hangover.

**thank you to my graphic designer friend A who has made my blog look a little more presentable...I'm useless with that stuff! :)