Brief Update

Hi everyone!! So sorry for my absence from my blog. My daily life in America isn't nearly as interesting as the one I led in London, though a few things have happened since I returned.

Rather than take the October LSAT like I originally planned, I decided to take advantage of a Testmasters course in Detroit and rather opted to take the December test. This definitely worked to my benefit, as I received a score that I'm both proud of and should help to either get me a full/sizeable scholarship or into a great school.

I submitted my applications last week. I ended up applying to all Midwest schools, as I ultimately decided that being close my family and friends is of major importance to me. I applied to:

• Michigan State
• Indiana University-Bloomington
• Wisconsin-Madison
• Ohio State
• Iowa
• Minnesota
• Chicago-Kent
• Case Western

So, the waiting game has begun.

Aside from that, I've just mainly been enjoying time with my family. I've been doing things like cooking and running a lot, and I taught myself how to knit. I know, I'm basically a 93-year old woman...but I like it. Our house is crazy and overrun with dogs as usual, but I love that as well.

The next couple of months will be spent doing law school visits to check out the campuses, law schools, and programs of the schools I'm considering...so that should be fun.

I told you all my life is super boring -- I knit and deal with law school stuff. Hence my reasons for not blogging. Anyhow, I'm doing great and I just wanted to send out an update because I still receive emails regularly asking me what I've been up to. :) I'll try and make more of an effort to post here when I can from now on.

Love from Michigan!

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. :)

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.