Oh my

That is really all I can say after the craziness that ensued last night. Holy. Hell.

I don't go out drinking that often, but whenever I do, shenanigans seem to follow. My lovely friend Liz came to town last night for the holiday. She went to MSU with me, although I didn't meet her until last summer on our study abroad trip. Her dad lives here in GR, so I get to see her occasionally - sometimes here, sometimes in EL. I love her to death...she is probably the best outcome from my trip last summer, aside from my newly found independence.

Anyhow, she called me up last night and decided it was absolutely necessary for us to get together. We were thinking maybe a Sunday lunch, but, uhh...let's just say we were both in the mood to put our drinking shoes on. So she comes over, we get ready (I dress Liz since she decided to come with literally NO clothes except her dirty sundress she had on, hahah), and get going. Well, the first time we got in the car with Kellen (my sister), she was saying how she wanted to go out, but really needed to work, blah blah blah. Halfway there, after much begging and pleading, we get Kellen to agree to come out...so we turn around, head back home, and wait for her to get ready. Get in the car again, and we're officially on our way.

We went to downtown GR, since the bar scene is pretty decent. Once we got inside, the sister I had to BEG to come out is already up at the bar buying three shots and three drinks. Oy...a sign of times to come! We decided we needed to get decently drunk enough to get out on the dance floor. Now understand, we are not your typical 'put on a dress and huge high heels' going out kinda gals. We were wearing dresses, yes, but we all had flat shoes on. Every single other girl in this place had on major heels, ridiculous get-ups, make up like no other - you get the picture. So imagine our surprise when we are getting hit on by like, every guy there. We were able to successfully deflect most of them (Kel and Liz both have boyfriends), but this one group of guys was very persistent.

So we made our way outside to try and catch a cab home. The aforementioned group of guys approached us (well, actually, they never really left us...) and offered to give us a ride in their LIMO. Haha, yes, limo...home from the bar in Michigan, oy. They actually said they were going to go to this amazing hotdog place in town called "Yesterdog" which is pretty close to our house, so we were like ok sure, we can ride there and then figure something out after that. I won't lie, we kinda wanted hotdogs too.

Well, half an hour later (on a ride that should've taken ten, fifteen minutes tops), we step out of the limo and find ourselves in some neighborhood in the middle of what seemed to be a forest! Whhhhhat did we get ourselves into? Admittedly, this whole limo thing wasn't our brightest idea ever, but we were in a big group and these guys were pretty innocent. I should mention that they were 'friends of friends', so it's not *as* terrible as it sounds. Anyways, we had to beg the limo driver to take us back to OUR house, because we were absolutely not staying at this house with these strange boys and their hot tub they kept mentioning. The ride home was fun though! Instead of paying about $20 for a cab, we ended up paying $45 for the limo. So worth it for the laughs we got from this.

The best part though? The guy that was very into Kellen was probably the most persistent, and would not let us leave without getting her number. In Kellen's efforts to deflect again, she gave him (what she thought was) my phone number (unbeknownst to me!) instead of hers. So this afternoon, Liz, Kel, and I went to the Electric Cheetah for some greasy grub and I start getting some mysterious text messages from my mother - asking if we had gone out the night before?, had we gone to Yesterdog?, did we end up in Cascade? and so forth. We had no idea how she knew everything.

Uhh yeah, Kellen didn't give cute guy my phone number, she gave him my mother's number!! Seriously?? So he was texting her last night apologizing, asking when we'd all hang out again, etc. He also called, and this was at 2:30 a.m., long after madre's bedtime. Good lord. He was also texting again this morning, so I finally broke the news to him that not only had he not been texting Kellen, he wasn't texting me...he was texting our 52 year old mother! HA.

All in all, it was a pretty hilarious night, and the events this morning made it even funnier. I always end up having the best times with Lizzie and my sister. Definitely memories for a long time to come!

Down by the river...

I've found somewhere to stay for my first eight (or more??) days in London! It is in a university hall down in Southbank. I'll be a stone's throw from Tate Modern, the Globe, the Eye, and a million other things! And best of all, it's pretty cheap...as far as 'cheap' in London goes!

Speaking of being down by the water, I think Kel and I are either going to go running around Reed's Lake today, or perhaps we'll talk the dogs for a walk down there. It is yet another gorgeous day out here. Later on we have to go to Maureen's graduation party for a while.

Weekend!

And thank goodness for it!

No work on Monday; ahh, the thought alone just thrills me. Kel and I may be staying put in GR this weekend and the family might be coming to us instead of us going home. That would be nice. It's supposed to be beautiful all weekend.

We're being so lame tonight and staying in, watching movies. Right now we're watching 'An Education' - I love it! And no, not just for the British accents. I actually really like Carey Mulligan.

We went out to dinner at Olive's earlier...sat in the sun outside with yummy drinks. I'm glad I'm getting a good dose of Michigan summer so far!

Some progress, at last!

I just booked my one way flight to London.  Now it is starting to feel real. At the very least, I'll be taking a nice vacation!

I got a great deal. I had basically succumbed to the fact that I would most likely be paying $1000+ , at least to fly out of Detroit, after browsing deals for the past couple months. Then I started looking at flights out of Chicago, which were about $600-700, but that's also a longer drive. Then, out of sheer curiosity  I decided to look at STA Travel. I checked that website out last year when I was looking for flights, and also used it a bit when I was overseas last summer, but fares were ridiculous back then. So imagine my shock when I find a *perfect* flight for $380!! That's considerably less than a week's paycheck...go me!

Perfect for so many reasons.

So yes, needless to say, I am very happy with my purchase! I'm leaving about a week later than I *really* wanted to, but the flight was $75 cheaper, and honestly, it will save me about $1000 in living expenses. I can live with that. I'm just super eager to get over there, but one week won't kill me.

Tomorrow I am going to look more into booking a place to stay for the week and a half before I'll be able to move into my dorm. Now I just need to wait for Congress to get off their asses and figure out this student loan business so I can get approved in order to apply for a visa. That's really the last thing I need to do (aside from booking accommodation, but that'll be easy as pie). UCL will be getting trained on the new loan processes in June and I should be hearing from them by July, so hopefully that will give me a good month and a half to get my visa secured.

Oh, and I heard back from the accommodation office today too - they confirmed they received my application, so that is all set. Another thing to check off my to-do list; I love it!! Things are finally falling into place. :)

AND tomorrow is Friday, the start of a long Memorial Day weekend - no work Monday! Things can't get much better right at the moment.

Madness

Not much new to report. Work is still crazy madness...I almost reached my breaking point today. I am still kind of leaning toward telling them I will work through June only, rather than July. I'm just not getting enough time with my family and friends. I'm so stressed and I feel like the job is sucking the life out of me. They promised me they would be hiring someone new soon, and that was over three weeks ago. I'm too busy doing my old work plus my new work on top of it; I'm at the point where my head is barely above water and it is very frustrating. I want to be able to enjoy these last few months, not be completely stressed out. The pay increase has been nice, no doubt, but I also need my sanity. It helps to vent a little though.

I received an email from UCL today saying they got all of my financial aid stuff, so that's something. I sent an email over a couple days ago about my housing application, since I never received confirmation that it had reached them. No word on that yet. Worse comes to worst I can always do another one of those and get it there by June 30th, which is the deadline.

Well, I'm off for a date with the treadmill. Then I have to work late tonight and again early tomorrow morning. Great.

The Wedding!

Well, the wedding weekend was a big success.

Friday night we had the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner, which was at the Thomas Edison Inn. Dinner was yummy - chicken parmesan and a chocolate lava cake.

The wedding was yesterday afternoon. The day started out a little gloomy, so I decided last minute to go get my hair professionally done or else I would have an afro eventually. So I get up, try on my dress for good measure, and I realize its about 3 inches too long. ARGHHHH; had to find a seamstress who could fix it up for me last minute. In the meantime, I went to International where I had the stylist just give me loose curls with a few sections pinned back. I also had a little bit of a Snooki poof. I really, really liked my hair though, it was a good idea to get it done.

I got to my aunt's at about 11:30 to get ready with our bride, and the limo came to get us at 12:30 to take us to the church. The ceremony was pretty...it was a full Catholic service so it was long, but nice. Us bridesmaids were SO HOT in our satin dresses though, yikes.

After the service, we took pictures and what not, then we got into the limo for the hour long ride to the reception! Oh man, that was interesting. We stopped at the store, bought limes, salt, tequila, and other things for mixed drinks and partied the whole way there...very fun. Then the reception had an open bar. Ashley and I tore up the dance floor all night. We had so much fun with each other; we were basically each other's dates since we are lame and didn't want real dates. Although I think it is safe to say that our groomsmen loved us.

All in all, it was a fun night. I'm very happy for Katie and Chris and wish them a lifetime of happiness!

Ugh

Today was a horrible day at work. I'm so over all of it right now. I just want to be in London already.

At least tomorrow is Friday...I'm trying to look at the bright side but it feels impossible right this moment.

Hump Day

It's hard to believe Wednesday is here (and almost over). I know I'm constantly talking about how fast time is going, but it really, truly is...and it's scaring me a little. I have SO much to do, and it just keeps flying by.

Katie's wedding is this weekend, which I also can't believe. I'm looking forward to going home for the weekend, though it won't be a 'low stress' time. I have the rehearsal/dinner on Friday night, the wedding Saturday afternoon, and the reception Saturday night. Hopefully we don't have to be at the reception very long...I NEED some time to just relax and be able to chill out for a while before starting another week at work. It has been so stressful and busy there lately; I feel like I can't even catch my breath sometimes. It literally felt like I was there for 30 minutes today...but um, no; I worked a nine hour day. I'm just so frazzled. I know it will get better once we hired in another person to work in the office, but that day just can't come soon enough.

Help!

So I need to enlist the help of other students or Londoners who may possibly read this blog. I need a cheap place to stay short term for a few weeks in early September, until I'll be able to move into the dorms. I think there is some international students welcome deal going on the week before term starts, so I'm hoping I'll get into the dorms by then; but I want to get to London hopefully in the first week of September, and I'll need somewhere to stay. Any ideas? I've already emailed the University of London dorms, but they stop accepting visitors in late August.

My dad came to GR today to fix some things around the house for us, so it was nice to visit with him. We took him to Olives, which is one of mine and Kellen's favorite places to eat in town. They change their menu seasonally, so there are always new things to try.

Work was crazy, per usual.

B-e-a-utiful!

It is too gorgeous out today. 'Too gorgeous' meaning you feel guilty if you stay inside for more than 10 minutes at a time. Even that is pushing it.



Sorry for the crappy quality, as this is just a picture from my Blackberry, but it gives a decent idea. :) This is the lake Zoey and I have been walking around - Reed's Lake. It's down the road from our house.

Miss Zoey and I went for a walk around the lake again today to take advantage of this fantastic weather. I could tell she was still a little tired from yesterday's walk...she wasn't walking quite as fast. She's passed out up in Kellen's room, her favorite place to sleep. I don't think she's even going to notice when I slip out to go to the gym for a half hour.

Why does the weekend have to go by SO fast? I'm really not looking forward to work this week. As of right now, we have two job fairs scheduled, and there may be more. The office is going to be so crazy, and we are understaffed and it just sucks right now. Whoever said the recession isn't letting up in Michigan was WRONG, let me tell you.

As If...

...I couldn't already get enough of English history, gossip, tradition, etc; I go and buy this 900+ autobiography of Henry VIII. :rolling eyes here:

Eh, whatever, I don't feel bad. I need something to take my mind off work, which is all it has been on lately. What better than to read about beheadings and cheating scandals galore? 'Not much' would be the correct answer to that question, noooottt muchhh. Maybe my eye twitch will even go away.

Hay + Zo!

*cue Queen - 'You're My Best Friend' playing in the background*

Zoey and I had a fun little day today. For those who don't know, Zoey is my dog. We slept in, we played in the backyard, we went for a five mile walk around the lake, then we made turkey burgers and sweet potato fries for dinner. Ha :) I will really miss my little girl when I move, so I'm trying to spend as much time as I can with her! She is so exhausted now, which is hard to accomplish so I'm happy.

Still no CAS letter from UCL. When do I start getting worried? The university system in the UK is so radically different than it is here. They are so relaxed and lackadaisical about everything; it is so strange.

Tonight is Katie's bachelorette party that I unfortunately can not attend. I hope they're having fun though! I'll see them all for the wedding next weekend.

Friday already??

My goodness, that may have been one of the quickest weeks of my life! I've just been so overwhelmingly busy at work that I didn't really have a chance to wish for Friday before it was actually upon me. I guess that's a good thing?

I'm all alone this weekend with my dog. It's going to be a quiet one for me, which is what I need. I really need to nail down the rest of this work for my visa, although I am still waiting on this CAS letter. I should probably email over and figure out where I can stay for the first few weeks so I can get a more solid idea about a flight as well. I'm looking forward to staying here though, I need to get some cleaning and laundry done, and it will be nice to relax for a few days without having to drive back and forth across the state. I do have to work tonight, so boo on that.

I'm going to get off my lazy butt and get on the treadmill. I'm not even sure he's going to remember who I am.

Busy Lady

So sorry for the lack of updates...I'm around, just so busy still! I keep waiting for life to slow down a little so I can breathe, but it just isn't happening. I'm about to try and nap for a half hour before going to start some third shifters tonight. At least I get to go into work an hour later tomorrow...but still, my body is exhausted.

Oh, Monday

As usual, the weekend went by way too fast. Kel and I stayed here Friday night and just chilled and watched movies. Then we drove home Saturday morning for Mother's Day weekend. However, we all ended up going out that night and I drank wayyy too much. Oops! I was so hungover all day yesterday! Thankfully, my mom was quite amused so at least she got a laugh out of it. I promised to make it up to her though. :) I love her!

Today was a busy day at work again...I just don't see it slowing down at all anytime soon. I'm so tired, but need to get to the gym tonight. I WILL get to the gym tonight.

No update on London lately...I should be getting my CAS letter soon and then I can apply for my visa. So that's the next step for me!

WOW!

Today has been SO crazy! I got a great promotion at work, which was so unexpected! With that, I knew I had to tell them about moving to London, so that came out. They understood and were actually very happy for me, so I'm so relieved to have that done and over with. And now I'll get a nice promotion at work (with a hefty pay raise!) for the next three months. After talking with my bosses, I agreed to work through July rather than just through June. This will allow me to save up some more money, so all in all it's a good thing.

Doubt

Whoa. Last night I had my first real twinge of doubt hit me about this whole thing. Should I REALLY be moving to London? Suddenly this wave of anxiety hit me in the chest out of nowhere last night at 11:30. What the heck?

I feel better about it today...it was weird though. I know I'm going to have moments like that - it is a serious life change and I think doubt is a normal and healthy emotion to go through. I just hadn't experienced it up to this point, so it took me off guard.

Work has been insanely busy. I've been exhausted every day when I get home. Thankfully it's Wednesday and the week is half over.

In other, depressing news...the Wings are down 0-3 in the series vs. the Sharks. I won't go too far into it, but the NHL officiating has basically ruined playoff hockey for me. :( We got absolutely SCREWED out of Games 1 and 2. Royally screwed. As one article put it, "it wasn't just mere theft, it was grand larceny," and boy is that the truth. I'm just over it at this point...it is unfair and unacceptable and that's all there is to it. We've been through a lot of adversity this season, and we'll be a better team next year because of it, even though I'll be following from London!