FAVS OF MINE

So that we could get to know each other better, I thought that I'd share some of my favorite things! Also  my boredom with not having a job this break has resulted in me taking loads of pictures.

First off, I'm obsessed with the word 'blah'. Like that word just describes so many things, am I right? I also love saying 'bob loblaw' and if you've seen Arrested Development, you feel me. If you haven't seen Arrested Development, get on it! It's on Netflix guys. Well, anyways, when I saw that shirt in J.Crew, I just had to have it. You can get it here if you love saying 'blah' as much as I do.

I also love socks, playing cards, and journaling. Even thought I am no good at journaling (say hello to New Years Resolution numero uno). That dress and iPhone case are also my two favorite things I got for Christmas this year.

I absolutely adore Wes Anderson movies. They're so witty and creative I can't get enough. My absolute favorite of his movies though is Fantastic Mr. Fox. Well, actually it's my favorite movie of all time. I've seen it at least 10 times and could watch it 10 times more today alone.

I love wearing red lip stick. It spices up almost any look. It also just makes you feel more ladylike and happy and stuff. Whenever you feel like you have nothing to smile about just put on some red lip stick and I guarantee you'll be smiling in two seconds flat.

I love taking pictures. A lot. I currently shoot with my lil' old Nikon D3100 with the standard lens it comes with but I'm hoping to upgrade to something a little bit more advanced in the future. I'm hoping to add some more lenses into my collection as well (the Nikkor 35mm lens is first on my wish list). Photography is just such a fun medium to deal with! I'm also wanting to get into videography but haven't had the time to really put focus into learning more about it (New Years Resolution numero dos). That there is an adorable little stamp that I picked up in a boutique in Cambridge. Isn't it just so cute? My hands though… like helloooo awkward. After taking that picture I've realized that I should probably not pursue a career in hand modeling (this girl sealed the deal that I definitely don't have it in me).

Last but not least, I love love LOVE reading. I've loved it since I was a kid. I used to go to the library and get like 10 of those Magic Treehouse books and read one each night before bed (lol nerd alert). Some of my favorite books include Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, and Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult. Currently I'm rereading the Harry Potter series because it's been too long since I've done it. Also, the Warner Bros. Harry Potter tour we did in London just sparked my love for the magic once again!

Aaaaand that's all fokes! xoxo

THE LAST FEW DAYS

This past week has been absolutely lovely.  Christmas Eve and Christmas were both lovely days spent with family and I gotta say I'm really sad it's over. I got everything that was on my wish list and I"m so thankful for a day where we can spend showing each other how much we care about each other. These here are just a random collection of pictures I've taken over the past few days! 

|1| Our pretty Christmas tree. We've always loved them spindly and and scrawny. That way you can fit way more ornaments on it! And I think they're more charming this way anyway.

|2 |Just playin' around with the camera.

|3| Christmas lights around mine and my sisters beds. Gotta have as much whimsy as possible during the holidays am I right??

|4| My sister Sara's adorable dog Kramer. He likes to pretend to be asleep every time you take a picture so I had to be real sneaky to get one with his eyes open. Sara, if one day your dog is missing it's probably because I've stolen him. He's pretty much the cutest thing ever. 

I hope everyone had a lovely holiday! Now hurry and eat all that candy before you make your New Years Resolutions to be healthy or lose weight or whatever… xoxo

CHEERS, LONDON

On my second to last day in London, I finally took a picture in a phone booth. Don't know why it took me that long to do it, but hey, better late than never I always say! Currently I am back in good ol' Utah and missing London oh so dearly. Mostly just because Utah's air is like breathing straight poison, ugh it's so gross! But I am happy to be back with my family once again. 

I have learned so much this semester abroad. I've learned how to be independent, I've learned how to be myself in a group of people I don't even know. I've learned that I can do hard things. I think I've even learned a little bit more about who I am as a person and what I want out of life. I am so grateful for my experience in London and I consider that city my second home. I can't wait to go back and visit again one day! I'm already saving my money... London has really stolen my heart.

I've been toying with the idea of keeping this blog going now that I'm home. I mean my life isn't all that exciting here and I'm really not sure what I'll post about, but I have really enjoyed blogging these past 3 months! It has been a fun, creative outlet and I think, for now, I'm going to continue. Thanks to all those who have followed me on my adventure so far! Here's to many, many more to come.

CZECH IT OUT

Oh Prague… where to even begin?? Prague is such a beautiful city. Holy cow. So, Sarah, Hannah, Kensington, and I arrived in Prague on Monday morning after a super early 7am flight. We took the bus then the train to our hotel where we crashed for a bit. 3:30am wake up calls don't work well for me, fyi. 

After we'd rested up we headed out to tour the city. Our hotel was SUPER conveniently located just a 3 minute walk from the Old Town Square. Score. First stop in the square was the old astronomical clock that everyone told us we had to go to. It was a little talked up for what it actually was but considering it's like a 700 year old clock that still works and has crazy moving parts, it's pretty cool. After the clock we did a free tour that was offered just so we could get our bearings of the city and get a feel for what there was to do. On our tour we went to this church that had an arm that had been chopped off hanging from the ceiling. That darkish picture up there with the ambiguous thing hanging from a chain? Yeah apparently that's an arm. I don't know guys. Just I don't know. There is some legend behind it about some guy who was trying to steal gold off of a Virgin Mary statue or something and the statue came to life and grabbed his arm and wouldn't let go and so they had to cut it off... Like cool story Prague but mostly you're just really creepy.

The rest of our days were spent touring the castle, flirting with castle guards (they did not flirt back…rejected), dancing in front of the Dancing House, writing on the Lennon Wall and admiring the love locked onto the Love Lock Bridge, eating Trdleniks (which are basically delicious dough coated in cinnamon sugar), exploring the gorgeous Klemintinum Library and Astronomical Tower that they would not let me take pictures of (rude), and being confused about where we were because hold up… is that the Eiffel Tower…? (No, that is not the Eiffel Tower).

The night of Thanksgiving we all thought it would be fun to do a dinner-on-a-boat cruise thing where there was an all you can eat buffet while you floated down the Vitava River. The food was alright, but hey, there was a lot of it and there were french fries, so we Americans were super happy. It was a strange Thanksgiving being away from my family, but I love the fact that these three girls could be my family this year. I sure do love them. 

Friday evening we headed back to London, feeling very fulfilled about our week away. And also feeling very accomplished that we'd planned and executed this entire trip all on our own with out any problems. Go us! I think I'm a real grown up now guys. Prague was just beautiful and I hope I'll have the opportunity to go back someday!

P.S. I did not where the same outfit everyday! Ha, just the same coat and scarf and also that orange hat a couple times… It was pretty dang freezing so had to bundle up!

OUT OF THE MOUTH OF BABES

Who agrees with me that Kid President is one of the most awesome humans?? I need this kid to be my best friend. Right now. What the world needs now is more people like this, don't you agree?? It's my goal from now on to try to make the world more awesome. And also to give people more corn dogs.

P.S. If you haven't seen any of Kid President's videos, head over to YouTube and watch all of them. Yes, all of them. It is serious entertainment while being equally inspiring! I could watch these videos all day long.

SNAPSHOTS OF LONDON

Here is just a few of my favorite pictures from the past few weeks!

|1| A lovely view from Trafalgar Square

|2| Just the most delicious grilled cheese ever. Courtesy of Borough Market

|3| Tube love with my adorable friend Sarah

|4| Abbey Road. My life is complete.

Well friends, I'm off to Prague for the week! Be sure to stay tuned to hear about all my crazy adventures over in that beautiful city. It has been my dream to visit this place for the longest time and I can't believe I'm actually going! I'm so so excited. Look out Czech Republic, we comin' fo you. 

CHANGING OF THE GUARD

The other day my friends Sarah, Hannah, Kenzi, Ford, and I went over to Buckingham Palace to watch the Changing of the Guard. I still can't believe it took me this long to get over there..? I've been here for  almost 3 months, kind of ridiculous. London is such a big place though there is just so much to do! We didn't have the greatest of spots to watch and I'm a super short human (5'3'' to be exact) so I couldn't see a whole lot but I did manage to capture a little video! Is it just me or do they make you think of the guards from Wizard of Oz?

 

SATURDAY BOOK MARKETS AND OTHER FUN THINGS

This past Saturday my friends Kenzi, Sarah, and I headed over to this book market we had heard about that is under Waterloo Bridge here in London. And since all three of us are lovers of books, we had to make a trip over (or under) the bridge to check it out. It was so amazing you guys. Just rows and rows of books as far as the eye could see. I was in heaven. We wandered around the the tables forever, scouring over the many titles. I found an old printing of Shakespeare's First Folios that I just had to buy. I also found some cool old maps that I'm thinking of doing something artsy with when I get home. 

Right next the book market there was a super cool skate park as well as rows of little shops selling treats and trinkets. By this point we were freezing to the bone so we picked up some hot chocolate and watched the skaters for a bit. Some of those kids had some major skill, I was impressed. After the hot cocoa had warmed us up we wandered down through where there was a cute little carousel that was just so adorable. I couldn't resist snapping a picture of it.

So it get's dark over here around 4:30, which is just too early for the day to end, so after our book shopping we just weren't ready to head home! We decided to jump on the tube and take a trip over to Carnaby Street which is right off of Regent Street. It's just the cutest little shopping area. We spent our time wandering in and out of stores for a bit. We didn't splurge on anything this time but I had my eyes on a few pairs of shoes that I'm thinking about going back to check out. We finished the night off by going into Anthropologie and the new J.Crew store they just opened here, which is beautiful. We died over all the perfect things we could not afford (it's much more expensive here than back in the states because of the stupid exchange rate). I'll be waiting to shop at those stores until I'm home, thank-you! 

It was just a wonderful, whimsical Saturday.

ARTSY FARTSY

A view from West London

A  J.M.W. Turner

The view from East London

All my friends are dead

Pucker up Shakespeare

So the other day my friends Sarah, Kensington, and I were feeling real artsy so decided to venture across the Thames to the Tate Modern. And, as you can see, we had a real fun time. We admired all the modern art andddddd also made fun of some of the modern art. Some of that stuff is weird guys...like you can't just project a blue screen on a wall and say it invokes the feelings of terminal illness. Am I right?? Haha but overall I really really enjoyed it. 

Since I've been studying art history here I've started to gain more of an appreciation for art and the meanings behind it. I get so excited when I see pieces or artists that I recognize or techniques of painting that I've learned about in class! So of course, when I saw J.M.W. Turner and Picasso I had a mini heart attack about it! I'm a nerd, I know.

I also really loved that America one, but that doesn't really have anything to do with what I've been studying, I just love it cause I'm from 'Merica and stuff...and also it was just really cool lookin'. 

After a while we just got way silly with the pictures. It was just such a fun day. I just love all these opportunities I have in London. Oh, a free afternoon? Why I don't i just hop over to the art museum! I don't think I could ever get sick of it here.