LazylazyLondon

So having Wednesdays off is officially amazing (minus the fact I can't sleep in due to fire alarm testing at 11 grrrr) and I love being able to go out on Tuesday nights like last night at the Lexington which was so cute.

But. The whole not having class + London being ridiculously gray and foggy outside seemingly every Wednesday makes me so insanely lazy. Lazy as in the farthest I have gone today is the cafe even though my room for some reason is sauna-status hot. So I've just been looking at summer internship stuff (ahh) and online "window" shopping (if anyone knows where to find these http://www.stylefeeder.com/i/r6tnc36p/Henry-Holland-By-Pretty-Polly-Super-Suspender please please tell me, I'm obsessed) and I have come to two conclusions:

1. I really, really really hope this summer works out with me finding a good TV internship in the city and a job and living with Jess Sze. Like I can't think of any better way to spend my summer and I want it to happen so bad.
(this of course includes the part where we all get a Jersey shore house for my birthday and Arielle visits and we GTL errrydayyy)

2. I want to go to London fashion week so bad too. Like if this summer works out and I somehow make it to London fashion week, I may explode of happiness. And while I highly doubt both will happen, I sincerely wish by some miracle that they could. Henry Holland was one of my very first designer obsessions and I would kill to see his show. And Matthew Williamson's. And... yeah, pretty much all of them. Gah British people being so cute and perfect and good at everything.

Anyway, it's like.. 4 something here and I should at least try to leave Nido once today so I'm going to venture out to buy a newspaper for my lovely Journalism class. I miss and love everyone back at home and I think you should all start waking up earlier so I can actually talk to more of you <3

Paris, Je T'aime-- Part Deux

So.

Considering the fact that I've wanted to go to Paris since I was une petite Colleen, this weekend was like absolutely, incredibly, tete-exploding wonderful. And after weeks (ok.. like 2 weeks) of missing NYU people BEAUCOUP, it was amazing to see Lizzie, who is always amazing to see of course but especially when we're running around Paris together. Her blog has our weekend mapped out in detail so check that outtt because I'm tres fatigue maintenant and have a class early demain so I don't want to write a lot.

But suffice it to say that the Eiffel Tower is unbelievable at night, I am secretly in love with a French street performer who lets me play with bubbles with him, I want to furnish my first apartment with Parisian furniture, vin chaud is the best thing that ever happened to me, when my hands get really cold they turn into sausages, I CAN NOW WATCH AMERICAN TV ONLINE, lizzie and i are going to be on Jersey Shore this summer, Lizzie speaks French impossibly well, we saw the weirdest people ever on the Metro, I love how easy the Metro is that I don't even get lost (which is such a first), I'm glad I didn't buy my angry Russian man hat, I'm sad I didn't get my Eiffel Tower brandy (I want one Lizzie!), I COULD LIVE OFF OF FRENCH FOOD ESP. PAIN AU CHOCOLAT AND EXPRESSO, I almost became a dancer in the Moulin Rouge/Lizzie and I almost got taken there....

Basically, it was a really, really wonderful first trip to take. I still can't believe I was just in Paris this morning and I'm proud of myself for taking the Eurostar by myself since I hate traveling alone so much. I can't say enough about how much fun I had with Lizzie and how much I cannot wait to go back to see Versailles and the Champs-Elysees. And of course I can't wait to return the favor when her and Tim come (even though I don't think the three of us can fit in my bed like Lizzie and I did hers....)

Other Things I'm Excited About:
- I signed up to start volunteering with the Marie Curie Breast Cancer Cure people and they started an email correspondence with me and I'm really excited to do something for them. I'd love to host an event but we'll see!
- I can't wait to go shopping in London. I need to like now before the sales end.
- More traveling! Paris got me so excited to go exploring more all over Europe. I really really hope I can go to Madrid to see Daniella when she comes!

Au revoir et je t'aime,
Colleen

Paris, Je T'aime-- Part Un

So I'm just sitting here in Paris, eating a baguette next to my wonderful new purse and bottle of wine, parler francais-ing with Lizzie. No big deal or anything... Seriously. Paris?! I'm so happy to be here... it was absolutely worth waking up at 4 in the morning and running like a crazy person to St Pancras. Even though it's raining today it's still exciting to have walked around and I can't wait for sun and sight seeing and pastries and lattes tomorrow

It even rains indoors here...

My ceiling drips. Even now when it's not actually raining for once. And my straightener burnt a hole in both my leg and my bed. My insomnia is out of control.

But I love it here. I love British people and humor and way of life and way of looking at things. I love my classes, even the required one. It's so interesting to see everything from a different point of you.

I love the people here, British and not British. I've met so many amazing people, I literally am in awe of how smart/funny/etc a lot of them are. I miss my friends from home and family who are obviously all great too but I'm so happy to be here.

This is a terrible update but i need sleep.

Also, Arielle Feldshon is a goddess for sending me this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjPLwzoNQpY&feature=fvw

Topping Up

So I obviously am not so great at this blog thing considering I just realized I haven't actually even chronicled a single day here so I'm "topping up" my posts today with actual information about my life..

For those of you who aren't British, they use "topping up" from everything to adding more phone minutes to refilling Oyster cards (their version of Metro cards) to talking about fashion (like Vogue this month says "What To Top Up Your Closet With").

So now that you have some of the adorable vocab they use here, here are some of my life highlights from the first week of classes:

First, I guess I should be thankful that I like barely have class. Everyone I talk to is jealous but for those who know me, it's pretty much my worst nightmare. I love being busy and overwhelming myself and having a million things to do and I absolutely can never relax. I'm trying hard to learn how though--I even sleep here (which is so abnormal for me).

Second, on that note, I really do wish I had a job. But since I don't think I will be able to get one (especially with all of the travel I want to do on weekends), I'm just going to volunteer 387423 and maybe join their paper here. I know I know, I suck at this whole "vacation" sort of thing.

Third, I also want to spend my extra time doing more exploring around here. Tomorrow I'm going to Greenwich which I'm pretty excited about except it's a boat ride and the weather tomorrow is supposed to be kind of gross, so yeah, could potentially be a bit rough. But I'm even getting used to the rainy weather (I have the wildest Carrie Bradshaw hair here and it's pretty funny), as it makes days like today (which was surprisingly sunny!) seem really amazing and wonderful.

Fourth, I love my classes. My Politics of the Near and Middle East is so interesting and I'm so excited to not be stupid about Middle East history and geography anymore. My Journalism class is amazing. My professor used to be a political correspondent on BBC and then ran BBC online and now is just an adorable man with his own publishing company and all that. I'm pretty sure I'm in love/he's my hero/wish he was my best friend. And my Law class is okay, definitely the most boring so far but the professor is so smart that at least I'm sure I'll learn a lot. And he's adorable too. Of course. Everyone here is.

So looking back that pretty much sucked as an update of my day. But some more wonderful things about this week are that their version of Barnes & Noble (aka one of my favorite places in the world) is right by classes and I've been there like every day browsing magazines and drinking coffee and listening to British accents. There's also a cute cafe by classes that my friend and I found today where people bet on whether or not Americans need Visas to come here and the waiter called me "love" and "sweetheart." Seriously, I really am in love with everyone here and how adorable and nice and perfect they all are.

Well that's about it for noww I'm thinking... I have so so much I want to do this weekend (like shopping!) and the idea of me being in Paris about a week from today with Lizzie makes me tres heureuse <3

Ps.. Check out the love of my life in action... BBC is awesome but seriously, Anderson Cooper is too wonderful.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/18/anderson-cooper-carries-b_n_427472.html

First Week!

So I officially left a week ago today (though I do not think I've been here a full week yet because of the time difference but close enough...) and classes officially started for me today. The 3 hour class thing is kind of tough but I actually sort of like it, the break in the middle is perfect for grabbing coffee and professors speaking with accents makes everything infinitely more exciting.

In sad news, I'm pretty sure my vidchat does not work here... I was hoping it was just a fluke thing but a few people have now told me that theirs doesn't work here either. So please please everyone get skype!

In sad/happy news, Kraft bought Cadbury aka the people who make chocolate that I have had for breakfast, lunch, tea time, and dinner everyday here (they have it now in America but not all of their products). This probably means that it's going to become much more available in the US, which probably means I'm doomed to gain 3847 pounds when I'm eating it and not losing all the weight I lose here trying to find my way around these crazy streets.

Things I've learned so far..

1. My bathroom is haunted (this seems to happen a lot at NYU...)

2. A diet consisting only of caffeine, cheap alcohol, and European candy will eventually start to make your hands shake.

3. And yes, you can overdose on Cadbury chocolate.

4. There actually is sun in London, you just rarely see it. When you do (like today), it's ridiculously exciting.

5. Digestive biscuits (biscuits=cookies) are actually just regular cookies, not cookies with laxatives like you may think.

6. They still play Ke$ha here. And I still keep trying to walk into rooms when "the party don't start till i come in" plays. And I still look like a tooool.

7. The 5 hour time difference from here to New York/NJ is endlessly annoying.

8. People often park their cars up on the curb. Likewise, buses drive crazy close to sidewalks. All in all, I will probably be hit by at least one car/bus/truck while here.

9. I'm fairly positive everyone in America has a European twin. It's kind of freaky but I've seen at least 4 people that are identical to people I know at home.

10. My address! By this I of course mean the place you can all write to me since I miss you. Message me on facebook/skype/ichat/etc if you want it =]