it's just like your life, only funnier

hello loves!

What a weekend! I think I crammed more into this weekend than I did all summer.

I had my first celebrity spotting of the semester! Friday night while I was out on a walk with Elsa, Alli and Tuan, we went by the Chicago theatre and noticed the show was just getting out. Kelly Osbourne just started in the show as Mama Morton and being the celebrity gossip that I am, I decided it would be a good idea to try to stalk her after the show. We went and waited out by the back door for about 20 minutes and she finally came out to the screams of fans and hundreds of flashes from all the paparazzi that were there. It was so exciting! She looks really great and is actually so small in person!

kelly signing autographs.

Saturday was extremely productive. Finally got to sleep in which was so refreshing that when I woke up, I did my entire PR paper. The flatties and I bought 20 pound tickets to the matinee showing of Avenue Q, so we spent a lovely evening out watching puppets sing about life ("It Sucks to Be Me," "The Internet is for Porn," "I Wish I Could Go Back to College," etc). The show was hysterical, I loved it! It was very blunt humor, which was hilarious. It was kind of a cool concept-- the actors have these puppets on their arms that they make talk and move, but they are actually on stage singing and playing along too. Its just such a different idea for a show and even though the characters were puppets, the theme and the songs in the production were actually very true to life. If you ever have the opportunity to see this show, I would recommend it. Now I'm so excited to go see more shows... I'm hoping to at least see Wicked, Les Mis, and Blood Brothers before I leave London. Luckily as students we get such an amazing discount that it is actually plausible for me to see a bunch of shows and not go completely broke.

After the show, we went out for a nice dinner at this place called Cafe Pasta on Monmouth Street. It wasn't too expensive, but all I got was a chicken caesar salad... original, I know. The portion sizes are SO much smaller here. There is little temptation or reason to overeat when you go out to dinner. No wonder so many Americans are overweight. I also saw a bunch of cute little coffee houses that I plan to check out on my days off AND a cupcake shop, which was a clutch find for me because you all know how obsessed I am with cupcakes.

Later that night, I went out with "the Team," meaning Alli, Elsa, Tuan and Dan, to this place called the After Skool Klub. It was in a student union of some college here but you couldn't even tell. This place was bumpin, as I like to say. We got in for free because we were in the first 100 people and drinks were half price until midnight so we were only paying about 1.20 for drinks, which is unheard of around this expensive city. All of the people there were my age so it was nice to not have to worry about creepy old men looking at you. The music was great... they didn't play any awful rap music but instead played indie dance music, which was so fun! The club was packed out and it was just a really good time. And obviously when we got home, we dug into the McVitie's caramel cookies, my ultimate weakness. A fabulous end to a fabulous night.

Today was jam-packed. We woke up early and went down to the East End to hit up the markets. I only bought two scarves but I took some cool pictures of the market and had a good time with my friends.

one of the booths at the market.

After the markets, we met up with a group from school and went to this place called the Dennis Severs house. It was quite an interesting and quirky little place. Basically, this guy was an artist and used this house as the medium for his "still life drama." He decorated each floor of the house in a different time period, and as you go up in the house, it becomes later in time. I think the time periods were from the 18th-19th centuries, maybe? In short, the idea was that as time went on, this house kind of decreased in status, meaning in the early 18th century it would have been somewhere that the wealthy lived, and more towards the 19th century, it had been inhabited by more poor people. It was supposed to be a "sensory experience" so we weren't allowed to talk, we just had to walk through and take in the sights, sounds, and scents of the house. Kind of a weird experience, I'm still not sure I completely understand why this guy felt compelled to do this, but you can read more about it on the Web site: http://www.dennissevershouse.co.uk/ because I would only confuse you if I tried to explain it myself.

Tonight was a highlight of my time here. Elsa, Alli and I went down to the Thames Festival and stayed for the firework display at the end. Most of you probably know my affection for firework shows, so I was especially excited to see my first BIG firework display in a big city. I was absolutely blown away by the show. It was only 15 minutes long, but it was undoubtedly the most beautiful fireworks display I have ever seen. It was such an amazing setting, with the city in the background and the river underneath the sparkling sky. It was truly an experience to take in and one that I will remember. Its really the little things like that in life that make me really appreciate how lucky I am. I also took about a gazillion pictures so look for those when I get around to putting them up.

All right, it's approaching midnight so that means bedtime for me. Monday is my longest day so I try to be as rested up as possible. Hope to hear from you all soon!

Cheers!