Soles and Sleeves

This excursion ended up being myself, along with two fellow brunette Americans, and the two of them both wearing denim jackets, what are the odds! It took a lot of will power to stay away from the water, a place I gravitate towards any chance I get... We were a mere two blocks away but I resisted!

I'm positive we looked mega touristy, considering we almost got hit by cars a number of times, carried a London travel book, and stopped at a touristy souvenir shop.

I've come to realize I'm in a point in my life where I don't do anything for Halloween. I don't have many friends in the area, it's too cold to go outside at night in a cute little costume, I'm too old to go Trick-or-Treating (I don't eat that much candy, anyways!), and I'm too cheap to go to some party where I have to pay for alcohol and/or drive all the way to & from the destination.

But I have a soft spot in my heart for dressing up. Whether it's costume, fancy, or crazy, I just can't resist.

I express my deepest apologies for neglecting you recently. You see, life has been a bit crazy lately.

It started when I quit my job. I planned on using that down time and getting my blog in shape by doing lots of outfit changes, writing a lot of blog posts and scheduling them out so you'd be up and running.

But plans don't always go accordingly.

Every once in a while, you just want to keep it simple.

Throw on a white tee.
Squat and suck into a pair of jeans.
Slip on some comfy sandals.

But it's even better to take that simple look up a notch.

And that's what I did.

I paired the dress with nude heels (not pictured here — they were in my car)

I planned on doing this post yesterday, but my internet was out since Thursday and just came back up.

A year ago yesterday (6/8) marked exactly 1 year ago I got on a plane and left for London.
But it's so much more than that. Aside from the obvious fact that I went to London on that day, it's probably one of the best days of my life so far.

Her eyebrows are the portal of her personality

I started my internship last week.

Believe it or not, this summer I did actually do some work. I wanted to share some pieces with you, but for a reason or two (OK- well because my sister is pregnant but we weren't out of the woods yet about telling everyone) I waited. So as I sit procrastinating cleaning the other half of my desk and the miscellaneous items left to unpack in my closet I came across my notebook from this summer and decided to share. I'll do just a couple at a time so I don't overwhelm my readers! Ha!

I've been back in the states longer that I'd like to say, and it's been rough. My heart, while some of it is happy to be home, pieces remain in London. I miss it all so much.

  A massive part of the hole in my heart is my friends. I was hanging out with them EVERYday for three weeks!!! That puts a friendship on the fast track, and you kind of surpass all the little stuff and go straight for best friend(s). I shared experiences with these girls that no matter how much I could explain it to even my BFFL, it wouldn't be the same. It's pretty uncomprehendable, to be quite honest. I am a changed person because of these girls, and having them not around is really tough. Going from hanging out with 5 (or 6) other girls from noon until midnight to now hanging out with my dog all day and occasionally going out and seeing people is crazy. Granted, here it's not as easy, mostly because my best friend (unfortunately) doesn't live on the opposite side of the wall.
  Also, I've definitely noticed I've put on a pound since being back. I'm not walking anywhere, and while in London I walked everywhere. It's excruciating to go out of the house here because of the heat, and since our AC was messed up for the past week +, it's been excruciating just doing nothing. I'm not a fan of the heat, in fact I'd say I hate this heat. I curse the day(s) I ever wished it was summer. BUT, in London, I found the weather to be ideal. It wasn't hot and it usually wasn't too cold (until the sun went down). There was always a breeze blowing, which did wonders for my hair in pictures, and I just found it all to be perfect. and I miss it.. a lot.

Katherine, Brandi, Kelli, Lizzy, Lindsay, & Me

Wow, the past three weeks have FLOWN by. This has been one of THE best experiences of my life, and I owe a huge part of that to these girls. They are some of the most beautiful people I've ever met. We've laughed, cried, smiled, scowled, danced, cuddled, sang, Pimmsed, borrowed clothes and shoes, and shared this incredible experience together.

Pimms & Parliament

Yesterday my friends and I (minus Kelli) had signed up to see 'Wicked' at the Apollo Victoria Theatre. But, before that we had plans to go to The Amazing Spider-Man premier in Leicester Square (with KellI!).

BBC Building

Even before THAT, I had class. We did our typical thing and we got done really early. This Thursday we have presentations. For that presentation, we had to do this thing where (with a partner) we get on at the nearest bus, ride it 12 stops, turn left when you get off the bus, when you pass a man wearing glasses, you turn around and take your next left, etc.... So since there was an odd number of people (we have 8 in the class and one was absent) myself and two other girls went ahead and got this done. It was really neat, but slightly scary. We got on the bus and I suggested we get on it going a certain way, thinking that would lead us to the center of the city.... But I was wrong. So i'm 0/2 on getting directions correct via bus, so I've since given up that right. We ended up near the BBC buildings at one point, and being a DBJ major, I fangirled a little bit on the inside.

Ello there!

Yesterday we went to Primark. It was incredible!!! The most I spent on something was £10!!! I got 2 maxi skirts, an AWESOME pair of leggings, a pair of flip flops to wear back and forth to the shower, two shirts, and nail polish. I think that's all. But it was incredible shopping. And what they say about the lines is true. I did take my shirt off (I had on a cami, no worries) and tried on a shirt in the aisle. We also forgot about the size differences here and so we weren't able to try on pants because that line was too ridiculous.

Then we went to Forever 21 and a couple girls got some stuff. On our way back to the tube station there was a crepe stand, so naturally as any human being with a stomach would do, we stopped and got some. I got the regular, which has lemon juice and sugar. Brandi got Nutella and bananas, Lizzy got Belgian chocolate, and Kelli got a regular crepe. They are delishhhhhhh!!

After we chilled for a bit we went to Wagamamas for dinner. I got Chicken Ramen- don't let the name fool you, it's much more expensive than Wal-Mart ramen :P I ate the entire thing with chopsticks!!

Lindsay and I eating with chopsticks!

As some of you may know, 'flipping the bird' here is a little different than back home. Rather than the middle finger, here they do the pointer and middle finger, either open (like a peace sign) or closed, with the palm of your hand facing you. It is said that this (the closed finger) came about when England was fighting against France at the Tower of London. The bows could be shot a certain distance and when an archer was captured by the French, they would cut off those two fingers, thus rendering him useless. So, when the British were prevailing, as kind of a "nanny nanny boo boo" they would put those two fingers in the air, as to say "ha ha, looks like you're gonna die now". Pretty cool, huh?

Harrods

We had orientation today. That was pretty typical. We had a policeman come talk to us and he was hilarious. After that, some friends and I went to the mobile store to get, you guessed it, mobiles. Then we went to Whole Foods and got some lunch and I got some Cheerios to munch for breakfast and some granola bar things.

Then we took a bus tour of the city. It was really fun; we rode a tour bus and a 2-story one but not one of those red double deckers. It was informative and really cool to see everything. I wish we had made more stops, but whatevs.

Well. I arrived.
Friday was a busy day. I had to clean, finish packing, go to the bank, go to my moms office then go to the airport. My sister met us there too and we had lunch and had a jolly good time. Then I went through security and all that jazz. MY dad was flying from Pennsylvania to Fayetteville and just so happened to have a lay over in ATLANTA at the same time I was waiting to board my flight. I was so happy I got to see my daddy before I left. I ran up and gave him a BIG ole hug and even cried a little.

So Ansley and I went to Disney this weekend and did our first 5K. And if you know me, I'm not a runner. I have exercise induced asthma, and can hardly run around the block with out it making my chest feel like I'm dying.
ANYWAYS,
We went down and the day of we walked around Downtown Disney since our hotel was a swift walk from there. On the way, we saw an otter in a lake in front of one of the hotels. It wasn't there on our way back, so hopefully it got rescued! We got Cinco de Mayo drinks at the incredible Rainforest Cafe. Then we went back to the hotel and had a little dance party and got ready for our 5K.

We were in the 8th (and final) wave of the 5k, so we didn't start running until 42 minutes after the first wave had left (and some had finished already!). The 5K went through the parking lot, through Animal Kingdom. There were 3 "obstacles" we had to do also; jump hay bales, jump through tires, and crawl under a net. Once the race was completed we had to do our scavenger hunt. We had four clues then a final one that got us into the after party. The scavenger hunt also went through the park and ended in Dino land. We got some Poweraide, our medal (that doubles as a compass!) and then Ansley and I went to ride the Expedition Everest coaster. BEST. COASTER. EVER. It was incredible. We rode it twice then headed to check out the rest of the party. We came across a circle of people and there were two people having what looked like a dance off. They finished and the Ice Ice baby started playing. Not wanting to waste an opportunity to dance, I headed out there. I dragged Ans along with me and we, along with this other really good dancer, danced until the party ended at 2 AM. So that's at least 3 hours of dancing. I could hardly walk back to my car, but it was absolutely worth it.
During the dance party, we danced with Baloo from The Jungle Book. He was quite a character (ba-dunch!) and we shimmied, did the Bernie, and some Latin moves and much more! There was a guy doing video too, and the camera LOVED us. The other guy dancing was AWESOME. He had moves like Jagger, for reals.
The party finally ended and we were heading out of the park. We ended up chatting with the really good dancer and turns out he's from Sweden! He's currently an au pair for a family in the states and they were here for the race. He was really nice and we're kicking ourselves for not getting his name!!!
We, team named the Disney Divas, finished the 5K in 39:16, which is INCREDIBLE. I was shocked, honestly. I thought it would take me way longer than that. I would totally do a 5k again, but I need to work on my running and getting my asthma in check.

In other news, I had to leave B here while I was there, and I was told he cried the entire first night I was gone, and he's limping. So that's basically the epitome of pathetic and sad.  :(

ALSO- I'm a senior in college! woop woop!!

Have a great week!