A new look to accompany a new week..

Ahh, just when I thought things were winding down a little bit, London has a quirky way of kick-starting a whole slew of exciting events that keep my head spinning. Firstly, as per the request of my Dad, here are some pictures of my new hair! My roots were starting to grow in from my old highlights, so for a new festive look to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, I decided to give my hair a rinse with some reddish-brown dye. Take a gander (I've been told I look so much like my mom now... a compliment in my book!!)





So that's the new look of the hour!

Alongside the new locks, this week has held a lot of surprises. Last Friday, I saw the movie The Watchmen on opening day - I was a big fan of the graphic novel and I thought the Silk Spectre was the coolest female superhero ever. The movie was quite gorey and freaky, but I really loved it! It was true to the comic and the soundtrack was great, with songs by Simon & Garfunkel, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, and Jeff Buckley. After the movie, I went out to a restaurant called The Burger Express, and I ordered a burger with mushrooms, mozzarella cheese and sundried tomatoes. Here is a picture of the gargantuan, monstrous organism from Mars they placed in front of me:




Needless to say, I had to eat that bad boy with a knife and fork. The picture doesn't do it any justice, really... it was literally bigger than my head!!!

After that, I got to see the band Fall Out Boy perform at the O2 arena in Greenwich - the same arena Michael Jackson just announced he'd be having about 50 shows at (believe it or not, i've heard Wacko's tour has already sold out, and the leftover tickets are going for $15,000 on ebay... I can't see ever paying that much, unless maybe a piece of his nose is included with the ticket?) I went with my friends Melanie, Liam and Tom and we got standing-room tickets right near the stage. The arena is really great, basically London's answer to MSG.



Mel and I in the crowd.
Fall Out Boy's opening song.

The bassist Pete Wentz, rocking out.


The rest of the week went as usual, with the SHINE program on Monday (my kids are so funny, they're always asking me how to say things in my accent, and they get a kick out of how I say "aluminum"), my Footy for Females soccer game on Tuesday night (we lost 5-4 because of a stupid penalty kick! The rules of the league are very different because it's only 5 v 5, and the keeper isn't allowed to use their feet at all, which was news to us. When ours did, the ref went nuts and gave the other team a PK!), then my play on Wednesday (I saw the Pittman Painters, a really endearing but LONG play about Irish miners who work 12 hour work days and all take a painting class together at night to try and become more cultured). Then, yesterday (Friday) my soccer buddies and roommates from last semester, Lex and Marie, flew down from the States to spend their spring break in London! It was great to see them, and on their first night here we took them for a nighttime walk to Tower Bridge and enjoyed the lovely night.

Lex, Marie, Lauren, Renee and Katie!

My Marie!


Lex, Katie and I getting comfy on the bench.


The Gramercy Roomies reunited!


Katie, Lauren and I fooling around on a huge ivy-covered apple.
Marie and I in front of some random pickle-shaped sculpture on our way to Tower Bridge! (Or is it a cucumber..)

Lounging out with a gorgeous view of Tower Bridge.


It looked stunning at night!

Another postcard shot!

The whole gang, we made it to the top!


Today, we all went to Oxford Street (the biggest shopping area in London, with stores like H&M, Primark, Top Shop, and tons of other clothing and department stores) and we bought some really hilarious and cheap 80s outfits for next Thursday - we found a Roller Disco skating rink that plays 80s tunes and everyone who goes gets decked out in colorful 80s attire. Tickets are only 5 pounds with a student ID card, so we'll make a fun night out of it!

Tomorrow in Trafalgar Square, there will be St. Patrick's day parade that will proceed through central London. I can't wait, and the weather is supposed to be really nice. Then that night, I'm going back to the O2 arena to see yet another concert - this time, the alternative band Snow Patrol! It's so fun to get to see such great artists for really cheap tickets, and the train ride is barely 40 minutes. It'll be a really fun week having some familiar faces from home to escort about town, but I definitely need to keep my eye on the books - I have lots of reading as usual, and my sketches are slowly but surely becoming coherent, so I want to keep improving what little artistic skill I've required this semester!

So that's about the gist of the past week, but no doubt there will be more to tell when the upcoming week comes to a close. Also, my flights and hostels for all my spring break trips are offically BOOKED! I'm going to Florence April 3rd to the 5th, Venice the 6th to the 8th, Athens the 9th to the 11th, and Corfu from the 12th to the 17th. I cannot WAIT! Special thanks to all the family members who helped me finance my trips and organize all my excursions - I couldn't have done it without you, and I'm so grateful to have such a wonderful family!!! Much love to all of you.

Until next time!


British Term of the Day:
Chav: similar to the American word "prep," but a bit more condescending, a chav is a rich, snooty, uppity hipster who often wears a lot of designer outfits, is not original and is just plain boring and annoying. I.e. "Let's not go back to that pub anymore, did you see the dirty looks those chavs were shooting us the whole time?"