A Weekend in the City of Love

As some of you may know, last weekend Stef and I traveled to Paris. And to put your immediate questions at ease, there was no rioting going on and it wasn't scary at all. We even bought tickets and braved the Metro system - which is pretty easy to figure out once you pass the obstacle of buying the ticket. If you are 26 or under you can get a discounted ticket for the weekend, and you can also get into the Louvre for free on Friday nights! Which is exactly what we did when we arrived on Friday night, after a little drama of figuring out where we were going to stay.

We had originally planned on staying in a hostel, but of course their online booking didn't work and they didn't take reservations over the phone. So they said to just come there when we arrived, which we did - and of course there were no beds available. So we took our little suitcases and walked the streets of Paris looking for a hotel with an open room for 2 nights. We struck out at the first one, and the second one .. then we finally experienced the true meaning of "Third Time's the Charm". We got a room on the top floor with a mini balcony with a view of the top of the Eiffel Tower, shown here at night...

After our visit to the Louvre we found a cute little cafe and had some very yummy food. We shared a cheese plate, each got a glass of wine, and I got a french baguette with french ham and Stef got an omelet with cheese, ham, and potatoes. After we were full we took the Metro back to the hotel and witnessed a couple kissing to the sound of jazz echoing in the tunnels. A cute reminder we were in the City of Love.

We woke up on Saturday morning to a surprise - SNOW!! It was snowing in Paris! Here is the view from our hotel window...

We decided that for our first stop (after a lovely lunch of yet another cheese plate and glass of wine) we would go to the Eiffel Tower. I still could not get enough of the snow, being as this was the first real time I had been in the snow. Just look at it!

The Eiffel Tower looked awesome with a light layer of snow upon it.


The snow did however cause the lifts to freeze, so the tower was closed. There were also a lot of guards with guns standing around, and these middle eastern girls would walk around and pick out people who looked American (by the huge cameras around their necks or by their faces glued to huge fold-out maps) and ask them if they spoke English. Of course your first natural response is to say "yes", at which point they hold up a card they had written in English claiming that their brother or son was back home with leukemia and they needed your money to save him. The weird thing is that they held up a card with this on it. When they spoke perfect English to start with. We quickly became aware of their schemes and the next time we were asked if we spoke English Stef quickly replied "no", and they left us alone.

We next went to various other Paris sights. The Arc de Triomphe and The Champs Elysees
Notre Dame

Then we decided to make our way back to the Eiffel Tower in hopes that it had thawed out (since it had stopped snowing) and we would be able to ride to the top. When we got off the Metro we were struck with how beautiful the lights were on the Eiffel Tower at night.

We finally made it to the summit (and almost froze to death). These are an attempt to capture the view of Paris in the nighttime. It was eerily quiet in the city, maybe due to the recent violence that had occurred just weeks before.



After we conquered the sights of Paris we were famished - so we found a nice cafe near the Eiffel Tower to enjoy a dinner at. This time we got a bottle of wine. We sat there for 2 and a half hours just eating and drinking. It was great. And of course we got our new favorite cheese, Cantal, to enjoy at the end. After this it was off to our last night in our room, as modeled here by Miss. Stefenie:

We had planned to make Sunday our day of shopping, but were unaware that literally EVERYTHING is closed on Sunday in Paris. We were lucky to find a cafe that was open! We had a glass of wine and our last meal in Paris. We then decided to just head to the train station to wait for our EuroStar. During our wait we got to see a real-life documentary of Paris bums in the train station. It involved gift giving of some early 90's Nike shoes (sans laces), and the potential bribing of a young child with a piece of stolen candy. I was able to buy some cantal cheese from the station before we left, my last memory of good ole Paris.

Thanksgiving in London

So here is a short re-cap of our American holiday in the UK. We were granted the day off from Saatchi, but everyone went in to work anyway while I stayed home to "watch" the turkey. I have never cooked a turkey before, so I did NOT want the responsibility of cooking it on my shoulders. It was put in the oven at 9am, and it was about 14 pounds so we figured it should be done around 2 or 3pm. At that point everyone was supposed to be back from Saatchi.

Turns out that Dave Dawkins, one of our main contacts at Saatchi, took everyone who was there out for some beers. And not just to the agency pub, but out to pubs in the neighborhood. So they all got tipsy while I freaked out at home because I didn't want to ruin the turkey (which I did, but more on that later). I also managed to lock myself IN our flat. Pure comedy in a time of needless over-reaction on my part. See, our flat has no real door knobs. And in order to lock and un-lock the door you need to use the key, from both inside and outside the flat. I had given my keys to Erica to use because she doesn't have any. And I didn't even realize till about an hour after she left that I had been inadvertently locked IN the flat.

So you can just imagine me in the flat, alone, worried about ruining the turkey (because I hate pressure) and downloading Christmas and jazz songs on Limewire to cheer myself up. Haha. The peeps finally call around 3:30 or so and tell me to cut into the top of the turkey to check if it is done. *GULP* God save us all, we are relying on Jenn! I cut into the top of it and to me it looks all white and cooked. So as told I take it out and wrap it in foil and leave it on the top of the stove and shut the stove off. Needless to say it wasn't all cooked. -slap forehead- *doh (in true Homeresque style)

We had enough ecoli-free (aka cooked) meat to enjoy for our big feast, but the chefs then took over and placed the remaining bird back into the oven and cooked it into the night. Long live left-overs! Word to the wise - keep the Jenn away from the kitchen...

Ice Bar London (and ice cups, ice seats, ice bowls, ice walls...)

We went to the Ice Bar London and their restaurant Below Zero on Sunday night to celebrate Stef's birthday. It was very cool. Haha, no pun intended. The Ice Bar is linked with Absolut Vodka, and that is all that is served in there. But that's OK since it is good vodka. The lobby area and the restaurant Below Zero were very well designed. Very clean and modern. There was even a girl "polishing" down the floor as we were looking over our menus. After we ate the bread we all felt like we had to keep the table clean and wipe up our crumbs! But seriously, very cool place.


Lobby of Below Zero

My dessert that came in an actual bowl of ice! Yes, that is ice! For reals!

Inside the Ice Bar


Stef and Anne inside the giant ice Absolut bottle.

Ahhh, they made it out!

Shot of everyone in the cool silver capes inside the Ice Bar.

Stef's Birthday Fun!!

It was Stef's 24th birthday on Saturday so we decided to have some fun and invite people over to our place for some games (of the drinking sort) and then we went out for some dancing.
Here is the group!
Stef, do something funny!



Stef likes that Mars Bar...
...and I like my beer.
Me and James
Stef turns a bit Jack the Ripper when given a large knife!


Don't remember what we were shushing about but it must have been important enough to capture on film.

Stef filmed some of the evenings festivities as well. All in all it was a very fun night. We got a Red Bull alternative here called Blue Bolt. Only 99 pence for a big bottle! Happy Birthday Stef!!

View from the Top

We finally made it out to the London Eye this past Saturday - that is the big ferris wheel looking thing. It was pretty cool, and we went on a day that was nice and clear! Here are some pics of London from above.

A New Me

I have decided to make a drastic change .... and get my hair cut. I have been growing it out ever since I started Miami Ad School in October of 2004. That's a heck of a long time. So now here in London I have decided to give myself over to the Vidal Sassoon School of Hairdressing. This basically means that I get a new cut and style for free and that it takes over three hours to do it.

I have taken my inspiration first from Beau, and his momentous head shaving last year. We all remember his terrified looks and death grip on the balcony railing of Rich's apartment. But just in case we forgot, here is a little reminder:

And secondly from Anne. She braved the Vidal Sassoon Academy in Miami. She did hate it at first, but she grew to love it and now looks fabulous!

Here are my BEFORE and AFTER looks:




Hopefully now I will stop getting carded to enter an 18 and over club! Ha!!
Let me know what you all think :)

We Got Rocked!!!

Tonight our Leo class was cancelled (yes, again) so we decided to make the best of the night and go see a musical here in London. We went to We Will Rock You. Yes, complete with Queen music.

It was awesome! They used lyrics from all songs in the dialogue and broke out into popular songs. It makes you want to sing along with them! One of my favorite numbers (aside from the ending of course which ROCKED!) was for the song "Another One Bites the Dust". They make fun of Boy Bands and there was a male character who called himself Britney Spears. Haha, funny.

I highly recommend this musical to anyone who has the chance to see it. You will fully enjoy yourself and you will feel like you are at a concert at the end when everyone is clapping along, waving their arms, and singing at the top of their lungs.

Overall good times for you and your mates. :)

Help me I'm falling...

Ok, so I have been having a high number of falling dreams lately. The other day I was up in my bunk and Stef was doing something on her computer. I was falling asleep and I jerked myself awake not once, but TWICE due to a falling dream. The second time I even let out a little whimper. What is up with these dreams? After we finished laughing at me Stef and I went on a web site to see what it meant. www.dreammoods.com

Apparently falling is an indication of insecurities, instabilities, and anxieties. It says that I am feeling overwhelmed and out of control in some situation in my waking life. When you fall, there is nothing that you can hold on to. You more or less are forced toward this downward motion without any control. This loss of control may parallel a waking situation in your life.

Umm hello - QUARTER AWAY!! I must be so caught up with this whole thing that my mind is even thinking about it when I'm sleeping. It even says that falling dreams are often accompanied by muscle spasms of the arms, legs, and the whole body. Yep - that is so me. These sudden contractions are known as myclonic jerks. They often cause you to wake up from the dream, and also serve as a comedy show to anyone else in the room.

But I did find out that you will not actually die if you do not wake up before you hit the ground during a fall. So I guess I will just keep on fallin....

A Weekend of Sin

Well ok not really, but it sounds cool. Stef and I went to Amsterdam this past weekend to visit Annie and the other MAS peeps there.

We left on Friday morning and came back early Sunday morning (TOO early). So we get there on Friday and Annie takes us to a Pancake place for lunch. Very yummy - it was like a thin pancake with any topping you could imagine. I had one with Motzerella, pesto, tomato, and basil. After that we biked by the Anne Frank house (yes, I did say biked) and decided the line was way too long and it was way too cold outside to stand in it. So what are three girls to do?? Go shopping of course! I ended up getting a nice pair of tall brown leather boots and Stef and Annie got some cool sweaters. After shopping we stopped by the grocery store and got some goodies to cook up for dinner. After dinner it was off to the Miss Pole Dancing Finals Competition 2005. The first ever, so we were witness to history in the making.

These girls were amazing (well, most of them). If I can figure out how to post video on this thing I will show you the American doing some crazy stunts. And sorry boys, this was a clothed event. After the competition we stayed at the club and got our dance on with the Amsterdam kids.


All that dancing worked up an appetite and we decided that a trip to Burger King was in order. But not before Annie accosted a bum lady and her dog outside the club.


A cab ride home and we crashed for the night.

The next day Annie, Stef and I went to a cafe called Goodies for a late lunch. The Dutch run life at a slower pace, so it took us a while to get waited on. That and the fact that we were American I think - but it was all good. Stef got a bit impatient, but she got her Coca-Cola Lite and was happy. Happy that is until she tasted her goat cheese. She had to order another sandwich :( After the cafe we walked around a bit then went to a bakery and got some goodies. It was starting to get dark now so we thought it would be a good time to check out the Red Light District.

Not as skanky as you would think. The girls were actually dressed (in underwear, but hey) in their windows with the red neon highlighting their bodies. Some were standing and dancing, some were sitting. Some would even bang on the windows to get the attention of passing guys. It was fun to stand there and watch a group of young Brits egg each other on to see who would go in with the girl. A little immature, but entertaining none the less. After that sight we decided it was time for some beers. We found a nice warm bar and just chatted it up for a bit.

After that we figured there wasn't much else to do in the RLD but go to a live sex show, of course. So we got our tickets and a drink and went inside. The "theater" was surprisingly small with pew-like seating. We tried the front row at first, but freaked and moved back to the 3rd. The first couple was nothing too great, but the stripper in the second act had a little surprise for us at the end! We got to talking to a group of guys around us (yes, in the sex show still) who had driven there from London, but who were all from New Zealand. There are actually 2 audience participation sections in these shows, and with Annie's coaxing we got 2 of our new found friends to go up on stage. Lets just say the show ended with a person dressed in a gorilla suit with a black strap-on up on stage... pointed at Annie, reached down and squeezed ... and shot some substance of water mixed with something all over Annie's face! She dove into my lap as we were all laughing hysterically. Ahh, good times good times.

After the show we went to a coffee shop and got some more drinks and hung out with our new friends for a bit.

After a while us girls decided it was time to bike home. But not before stopping for a nice rolled pizza for a late night snack. Stef and I had to get up at 5am in order to catch the transportation back to the airport for our flight back to London. Lots of traveling - and those darned British Passport Control dudes. Do I look like I would cause any problems?? Just make sure you have your school letter if you want to come here. Trust me. Unless of course you are Anne or Stef, then you'll have no problems. Go figure.

I Have Found the Best New Candy Bar!

Ok - Cadbury has a very tasty candy bar over here in the UK called Double Decker. It is Milk Chocolate with smooth Chewy nougatine and Crisp, Crunchy cereal filling. Comes in a festive orange and purple wrapper. Check it out if you get the chance, I recommend it. :)

Stonehenge - Finally!

We finally made it out to Stonehenge this past Saturday! And it was pretty cool. We ended up taking a bus tour that took us first to Salisbury where we saw the Salisbury Cathedral.

We had to catch the bus at 7:40am - and it was freezing! We all passed out on the way there though and the bus driver commented to us when we woke up. At one point the tour guide lady even said over the speaker "You awake back there?", because we took over the back of the bus. Haha



After the catherdal we went to a cute pub called The Kings Arms. I had the salmon which was pretty good. Anne had the pasta and she was annoyed because she felt like it was something her younger brother would have made. Check out her blog for a picture or her half eaten plate. (hehe) After lunch we got on the bus again and were on our way to Stonehenge. We got there and after about 5 minutes it started to rain. We could take it though! Note the colorful umbrellas and furry hoods.





(Photo e-props to Anne for this one)

So after Stonehenge we were walking back to the bus when Stef decided to stop and help out the acients erect some more stones...

This worked up quite an appetite (as you can imagine) so some Stonehenge treats were in order.




After our tasty treats we got back on the bus and were headed towards Bath. First stop was the Bath Abbey.

After that it was on to the Roman Baths. Very impressive that the plumbing put in when the site was created is still working to this day!




You can also learn a bunch of facts on the handy-dandy radio guide...

We also were able to drink some of the Spa Water. Don't worry, it was semi-treated. No tapeworms or weird one-celled organisms floating around in our stomachs.



After our day trip we headed back home to look for a hip-hop club in London. Not very easy to come by on a Saturday night.. but we finally found one. It was called Rainforest - and yes it had a huge fake hairy gorilla inside.