Girl Meets London

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Tue, 03 Jan 2012 00:41:32 -0500

Somewhat of a Reflection

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 00:38:57 -0500

The last 10 days of Londontown were a blur. I remember walking around South Kensington wondering when it would all sink in that I would be leaving this city and even on the plane ride home, it still hadn’t hit me.

If anything, the past ten days made me even more aware of how fortunate I was to be able to have this wonderful, life-changing experience.

I’ve talked a lot in this blog about all the amazing places I’ve been, but not enough about the unforgettable people I’ve had the pleasure of meeting.

Like I have said before, I joined the Imperial Swim Club in October. It was awesome swimming again but what was even better was getting to know kids from all over the world. I’ve met people from Spain, France, Italy and of course a few great Brits! They have made my swim club experience perfect for the short time I was there.

One of our last club meetings was the Christmas dinner at Sticky Fingers (A restaurant owned by one of the Rolling Stones, don’t ask which one, I have no idea). The meal, comprised of half priced cocktails (win for broke college girl) and 3 courses. I was surrounded by great company and was introduced to many British traditions including Christmas Crackers! (I’m not sure if my team was more shocked that I had never heard of the this Christmas ritual or that I actually thought they were crackers) I was pleasantly surprised to open the Christmas Cracker (shaped like a giant tootsie rool) to find an assortment of treats like paper hats, popsicle stick worthy bad jokes and other little knick knacks fit for dinner table entertainment. They were fun and I wish my family had them on Christmas day, it would have surely been a fun moment in the Lowe household.

After dinner, we all went out to a pub and danced for hours and it was the most fun I have had in a long time! I totally forgot about the FIE paper I had to write and did not mind one bit.

It’s a shame that I wasn’t able to participate in many swim club activities prior to this dinner because of work and classes but I’m glad I was able to become closer to my team mates. I will surely miss them and secretly (or not so secretly) hope I will able to go back someday and visit them, or they make a trip to the East Coast so I can give them a taste of my USA!

Cheers :)

The City of Love and Lights

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 00:15:28 -0500

This blog is SO late and there are no excuses! But, now that I’m home sweet home and in my comfy bed, I guess I have all the time in the world to write about great Paris was.

I guess the word ‘great’ would be a drastic understatement, because Paris was absolutely breathtaking. I’ve seen countless TV shows and films with Paris settings and it has always looked beautiful on screen but seeing it in person was a whole different level of beauty.

Let’s start with the Eiffel Tower, the most iconic symbol of Paris. I had the great pleasure of arriving in the city just as the sun was rising (after a very long bus ride) above the tower. It was probably one of the most spectacular moments in my abroad experience. The city was still rather peaceful and was the perfect start to our 12 hour exploration into Paris!

With our lovely tour guide, we then proceeded to visit The Louvre where we got in for free (a small victory for a poor abroad college student) and were on our way to the one and only Mona Lisa. As I think I’ve mentioned before, I’m not the best appreciator for art but I really did try to soak all the artwork in while in search for Mona. I think my fascination with The Mona Lisa stems from the Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown and just the overall mystery of the painting. Needless to say I was pretty intrigued! After lots of pictures of naked babies and war battles, we finally found her…and she was a lot smaller than I had expected but still pretty cool all the same.

After that, we had lots of free time. Jenn, Colleen and I went to the Notre Dame, shopped in the little street markets and just enjoyed being in Paris. We had a boat cruise at 6 so we rushed back to the Eiffel Tour for a 600 step climb to the second level! The view was incredible. And just like we saw the sun rise, we also saw the sun set on the tower…several hundred feet in the air!

It was dark by the time we got back down on the ground and the Eiffel Tower was all lit up and shining like gold. At the top of the hour, for about five minutes, the lights began to flicker and sparkle. It was SO spectacular and magical to see. I took so many pictures and videos in that small time span because it was just that incredible.

That concluded our day in the City and the next day, our tour guide took us to the Versailles Gardens and Montmarte. I preferred the gardens to the city of Montmarte because even in the dead cold, it was still a beautiful site. The gardens went on forever with statues, ponds, trees and even bigger ponds! It had a lot of history and was really fun to walk around!

That afternoon, we piled back into the bus and headed back to London Town. During that 8 hour ride, we watched It’s a Wonderful Life, a movie that I’m surprised I have never seen. I cried my eyes out. It was such a great film to start our holiday season and I was so excited to see my family after watching it. It was the perfect end to a perfect weekend!

Cheers :)

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Mon, 02 Jan 2012 23:24:00 -0500

Thousands of Love Locks on a Bridge :)

11 days left? I can’t comprehend this.

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 13:32:00 -0500

Yes. You heard it: 11. Days. Left. I’m beginning to slowly wrap my head around this fact and as the days go by its FREAKING me out.

As my friends and fam know back home, I am SO excited to see them. However now I’m realizing there is so much that I still want to do! Museums, Pubs, just aimlessly walking around London…there’s a lot to accomplish in two weeks time!

Needless to say I won’t be spending much time in my flat. What’s unfortunate is the fact that I have a 2,000 word page paper due Monday. Now that should just be illegal.

Cheers to soaking it all in…and multi-tasking.

Sheerluxe Blogs

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 14:42:00 -0500

Here are the blog entries from Sheerluxe, I’m having so much fun writing them!!

http://www.sheerluxe.com/blogs/2011/12/a-great-source-of-vitamin-c.aspx

A Great Source of Vitamin C

http://www.sheerluxe.com/blogs/2011/12/death-by-chocolate-recipe.aspx

Grandma’s Death by Chocolate Recipe

http://www.sheerluxe.com/blogs/2011/12/jcrew-to-the-rescue.aspx

J Crew to the Rescue

http://www.sheerluxe.com/blogs/2011/11/animal-instincts.aspx

Animal Instincts

http://www.sheerluxe.com/blogs/2011/11/fashion-in-the-country.aspx

Fashion in the Country

http://www.sheerluxe.com/blogs/2011/11/a-velvet-trip-down-memory-lane.aspx

A Velvet Trip Down Memory Lane

SHEERLUXE-update

Sun, 27 Nov 2011 06:23:51 -0500

I am LOVING my internship at Sheerluxe. It’s the perfect job and I’m so happy FIE placed me here. For those who haven’t read my previous blog, Sheerluxe is an online publisher that is devoted to online shopping. It’s essentially the one-stop-shop for consumers who want quality products. They have a directory of over 1500 retailers ranging from boutiques to luxurious designer brands. SL is not just for clothes either; Food, gifts, pets, wedding, children, men, accessories you name it, they have it! They offer discounts, news stories and the latest trend updates on their website. What I love about Sheerluxe is the personal touch you can see on the website. Everyone who works at SL has a blog and constantly updates them. One of my co-workers loves blogging about new restaurants, another has a blog specifically for Mothers or “Mums”. I even have an Intern blog where I get to write about anything I want. I LOVE blogging, as you can tell, so this is perfect for me. I’ve written 4 and published 2 of them so far, I’m hoping to do more in the next three weeks before we leave (aghhhh!)

I feel like my internship has been extremely hands on. I’m learning so much about running an website. There’s a lot of work that goes into it behind the scenes that I’ve never imagined before. We work on a “back site” where we put all our pages together and edit our content that can be seen on the “front of the site’ which is what you see on the website. It’s very hard to describe what it is I do everyday, but I mostly help to make layouts, upload pictures, create copy, and add product information to all the pictures. It was hard at first but I feel like it’ll be useful someday depending on where I work. I’ve also gotten to tweet and post news on Facebook on the SL page. It’s the closest I’ve gotten to COM/PR work and I love being creative with what I write.

As of this week, I’m the only intern at SL, which means I’m extremely busy but I don’t mind at all. I think the people who work there (who are all awesome and extremely fashionable) can see how hard I’m working as well. I’ll certainly miss it when I leave!! It’s been a great first-internship experience :)

cheers!

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Wed, 23 Nov 2011 14:01:00 -0500

The Emerald Isle

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 13:59:11 -0500

Over the weekend, my friends and I took a very short but very sweet trip to Cork, Ireland. Ever since deciding to study abroad, Ireland has been my top destination to travel to so I’m glad that I got to experience a small amount of my homeland. (Apparently both sides of my family were from Cork, what are the chances?)

Anyways, Brenna Colleen and I started our journey at 4 AM Saturday morning and arrived at our cute little Bed and Breakfast around 11 after taking a bus, a plane and a cab. The B&B was so cozy and for some reason reminded me so much of home. We met up with our friend Aimee in the Cork city center and had a great lunch. Then we started our journey to the Blarney Castle!!

The Castle grounds were so beautiful, open and GREEN. In the past 3 months I’ve been in Europe I’ve never seen anything like it. We walked around different paths until we reached the castle and proceeded to explore creepy ancient tunnels and dungeons that Colleen had found. We walked up 100 steps to get to the top and we got to kiss the blarney stone! When you kiss the stone you have to lean backwards while the guide holds you, it felt like I was going to fall backwards all the way down. It was a pretty cool experience and apparently once you kiss the stone, you are gifted with “Eloquence”.

We stayed on the grounds for at least another hour, taking pictures and enjoying the nature and the sun (it was supposed to be terrible weather that day, so maybe we got good luck for kissing the stone!) We went out to dinner in Cork and then to a pub of course! It was really bizarre because on the weekends the college students go home so the streets and pubs were deserted. We had a good time watching the older people at the pub though, especially when they were drinking Jager Bombs.

Sunday was a day of traveling back to London. We had a delicious Irish breakfast at the B&B and went on our way to the airport. Overall it was the perfect mini trip and I’m so glad I got to see Ireland. I’m hoping to go back someday to take a real tour around the country. The coastline is supposed to be gorgeous. I also think when I’m naming my dog Cork in the future…cute right? Maybe I’ll get an Irish Setter and make it even more perfect.

Cheers!

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Sun, 06 Nov 2011 11:52:16 -0500

Firenze Adventures!

Sun, 06 Nov 2011 11:48:00 -0500

I know this post is extremely overdue, but with my first week of my SheerLuxe internship, I barely got anytime to write!

Anyways, ITALIA was amazing. I would say it was one of the best trips I have ever taken. We had absolutely perfect weather all 4 four days we were there and we really got to experience everything that Florence had to offer. I honestly don’t even know where to start!

We got there Thursday night and met up with some of Devon’s friends who were also traveling abroad. We went to the Lion Fountain Pub that was a popular place for American abroad students like ourselves. The ceiling and walls were covered with US memorabilia and T-shirts from Colleges around the US. I found UCONN and Bentley but no Marist :( It was rather disappointing. That night I also had my first Italian dish of Pasta with a delish ricotta and tomato sauce! Sooo yummy!

The next morning we started our day off bright and early at the museum that housed the Statue of David by Michelangelo! This sculpture was so life-like, it was unbelievable. You could actually see the definition in his hands and feet. The veins and muscles were so prominent it was unreal. We then headed over to the Duomo, the most beautiful church in Florence, and climbed all 432 steps to the very top where we witnessed the most breathtaking views of Florence and the Tuscan countryside. We must have stayed up there for almost an hour just taking everything in. All the buildings were burnt oranges and reds, and with the green forests of the countryside it was the most beautiful view.

Saturday was by far my favorite part of our Italian adventure! Thanks to Jenn’s amazing researching skills, we found a tour of the Tuscan countryside for a great price. This tour was filled with stops at towns like Sienna and San Gimigano*(sp) and we also had a delicious 4 course meal with a wine tasting at a local farm. We ate pasta and drank glasses of Chianti with a view of the most beautiful landscape I have ever seen. We also went to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa and took the typical tourist pics, but it was totally worth it! It was a great tour to go on, we saw so many great places! Words can’t describe how beautiful that day was.

Sunday, we had a free day of exploring to do around the city. As fashion major/minors we went to the Salvatore Ferragamo museum of SHOES. For those who don’t know, Ferragamo was the first designer to incorporate cork into shoes to create the first wedge heel! He handcrafted shoes for royals, Marylin Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, Catherine Hepburn and so many more women. His designs were so unique and were inspired from everything around him like birds, native american art and other cultures. It was really interesting to see Ferragamo’s work after studying it in my classes.

What was great about this Italian trip was seeing our friends from Marist! On Friday we went to dinner with some our FIE girlfriends who were also traveling in Florence. (We got free wine becuase we were abroad students!) On our last night, we met up with two of our friends who were actually studying in Florence. They took us to Gusta Pizza which was THE BEST pizza I have ever tasted. Nothing will ever compare to it, plus it was shaped like a heart which made it that much cooler. It was the perfect way to end the trip!

I could have written so much more about this trip but I felt like it would have turned into a small novel, so that’s it for now! I really recommend Florence to anyone who wants to travel it Italy. You won’t be disappointed!

Cheers…or Ciao! :)

Hyde Park is definitely not as beautiful as the Hudson in the...

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 20:23:00 -0400

Hyde Park is definitely not as beautiful as the Hudson in the Fall, but it’s a close second. Gotta love those paddleboat days :)

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Mon, 24 Oct 2011 20:20:00 -0400

CHELSEA Football Club

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 20:19:40 -0400

I chose the Sporting London class because of my curiosity of British sport and my love of the Olympic Games. I can say that with the ending of this class last week, I have become somewhat of an expert on both topics.

In this class, we learned so much from our teacher Helen Curtis. Essentially she is the encyclopedia on all things Olympic. She played Water-Polo and swam growing up and actually knows people from my high-school team; such a small world. She is so enthusiastic about our class and made it a blast to learn.

Over the course of the semester, we’ve been to the Olympic Park (previous post), Wembley Stadium, Chelsea Stadium, Olympic Gift shops, Wimbledon, and TWO Chelsea Football games.

The Chelsea games were absolutely amazing. We were so lucky to go to both games for only 20 Pounds in total! The first game we went to was against Fulham and the second was against Belgium, which is the game pictured above. The Chelsea Stadium looks big in a tour, but looks even bigger with thousands of fans in blue and white! We had amazing seats and cheered along with the intense crowd. Helen went with us on both occasions and was able to answer any of our questions at the drop of a hat. (Since I’m not football-savvy, I was glad she gave me the 411 of the game’s progress)

The game against Belgium was our last big “Hoorah” for class. CFC won against Belgium 5-0 and we had a great time! I’ll miss that class and Helen a lot. Hopefully we can meet up in a pub someday soon!

Cheers!

One of the Best Decisions I've Made in London...

Sun, 16 Oct 2011 10:20:00 -0400

was joining the Imperial Swim Club. I’ve only had 5 practices with the team but I am absolutely LOVING it. The practices are hard and the pool is in meters, not yards like at home but I don’t care. Just having a chance to be on an actual team and getting to swim like I used to in high school is worth it all.

Everyone on the team is so nice and welcoming. I’ve met a bunch of great people and I think were going to get along great. I’ve never been on a co-ed swim team, but the atmosphere is a lot like my co-ed track team in high school (which is a very, very good thing). The coach is also a great guy too. He works us hard and I feel a lot stronger already!

We had time-trials for the upcoming BUCS Championships they compete in and I decided to do it. I knew that my times weren’t going to be great with a longer pool and only practicing for a week but it went ok! I was proud of myself for swimming my hardest. I did time-trials for the 50 Breast, Fly and Free, the 100 Breast and the 200 IM. I was going to do 100 Fly since that was my best stroke in high school, but I knew my body could not handle that yet!!

Today, some of the team members and I went for a run around Hyde Park. It was about 40 minutes and it felt great. I’ve had some tendinitis in my heel recently so I’m glad that it felt good to run on it today. I was able to keep up with two guys from my team and it was nice getting to know them!

All in all, I’m really glad I joined this club. I’m so happy that I get the opportunity to swim and meet new people :)

Now, I have to get back to writing two papers and studying for a midterm. Yikes.

cheers:)

This is exactly what Big Ben and the London Eye look like at...

Sat, 15 Oct 2011 18:02:00 -0400

This is exactly what Big Ben and the London Eye look like at night. Some of my girlfriends and I went to South Bank for dinner at the delicious Latin restaurant, Las Iguanas. We stood on the bridge overlooking the Thames River while we waited for our table and

It. Was. Beautiful.

The city lights were reflecting off the water and you could tell even at night that there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.

I definitely need to go back to that exact spot again. Looking out at the river then is so much better than during the day.

Just having one of those little ” I love London” moments!

cheers!

See the resemblance? Not just the red hair but the...

Sat, 15 Oct 2011 14:16:09 -0400

See the resemblance? Not just the red hair but the location?

That’s right, I’m standing in the same place Ron Weasley/Rupert Grint stood when filming HP7 Part 1 when he was trying to find Ministry workers to use for their Polyjuice Potion!!

Wow, I’m a nerd.

Photo inspired by Devon Ross :)

Having my parents here from Thursday to Tuesday was just what I...

Thu, 13 Oct 2011 08:14:00 -0400

Having my parents here from Thursday to Tuesday was just what I needed. I missed them and it was a blast showing them around London. Acting as a tour guide made me realize how well I know the city already, especially the Tube! Of course, one of the bonuses of parents visiting is the chance to sleep in a nice hotel, and I most definitely took advantage of that!

We took the tourist route and traveled up the Thames river. We saw the London Bridge, The London Eye, and stopped at the Tower of London. For those who aren’t aware, the Tower of London is where the royal crown jewels and artifacts are held. It was a jaw-dropping experience. The jewels that past kings and queens have worn are unbelievable. Sapphires, emeralds, and of course DIAMONDS were all present on the crowns. There were also platters, staffs, utensils made entirely out of gold. I could not wrap my head around the fact that royalty had the opportunity to wear such incredible pieces of jewelry.

The next day, my family, Devon’s family, Colleen and Jenn went on a Harry Potter tour around the city. I am a HUGE Harry Potter fan as friends and family know, so obviously I was psyched to see where they filmed scenes and where JK Rowling got her inspiration for the books and the movies. Our tour guide played trivia games the whole 2.5 hour tour which my mom and I enjoyed (we’ve both read all the books and watched all the movies at least twice each). The tour went to parts of the city that I haven’t explored yet like Trafalgar Square and our guide gave us information about the areas that we were touring in. I now know more about the city and the inside scoop on HP films :)

My parents and I went to see the play, 39 Steps on Saturday night and it was absolutely hilarious. The whole play consisted of 4 performers and it was brilliantly done. If they bring the play to the US, it’s a definite must-see! One of their last nights here, we went to an italian restaurant near my flat called Roccas. My parents absolutely loved the food! We got appetizers, entrees, tiramisu and the waiter brought us drinks on the house at the end of the night! It was a very filling meal but completely worth it. Despite our full-ness, we even went across the street to my favorite gelato place for an extra dessert! It was the best evening with them in my opinion.

Ron and Wendy are back at work in Suffield, but it truly was one of the best weeks I’ve had in London. Being able to share my adventures around London-town with them was perfect. I wish they could come back but in 2 months time, I’ll be home to share the rest of my stories with them

Cheers!

May I just say how awesome it is to have these two crazy kids...

Sat, 08 Oct 2011 20:47:00 -0400

May I just say how awesome it is to have these two crazy kids here?!?!

More to blog soon, just thought I’d share how happy I’ve been this week to have the parentals across the pond :) Makes me feel closer to Suffield<3

In all seriousness, I am so thankful for Mommalish and Ron coming to London. I really needed to see them. Don’t want them to leave!!

Imperial Swim Club!

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 10:49:00 -0400

Imperial Swim Club!:

I cannot tell you how excited I am to begin swimming again on a regular basis. I miss swimming so much and was so disappointed to find that Marist didn’t have a swim club when I was freshman. Now, I get to work out, meet new people and maybe even compete!? This is unreal. I hope my mom remembers to bring all my swim stuff!

Words cannot describe.

p.s take a look at the club’s website by clicking the blog title “Imperial Swim Club!”