What a couple of weeks it’s been. Well I should say months since I have been terrible about blogging, but that is going to change! I am going to get back into the weekly blogging and might even have two a week so I can catch up on some of the adventures I’ve been having.

March flew by with anticipation of the Mountbatten March intake leaving. It seems like I was just sitting in the back seat of a yellow cab staring out the back window with tears streaming down my face as the NYC skyline disappeared behind me. I still wonder what that cabbie thought was happening, because I was pretty legitimately crying. One of the hardest aspects of this whole year has been the goodbyes. I may or may not be one of the most emotional people when it comes to change, I agonize over it for weeks leading up, wonder what it will feel like, if I will be miserable for a while, but then it just happens. You move, they move, you can’t stop it and you just have to put a smile on your face.

Coming into the program, I didn’t even know that I would meet any of the March intake, but low and behold, some of the Marchies became my best friends. I was dreading saying goodbye to them with many tears in the weeks leading up to there departure (that had nothing to do with the amount of leaving drinks). It’s still weird to not have all of them here, but it’s comforting to know that they’re all only a Whatsapp, Facebook post, Viber call, FaceTime or Skype away.

A few weeks ago my previous roommates and I (who are all March intake) had a flat dinner. I’ve been trying to get better about cooking, especially since I now have a normal sized kitchen. We cooked up some delicious food (pictures below) and enjoyed hanging out.

To all my favorite Marchies, I miss you dearly and can’t wait to see you again soon!

The Nachos Jess and I tried to recreate from Amsterdam…replacing the salsa with sweet and sour sauce!

The stuffed mushrooms I made (I asked Sarah what to do at every step, but they came out great)

Jess and Andre’s delicious stuffed peppers!

The full plate!

{The crew in front of one of the volcanoes}

This past weekend I went to Iceland! I can honestly say that Iceland was not somewhere I expected to visit.  My friend Amanda’s birthday is next this week, so she wanted to take a birthday trip there, and it was fantastic! The only downer being that I got terribly sick last week and wasn’t feeling great throughout the weekend.  We left bright and early on Friday morning starting the trip off right with birthday shots (liquor tasters in the duty free area - poor people problems).  We had a long day of travel because our flight was over-booked so our flight was switched to one with a layover in Copenhagen (bright-side = we all get a full refund).  

We got to the Kex Hostel (p.s. cutest hostel ever) at around 5 p.m. checked in and got some food in the restaurant at the hostel, which was actually quite good!  I had delicious cream of cauliflower soup (so good that I had it twice).  When we checked in, the front desk let us know that our Northern Lights tour was cancelled that night because of poor conditions, so after dinner we left the hostel to go see some of Reykjavik.  As you can imagine it’s quite compact as there are only around 320,000 people living in all of Iceland.  It’s a very cute city though that is right on the water.  Most of the shops closed pretty early, so after getting some souvenirs we headed back.  When we got back to the hostel we all relaxed for a while and then started getting ready to go out in what is known as a pretty crazy party town.  However, I was feeling terrible and decided to call it a night and passed out when the rest of the girls left.

The next morning we were up at 7 a.m. for our Golden Circle tour.  This was definitely a great tour to take and I highly recommend it.  The bus takes you to pretty much everything you would want to see including the spectacular Geysir, the waterfall Gulfoss, volcanoes and the national park Thingvellir (where the Vikings Parliament is and where the North American and Eurasia tectonic plates meet).  Our bus driver (who we were obsessed with) also stopped to let us feed some horses along the way!  It was a great day of site seeing and we learned a lot as well!  For example, Iceland is actually not located on any continent! You’re welcome for that fun fact! :)

When we got back to Reykjavik at around 4:30 a few of the girls and I walked around the city for a little while to try and take advantage of the last bit of light.  We then all went to one of the cities famous hot dog stands (apparently Iceland is famous for their hot dogs).  We ended up taking it easy the rest of the night taking a nap, grabbing some dinner and crashing out for the rest of the night.

On Sunday we finished the trip with the Blue Lagoon, which was AWESOME!  We got there first thing in the morning when it opened and stayed until we had to head to the airport at 2:15.  It was so relaxing and nice! We put the volcanic rock face mask on and were all definitely glowing!  It was an excellent finale to an excellent trip!

All my love from LaLaLand! (and now London) :)

{Birthday shots at Gatwick}

{First dinner in Iceland}

{Amanda, Maggie and I in front of the Salmon river}

{Feeding the horses}

{The big Geyser}

{Rainbow over the waterfall}

{The amazing Blue Lagoon!}

{Winter Wonderland!}

After traveling for over two weeks, I was very happy to come back home to London!  The past couple of weeks have been great, despite work being a little mental while preparing for our Sales leaders Conference coming up next week and 18 Annual Sales Meetings throughout February and March.  However, despite that I have been able to have some fun!  My first weekend back was filled with delicious food, starting with Hibachi with Brendan in Camden and followed by back to back brunches at The Breakfast Club…DELISH!  This past weekend I started my global business class.  It was a bit of a bummer to be in class all weekend, but I have to say we had a stunning snowy weekend.  I swear it snowed for 3 days straight and made London look like a magical snow globe / winter wonderland.  I couldn’t help but snap some pics!

Another fun surprise this past weekend was seeing not one, but TWO friends from high school.  I always love seeing old friends and catching up on each others lives, and even more so now when I’m so far from home.  It was such a wonderful surprise to get to hang out with them.

More posts to come on my fantastic winter trips, but for now…

All my love from LaLaLand (and now London) :)

{Iconic London phone booth all covered in snow}

{Adorable old couple walking in the snow…creepy that I took this pic?}

{Watching the Atlanta Falcons with Jon and Alan - shout out to AC BBYO :)}

{The chef at Hibachi, who started the show by saying “do i make you hungry babyyyyy” in an Austin Power voice…he had the right audience!}

{Just one of the delicious brunches at The Breakfast Club}

{The TR ladies all looking beautiful for the official holiday party}

The past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of holiday celebrations!  It all kicked off the week after my trip to Amsterdam.  We had the official company holiday party on Thursday, which was pretty fabulous.  The whole party was themed in 1800s Christmas cheer.  With tons of food (I never got any), magicians, men doing acrobatics, and Rock-e-oke (where you would have found my friends and I ALL night).  Then over the weekend I had more holiday celebratory fun.  Saturday some friends and I started the day with our holiday sweaters (mine has a snowman on it) at the Chocolate Festival at South Bank (a.k.a HEAVEN).  Then we moved to Winter Wonderland at Hyde Park, which was quite simply magical.  We went to the beer garden and had some Steins (the big German mugs that hold a liter of beer).  On Sunday the holiday cheer continued as my roommates and I decorated our flat and had a Christmakkah dinner.  I made latkes for the first time and happy to say they were a success!  Although as my roommates pointed out many times they wouldn’t have known any different.  The weekend was capped off with a secret santa with August Mountbatten intake friends.  The holiday celebration didn’t stop there!  The next week on Tuesday we had our unofficial Thomson Reuters holiday party and a white elephant gift exchange with friends from work.

Now I am just SO excited to leave for my AMAZING holiday!  I am off tonight for the French Alps to go skiing through Christmas, then heading to Berlin to meet my Momma and Daddy, where we’ll be for a couple of days and then head to Prague, Vienna for New Years and finish in Budapest.  I am one lucky girl!  2012 has been one of the most amazing years, full of many changes, but all ones that I am so incredibly appreciative for!  I’m not sure if any year could top this one, but here’s to an even more incredible 2013 full of joy, adventure, friends, family and lot of love.  Happy holidays and New Year to you all!

{Having a blast at the party}

{Matt and I}

{The acrobatic men picked me up!}

{Me and the ladies rocking out to “Don’t Stop Believing” at Rock-e-oke”}

{HEAVEN!}

{NOM NOM NOM}

{Magical!}

{VERY large beers with Christian, Mike and Maggie}

{So pretty at night leaving Winter Wonderland}

{Cute pic with my flatmates after our Christmakkah dinner :)}

{Iamsterdam sign with the Rijksmuseum in the background}

Amsterdam has been on my list of places to visit as long as I can remember, and I’m happy to say it did not disappoint.  Jess (my roommate) and I arrived tired in Amsterdam after waking up at 4:30, taking an hour train to the Southend airport - apparently not the most convenient - and a 40 minute flight.  We walked straight to find our hostel / bed & breakfast.  Within just a few minutes I already saw why the red light district got it’s name, and it was surprisingly close to where we were staying…like next door.  Apparently we were staying somewhat in the new red light district.  Anyways, after settling in and getting a brief intro-to-Amsterdam chat from the owner of our B&B, we headed out to explore the city and meet our other flatmate Andre, who decided last minute to go to Amsterdam the same weekend (unfortunately, we wouldn’t actually find him until Sunday night).  Although a bit cold and overcast, the city was beautiful!  We stopped for a quick lunch at the most adorable little restaurant, called Het Houten Huis, where we got our first taste of Dutch frits! We then walked over through the flower market, which I must say the flowers were stunning, and then through the outdoor market.  Just after mentioning that even though it was a little cold “at least it’s not pouring,” the heavens opened up, and shockingly it started to pour.  We tried to escape by going to one of the museums nearby, but there was a long line to wait in the rain, so instead we went to a bar on the corner and got hot chocolate and Bailey’s, YUM!  After the quick stop we decided to go ahead and get back to the B&B while the rain had slowed.  On the way we stopped at an old book store (bc I was on a hunt to add a new one to my collection).  After asking the shop owner if he had an old history of Amsterdam book and he pointed to a VERY large book that was probably quite expensive, I picked up a small book that seemed more reasonable and asked him what is was about.  He said it was a book about Jewish antiquities.  I thought was pretty amazing that out of all the books, I picked that one, so I bought it.  We took a nice nap, had some dinner and then got ready to head out.  We met a couple of nice American girls at the B&B who were studying abroad in Spain and hung out with them.  The highlight of the night was when they played “All I want for Christmas” at the bar and passed around sparklers.  It was magical!  

On Sunday we slept in a bit, which worked out because it was hailing in the morning!  Despite my apprehension, we got bikes to ride for the day.  I hadn’t ridden a bike in a very long time so I was a little concerned about how well this would go.  I’m pleased to say that we managed to get around the city quite well, and it wasn’t until we got back to the bike shop at the end of the day that I sort of slipped off of the bike :).  Truthfully, the bike riding was my favorite part of the trip!  We went to see the Iamsterdam sign and the Rijksmuseum, rode through Vondelpark, over the bridge where Van Gogh used to paint and to a quaint Cafe called Cafe Het Paleis.  It was the perfect pit stop, where I got the most delicious mint and ginger tea and Jess and I shared some of the best nachos I have ever had! (instead of salsa they used a really yummy sweet chili sauce)  After returning our bikes walked through the Nine streets.  An adorable area with high-end shopping and restaurants.  We capped off our day by going to the Anne Frank House.  One of the best museums I have ever been to.  They did a really nice job with it, and it was just so strange to actually stand in the rooms where they lived in hiding.  I’m very glad that I saw it.

We finally met Andre, our long lost flatmate, after the tour and went for dinner at a  traditional dutch restaurant that our B&B owner recommended called, Haesje Claus.  The dinner was a great end to a wonderful day.  Unfortunately the next day our flight was delayed 3 hours, leaving us a bit exhausted!  

All my love from LaLaLand! (And now London)

{The adorable day-one lunch spot}

{Gorgeous flowers in the market}

{Bikes galore in Amsterdam}

{Blurry picture of the sparklers during “All I want for Christmas”}

{The beautiful canals of Amsterdam}

{Jess riding her bike like a pro}

{Pretty Bridge}

{Shutters that I loved}

{Couldn’t take enough pictures to capture the beauty!}

{Robin, Charlene and I out dancing}

After a week of sunshine and relaxation in SoFlo it was back to London town for this girl!  I must say being away made me miss my new home and all of the friends I’ve made here.  But even more exciting was that my fabulous friend Charlene was visiting the weekend I returned (quick shout out to her for being such a rock star in putting together the Refinery 29 Tinseltown).  From the second I stepped of the plane it was a non-stop weekend of fun, although I did have to work the second half of Friday.  We met Charlene’s other Atlanta Londoner, Robin, in Angel to walk and find a place for dinner.  We decided on a Thai restaurant called XOXO.  I had some delicious Pad See Ew, my favorite Thai dish that I haven’t had in months.  After, we went out in Shoreditch to a bar called The Hoxton Pony and danced our little butts off.  Saturday we slept in and then went over to explore Portebello Market.  We first stopped to get some food, which was an interesting experience.  We saw a cute place that had a covered outdoor area that looked over the market area.  From downstairs it looked like it was a traditional British restaurant based on the menu on the door.  However, when we got upstairs it was a thai restaurant…Yes, we were just as thrown.  Then when we asked for the breakfast menu and tried to order scrambled eggs and toast with an add-on of cheese they told us we could only order the full English breakfast.  Mind you we are still at the Thai place.  So, long story short, Char and I split the full English breakfast, but I wasn’t happy about it. Moving on, after walking through the market, we headed to an event that my roommate, Michael, new of at the Somerset House in London.  I had never been over there and it was absolutely beautiful!  There is an ice skating rink out and it’s all decked out for the holidays, I loved it!

Topping off the night we had my third and final Thanksgiving meal for the week at my friend Justyna’s from work.  Everyone came with a dish in tow and I have to say, I was really impressed with the food!  Especially Justyna’s 15 lb turkey!  It was a lovely night and weekend bringing together new and old friends.  One of the strangest things about moving to a new country or place is that you create a whole new life that despite countless emails, phone calls, texts, or video chat dates, your friends and family back home don’t really know.  It was really nice to have a friend from home come and see my life first hand.  I can’t wait for more friends and family to come and visit!  

All my love from LaLaLand (and now London) :)

{Andre (Roomie) and I}

{Chandalier at the restaurant at Portebello Market - only think I liked :(}

{Beautiful Somerset House}

{Phenomenal table arranged by the lovely Justyna - the best hostess!}

{The cousins and our new addition!}

Happy Thanksgiving!!  What a few months it has been! This past week has been wonderful celebrating my cousin’s wedding with my family.  I have to say, while I haven’t been to many weddings, this one was definitely spectacular, but I would expect no less from the new Mr. and Mrs. Bennett.  From the beautiful ceremony on the water, to the Polaroid picture signing book, to the surprise (and unplanned) fireworks over the water, to Patron shots with our Family, dancing the night away and finally the pizza and beer after party.  The weekend couldn’t have been any better!!

I certainly have a lot to be thankful for, so here is my Thankful list 2012:

• Firstly, I’m thankful for having the chance to live in London for a year, make amazing friends and visit incredible places all over Europe
• My incredible friends in the states who I miss and love
• And finally, my wonderful family who I love spending time with and am so happy to be with for a yummy Thanksgiving meal

Wishing everyone the happiest of Thanksgivings!

All my love from LaLa Land! (and now London :))

{The Bride and her maids before the rehearsal dinner}

{With our fabulous new workout gear!}

{With my sister and Broder}

{Grandma and I}

{The happy and glowing bride :)}

{Pretty ladies getting ready}

{Me and my beautiful sister}

{Gorgeous Bride!}

{All ready to go and looking pretty shnazzy!}

{We love our cousin!}

{Momma and her girls}

{Let the marriage ceremony begin}

{Mr. and Mrs. Bennett’s first dance}

{Ladies at happy hour for Kerry’s birthday}

Wow it has been WAY too long since my last post.  The past couple of weeks have been a blast and much more chill.  The first weekend in November was my friend Kerry’s birthday so we had a weekend of festivities to celebrate.  The weekend started with happy hour after work on Friday right in Canary Wharf.  Saturday I pretty much relaxed in the morning and had a delicious breakfast with my roommates.  Then we went over to Greenwich Market to meet Kerry and walk around.  We got some yummy food and did a little shopping.  Then that night we all went out in Clapham, which was super fun!!!  On Monday some friends and I went to go see fire works for Guy Fawkes Night, a.k.a. Bon Fire Night, a.k.a. Fire Works Night.  Weirdly, while it’s call a night it actually is celebrated all weekend, but it’s a British tradition remembering the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, when a Catholic (Guy Fawkes) tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament and King James I.  The Brits stopped him and they celebrate it every year with bon fires and fire works.  The rest of the week was pretty relaxed, but we did have another bar quiz with work.  Gotta love those!  Now I am back in the states for my cousin’s wedding! It was such a fun and beautiful weekend!  In a weird way being back makes everything that’s happened in London feel like a dream or something.  I am definitely missing all of my favorite Londoners. I can’t wait for some delicious Thanksgiving meals this week and to see the fabulous Charlene this weekend!  

All my love from LaLa Land :)

{Cheers to Kez!}

{Jacki and I}

{The whole gang}

{Fire Works for Guy Fawkes Day}

{The amazing girl walking a dog sculpture that Kez and I made out of pipe cleaners…I know Impressive}

Cruella Deville in the flesh!

First of all, I want to send my love to all of my friends and family in New York who were impacted by Hurricane Sandy.  Luckily everyone is safe and that’s all that matters, but seeing the images of Manhattan under water was heartbreaking.  I hope for a speedy recovery to all of the cities that were affected!

Second, HAPPY HALLOWEEN!  This week has been a blast!  Over the weekend I had a Halloween party at my friend Justyna’s house.  She is definitely the hostess with the mostest and went all out with creepy decorations, music and snacks.  I ended up going as Cruella Deville, as you can see above and below.  But it took up until a few days before to finally decide on a costume.  Apart from my typical indecisiveness, the difficulty came about when it became clear that apparently Londoners believe you should ONLY dress as something scary on Halloween.  Now clearly Americans feel differently (insert Mean Girls quote).  I had planned to go as Audrey Hepburn, but that wasn’t scary.  And I didn’t want to go as a dead Audrey, which was the most popular suggestion. 

Anyways, I think the Cruella costume worked out really well and I plan to rock it again tonight at the Mountbatten Halloween party.  After all, if she doesn’t scare you than nobody will! :)

All my Love from LaLaLand (and now London)!

My Devilish roommate Michael and I

The array of spooky snacks at the party

Cruella, Evil Nurse and Dead Doll (a.k.a. me, Sapna and Kerry)

Mermaid and the Fantastic Mr. Fox rockin it out! (a.k.a. Lynnie and Hugh)

Justyna looking terrifying and getting ready for a game of flip cup!

Cruella and Edward Cullen looking scary (a.k.a. me and David)

{Working on my skills}

Last weekend was super fun!  It started with a cooking class with work at The Brigade.  My coworkers won a bar quiz (a.k.a. trivia), and the cooking class was the prize.  I didn’t actually participate in the bar quiz when we won (I participated when we lost…whoops), but they had extra spots so they offered it up to a few of us.  Before we got started they told us a little bit about The Brigade and their Beyond Food Foundation, where they offer apprenticeship opportunities for people who have either been at risk or experienced homelessness.  It’s sounds like a really terrific program!

We then heard from our chef that we’d be making filet and potatoes.  He broke us up into teams (I was on team potatoes).  Those who know me know that I do not do well with raw meat.  So a group of the other girls were on team meat.  Team potatoes did good, but I think I was the weak link because I had the bad peeler and pealed like two potatoes in the time that my colleague did the other 8, oh well.

The meal turned out fantastic!  It was delicious and we were all impressed that we (with some help) made it ourselves!

Saturday, I officially became a Brit by partaking in the long-time tradition of high (afternoon) tea.  Some friends and i got a Groupon for one and it was very fabulous and posh.  Apparently, high tea started with Anne, the 7th Duchess of Bedford and lady in waiting to Queen Victoria because dinner was so late and she needed a snack.  Clearly I can relate to that.  We had a delicious array of tea sandwiches, scones, and dessert treats.  

After tea, we met some other friends in Camden and went out at a place called Lock 17 and had a fun girls night just dancing our little tushies off! :)

Sunday was recovery day from all the fun and I watched about four episodes of Homeland, which I am now addicted to and need to catch up to the second season!

All my love from LaLaLand (and now London)!

{The meat team massaging our filet - excellent job ladies}

{The finished product - not bad right!}

{The high tea spread of deliciousness}

{Cute girly pic with Justyna and Lynnie}