Who knows some days....

Today I woke up feeling great. I didn't have a lot of enthusiasm for what I needed to do with my day, but I was in a good mood, I put some work into getting ready, and I got the work I needed to done.

I was under the impression that today was going to be a pretty good day.

Then 3:21pm happened.

I just deleted a long diatribe about my experience leading up to this moment, but suffice it to say, I have been trying desperately to get more financial aid, and the GW Department of Financial Assistance pretty much gave me a big 'F you' today and it looks like I will be taking on another $10,000 in student loans.

I cried. A lot. Like, I'm pretty sure I am dehydrated from crying so much. It stung. I used the word 'hate' more times than I could tell you. The weight of the response was just so heavy, I couldn't contain all the emotions I felt.

Then 4:30pm rolled around.

Apparently I won a drawing for a £50 voucher for Amazon.com.

Now I can't decide....which way is my life going? Who knows some days....

On a serious note...

So, as you can tell, most of my blog is all fun and games. Me talking about the weather, me talking about my inability to blog effectively....right now I'm gonna take it down to a semi-more serious note.

Part I: I am missing home a lot.
Not just because I wish I had my purple velvet blazer and a pumpkin spice latte in hand. I am really having a great time here, and making great friends, but there is no replacement for the comfort of being around people who know you and love you for who you are. You think I would know by my third college experience that it is rough starting out and having to maneuver around pleasantries, etc., but it honestly always shocks me a little bit. To sum things up: I am loving this experience, but come December 17th I will be extremely glad to be on a plane, on my way home.

Part II: I am freaked out about the future.
All of the sudden I am realizing that being a "grown-up" is just around the corner for me. What will that bring? I have no idea. Since I have gotten to Edinburgh I have: started an application for Teach for America, started an application for Duke Divinity School, contemplated starting to study for the GRE, wondered when I should start applying for jobs, stalked craigslist's housing classifieds to see how much I am going to need to make to put a roof over my head depending on where I live....

All of that is just to say, the whole "real adult life" thing is setting in. Like majorly. And I don't really know what direction my life is going to take once I graduate.

Any who, that is probably enough of all that. To brighten the mood you should check out this super sweet video. So sad I missed these people being in Edinburgh for the Fringe Festival:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iANRO3I30nM

First day in the sub-50s in Edinburgh

Walked out my door this morning and remembered a handful of mornings waking up to that crisp chilliness, fresh scent and bright sunniness of this place:




It is going to be a cold day here, though.

I would write more if I hadn't woken up pre-8am to finish work before class! xoxo

more later :)

I'm good at blogging

This is a really excellent post...

because it has been a long time since I posted anything.

And I'm not really planning on talking about what has been going on in my life here (all good though!). I just want to share my latest creation (see December-January):



I really super miss baking....and cooking...and therefore, I created a calendar of all of the recipes I'm gonna try to replicate while I am home. Maybe a fraction of them will appear on tastyface...

maybe I will post something about Europe sometime soon.

We'll see.

It is October already?

This is one of those days where I am really lacking the motivation to accomplish anything...so I am going to post on here. My post today will be centered around bringing you up to date on my life in Edinburgh as of late.

Ok! Soooo....

Things I have done:

1. Day trip to Glasgow! That was fun. It happened! (We didn't think it would because we couldn't find our bus at first) But, we got there and we saw a Cathedral, a cemetery, ate some food that was probably not very great but OH so much better than the dining hall food here, and wandered. Fun day over all.

2. This last Saturday we went on a trip to the Highlands with the University to watch a football (read: soccer) game. That was less awesome. It took 5 hours by bus each way, we ate at the only restaurant in the ghost town we were in, it was really super cold, our team lost. That's about it. Worth the trip though. Probably won't do that one all too often.

Things upcoming:

1. I am leaving for London on Thursday afternoon and then Tom and I are going to be in Paris from Friday-Sunday. I am looking forward to seeing him and to seeing some new places!

2. I have now officially booked two more trips: one to Milan (Nov. 12-14) and one to Amsterdam (Nov. 25-27). Those should be great!

Other thoughts:

1. I am missing dancing, baking, being at home, being in DC, having a job that supplies me with money to spend, my fleece, and pumpkin spice lattes.

2. I found a really awesome coffee place to go here called Kilimanjaro Coffee. Love it.

3. I am supposed to go pick up my one and only textbook now, so I have to peace.

xoxo

Hopefully I will post again soon! <3

Blogging fail

So, I am a failure at blogging.

This post is my attempt to change that.

I arrived in Edinburgh for my semester at the University of Edinburgh 12 days ago after a quick trip to DC to visit some of my favorite people from GW. Anyone who saw me 13-15 days ago can tell you that I was somewhere in between excitement, nervousness, and disbelief about the fact that I would be traveling across an ocean, to a continent I had never been, by myself, to a place I would stay for 3 months. I spent the whole summer gearing up for my trip though, and figured at the least I would be prepared and I was reassured by my friends and family (esp. Emi Acquafredda, thank youuuuu) that I would be fine.

So, on September 11th I showed up to Dulles airport for my flight to Edinburgh via London about 3 hours early, had my last Mexican meal at Chipotle (if that even counts) and talked to my family and friends while I waited.

Eventually it was time for my flight. I gushed all of the terrible things about it into a word document afterward, but luckily I have had time to let it all mellow over the last week and a half, so you'll just get the footnotes. First of all, I flew British Air and overall it was a good experience, just frustrating on a personal level. Here were the major minuses:

1. My carry-on bag did not fit in the overhead bin. No one would help me with it. Everyone told me it wouldn't work. I got looked at like I was a stupid American who didn't understand that I couldn't just force a bag into a compartment. I eventually got it in, so take that non-believers! Still frustrating though...

2. The lady who sat next to me was really rude to me when I first sat down (she rolled her eyes when I told her I was sitting there after my bag-stuffing shenanigans), and had NO concept of personal space. I couldn't get to my tv or tray table (which pull out of the armrests in the row I was in) because she was all over them. Oh well, I killed her with kindness by holding stuff for her, moving her purse for her when time came to land, etc. and she eventually came around.

While I was in London for my layover, the one part of my journey that I though would be frustrating: getting my visa, was the easiest part. I didn't need anything I brought with me, all I did was answer 4 questions and I was done. Womp womp.

Major London Heathrow annoyances: had to drink almost a whole (nalgene) bottle of water at security because there was nowhere to dump it out, couldn't get internet to let my parents know I arrived, paid a ridiculous amount for Starbucks (but what is new?).

After all of that though, I eventually made it to Edinburgh. My room here is great, the campus is a little far, everything is a little expensive, and it is definitely going to be cold, but I really like it so far. On my second and third nights I met some people who are definitely going to be some of my close friends while I am here (for future reference, Kristin, who is from GW also, and Colin and Omar who go to Ohio State). We have done some fun stuff already, including going out to pubs, overpaying to go to overcrowded clubs, shopping, going to the gym, seeing the Pope, and climbing Arthur's Seat (pictures below).

Being dance-y at the top of Arthur's Seat

Kristin and I at the top of Arthur's Seat

Me, Kristin and Colin after seeing the Pope

That is all for now, hopefully I will be good and will post often. Thanks for reading!!!

Another day, another no dollars!

Ok, so that is kind of a lie. I did spend money today...but not on things! Only on food! That is saying a lot too, because I spent the afternoon at Borders being tempted by books, movies, magazines, and assorted cheap/adorable items.

I took a hefty stack of books and magazines to look through and left feeling satisfied. I snapped a quick shot of things to look up later (I am still buying used things! And I am expanding my creative horizons!)

Today was a good reminder that you can still have fun at a store without buying anything. My thought is that I will continue to document the things that I am interested in on this blog and either look up free or used alternatives (i.e. http://www.edinburgh.org/ instead of buying travel books), put them out there as potential gift ideas for my friends and family, or work on making my own version of it via upcycling.

As usual, stay posted for updates. Also, I feel a blog name-change coming on, so watch out!

This weekend was the best weekend to stop shopping!

So, as I stated in my last post, I am no longer being a glutton for new clothes/things all the time, and that means that while I am in DC I am basically on a consumerism fast (minus food and other necessities that I am forced to buy at CVS). It turns out that this weekend was the ultimate time for me to stop shopping, as there was a small *coughhugeforanyonenotfromthenorthormidwestcough* snowstorm in DC.

Currently the city is attempting to dig itself out, preparing for (more, can you believe it?!?) snow tomorrow and Wednesday, and canceling my classes to give me time to work on my thesis! haha. Ya, sure.

ANYWAYS. Back to the point. I realized that it is pretty easy to stay inside and not spend money when the weather sucks. I'm not much of an online shopper...too picky about the way things fit....but what is hard is managing to do something productive! That is my goal for the future. To replace my shopping/spending time with accomplishing work or broadening my artistic skills in the realm of baking, sewing, designing, etc.

So, hopefully I will get there soon and will have something less narcissistic to say in my next post.

Also, pictures of the snow in my next post!

A new endeavor

For those of you who know me personally, you know that I am always changing my mind about things or trying to figure out some new challenge for myself. I really do not have a defined purpose for most of these challenges besides gut instinct. They are arbitrary, they are formed on the basis of incomplete arguments, and frequently have little to no explanation but I do them anyways. Today is the day that a new one begins....I have no idea how long it will last (or how long I will post about it if it does...) but what the heck, what have I got to lose?

This is my challenge: Go the rest of 2010 without buying anything (other than food, toiletries, etc.) that is not previously owned. IE: No "new" items.

I am doing this for a few reasons. First, I was inspired by the Great American Apparel Diet. I do not know if I have the ability to abstain from shopping entirely (we will see if I have the ability to even abstain from some shopping...) but I think this is an awesome idea, that I want to be a part of in some way. We really need to tone down our consumption in this country, and I think by reusing things that are still good instead of just buying more I could have at least a small impact.

Also, I am looking for a way to be more crafty, and this seems like a great way! By getting used items and putting my own twist on them maybe I will have the chance to be a little more unique and to feel real accomplishment when I get dressed in the morning, or use something else that I have made/updated.

Last, I am obviously a starving college student and I need to save money instead of blowing it every weekend at Express or J.Crew. Self-explanatory.

Soooo.....this is all to say that hopefully this blog will become productive, and since I won't be shopping maybe I will do more baking for www.tastyface.com! Keep an eye out :)

Also, I am going to change the name of this blog to something more clever once I think of it.