London, Edinburgh

London, Edinburgh

Chris and I made it to London last night. Our friend Valerie has been gracious enough to let us stay at her enormous, lovely flat in London. To celebrate arriving, we went out to dinner with Val, and two of my sister's friends, Paul and his wife Jacqueline. It was a cute little pub tucked away in an offbeat area - delicious, filling foods, and yummy intoxicating beer (called Tiger something). It was my birthday, so we also got these two deserts - a baked pear in a cinnamon sauce, and a chocolate mousse with raspberries on top - to die for. :) We stumbled home (wreaking of smoke) and passed out for 6 hours.

We woke up early this morning (6:00am) to get to the airport to make our way to Edinburgh. We got a little confused with the Underground, and wound up realizing that if we waited for the next train, that we wouldn't make our flight - so we rushed upstairs to hail a cab to Paddington Station (to take the Heathrow Express back to Heathrow Airport). Luckily, a cab pulled up within a minute of us waiting - and we made it to our flight a few minutes before boarding (PHEW). Sat next to a really interesting guy (named Billy) on the plane. (Born in Dublin, lives in London and works in the music industry (record executive), and was on his way to meet up with his girlfriend and her family in Edinburgh.)

When we landed we took a cab to our Bed and Breakfast - at 7 Danube Street



It's really quaint and restful, and the owners (Fiona and Colin) are lovely people.

So far we've just done a little shopping and had lunch - I think we might go back to the b & b and get a nap before we go out for the night for Hogmanay

Have a Safe and Happy New Year!

- t

Holy Smokes...I'm flying tonight!!!

Holy Smokes...I'm flying tonight!!!

Wowzers - I can't believe I'm taking off for Europe tonight. It's hard to imagine, seeing as how I'm sitting in my laundromat washing my clothes and sipping on some yummy chicken vegetable soup.

I'm definitely excited about the next couple of weeks - first London for a night (spending the night at a friend's house, going out to dinner with friends of my sister's, maybe getting a drink afterwards to celebrate my birthday), then heading out the next morning to Scotland for New Years. :) 6 days in Scotland, then off to Spain for another 6 days, then back to London for 3 more. Should be really wonderful - especially since neither Chris nor I have ever been to Scotland or Spain.

If this trip is anything like our last trip to Europe, I'm sure I'll be checking my mail frequently, and I'll also try to give updates on our trip as we're going along.

If I don't see you before then...HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

-t

2 Down - 3 to Go

2 Down - 3 to Go

Finished my second final today - phew! 2 more major exams (Political Science and Art History), 1 4 page paper, 1 jewelry class holiday party, and a singing class to go. I can't wait to get all of this done and start the holidays. I'll be finished on the 20th, which gives me a few days to get my shopping done and stuff. Whew! Ok, I better get back to studying (wooo, nothing like understanding the Media's impact on politics in society today!!!)

Here's a photo of my final project for my computer design class. It was a 3-D project, combined with elements from photoshop and illustrator. I'm still trying to figure out what the title should be...something along the lines of: Medicinal Induced Fantasy - or - A Trip to the Medicine Cabinet. There are a few more I'm playing with too - oh well, no more stalling for me - back to work!

Click on the photo to see a larger version

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Ketchup

Ketchup

This is literally the first moment I've had to breathe since my last post - craziness with taking 6 classes (and finals in a week), and getting my portfolio finished for my application to Otis have just kept me going day and night the past few weeks.

I had another meeting with an Admissions Counselor today, Yvette and I went over my finalized pieces, and she says that my portfolio has a lot of really strong pieces. So, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I can start there in January. Classes start 3 days after Chris and I get back from Europe, so if I do get in (fingers crossed), I hope I'm adjusted to the time zone by then. :)

I got really lucky with my finals schedule, and there aren't any multiple tests on the same day - phew! They're also spread out really nicely which should give me more than enough time to complete everything and get all my studying done. Thank God - I think I would have died if things had been set up differently.

Hmmmm...what else is going on???

Went to my Auntie Lois' house for Thanksgiving - had a WONDERFUL time - it's really nice to be able to visit everyone there, now that my Dad's gone, I still feel like I have a warm home with family to go to during the holidays. Aside from my old house in Montana, my Auntie Lois' house is the only stable place I've known my entire life...the memories of visiting and spending time with all of my family are wonderful, and warm. :) That and getting to see all her Department 56 Houses up for Christmas - it's such a spectacular sight. :)

Well, I think I'm gonna go and watch a movie and enjoy the few hours I have to breathe before I get back to work. :)

See ya later.