KAREN IN REAL LIFE

shantown leaves londontown

2012-02-28T12:10:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time, Londontown = Shantown's town.

I really can't imagine my move to London without Shannon. She introduced me to all of the people who became my closest friends in London. With a city that attracts a very transient group of people, I can recognize how generous she was to me, a random acquaintance from BYU days.

But the land of fast food and year-round sunshine was calling Shannon's name, so in August 2011 she flew away to become an all-star of the UCLA MBA program.

We weren't going to let her take off without some fantastic London memories to send her with. And if I do say so myself, August was a GREAT month.

Monument

Shan & I climbed 311 winding steps to the top of the Monument to the Great Fire of 1666. If the column were to be laid along the ground, it would exactly reach the point where the fire started at a bakery on Pudding Lane.

Swings

Generally, going for an evening stroll along the Southbank is one of my favourite things to do in London. But the Southbank became that much better when Mon, Shan, Caroline, and I came across a little temporary funfair! I'll admit that I started to feel queasy by the end of our swings ride, but spinning around with bird's eye views of Big Ben and the London Eye was worth it.

Glass elevator by St Paul's

Whenever I go up the glass elevator at the mall just across from St Paul's, it gives me the chills! If you are in London, it is the best 30 seconds you can spend, just going up that elevator to the rooftop deck. These are horrendous iphone pictures, but just trust me on this one.

Rooftop dinners at Abbey Road

Roof access means everything in London, and there was simply no better way to say goodbye to Shannon than to have a Sunday picnic at Abbey Road.

Shannon, you are missed!

poole

2012-02-05T11:51:00.008-07:00

What was originally supposed to be a weekend trip to the Lake District turned into a last-minute zip down to Poole. Thank goodness Charlotte & Loren were up for having 10 people crashing at their place on 24-hour notice!

As it turns out, Poole is kind of a big deal -- it has the second largest natural harbour in the world (Sydney = #1). It was incredibly windy, but I could tell that Poole is the kind of place I could get used to.

We sailed (and nearly tipped) little Omegas, built sandcastles and human pyramids, had a massive BBQ, and opted for a group nap on the trampoline in the sun after church.

SUMMER RULES! And so does Poole. :)

crisped in croatia

2011-11-21T13:52:00.031-07:00

In the midst of a grey-as-grey English winter, my sun-worshipping heart is aching for my summer vacation to Croatia.

Ultimately, Monica and I opted for a 'choose-your-own-adventure' style of traveling -- we rented a car and hit the coast, driving until we found a place we liked. I don't even know the names of the towns we stayed in -- we'd just rock up anywhere there was a 'sobe' sign, negotiate the room rate, and chill out for the evening. It was fantastic.

6 months later, here's what I remember:

Plitvice National Park was gorgeous
I ate my weight in apricots
We got rejected from not one, but TWO restaurants on Vis Island
Nightly sunset swims were epic
Monica had a hysterical conversation with a Russian (his opening line: "I am Russian!")
We avoided civilization at all costs ("bristle, bristle")
The best part of Trogir was finding a passion fruit smoothie

Turns out, the sun in Croatia is extra 'burny' -- we spent the last day cowering beneath the shade of umbrellas but unwilling to spend time anywhere but the beach. And so we left Croatia, thoroughly crisped, and very much content. Woot! Croatia!

latitude in stats

2011-11-08T15:11:00.005-07:00

Part of living in Europe means you simply must attend a summer music festival, camp, and wear wellies. We accomplished all this and more at the Latitude music festival in Southwold.

Latitude stats:

- 0 festival flings

- several coloured sheep

- 1 stalking of James Vincent McMorrow

- 3 sleeping pills Saturday night

- (undisclosed number) of donuts

- 1 swollen ankle after jumping around in a teenage mosh pit at the Vaccines

- 1 face painted

- 17 bands (highlights being the Vaccines, the National, Bombay Bicycle Club, Oh Land, Ed Sheeran, and the Naked and the Famous)

- 2 street dance performances

- 1 aerial balloonist

- tons of teenagers shouting out, 'Alan!'

- copious amounts of mud

- 1 pair of Ronald McDonald red ankle wellies

- 1 brand-new Contiki tent. 2 rips during assembly. Oops.

- 1 dance party in the rain to Glasvegas

- 1 near-rushing of the stage at Oh Land

- 2 hours of pruney fingers after listening to Ed Sheeran in a DOWNPOUR (so unbelievably worth it!)

- 3 doppelganger sightings: Paul, Toby, and Jeff

- several Latitude meet up miracles

- 3 hrs of cumulative sunshine

- 1 cabaret act that was nothing like the Flight of the Conchords

- 9 challenges brainstormed but never performed

- 1 exposed breast (not any of ours)

- 0 showers

- 3 adult women in a 2 man tent

- several spurts of zigzag running

- 0 headdresses (sad face)

- 2 mike stands tossed aside by the National

- 3 musical discoveries

- 1 stranger, 4 kisses on the cheek

- 1 instance of Ness claiming she's shy

- 2 minutes thinking I was trapped in the portable toilets

- 3 men in wrestling spandex leotard carrying us

- 1 cow that was not milked

too many goodbyes!

2011-11-07T02:00:00.000-07:00

When you live in a place like London, there's inevitable turnover. But in July, I swear I had something like 5 goodbye parties in 2 weeks. It was completely tragic.

I especially miss Green Park lunches and Hyde Park strolls with Noelle.
And I really miss how Erika cracked me up every single time I saw her.

And that was just one month. Since then, London has lost such gems as lost Anders, Brian, Shannon, Dave, Martin, Sara, and soon to be Monica...

People! Stop leaving!

(Or at least come back and visit. ASAP.)

the weekend of north america

2011-10-17T16:30:00.006-07:00

Since we were far from our mother countries, we decided there was no better place to celebrate Canada Day and July 4th than...

... Marrakech! And thusly, Monica, Kate, Sara, and I found ourselves in Morocco in July in 40+ C degree heat. (It made a lot of sense at the time.)

I think my favourite part was actually the taxi ride to our riad (hotel). I was totally gawking out the window in complete amazement. There were a dozen people in a truckbed singing for a wedding celebration; there were donkeys and entire families on scooters in the same lanes of traffic as our leather-seated, air-conditioned cab; there were camels on the corner of parks as the sun was setting; basically, there was a LOT going on. And it was all pretty magical.

When the taxi stopped, our driver met another man, who, without a word of explanation, led us down a maze of streets too narrow for cars to our riad. I'll admit, there were moments during that 5 minute walk where I thought we were being led to a gullible-tourist-death.

But instead of being murdered in a nondescript narrow alleyway, we arrived at the Riad Catalina, a traditional Moroccan house with a gorgeous interior courtyard. We drank heavily sugared Moroccan mint tea, and wondered what the heck to do next.

What we learned was, when in doubt, head to Jemaa El-Fnaa, the main square of Marrakech. Day or night, there's plenty to take in in this famous square -- henna artists, snake charmers, fortune tellers, forty identical orange juice stands, kids selling random crap, shops, restaurants... It all adds up to endless entertainment.Rather than give you the blow-by-blow, I can sum up the weekend in four statements:

1) I wanted to buy everything in Morocco, but I showed considerable restraint. All I bought was a leather satchel that has brought me irrational levels of joy.

2) In 40+ C degree heat, all I ask is for an ice cold diet coke, a rooftop plunge pool, a good book, and fantastic friends. Morocco delivered.

3) Dorky straw hats provide a surprising amount of heat relief.

4) Black henna looks like someone drew on you with permanent magic marker... for 2+ weeks. (And yes, the lady just grabbed my arm and started to draw without asking me first -- hence the face.)

All in all, it was a pretty fantastic weekend of North American in Africa (which, I realized afterward the trip, is the 6th continent I've visited!).

Until next time, Morocco. And yes, there will absolutely be a next time!

introducing the nanshack

2011-10-16T12:57:00.006-07:00

Nanshack

noun

Definition

A minimal beachside shack in Cornwall, built in the 70's, owned by Mike's grandmother, and decorated with mismatched floral prints.

I had heard many a glowing report of weekends spent at the Nanshack, so despite a mediocre forecast, I jumped at the chance to head out to Cornwall for the weekend. And I'm so glad I did.

Mike, Erika, Dave, Morgan, Monica, and Jeff

+ making the train to Plymouth with 4 minutes to spare

+ incredible sunset train ride

+ nearly getting decapitated on said train

+ blowing a train whistle obnoxiously

+ nonstop classical music

+ drawing sessions

+ butterhole/margarine nook snuggles

+ pros and cons (Morgan has a beard!)

+ clifftop cafe breakfasts

+ card games

+ naps

+ roast dinner

+ stormy skies

= a very lovely, relaxing weekend!

seven sisters, nine friends, one cousin

2011-10-12T13:30:00.011-07:00

Somehow I decided it was a good idea to organize a hike to the Seven Sisters inbetween Eastbourne and Brighton back in June. The only hitch was, I didn't really know where we were going or how to get there...

Fortunately, some people had done it before -- and if I do say so myself, it came off quite nicely in the end. The white cliffs were unbelievable, the water was oh-so-blue, and the company was fantastic.

Here's the day as Monica saw it with her fancy instagram-ed spacephone pics (and yes, my hair was in top form that day!):

And here's Seven Sisters, as I saw it:

(And I know I'm tall, but what is with me looking freakishly large compared to everyone else in this picture??? Hilarious.)

june highlights

2011-10-12T10:46:00.009-07:00

Shockingly enough, I did not leave England in the month of June. What the what? But I discovered that England has some pretty awesome things worth sticking around for.

Glyndebourne Opera

When my AZ bishop generously offered me two opera tickets worth 200 quid each, I knew I had to go! So we skipped out of work early on Friday, donned our black tie, and joined the fancy folk for Don Giovanni at the Glyndebourne opera house in Lewes. In between the two acts, we had a glorious picnic on the estate grounds, and on the way home, we nearly bumped -- literally! -- into Ralph Fiennes. It was my first opera, and it's going to be pretty hard to top.

Lord of the Flies

Seeing Lord of the Flies at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre was absolutely perfect. First of all, being outside was ideal for a story about boys stranded on an island. And as the tone and mood of the story gets more dramatic and menacing, the natural light faded.

Summer Exhibition

I snagged some free tickets from work to the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts on Piccadilly, and dragged my favourite art friend, Dave, along with me. We spent 2.5 hours in there, and I felt like I was rushing! It was hands down the best exhibit I've EVER seen, probably just because there were so many pieces that I loved due to the sheer volume of art on display.

Book Slam

The Tabernacle in Notting Hill was the perfect venue for listening to the spoken word and some up-and-coming music. Following their usual format, we heard from a poet, an author (Jon Ronson -- 'The Men Who Stare At Goats'), and an artist (Hannah Peel). Jon was hilarious, Hannah was positively brilliant, and I loved the whole evening.

Company summer party

When financial firms throw summer parties, they don't mess around! We had a BBQ, a masseuse, nail techinicans, entertainers, bands, games, and a full on carnival.

The Globe

Erika wanted to go to the Globe one more time before she left, so we scored some last minute tickets and saw Much Ado About Nothing. (I was really grateful they were seated tickets!) I didn't understand half of what they were saying, but it was still pretty entertaining.

Ashley's visit

TMB herself spent a night with me in London. We rode Barclay's bikes around Regent's Park, and ate a delicious 3-course Turkish meal in St John's Wood.

Cooking class

My favourite Parisian, Sophie, and I honed our culinary skills at the Jamie Oliver cooking school making 'Mexican street food.' I couldn't really handle how much raw seafood was in our ceviche lettuce wraps, but everything else was delicious, if I do say so myself.

Glorious summer days

London's park culture was especially evident on those glorious sunny days. How is summer gone already???

... Nanshack and Seven Sisters were too awesome to lump into this post... stay tuned...

norway: nature on steroids

2011-10-12T09:21:00.016-07:00

While hoards of single Mormons were tanning on the beaches of the outer banks of North Carolina at the annual Duck Beach long weekend, a few Londoners and I figured it was a much superior idea to go camping in the snow in

Norway

I had high expectations for Norway, and it didn’t disappoint! I have to say, it rounds out the top 3 most naturally beautiful countries I’ve ever been (Canada and New Zealand being the other two).

The local

What better way to see Norway than with a Norwegian? I explain so much of Anders’ behavior with a simple phrase – he’s Scandinavian. So it was fantastic to meet his family and see where he grew up. I finally got to see Anders’ legendary crushed velvet, skin-tight, flame-patterned pants. And Anders’ parents were thrilled to show me their old photo albums of their annual summer trips to southern Alberta.

The campsite night one

We camped on a ledge above a waterfall, looking at the mountains, without another soul for miles. It was still somewhat light at midnight when we finally got around to eating our tinfoil dinners. It was pretty magical. (We will not mention that Larissa and I both took a tumble on the muddy walk back down to the car the next day.)

The little fire that could

Larissa, Jeff, and I started a fire after what seemed like hours of effort. We had wet wood to work with, but were bolstered my Anders’ confident attitude: ‘Karen, fire requires time and patience.’ Fortunately, we didn’t know his confidence was completely insincere at the time! And even more fortunately, we were able to have some pretty killer s’mores.

The drug addict

If you go on a trip with Jeff, he will have an entire pharmacy at his (and your) disposal. Side note: sleeping pills are the secret to actually getting some decent sleep while camping.

The endless photo opps at Geiranger Fjord

Geiranger Fjord = WORTH THE DRIVE. We stopped to grab a bite in the town where a lot of cruise liners dock, and on a Sunday afternoon, it was like a horror film where all the zombies were 60+. Nothing was open, and all these old people were just wandering around aimlessly.

The driving

We spent about 17 hours in the car during this 3-day trip. That’s alotta driving, folks. Fortunately, we had Eurovision 2011 playing nonstop, Anders pointing out every troll statue we saw as if it would disappear if we didn’t look immediately, and Jeff calling any and every body of water a fjord. Some jokes never get old – but the song ‘I Love

Belarus

’ does.

The recommendation

Hypothetically speaking, you may decide to buy whale from a grocery store in Norway (where whale is perfectly legal, I might add). And if you hypothetically do this, I would not recommend cooking said whale in tin foil in a campfire. I just think that if you’re going to try whale, you have enough to consider without being worried about the cooking method. And it’s not very good anyways. So maybe just skip the whole ordeal.

The campsite night two

After an hour of scouting potential campsites along the road, we finally decided on a little-used drive on private property. Because camping on private property is normal in Norway -- or at least that's what Anders told us! What wasn't normal was the sheep that came at stared at us (there were two tagged as number 8 -- clones?), Erika freaking out when Jeff came out of the trees ('that's a mystical forest!'), and spending one of the coldest nights on record.

The fire methods

Seven people went camping, and not a single one thought it might be handy to bring some sort of chopping implement. We had two unique solutions to this conundrum:

1) Erika hauled a full-on tree into the campsite, and put it across our fire. We just kept pushing the tree along so a different part would get burnt. Ingenious.

2) Anders discovered that one way to ‘chop’ wood – and potentially gouge a fellow campers’ eye out – is to take a log and swing it like a baseball bat at another tree. If you wear a pink hat while doing this, it makes it so much better.

The panic

As much as I love Anders, he is not to be trusted with a) logistics, and b) food recommendations. His favourite kebab shop in Oslo was maybe the single most disgusting thing I've eaten in a long while. And when he said with so much certainty, 'Of course there'll be a bus to the airport at 2:30', we should've had alarm bells going off in our head. When I figured out at 1:15 that the last bus was at 1:30, it induced a full on 6-people panic through the streets of Oslo as we RAN to the station. Maybe a small child was knocked over in our rampage. But we made it -- with about 30 seconds to spare!

The end!

This was probably one of my favourite trips of the year! I'll be back soon, Norway.

birth of the bfog music club

2011-09-19T09:04:00.001-07:00

2011 has taken me to a wide range of live shows – Richard Walters, Foster the People, Benjamin Francis Leftwich, etc. And then for my birthday, Shannon and Monica got us tickets to the Antlers concert in May. In the end, Shannon couldn’t come, so I drug Danny to the show in her place. He had no idea what he was getting into.

The venue – Heaven -- is a gay nightclub in a tunnel by Piccadilly Circus. Needless to say, it was already shaping up to be an interesting evening. And after a little tickets kafuffle, we stepped into the live, ethereal sound of the Antlers. It was weird and awesome at the same time.

Afterwards, it was discussed that you never know what you’re going to get with our group’s musical outings. Somewhere during that discussion, Danny coined our group the ‘Basket Full of Goodies Music Club’. The name has stuck, and I’m happy to report that we’ve hit our stride, and the musical adventures are on the up and up. More to come!

big ben meets big lee

2011-09-19T08:41:00.000-07:00

When my family left, my mom sent me a really nice email that, among other things, said ‘none of us would like to live in London, but we hope you enjoy your time there.’

This was quite the blow to my tour-guiding ego! And it led to two thoughts:

1) I must’ve failed to show them REAL London. As a tourist, the city can seem busy and loud. But what makes London more livable than NYC (in my opinion), are quiet streets, village-like neighborhoods, beautiful architecture, and a definite park culture. And maybe in the rush to show London-first-timers the required stops, I didn’t emphasize the former listed items enough.

2) If my family didn’t like London, and these are the people who raised me and with whom I share genes, do I like London? Is it my kind of city?

My mom has since clarified that they enjoyed their visit, but wouldn’t want to live there. Fair enough. I can appreciate what London seems like from the eyes of people who live on a 16-acre property in the land of wide open highways and big skies.

All that aside, we really did have a fun time. The family probably has different highlights (including their daytrip to Stonehenge, lucky buggers!), but here’s what I enjoyed.

- The Camden boys were accurately renamed Sleepy and Dopey by my mother at a classic Saturday morning Casbah breakfast in Hampstead.

- We drug Mama Bear all the way up Parliament Hill in Hampstead Heath despite her strained Achilles tendon -- she’s a champ!

- We happened to see the Tower Bridge open up for a cruise ship.

- We went to ‘We Will Rock You’, my first West End show since arriving in London. While the storyline left a lot to be desired, what’s not fun about listening to Queen music all night long?

- I taught my family in Sunday School at church. My retribution for this arrangement was making my parents say the prayers. :)

- Having a nice chat with Mom as we left the boys in our dust as we strolled Portobello Road.

- Between the five of us, we tried pretty much everything on the menu at the Orangery.

- We took an afternoon off from sightseeing, had a nap, ordered in Thai food, and had an important (if somewhat sobering) family discussion.

- We spent hours in the Churchill War Rooms – this is definitely one museum that lives up to the hype.

- I went on a quick Barclays Bike ride around Regent’s Park with Mom and Dad on a perfect spring evening.

Ironically, my absolute favourite part of my family’s visit had nothing to do with London. It was Cody, Lee, and I laughing our heads off while watching clip after clip of Viral Video Film School. I really love my brothers.

Everything wrapped up when I had to say an incredibly bizarre goodbye to Lee at the London Bridge station. (He was leaving on his mission and I wasn’t going to be there for the farewell.) Mom cried, I got one last hug from my 6’7” brother, and then, they were all gone.

I hope I get a tour-guiding re-do! London 2012 Olympics, Dad? ;)

oxford

2011-09-18T15:05:00.002-07:00

Part of the real life that I had to leave Copenhagen for included an extremely rocky grad school interview at Oxford. When I say rocky, I mean that it was the single worst interview I’ve ever had. That is no small statement – I mean, this is coming from the girl that told the BYU scholarship committee that there were people with three eyeballs and the Mona Lisa was painted by Van Gogh. True story.

Anyways, I figured that because I’d been so ticked off by my interviewer, I could at least get the most for my money/efforts by taking the school up on the offer of a free double decker red bus tour of the city.

And despite lingering frustration from the morning’s interview, I fell in love with this beautiful city on a sunny spring afternoon. I positively thrilled at the atmosphere of education and learning and history. And the architecture isn’t half bad, either. ;)

If there was a way to be a student for the rest of my life, I would do it, hands down.

i had bruises from the bumper cars

2011-08-19T15:28:00.014-07:00

It was SO wonderful to be able to spend some time with my family (sans Kyle), especially since I missed Christmas last year. And what better place for family time than the clean, beautiful, and calm city of Copenhagen?

Items on our agenda included:

...dressing up at the Viking museum...

...basking in brief sunshine on a canal cruise...

...eating Danishes whenever possible...

...posing like lions at Rosenborg castle...

...making friends at the Copenhagen LDS chapel...

...taking sneaky photos at Christiana Freetown...

...going on every.single.ride (~~even~~ especially the kiddie ones) during our siblings day at the Tivoli amusement park...

The Danish-style fun continued for Mark + Louise + Cody + Lee, but sadly, real-real life called me back to London town. Although I can’t complain about 5.5 wks/yr of annual leave, sometimes I’m in denial that I don’t have unlimited vacation days!

denmark = land of my forefathers

2011-08-19T15:01:00.009-07:00

… or rather, my paternal fore-great-grandparents, Oda and Knud, to be exact.

Once upon a time, Oda left for Canada at age 19, and just three days after her wedding. At the time, her brother Jens was just 5 years old. The siblings saw each other only once more, when she visited Denmark some 30 years later.

Fast forward a few decades…

Last summer, my grandmother -- Oda and Knud’s daughter -- got an out-of-the-blue phone call from Jens’ daughter, Gitte, and her husband Erik. Gitte & Erik had spent an entire day tracking her down with very minimal information during an RV trip across the Canadian Rockies.

As a result of their efforts, the Danish & Canadian branches of the family were re-connected. And never able to decline an invitation, the Campbell family – 5 Alberta Campbell’s and 2 BC Campbell’s – met up in Copenhagen just a few months later to meet Jens and his descendants.

Oda and Jens’ sister Vera is no longer alive, but her branch of the family was also there. Several of the two Danish branches (Jens and Vera) of the family had never met each other despite only living 20 minutes apart and being related. The family tree was put to good use, and consulted often to figure out how everyone fit together.One lady reminded me so much of Meryl Streep in ‘Out of Africa’ it was uncanny – I loved hearing her stories of my great-grandparents. Despite most people being able to speak excellent English, there were still some miscommunications. My favourite was when I heard ‘pig farmer’ when really she said ‘big farmer.’ Oh how easily family history can get muddled!

Jens was the spunkiest and sharpest old man I’ve ever met. He liked to make fun of my brothers, and he told us all sorts of stories – traveling to Greenland for work, being in the resistance during WWII, etc, etc. I absolutely loved this photo of him when he was younger – can you say mischevious?All in all, it was one big happy meet and greet, and we enjoyed incredible hospitality from Erik & Gitte. Danish food was eaten. Danish relatives were met. A Danish song was even sung. The end.

girl!

2011-08-02T14:59:00.000-07:00

This couple is blowing up the fb and blogging world lately with the announcement that they are preggers! (I used to think that term was obnoxious, and now here I am using it...)

Of course, I didn't know this news when I crashed in on couples time as the 5th wheel during their London visit back in May. The Lybberts, Swapps, and I had some great meals, chats, and even fit in a couple episodes of Human Planet. (It's amazing!)

Congrats to the parents-to-be!

the non-royal wedding

2011-08-01T14:39:00.001-07:00

When Candace told me in February that she was getting married to April to a boy she started dating in November, I didn’t quite get it. But over the course of a dinner at Pita Jungle, I realized why Jason’s family calls Candace ‘Girl Jason.’ They are one and the same person, and obviously since I love Candy girl with all my heart, I was very quickly a fan of Jason.

I was surprised at how much time I got to spend with Candace before and on her big day. Normally you expect the bride to get swallowed up in marriage madness, but Candace found time to hang out with me every day I was there. It meant the world to me. I love this girl. And I love that she found true love.

Forget Will & Kate, this was the wedding to be at on April 29, 2011. And I even caught the bouquet…!

america, sometimes i give you a hard time, but really, i love you

2011-07-26T14:57:00.011-07:00

When the UK announced that the royal wedding would be a national holiday, it created a wonderful situation. Namely, because of three other standard holidays around that same time, if you took three days off work, you could get an 11-day vacation.

And when my tall bff Candace told me that she’d fallen in truelovemarriagebabies, I knew what I had to do with that 11-day vacation.

Go back to America for her wedding.

Honestly, it was the last place I thought I’d go at the time, but in the end, I had an incredible 11 days visiting the 3 places I lived in the US for a grand total of 7 years.

(There are a lot of numbers in that last sentence. Congrats if you understood it.)

Stop 1: Utah (2002-2006)

Going straight from London to Provo was a bit of a shock to my system. I mean this in the nicest possible way, but Provo is weird! (Perhaps ‘unique’ is a more appropriate word to use…)

But it didn’t take long for me to remember how much fun I had living there. Examples:

- We had a family dinner at Tucano’s which reminded me of my first Brazilian BBQ experience (i.e. I ate so much I couldn’t stand up straight when I went to leave the restaurant).

- Hanging out with a friend from freshman year for 12 hours on Saturday took me back to all the ridiculous things that happened that year (like taping JDB into her room, or Will smashing through the 7^th floor window while rappelling down DT Towers).

- Going to a men’s volleyball game at the Smithfield House took me back to BYU sporting and the time I (nearly) won a freethrow competition at Midnight Madness (I was very proud).

Oh the BYU glory days – they were a good time!!

But that’s not all. I also got to see several friends from other stages of life that have all wound up in Zion. I stayed with a Vancouver friend, and we chatted until the wee hours of the morning. We had a 5-year NYC reunion with my all-time favs Bryndee, Mel, and Kristan. And then I had the most perfect day of sleeping in, shopping (aka spending way too much money!), eating, and going to the movies with Mel on Monday. My final thoughts as Mel drove me to the airport were, ‘I could totally live here again…’ Utah: it’s a weird/unique place, but a great one too.

Stop 2: Arizona (2008-2009)

There’s something about those massive freeways and wide open Arizona skies that get me every time. I had a wonderful, if somewhat manic, 5 days in the desert.

I may have bitten off too much, as one morning my car battery died, I didn’t have jumper cables, Lowe’s was out of jumper cables, someone mercifully loaned us a jumper box, but then I ran out of gas, couldn’t find a gas station, finally found a gas station, then realized I had forgotten my wallet, hadn’t brought my phone with me, and worst of all, throughout all of this I made my friend late for the airport and seriously limited her time saying goodbye to her family. You can just call me ‘Disaster Girl.’ I felt like I barely scraped by on my AZ leg of the trip, between selling my car and attending wedding festivities.

But all’s well that ends well. The car was sold (miracle!). Candace got hitched (more on that later). And we had a ton of fun. I went straight from the reception to the airport for a red-eye flight to…

Stop 3: NYC (2006-2008)

Ironically, NYC seemed relaxing after AZ. But when I review my 2.5 day itinerary, it was pretty jampacked!

I had a delicious brunch at Supper, caught up with Karley, saw Memphis on Broadway, danced to Empire State of Mind on the LES, nearly died in delight over my Shackburger, lounged at Sheep’s Meadow, caught up with Jo, had dinner with the newly engaged Whitney + Nick in Brooklyn, took a magical cab ride up from Brooklyn to the UWS, caught up with Supriya, met up with Erika, and finally had a somewhat frantic departure for airport. All in all, going back to the States took more of an emotional toll on me than I expected! It was wonderful to see SO MANY familiar places and faces in such a short time period. But each leg was not long enough, each catch up was too short, and each time I thought, ‘I’m not ready to leave.’

Great places, great times, great friends – I hope to be back SOON.

secret cinema

2011-07-26T14:36:00.003-07:00

On Wednesday, April 20, 2011, I did my favourite thing in London to date. I went to Secret Cinema.

Secret Cinema puts on a film every 3-4 months. You buy a ticket to see a movie, but you don't know what it's going to be before you go. You don't even know the location until about a week before the event.

Prior to April 20th, I had only received cryptic instructions on what to wear -- 50's/60's European with a scarf and sunglasses -- and that I'd need to print, fill out, and bring a 'citizen documentation card.'

I was eating it up from the get-go.

Morgan and I arrived at the Waterloo tunnels, and were greeted rather coldly by a French-speaking girl. She examined our documents, and ushered us through a barbed wire barricade where some pretty intimidating army men eventually allowed us to pass.

As it turns out, we didn't spend the evening in the Waterloo tunnels, since they had been transformed into a set replicating 1960s Algeria. There were actors in costume mingling with the crowd. There was delicious French and Algerian food for purchase. There were musicians and speeches in French and games. There was a bar and a disco and a prison and a mosque.

Absolutely no explanation offered -- you just explored at your own pace. Your experience was determined by where you were and what was happening there at the time.

And then there was a bombing at the French embassy. Amid the chaos, we were ushered up some stairs, into a room, and then climbed through a wall to end up in a screening room where the film was finally unveiled: 'The Battle of Algiers.'

I'd spent the last couple of hours engrossed in a replication of the tense atmosphere and tone and environment of the film. So many times during the movie, I would nudge Morgan and say, 'We saw that! That happened!' It all started to make sense.

After the film, the tunnels were filled with smoke initially so thick I could barely see the person in front of me. The actors stood along the route in poses of supplication and dramatically back-lit. The subdued crowd filed out in near silence with just the sound of crunching seashells underfoot.

It. Was. Brilliant.

From start to finish, it was the most thought-provoking and engaging experience. It was cinema + theater + an art installation + a political statement all rolled into one.

I seriously canNOT wait for the next one.

once upon a springtime...

2011-07-26T13:41:00.020-07:00

... Shannon, Kristen, and I learned some lessons in Amsterdam:

1) Book accommodations early! Otherwise you'll end up having to sneak a thrid person into an airport hotel room.

2) Three people in a king-sized bed is totally do-able.

3) The free airport shuttle is handy and economical.

4) Shannon has a hidden talent for flirting with men who sell gouda.

5) Fresh Dutch waffles really are as delicious as everyone says they are.

6) Sitting on lego blocks of concrete waiting for public transport is really boring.

7) Dutch logic is confusing. When I inquired after the late bus situation, the driver told me this: "Well, I'm running 20 minutes behind schedule, so I thought that I'd stop and take a smoke break." Huh?

8) Don't go to Keukenhoff for the annual Flower Parade. Tens of thousands of other people had the same thought, resulting in a 3-hour queue for a bus back into the city.

9) When you see a tulip field there are two things you have to do: frolic, and take way too many photos of you frolicking.

10) Two hours is not enough time to experience Keukenhoff. It is massive! And stunning.

11) Amsterdam's reputation is so extreme that you rarely hear that it's one of the most beautiful European cities with as many canals as Venice!

12) It's possible to visit Amsterdam without going to the red light district.

13) People in Holland are tall and beautiful, and I'm pretty sure I saw (and stared at) several male models just walking down the street.

14) Stumbling upon a delicious canal-side cafe was the best decision of our lives.

15) Nothing beats getting wonderfully lost in Amsterdam via bicycle. Perfection.

Bottom line: if you like flowers, canals, bikes, cheese, and extremely patient and kind people, then Holland is the place for you!

j & b take london

2011-07-26T13:31:00.013-07:00

This week has been nothing but rain and clouds. I even wore a scarf and tights to work yesterday. In July, for crying out loud.*

So I've been hearkening back to the unseasonably warm days in early April where it was 25+ C, and i had a bit of a tan from sitting out on my lunch breaks. Sigh. If only I realized how good I had it!

I guess I'm just glad that I got to show sunshine-y London to Jen and Bryndee, who popped over from NYC for the weekend during the spring 'heat wave.' Even though Jen hadn't been to London before, the girls were fine with a slower-paced weekend of meandering about my favourite places. I suppose it was a bit selfish, but I think they liked it!

We went to Jamie Oliver's Italian, did cartwheels in Hampstead Heath, bought way too many (or just enough?) cinnamon dusted chocolate almonds at Borough Market, popped into the Tate Modern, walked the south bank, had tea at the Orangery, and just romped about the city in a chillaxed sort of manner.

And then all too soon, I dropped them off at Paddington station, bought myself a Magnum ice cream bar, and walked home in shorts and a t-shirt. Those were the days.

Bring back the warmth and sunshine, London! I know you have it in you!

(All photos courtesy of Jen!)

* I'm thrilled to report that since I wrote this post last week**, London has brought back the (English) summer weather over the weekend. Woot.

** That's how long it took me to upload photos. Procrastinate much?

sunny sunday afternoon in cambridge

2011-06-28T13:32:00.005-07:00

As you can see, Cambridge is BEAUTIFUL. The only thing is, I wouldn't recommend the ostrich burgers. It seemed like a good idea at the time...

i heart the mickelsens

2011-06-28T13:08:00.004-07:00

I like to believe that my fav DC gal, Michele, came to visit me, not her brother Brian... but I suppose I can't trump family.

But regardless, I had an amazing time catching up with her after WAY TOO LONG, even (especially?) when it involved getting stung by stinging nettle. As it turns out, I'm really sensitive to stinging nettle, because I was too dizzy to stand up let alone cycle home. And in my vulnerable state of delirium, maybe Michele encouraged me to send ridiculous text messages to boys. (Ok, ok, I admit, it wasn't all Michele's doing.) What is it about sleepovers that causes immaturity and giggle fits? Whatever it is, I love it.

Mish, we really need to arrange to see each more often than once every three years!

"Hey Juuuuuuuuuuuude"

2011-06-05T13:12:00.005-07:00

So it may not have been the French Alps skiing experience that I had dreamed of, but Morzine 2011 made up for crap snow conditions with beautiful sunny days, great friends, and hilarious memories!

Since I can't seem to think of a way to blog other than to write jotnotes, here goes:

- Killer European ski outfits. Think flourescent, belted onesies, worn in complete and utter sincerity. We even saw three generations strolling around in matching red onsies. And a man who looked like he borrowed his wife's onsesie for the day. He's not gay, he's European...?

- Why wouldn't you bring your dog skiing with you? They just sit on the lift going up, and run alongside you going down.

- The mountain was so extensive (we bought passes that covered three resorts), one lift went over someone's property and their 8 horses.

- Bands! At the top of the mountain, there was a man playing an accordion and old couples dancing. At the bottom there was a 3-piece band of old French dudes playing 'We Will Rock You.'

- Butter + sugar + coconut crepe from Chez Morzine. Unreal.

- Speaking in a ridiculous, Luigi-reminiscent French accent out of the side of my mouth with Monica at every turn. It still never ceases to crack me up, even three months later.

- Lighting Chinese lanterns after an epic French meal.

- People watching in general. Bald guys with no hats, old fogies, women looking glam with fur and sunglases, men smoking while skiing.

- Desperation phone call to Aaron -- "Hellooooooo? Aaaaaaron?" And singing 'Leaving on a Jetplane' to cheer ourselves up.

- Watching the snowboarding competition -- think La Roux music playing and a curly-haired Frenchman who was very easy to look at.

- Mario Kart down the mountain at the end of another slushy day on the slopes.

- Peering over into Switzerland but deciding against it.

- Getting hooked on Deal.

- Bottled water being more expensive than chocolate in the Geneva airport.

- Walking into my flat in London and having my roommates tell me I looked like I had a five o'clock shadow. Goggle tan = unattractive.

As you can tell, there were a lot of great moments. But, by FAR, my favourite moment was when JC recognized my obsession and surprised me with borrowed onesies from his friend Mal's place. We had to put dinner on hold in order to have a bit of a fashion show.

But it didn't end there! Don't worry, Monica and I wore those onesies all day long the next day. I felt like I fit right in on the European slopes. Onesies may not the most comfortable ski outfit (think: perma-wedgie), but polyester is surprisingly toasty warm.

"Oui, oui, c'est un combinasion!!"

A&B: the conclusion

2011-06-05T11:38:00.003-07:00

One million years ago, m'lady A and her husband B came out to visit me in London town. We stumbled across the graffitti tunnel at Waterloo. We rode the London Eye despite A's fear of heights. We took the Jack the Ripper tour on the coldest night of all time. We did not buy anything at Harrod's. We zipped off to Paris for the weekend.

And looking at my pictures, it seems like we did it all during night time. I'd forgotten just how dark winter is in London. I don't miss that one bit.

feeling turkish in islington

2011-03-18T15:08:00.003-07:00

I am such a massive fan of all the people in this photo. Have I mentioned that London is full of fab-fab-fabulous people?

"voila! i like that."

2011-03-18T13:35:00.014-07:00

Dear Paris,

Like so many others, I've decided that je t'aime. Please allow me to tell you why.

Parce que...

You insisted that I start each day with a croissant and at least one other pastry. I was in no position to argue. The pistachio éclairs were unreal.

Parce que...

You boast cinema-reminiscent gems, such as the café from Amélie and Space Invader street art. (If you haven't seen 'Exit Through the Gift Shop' yet, do yourself a favour and head down to Blockbuster asap!)

Parce que...

You provide tourist traps that trap the likes of me, such as the artists at work in the square near the Basilique du Sacré-Coeur.

Parce que...

You let me sit and marvel at the incredible beauty of the stained glass windows at Sainte-Chappelle.

Parce que...

You have a cathedral that took 200 years to build.

Parce que...

You are reliable: there is a crêperie on every block. I really appreciated this, and as if my massive nutella-banana wasn't enough, I even polished off A's leftovers ('um, are you done with that?')

Parce que...

You rewarded me with a fantastic view after climbing the 284 steps to the top of the Arc de Triomphe.Parce que...

Your museums are free on the first Sunday of the month -- bonus!!

Parce que...

You amazed me with the beauty of the building of the Louvre nearly as much as the contents!

Parce que...

You endure mobs of people who just want to take a picture of a painting behind bullet-proof glass.

Parce que...

You have the most serene museum on the planet: Musée de l'Orangerie. These skylit circular rooms are what Claude Monet painted his famous Waterlilies specifically for display in. I could've sat that there all afternoon.

Parce que...

You have a converted train station full of the incredible impressionist art.

I'm looking forward to more trips, and don't doubt I'll find more reasons to love you.

Till next time...

xoxo

KEC

just me and my roller bag

2011-03-08T14:52:00.006-07:00

Confession: If you had been in Paris Friday evening, you may have encountered a camera-happy Canadian with a roller-bag suitcase giggling and talking to herself in broken French.

It’s amazing that I didn’t get robbed – I couldn’t have been more of a target.

Explanation: After taking the Roissybus (my new favourite word to say) from CDG, I decided to walk the 2.5 miles from Opera to our hotel on Rue Cler via the Louvre. I just couldn’t stand to be on public transport any longer. Considering I’d been hearing about Paris since grade four French classes, you could say this was a much-anticipated destination for me.

When I came to the Louvre, with the glass pyramids glowing, and the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe in the distance, that’s when the giggling and talking-to-myself began. Literally. Add to that the fact that I was clunk-clunk-clunk rolling my suitcase over the cobbled pavement, and I’m pretty sure I ruined every other person’s romantic evening in the area.

I can’t say that discovering Paris at night time with my roller bag was my ideal scenario, but I absolutely LOVED my solo, 2-hour-long leisurely stroll through the streets of Paris and along the Seine.

everything is more fun when accompanied by a ceramic gun

2011-03-08T13:57:00.012-07:00

I am incapable of saying no to a last-minute weekend roadtrip, especially when it involves three of my favourite Londoners: Dave, Morgan, and Monica.

We hit the road Saturday a.m. and drove four hours to Wales. Our destination? The Eternal Waterwynch, a spa retreat in a converted stone barn. Everything was new and clean and lovely – and the shower pressure was fantastic! Let me tell you, living in London makes you appreciate the little things.

Despite the BBC forecast for heavy rain, it was absolutely glorious, so we took an afternoon ramble in the hills. This particular ramble included sun worshipping in a rock circle, feeding the stocky Welsh horses, chasing sheep, and photography escapades in the ‘Gladiator field’.

Even though this was more of a couples destination, our platonic foursome did not shy away from taking full advantage of the spa facilities. We proudly wore our matching robes and slippers around. We watched the sunset from the ~~hot~~ lukewarm tub on the patio. We had breath-holding contests and played ‘mushroom’ in the pool. Spying was done from the corner sauna. And I got the first real massage of my life – let’s just say, I have identified a new cash outflow in my life.

Just when we’d nearly given up hope, we found a miraculous Sainsbury’s still open Saturday night. With our ingredients, we cooked chicken kiev, mashed potatoes, broccoli, and garlic bread in a coal-fired stove in the communal area. We talked about past and prospective travels by candlelight, and fell asleep watching a movie.

On our way back to London the next day, we spent some time at the sea. (For some reason, I love that people here call it the sea rather than ocean. It seems more whimsical, no?) We explored Tenby, a town of about 5000 people set along some cliffs. We walked barefoot down the massive white sand beach; practiced 007/Bond girl moves with the ceramic gun; Morgan climbed the Tenby city wall; and the seagulls enjoyed the leftovers from our fish and chips.

Overnighters with fantastic friends are good for the soul.

i love my goggles!

2011-03-08T11:54:00.027-07:00

There’s nothing like a sunny polygatrip to get you through the winter blues. Elliot, Leanne, Catherine and I booked flights, and one week later, found ourselves on sunny Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands off the coast of Morocco.

We arrived in Los Cristianos and quickly realized that Britain’s entire aged 60+ population had also decided to join us on our holiday. I have never seen so many wheelchairs and mobility scooters in one area in my life – especially not at the beach! We had inadvertently landed ourselves in the Palm Springs of Europe. People stared at us for being so obviously out of place – I wish I were exaggerating.

Fortunately, after hours of searching, we found the seemingly last rental car on the island. She was pretty ugly and a little worse for wear (as in, trashed, scratched, and abused), but she got us out of the retirement community and on to the more interesting parts of the island.

I was nominated to drive since I was used to the right side of the road, but demoted after a day because I’m crap at driving stick and I nearly gave Elliot a heart attack every time I tried to navigate a roundabout intersection.

We rocked that island, our hit list including the following:

Discovering a mini food market, where we picked up milk and coconut breads that we ate for breakfast for the rest of the trip.

Driving through Parque Nacional de Teide, where they filmed parts of Star Wars and Planet of the Apes.

Taking the (somewhat underwhelming) cable car to the ‘top’ of the volcano, Mt Teide, Spain’s highest peak.

Descending through the cloud level and pine forests of the north side of Mt Teide.

Spending a breezy evening playing Up and Down at the Playa de la Teresitas.

Getting huge bags of gummies in the old town of La Laguna, and playing on the children’s playground.

Having a major laugh attack at a DELICIOUS, authentic Canarian restaurant, and maybe pocketing the remaining pieces of bread like the classless tourists that we were. (Elliot was horrified, but guess who ate that bread the next day?)

Driving the insanely narrow switchbacks to Masca, a mountain village that has only been accessible by car since 1991.

Faking extreme enthusiasm for the thousand-year-old dragon tree (which was actually pretty cool-looking) in Icod de los Vinos.

Playing on the pier and spying the lavarock pools of Garachico.

Finally having a truly hot beach afternoon on Playa de la Arena, a black sand beach.

Sipping milkshakes while watching the sunset at the Los Gigantes cliffs.

Spending a couple more precious sunshine hours at Playa de la Vistas Sunday a.m. before we had to drop off our ghetto rental and fly away back to foggy London town.

I will say this, it’s amazing what a 4-day break from normal life – and weather – can do for your mental health!

you know they're from arizona when...

2011-03-03T04:02:00.005-07:00

... when she, an American, didn't know what freezing was on the Farenheit scale.

A: "20 degrees F isn't below freezing."

B: "Um... sweetie..."

(Karen: laughing so hard she's crying and is struggling to breathe)

... when he said in reference to his scarf:

B: "How do I put this thing on... I've never worn one in my entire life."

What can I say -- you learn something new every day!

I think this is going to be a very quotable seven days in London and Paris with the Gunnells! I really, really love them. I just hope that they don't freeze to death!

* Please note it is not below freezing here in London (7 degrees C today!) -- it just feels like it's below freezing. This cold snap needs to quit it asap!

rambling

2011-02-21T15:15:00.006-07:00

It all started with a castle. And a lady puking at the table next to us.You see, my friend Mike has a goal to hike the 100-mile-long South Downs Way in 10-mile chunks once a month. So a few of us joined him this month and took the train to Arundel on Friday night.

We had a pub dinner (where aforementioned vomiting occurred), which maybe sent Erika into a fit of the giggles. Later on, we explored a bit, and found the city's cathedral unlocked with all the lights on at 10 pm -- and yet there was no one in sight. And last but not least, we had a very dark and quiet walk to the hostel where I accidentally managed to scare the living daylights out of Leanne.

First thing Saturday morning, we ventured out into a gloriously sunshine-y day for a ramble through picturesque English countryside.

Mud was tromped through, a wrong turn was taken, treats were shared, long chats were had, scenery was enjoyed, and eventually people turned off to head home. But a few of us hard cores wrapped up the day -- and the daylight -- after 14 solid miles. Our reward? 1.5 hours of Scum card playing on the train ride home. Yessss.

I'm ready for the next ramble -- as long as it's as beautiful of weather as it was this time!

concert fail

2011-02-16T09:13:00.008-07:00

Normally, I love concerts. I don’t think I’ve ever not loved one. But I loved the show we went to last Tuesday for completely different reasons than I usually do.

Here's the story: I convinced a couple friends to see Richard Walters open for Dolorean, but we had no idea what we were in for. I'd heard one of Richard Walters' songs, and that was it. It was the blind leading the blind.

So, Richard. He's got talent. Actually, I liked his cellist and keyboardist nearly as much as I liked him. But there's only so much of sad love songs that will keep my interest, especially when there are some extremely repetitive lyrics. Tomorrow begins when? Today? Are you sure? Tell me one more time -- tomorrow begins today!

But my case of the giggles truly set in when Dolorean got up to play. First of all, the lead singer looked like my uncle and he had a feather hanging off his guitar, which I tried to discreetly photograph.

But then, uncle-look-alike decided to tell everyone how excited his 'bad ass bass player from Arkansas' was to pick up girls, since their tour had finally taken them to an English speaking country. Poor Jesse just didn't know what to do!

All in all, it was a highly entertaining Tuesday night even though it may have been one of the worst concerts I've been to in my entire life. But I'm not too worried -- the London music scene is sure to redeem itself soon!

the perfect man

2011-02-14T15:29:00.003-07:00

Imported all the way from Canada just in time for February 14th, please meet my 2011 Valentine.Thanks, Mom! You know me all too well.

clowns and mimes and such

2011-02-06T12:48:00.003-07:00

Perhaps as an extension my New Year’s Eve celebrations, I went to two circus-y events two nights in a row last week.

Night one: ‘Du Goudron et des Plumes’ (‘Tar and Feathers’) at the London International Mime Festival. As soon as I heard there was such thing as a mime festival, I knew I had to go. They extend the term mime to include any non-speaking act. In the one we went to, it was a fantastic five-person theatre/dance/acrobatics performance set to music. I loved it A LOT, but I can’t explain way.

Night two: ‘Totem.’ I got treated to 10^th row seats to this year’s traveling Cirque du Soleil, and considering I’ve always wanted to go to one, it was a great surprise! I was almost more amazed by the elaborate costuming than the acrobatics. My favourite act by far was the mesmerizing two-person trapeze duo. But maybe that’s just because of I have a soft spot for trapeze…

it was holy

2011-02-06T12:38:00.005-07:00

Thanks to some neighbourly neighbours over on Abbey Road, I got a ride out to the London England temple last weekend, which actually isn't in London, just fyi. Shannon and I tagged along with a youth group while the grown-ups did a session. I took a brief stroll around the extensive and beautiful temple grounds. And then the girls basically prepared my talk for me on the car ride home.

Now there’s a great Saturday if I ever heard of one. Thanks for the ride, Lou!

‘avec un tropical fanta s’il vous plait'

2011-02-06T11:45:00.015-07:00

Eight of us spent an atypically warm and sunny weekend in the south of France in the middle of January. Why? Because we can. Because Dave’s family has a rustic farmhouse in the middle of nowhere. And because we live in London and can just hop a Friday night flight to Lyon. No big deal.

The guest list (and agreed upon if-they-were-an-animal):

- Our host, Dave (meerkat)

- Mike (bear)

- John (ferret)

- Morgan (owl)

- Erika (black lab)

- Shannon (lioness)

- Monica (seal)

- Karen (show jumper horse)

The weekend in a nutshell (because I'm turning into a lazy blogger):

- The eerie fog and UFO lamp posts at the Lyon airport

- An ironically slow drive-through experience at ‘Quick’

- The much anticipated chopping of wood by Morgan

- Asking to buy some butter at a restaurant

- Picnic on the ‘col’ (hill)

- Kitchen appliance game, which the girls totally won (garbarator = pure creative genius)

- Tag

- A gourmet roast dinner

- Card games by the fire

- Morning walks to the nearby hamlet

- Sunday morning French toast (how appropriate)

- Naming the ponies (Baby!) and playing with the village dog

Even though there was no snow to ski on – the original purpose of the trip – and I never used my ski gear which took up 90% of my carry-on luggage, I wouldn’t have traded our gloriously sunny weekend in the French countryside for anything.

(Photo credit to Shannon, Morgan, Dave, and occasionally, myself. For more pics, check 'em out here and here!)

"happy new years, don't touch me!"

2011-02-06T11:25:00.006-07:00

If there’s one thing Rachel does well, it’s buying plane tickets on a whim. One day after I said, ‘sure why don’t you come for New Years weekend’, this adventurous gal had booked airfare. And I’m so glad she did!

Rachel was a total trooper, braving serious jetlag and winter temperatures. My favourite parts of her visit -- besides our awesome NYE, of course -- were brunch at the Electric on Portabello Road, having a hilarious Saturday night discussion with the Middlesborough boys, getting free hot chocolate from the hot Italian in St James’ Park, playing celebrities for Catherine’s birthday, touring Westminster Abbey, and hearing her say after her trip that she missed my London friends. Yeah, there’s some pretty great people over here!

Come back soon, Rachel! It’s just across the pond.

this is pretty much the longest post of all time

2011-01-22T18:21:00.119-07:00

Before I move on to 2011, I feel like 2010 deserves a mention. It mostly didn't exist in my 'blog life', and so, in the spirit of reminiscing, here are some highlights.

--> It all began with a roadtrip. C. William and I, fueled by 'Beaver Buzz' energy drinks, drove from Calgary, across the Rockies, all the way to Vancouver on brutal, winter roads. 16 hours later, and a few prayers along the way, I arrived at my new temporary home in White Rock, which I soon discovered had some pretty incredible winter sunsets.

--> THE OLYMPICS. This was one of the best months EVER. I went to five Olympic events: men's figure skating, ski jumping, women's hockey, men's curling, and the men's aerial ski jumping finals. Out-of-towners Jo, Bryndee, Lauren, Tyson, Whitney, and Nick joined me for the fun. We participated in a flash mob, Batman tried to lick my face, and we roamed Granville Street for hours and hours on end.

--> I had a couple pretty epic days in Whistler. We'd catch a 6 a.m. bus up, ski all day long, dance all night long, and then drive back around 2 a.m. And then I went to work the next day. I swear I did not sleep during the Olympics, and I'm still not sure how I survived.

--> Canada won gold in men's hockey and the entire country went MENTAL.

--> We curled! Or rather, we attempted to curl. Harder than it looks, folks.

--> I tromped around stormy winter beaches and rainforest boardwalks in Tofino. I missed seeing the elusive migrating grey whales, but loved the raw natural beauty of this world famous coldwater surfing destination.

--> Desperate for a dose of sunshine and my AZ gals, I took a weekend trip to Phoenix for my 26^th birthday.

--> As the weather got warmer in Van, Emma and I had many a roommate night watching the sunset at Kits beach.

--> The Vancouver temple was dedicated. I got to attend the Temple Youth Celebration, shake hands with Elder Uchtdorf, and take a close friend through the open house. Plus, my family came out for a 24-hour trip to go through as well -- bonus!

--> I made a couple trips to Sea-town to visit my city neighbour and ex-European-adventure-friend-extraordinaire, the one and only Jo-Jo. Great times were had both times -- going to my first professional soccer game; snuggling with the cutest pug on the planet, Gio; being close enough to touch Greg Laswell, who maybe made me cry when he played ‘Comes and Goes In Waves’; visiting Pike Place Market, the gum wall, and the troll under the bridge; and getting my first henna!

--> I flew back to AB for a fantastic family reunion organized by my rockstar mother.

--> Our family met up in Victoria for the annual MLA dinner since my grandpa was in politics. Lee and I rode the carousel at Butchart Gardens, I had my first scooter ride with C. William, I saw my granny for the first time in nearly 4 years, we explored our Scottish roots at the Highland Games, and I got to fly home via seaplane.

--> Aubrey, the Mormon Bachelorette herself, came up to her second home in the true north. We ziplined in Whistler, discovered the best sushi on planet earth at the Eatery, encountered some rare flora and birds at the Biodel Dome, and briefly saw blue skies on our drive on the Sea-to-Sky highway.

--> I moved from a ‘hobbit hole’ basement suite to the 22^nd floor of a downtown Vancouver building. I could handle my completely insane craiglist roommate because I got to wake up to this view every day and fall asleep to the city twinkle lights. I MISS IT A LOT.

--> Kristan and I had a brunch so delicious that it induced a 2 hour food coma on the lawn of the government buildings. I had the tan lines to prove it. We also scootered around Victoria, and I played hooky from work in order to visit Lighthouse Park with her. Major accomplishment of her trip: I got Kristan hooked on bubble tea.

--> Jen, Diana, and I did not go to Gibsons on the shadiest boat of all time with the shadiest people of all time, but Jen did have a great dance off with a shirtless Canadian man at the end of a dock on Bowen Island. And I FINALLY got to see Metric in concert – she’s a totally insane performer and I kind of loved the crazy.

--> Amanda, Brannon, and I had probably the most perfect sunset bike ride around the Stanley Park seawall that you could ever imagine. Oh and we picked up A some great Hello Kitty gear at the Asian night market.

--> I wakeboarded, cliff jumped, and tubed with some of my Vancouver besties at Shuswap Lake.

--> I got to spend some Canadian quality time with Julie, Rick, and little man Truman. We floated down the Milk River, spent a windy day in Waterton, tromped around the Calgary Stampede, ate a Granville Island picnic at sunset in Kits, and I even got to ‘train’ for my upcoming hike with T on my back in Lynn Canyon. Could there be a more perfect little family? I think not.

--> I joined thousands of Vancouverites for the 'Celebration of Light', an international fireworks competition set off from barges in the bay and coordinated to music.

--> I saw a pod of orcas – aka the pandas of the sea! – on a ferry ride from Vancouver to Victoria. I didn’t know sea creatures could provide me so much joy.

--> I survived the West Coast Trail, nature's obstacle course! Four of us enjoyed 6 days and 75 km of hiking through giant mud bogs, over gazillions of roots, up and down hundreds of ladders, along miles of rotting boardwalk, and across cable cars, suspension bridges, and fallen logs. Wildlife spottings included one bear, tons of sea lions and seals, two massive bald eagles, one dead shark, and dozens of grey whales. Dan was our go-to fire guy, Mike spoke in a British accent 90% of the time, Kathy gave hot rock massages, and my entire foot was one giant blister by the end. It was honestly one of the best trips I’ve ever taken.

--> I introduced Amanda to one of my favourite places of all time: Cortes Island! We had a clambake at Manson's Landing, went to the island lip sync competition (!), and read lots of books on the beach at the lake.

--> I rode in the cockpit of a floatplane from Victoria to Vancouver on a PERFECT west coast morning. I got a tour of the islands and commentary from my not-hard-to-look-at pilot, and even spotted a pod of orcas.

--> I sailed around English Bay with my favourite doctor, Dustin!

--> I lived an AZ dream of mine, stopping by Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend.

--> I won the lottery and hiked to the Wave all by myself, only getting lost twice (scary!), and making some European friends along the way.

--> I got in some quality time with my AZ besties and grabbed myself a tan by the pool.

--> I proved that the third time's a charm when it comes to making Havasupai reservations! I finally made it, and thoroughly enjoyed jumping off waterfalls and sleeping under the stars.

--> I finished off my pretending-to-be-a-hiker season with a gorgeous fall day trip up Mt Indefatigable in the Alberta Rockies.

--> ... And then I moved to London! Not a bad year, that 2010. Not bad at all.

instructions for how to have an amazing nye

2011-01-21T12:47:00.011-07:00

Step one: Get all dressed up with a group of your London-er friends.
Step two: Go to a circus-themed NYE party at the Southbank Centre.Step three: Dance a jig to Bellowhead, a English folk band that kept up an incredible energy level all night long!Step four: See circus acts at random -- sword swallowers, aerial ribbon performers, etc.Step five: Take old-fashioned photographs and laugh and laugh at Shannon's mustache and crazy eyes.Step six: Document the costumes -- Rachel and I were marionette dolls (thanks for the idea, AZ gals!).Step seven: Dance your heart out at the silent disco. 'Sweet Dreams' = major highlight.Step eight: Grab a front row seat to an incredible fireworks display, and make a lot of 'that's what she said' jokes.

Step nine: Bring on the good times in 2011!

the christmas cocoon in camden!

2011-01-18T14:58:00.003-07:00

I spent Christmas 2010 with six other 'orphans' here in London. We had a fabulous time.

Highlights:

- Christmas Eve truth or dare until 3 a.m.

- Morgan was feeling minty fresh

- 'Merry Christmaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaas!'

- rank order and 7-step questions

- Christmas morning crepes

- the slouch couch

- Monica's 'Last Christmas' dance

- gold crowns

- secret Santa gift exchange

- pink bus socks from Joff!

- smashing the gingerbread house

- orphan family photo shoot

- Shannon's solo photo shoot

- an EPIC Christmas feast

- 'We have a fire!'

- Brenda was 'no longer comfortable'

- post-meal storytime, courtesy of Monica

- discussion on miracles

- singing Christmas songs accompanied by Erika on the guitar

- 45 minute one-on-one chat with Elder Campbell!

- 'it's a gobbluh-gobbluh humungo!'

- boxing day run through Regent's Park and view of London from Primrose Hill

- EMAIL OF DEATH

- 2 hour wait for pizza

- "I used to encourage people to make art. I don't do that anymore."

Three days later, we finally left Morgan's flat. I miss the Christmas cocoon in Camden!

hark the herald angels sing

2011-01-18T14:52:00.001-07:00

The lead-up to Christmas was jam-packed full of world-class musical events. I was completely spoiled. And of course, I loved every second of it.

It all started with free tickets (thanks Shan!) to a performance of Handel's Messiah at St Paul's Cathedral. Hearing the Hallelujah chorus sung in such a stunning venue was incredible.

Next up was a Sunday evening carol sing-along at St. Martin in the Fields. It was a much smaller venue with near-perfect acoustics. They alternated between the choir singing a song and then the audience singing along to the traditional melodies of the Christmas carols.

Last but not least was going to Royal Albert Hall on Christmas eve for 'Carols by the Candlelight'. They had a full orchestra in period dress, an awe-inspiring vocalist, and an incredible choir. Once again, the program alternated between the choir singing songs and full audience participation. We were in the choir seats next to the organ pipes, and when 5000+ people stood up to sing 'Hark the Herald Angels Sing' at full blast, I got MAJOR chills. I wish I could've captured the volume and power of that moment.

Only another 11 months until we can listen to Christmas music again...

everything in london is royal and grand

2011-01-18T14:50:00.002-07:00

Our company holiday party was a three-course meal for over four hundred people at the Royal Courts of Justice. No big deal.

let's get x-messy!

2011-01-18T14:44:00.003-07:00

Toby and I duked it out at a full-on food fight before Christmas. That's one way of getting to know someone! We were provided custard, mashed potato, brussel sprouts, whipping cream, and long French loaves. Three minutes later, and these are the results:
I must say, my favourite part was going home on public transportation on a Saturday night with potato and custard in my hair. Super normal.

the doz

2011-01-18T14:35:00.005-07:00

Within two weeks of arrival, I had my first visitor: Paul! We met up with former-NY-er Lance and his wife for some delicious Indian food, learned a little English history at the Tower of London, accidentally bought alcoholic apple cider at Borough Market, and saw a real live wedding at Southwark Cathedral. Not bad for less than 24 hours!

I felt like Paul's social coordinator -- hello Mr. Popular! For a guy who doesn't live in London, he pretty much knew everyone that I'd met thus far...

remember that time when i moved to london...

2011-01-17T17:01:00.001-07:00

... England. Not Ontario. As of 2 months ago, I am a European resident. What?

This is real life.

Stories, pictures, updates to come. Blogging is alive again.

the torch! the torch!

2010-02-16T11:55:00.002-07:00

On Thursday, my coworker ran in the Olympic torch relay. She was one of 12,000 torchbearers along the 45,000 km route that visited 1,036 communties across Canada -- the longest torch relay in history! Unfortunately, our entire office couldn't take off to North Van to cheer her on, but we all got a little photo op once she got back!

GO CANADA GO!

"We Are More"

2010-02-15T11:04:00.004-07:00

Oh my goodness, I don’t know where to begin to describe this past week. The pre-Olympic build-up, attending ski jumping on Friday, getting to hold the Olympic torch, watching the Opening Ceremonies with thousands of people in Robson Square, seeing Wayne Gretzky with the Olympic flame as he drove through downtown Vancouver, participating in the ‘Dancing in the Streets’ flash mob, skiing Whistler-Blackcomb on Valentine’s Day, joining the enthusiasm of a nation in celebrating Canada’s first gold medal... I could go on and on. Pretty much, I don’t sleep. Seriously though.

But more notable than any single event or occurrence is the ubiquitous Canadian pride as you roam the streets of Vancouver. Everywhere you look, people are decked out in red Olympic gear, and there is a sense of unity and celebration I can’t adequately describe. We are putting our best foot forward and the world is noticing -- last night, as we were walking around Whistler Village, my friend Lauren turned me and said, “This place is amazing -- can I be Canadian?”

There were things I liked and disliked about the Opening Ceremonies, but the one thing I unequivocally loved was Shane Koyczan’s slam poetry. I have heard the phrase ‘true north strong and free’ a million times during my lifetime, but when he said those words, the crowd erupted in cheers, the air was positively electric, and I couldn’t help but get emotional. I wish I could find a video of it, but for now, the text will have to do:

"Define Canada
You might say the home of the Rocket
Or The Great One
Who inspired little No. 9s and little No. 99s
But we're more than just hockey and fishing lines
Off of the rocky coast of the Maritimes
And some say what defines us
Is something as simple as 'please' and 'thank you'
And as for 'you're welcome,' well, we say that, too
But we are more than genteel or civilized
We are an idea in the process of being realized
We are young, we are cultures strung together then woven into a tapestry
And the design is what makes us more than the sum totals of our history
We are an experiment going right for a change
With influences that range from A to Zed
And yes, we say 'Zed' instead of 'Zee'
We are the brightness of Chinatown and the laughter of Little Italy
We dream so big that there are those
Who would call our ambition an industry
Because we are vineyards of good year after good year
We reforest what we clear
Because we believe in generations beyond our own
Knowing now that so many of us
Have grown past what we used to be
We can stand here today
Filled with all the hope people have
When they say things like 'someday'
Because we are more
Than a laundry list of things to do and places to see
More than hills to ski
Or countryside ponds to skate
We are the abandoned hesitation of all those who can't wait
We are first-rate greasy spoon diners and healthy living cafes
A country that is all the ways you choose to live
A nation that can give you variety
Because we are choices
We are millions upon millions of voices
Shouting, keep exploring
We are more
We are the surprise the world has in store for you, it's true
Canada is the 'what' in 'what's new'
So don't let your luggage define your travels
Each life unravels differently
And experiences are what make up
The colours of our tapestry
We are the true North
Strong and free
And what's more
Is that we didn't just say it
We made it be"

Long story short, I am loving the Olympics, loving Vancouver, loving my country, and loving life.

More to come later…

I just had to be here

2010-02-08T23:29:00.004-07:00

Vancouver is just too awesome to find time to blog. And it's just going to get awesome-er. Olympic countdown: THREE DAYS!