Polo in the Park

I've been dying to go to a polo match since I was a little girl. 

The scene in 'Pretty Woman' where Julia Roberts gets to stomp the divots resonates with me very well.

The part of 'Winning London' with Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen where they go to a polo match was something that I always wanted to do. Fairly sure I can still quote that part of the movie. 

So, as I enter my final weeks in London, I grabbed discounted tickets to Polo in the Park from the SU alumni club! This past Sunday, three of my friends and I ventured down to Putney for a match! 

The entire park was transformed for the perfect day out. From a Pimms Bus to the shopping venues to the location that I dubbed 'food truck heaven,' we had a fabulous time before the match started. 

While I am still a tad confused on the rules of the game, I attempted to follow the match. I do have to admit that it was one of the quietest sporting events that I have ever been. I wanted to cheer, so I had to keep that in check!

During what I deemed to be intermission, we got to stomp the divots! Truly made me feel like I was in 'Pretty Woman.'

It was a fabulous day out...even with getting a horrible sunburn! I would totally go to another match! 

2 Years Later...

Today officially marks my second anniversary of being a Syracuse University alumna!

I'm not entirely sure where the last two years have gone, but I know I've been enjoying the ride. 

As I spend part of my day looking through old albums, I leave you with the commencement address that Aaron Sorkin gave to my graduation class.

Reunions

Greetings from the States!

I've been back for a little more than a week at home. Just about three and half more weeks of spring break before I finish up my last term at LSE. I know I say this quite a lot, but crazy how fast time flies!

Since, I've been home, I was able to catch up with some friends that I have not seen in quite some time! 

Last week, I grabbed lunch with one of my best friends, Erin, and our good friend, Ryan. Erin and I met on the first day of freshman year at Syracuse. Living on the same floor that year, we've been friends ever since! Ryan is a mutual friend of both of ours, and he just headed off to China to teach English for the year! 

Friends

Erin and Me 

Ryan and Me 

Taking a break from doing work, I met up with my friend Evan in Syracuse on Sunday. He was up visiting campus as he finishes up his last year of grad school. We were both Remembrance Scholars, and we hadn't seen each other since graduation day in 2012. 

To celebrate our reunion, we took a trip to Dino BBQ before driving through campus and remembering the glory days!

Delicious Dino BBQ

Syracuse University

Evan and Me at Dino 

And, lastly, I grabbed dinner with a friend from high school on Wednesday. It's been a week of so of many catch-ups, but it was so nice to see all my old friends! 

My Selfie with John Travolta!

Yesterday, I met John Travolta. And, I took a selfie with him. 
I know, I know…just a normal Sunday.
Kidding! It was an awesome way to meet a celebrity.
Earlier last week, I got an email from Ticketmaster about last minute tickets to attend a "Conversation with John Travolta." Now, I'm more of a concert and musical person. But, I jumped on this chance as every other event I've attended that has been a conversation has turned out to be awesome. 
(We can discuss the Laura Bush story in a future post!)

So, last night, the event happened! Bu,t before I got inside the theater, I ran into the BAFTAs Red Carpet or the British Academy of Film and Television Awards! Talk about luck! 

John Travolta was amusing as ever during his discussion with Barry Norman. 

He discussed the highs and lows of his career, his personal life, and what he could be doing in the future. Playing a future Bond villain came up numerous times…
 He brought several audience members on stage and danced a few numbers with them. And, at the end, the entire audience sang "Happy Birthday" to him!

John, his sisters, and Barry Norman

Now, I'm not a huge John Travolta fan. If Ryan Gosling wants to hold one of these chats, we'll be talking about how I got front row seats. But, I wanted to capitalize on this event. 
 If you don't know, I had a knack of meeting the SU basketball team quite a lot during college. My best friend, Katie, and I even got Jim Boeheim to stop and take a photo with us in the middle of a crowd with a few clever lines. 

Meeting Jim Boeheim in 2010 

So, last night, I was prepared for how I was going to meet John Travolta. 
Staking out the stage door, I made friends with a few older women. The four of us strategized to avoid the outstanding number of older men that wanted to meet him! 
Two hours post the show ending, he finally emerged. Now, I've never been in a crowd like this before. 

I described it to one of my friends as a mosh pit!

At one point, I was next to one of the security guards behind John. Tried the "hey, it's my birthday line too." 
That didn't work. 
And, then I had my moment of inspiration. I touched John's hand, and said "let's take a selfie." 
And, he just stopped.  
Unfortunately, as you can see below, others did not stop and bumped us. 
It's a half selfie. But, it's a selfie. Plus, he touched my hand. 
Mission Accomplished. 

What a way to start a week off! 

Fuller's Brewery

As I mentioned in my weekly recap post for last week, I got to chaperone some of the SU abroad students for a trip to Fuller's Brewery!  

On Friday morning, I met two other guides and the students at the SU Abroad center before boarding a bus to Fuller's Brewery. 

Fuller's Brewery is located out in Chiswick with the closest tube station being Turnham Green. For those still needing clarification on where it is, it is so far west that you can access the highway to Heathrow. 

Now, I've done the Guinness Factory three times and have toured Jameson twice, so I expected a similar tour. I was wrong!  

We were broken into groups of around 15 with a guide that took us threw the actual brewery showing us step-by-step of the process that occurs each day. 

On the banks of the Thames 

To start, we walked down to the Thames. Fuller's Brewery sits right on the edge of the riverbank.  Don't worry, though, the Thames water isn't used to make the beer! 

Throughout the tour, we learned of the various players that took stock in the company through the last couple hundred of years. 

Inside the brewery, we saw a lot of the original equipment that was and is still being used!  The brewing process is incredibly complicated yet interesting at the same time. However, I think I'll stick to government for the time being as the science behind the brewing was a tad complicated for me. 

Got Beer? 

Original Equipment 

Post the tour that lasted a little over an hour, we were treated to a few drinks! After all, it was a Friday, and it was 5 o'clock somewhere…

SU Student Guides 

If you've completed a lot of the main London attractions, or if you are up for a good pint, I highly suggest checking into Fuller's Brewery! It's entirely different than other tours, and it offers a fun adventure for a few hours! 

Weekly Recap

Before I begin my weekly recap, let's just take a moment and celebrate (again!) Syracuse's victory over Duke last night!! I was at a MPA party and had to withdraw to the corner for the ending of the game. My tension and stress of the game might have scarred my friends that aren't used to the stress of college basketball. (Sorry all!). It was a great way to start the new rivalry! 

This week was much more mellow than the first few weeks of the term. Nothing too major in terms of assignments due. My capstone group met with our client this week to get a grasp of how they perceived out interim report. We got a a lot of great, constructive feedback which will be helpful moving forward for the final due in March. 

On Thursday, I went and met with a Pi Phi at the Sloane Club who is hopefully moving to England. She pledged during the 1960s, and it was awesome to just sit and discuss our college days together. Lifelong friendship, indeed! 

Friday morning, I helped out SU Abroad by assisting chaperoning study abroad students on a tour of Fuller's Brewery (post to come about the tour)! 

Fuller's Brewery

Friday evening, the MPA Student Association elections were held. How has it already been a year since the last ones? Time is just flying by! My dear friend, Alyssa, won the chair position for the next year! Afterwards, we all headed to a pub nearby campus for a few drinks!

With the newly elected MPASA Chair

Yesterday, I felt I was on the go non-stop. 

I started the down wandering the gardens of St. Paul's.

St. Paul's 

From there, I walked to an open air shopping mall to grab brunch with two friends I met through the Local Levo group. We tried out the Bread Kitchen which was amazing food wise and had a great atmosphere.

Inside of the Bread Kitchen

Brunch me, please!

Grabbing cupcakes for later, I headed home to do some laundry and answer emails before going out to Wahaca in Shepard's Bush for dinner! I met up with my friend, Maggie, her wife, and a few of their friends. Maggie is on the Executive Board for the Pi Phi Alumnae Club with me! 

And, last night ended with going to a MPA party. The theme this week? Tropical! 

BG and me 

Tropical goodness

Today, Alyssa and I grabbed brunch before wandering down Portobello Road. After she headed to campus to get some work done, I finally went and walked around Kensal Green Cemetery (more on that to come).

It was a great week of balancing academics, a social life, and being a tourist.

How was your week? 

Orange is the Happiest of Colors!

Over the weekend, I got head back to the Syracuse campus for a few hours. 

There is something about walking back onto your alma mater's campus. It's a homecoming. 

I returned to campus for the first-ever ACC basketball game in the Carrier Dome. My Dad and I hadn't been to a game in forever, so we wanted to get to one while I was home. It was also my first SU basketball game since becoming an alumna. The last one I had been to was the Elite 8 game in Boston back in 2012.  And, we can all agree that staying up in the wee hours of the UK to watch a game is not the same as being there in person.

It was an intense game-full of moments of stress. Thankfully, we pulled it off! We beat Miami only by a few points, but we still won! My Dad and I had a great time dressed in orange and cheering on our team! I also ran into a few friends from undergrad! 

#orangenation

Halloween and a Birthday!

Happy Belated Halloween! 

And, Happy Official Christmas Season in London!!

The latter is the most important to me. Clearly. 

I'm not a fan of dressing up for Halloween. If you want me to decorate or bake something, then we can talk. But, dressing up is not my cup of tea. Now, Christmas...we can just keep talking about for days. The Christmas decorations have been going up for a few weeks in London, and without Thanksgiving over here, I can officially declare it time for all things Santa. 

Starting with my first red cup from Starbucks on Friday: 

Anyways, before I continue on my quest for all things Santa, time for the weekly, weekend recap! 

On Halloween, I had both class and a group meeting that cut into attending any Halloween parties I had been invited to. I grabbed dinner and drinks with the girls in Mayfair instead! 

Notice the normal clothes...

Yesterday, as I continue to try to be a tourist as much as I can in the city I call my home, I wandered around Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park. Stopped to say to Albert at the Albert Memorial, walked along the Serpentine, and also found the location of where the Crystal Palace once stood. Finding the exact location of the Crystal Palace site has been on the London bucket list forever! 

Location of where the Crystal Palace once stood

I also met up with my friend, Allison, yesterday. She is a first-year, but had never really explored the Knightsbridge area. And, let's just be honest. Everyone has to experience Harrods at least once! We topped our afternoon of exploring the legendary store with some macaroons from Laduree!

Last night, I went out and celebrated my friend, Naomi's birthday! She's in the same year as my program, so it was a lively evening with the MPA-ers! Even ran into a girl from Syracuse that we had briefly met once on campus, and now are connected in London due to the SU alumni club! It really is an orange world. #orangenation

#orangenation

BG and me

The Birthday Girl

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