Goodbye 2014

I haven't posted a substantial blog post since this summer. As many of you guessed, I took a break from blogging when I started my job, moved to Vegas, and got used to not being in school.  I won't promise anything, but I do hope to get back into the blogging world.

For now, here is my annual recap for 2014.

Looking back on the year, 2014 was one of the best yet. A year of change, tons of travel adventures, new friends and acquaintances, a new home, and lots of memories.

In January, after a month home in the USA, I returned to London to start the lent term at LSE. Capstone was still going on, and while it was stressful, I was glad that I had two close guy friends in my group. I started to explore the parts of London I hadn't spent much time in as well as starting the job search process. 

In February, I hopped the pond to Princeton for the editing weekend for the Journal of Public and International Affairs. I got to see one of my closest friends as well as swing home for some snow during the week back in the States.  I checked out the Royal Photography Exhibit at Kensington Palace as well as taking a selfie with John Travolta. 

March was my birthday month. I kicked it off with finishing the dreaded capstone project followed by celebrations with the boys. I turned 24 with the majority of the MPA program present. The MPA Ball was held the weekend after, and we danced all night. 

April brought me home for a five week vacation. Much of that was spent applying to jobs and having interviews, but that work would soon pay off. 

I barely spent time in London during May. After finishing final papers,  I took off to Bulgaria, Sweden, Las Vegas for my job interview, did several day trips, and really enjoyed my time in Europe before I had to start studying for finals. 

June was my final month in London. I found out in the beginning of the month that I had gotten the job offer I had been waiting for. I would be moving to Las Vegas. I did a lot of fun things for my last month in the midst of finals. I was sad to leave London, but I was excited to start a new chapter of my life. 

July brought the start of a new life. I did a road trip across the country with my friend Nicola. I moved into my apartment in Summerlin, and I started working a job that I love! I missed graduation, but I still celebrated. 

And, if you do follow my blog regularly, you know I took a hiatus from July until now. I posted one or two small things. The short recap of August-December: Visited California three times, reunited with some friends from freshman year, stopped getting lost in Vegas, met some great friends, joined Junior League, and continued to wander. 

Stay tuned for new adventures in 2015!

Road Trip: Day #2

On the second day of the road trip across the USA, Nicola and I started our day taking a slight detour. 

As most of my readers know, I'm a member of Pi Phi. The location of where Pi Phi was founded is in Monmouth, Illinois.  So, rather than continue to drive straight into Iowa, we headed down to Monmouth.

From the moment, we turned onto the street, I felt at "home." I met with Denise, a fellow Pi Phi, for a tour of Holt House. Two of the founders had rented a room in the boarding house at the time of the founding. After a quick tour, Nicola and I drove to the cemetery nearby where I was able to find the graves of five of the founders. 

Holt House

To get to Iowa, we did manage to take some single lane highways for a bit. But, soon, we were crossing the Mississippi River!  We stopped in Burlington, Iowa for a few brief moments to see the flooding that had occurred only the week prior. 

Mississippi River

Iowa

Downtown Burlington, Iowa 

The real gem of this day was finding the American Gothic House. One of the best things we did throughout the entire road trip was to take the roads that ran parallel to the Interstates. The speed limits are the same, there is less traffic, and we found some true gems.  We were so surprised to see the American Gothic House advertised that we immediately turned around at the next exit to come back!

American Gothic House

If you get a chance to visit, make sure to try on the costumes and put your own take on the famous painting! 

Cruising down the road, we passed a lot of corn and soybeans before we got to Des Moines. We did a quick detour to stretch our legs and see the State Capitol! 

Iowa State Capitol 

Des Moines

Our final stop before reaching Omaha, Nebraska that evening was in Council Bluffs to see the Golden Spike Monument.

Golden Spike Monument

Stay tuned for more recaps! 

Road Trip: Day #1

Last Wednesday, I set off from my home in upstate New York to start driving across the country to Las Vegas. For those who haven't caught up, I've relocated to Las Vegas for a job. 

Instead of flying to Vegas, I decided to get my car in New York and drive out. I also had an amazing co-pilot for four out of the six days which lessened the driving time behind the wheel each day. My good friend, Nicola, joined in.

Wednesday was a day of driving for the most part. I left New York, traveled through Pennsylvania, and into Cleveland where Nicola lives.  From there, we traveled through Indiana and stopped outside Chicago that evening. 

The highlights of the first day included seeing Lake Erie, lots of corn, and getting to see one of my closest sorority sisters from Syracuse!

Life is a Highway...

Lake Erie!

Reunion with Melissa! 

Life is a Highway...

Today, I begin my road trip to Las Vegas! 

Not only is this the start of the next chapter of my life, but I can also finally cross something off my bucket list. Forever, I have dreamed of road-tripping across the United States. I've been to quite a few states, but there are the gems hidden around the US that most rarely get to see. 

Rather than speeding through to Las Vegas, I'm taking my time to see those hidden gems across this great country. 

Today, I pick up my friend, Nicola, in Cleveland, Ohio before we reach the suburbs of Chicago for our evening pit-stop.  This evening, I get to be reunited with two sorority sisters at dinner as well! 

Tomorrow, Nicola and I start to add in tourist activities to our driving adventures. We will be stopping to see Holt House, where Pi Beta Phi, was founded. We also get to see the Iowa State Capitol, several railroad monuments, and the Lewis and Clark Monument before reaching Omaha, Nebraska for the pit-stop.

On July 11th, we head to Lincoln, Nebraska passing by Chimney Rock, Ash Hollow, Fort Kearney, and the Gothenburg Pony Express Station before reaching Rapid City, South Dakota for the evening. 

On July 12th, we see Mount Rushmore in the morning before heading to Devil's Tower in Wyoming. Cutting down through Wyoming, we see Fort Laramie, Register Cliff Monument, and the Wyoming State Capitol. We pit-stop in Denver for the evening where we get to have dinner with a few mutual friends. 

Nicola leaves me on the 13th to head back to Cleveland. I continue on through the Rocky Mountains into Utah on the 13th. I'll stop and see Grand Junction, the Colorado National Monument, and the Arches National Park before getting to St. George, Utah for the evening. 

And, on July 14th, I'll leave fairly early and arrive in my new home, Las Vegas!!

It's going to be a whirlwind of a drive, but I wanted to make sure I got to see as many things as possible! I'll be posting on Instagram throughout the entire road-trip! 

Stay tuned for blog posts!

Last Remaining Days in London: Photo Edition

Apart from my surge of day trips, I spent my last few days in London running around.

On Saturday, while this isn't technically London, I took a day-trip up to Lockerbie. I met up with my friend, Claire, to tour the memorials for the Pan Am 103 Bombing as well as see the town and meet her family.

This past Sunday, the Pi Phi Alumnae Club had a brunch at the Bread Street Kitchen. It has stunning views of St. Paul's which we took in post eating!

Delicious

Pi Phi UK Alumnae Club

Executive Board!

The brunch was my last event that I planned as part of my position on the executive club. It will be so strange to leave these sisters, but I recently joined the Pi Phi Alumnae Club for Las Vegas.

From Sunday to mid-day Tuesday, I spent a lot of time packing, cleaning, and shipping. Thank goodness for DVDs and coffee! 

On Monday evening, a few of my friends and I met up for drinks. I needed one more night at a pub to grab some traditional fare and a pint!

And, on Tuesday, I took a leisurely walk through London. I started at Harrods then walked through Hyde Park up into Green Park to Buckingham Palace. From there, I cut through St. James' Park to Trafalger Square.  I popped into the Crypt Cafe at St. Martins' to grab one more cream tea before taking a bus ride through Piccadilly Circus and up Oxford Street. I got to see some of my favorite sites once more before leaving. 

Buckingham Palace

Routemaster

Goodbye, London

London Musings

Apart from a very long week of travel, I wanted to share what I've been up to in London.

As part of my goal of seeing more of London before I leave, I've been taking walks in new areas and exploring. I've also just been enjoying some of my favorite things that the City offers.

I took in three performances. 

I finally got to see Les Mis live. 

Miss Saigon returned to the West End for the first time in 15 years. This was an amazing performance and well worth opening prices. 

Handbagged is a parody play on the relationship between the Queen and Margaret Thatcher when Thatcher was Prime Minister. I was on the floor laughing the entire time. 

Last week, I went and had high tea with my friend, Chelsea, at Bond and Brook. 

The MPA had a picnic last week as a study break. Alyssa and I were fully enjoying the sunshine! 

And, my friend and sorority sister, Steph, was in town. She just graduated with her masters from Syracuse. I hadn't seen her since we graduated in 2012, so it was a fun evening!

First Week Back

Last Saturday, I got back into Londontown in the evening. 

One week later, I've survived one of the hardest weeks of graduate school, yet. 

This week has been crazy with academic assignments, meetings, and trying to fit in a social life! 

On Sunday, jet-lagged and all, I headed over to my friend, Maryann's house to celebrate Founder's Day for Pi Beta Phi with some of my fellow sisters! It's one of the last few events I'll help plan and attend with the UK alumnae club! 

Monday was my last first day of school, ever. It's been a long-time coming! We also got access to the new MPA Lounge, finally. It will definitely be a great study space for the last months.

Unfortunately, on Tuesday, a 48 hour tube strike started. It's a struggle to get anywhere when the tube strikes happen. I walked home one day due to traffic jams. Thankfully, my walk home was fairly scenic...

Buckingham Palace

Italian Gardens

Suffering through the tube strike, I managed to complete two final papers. The first was my policy paper that was about MOOCs and public diplomacy. The second dealt with polarization in Congress. It was a week of late nights, coffee, and good iTunes playlists.

And, yesterday to cap off the week, I spent the evening with some of my friends catching up about breaks, talking about summer plans/post-graduation plans, and just relaxing! 

How was your week?

Weekly Recap!

Besides my birthday happenings over the last week, I also completed another term of graduate school. Yes, you've done the math correctly! That leaves only one term left! Before we get to what I have planned over spring break, here's what else I've been up to over the past week!

Before my birthday party last weekend, I wandered through the Victoria and Albert Museum! I hadn't been inside to check out the exhibits since I studied abroad in 2010. 

Inside the V & A

I wondered around and checked out the fashion exhibit which showcased British fashion through the years. 

From there, I discovered the exhibit about theatre and concerts in London. I spent the majority of the rest of my time, there.

Costumes from the Lion King 

Vivien Leigh Archive 

War Horse 

On Sunday, the Pi Phi UK Alumnae Club and the KKG UK Alumnae Club hosted a Sunday Roast at a beer garden in Camden. Both of our sororities were founded at the same college in the US.

Tuesday was the big capstone presentation! My capstone group and I are officially done!

Capstone Team Post the Presentation 

Wednesday evening was full of excitement as Susannah and Nathan surprised Alyssa and I with birthday tickets to see 'Once' the musical! We both had no idea, and I had never seen the musical! It was an awesome performance! 

Once

Before the Musical

The rest of this past week was spent preparing for the ball and wrapping up another semester! Stay tuned for most posts!