Goodbye for Now

"There's nowhere else like London. Nothing at all, anywhere." 

-Vivienne Westwood 

Today, I leave London...

From the first time I studied in the city in 2010 to the last two years of grad school, I fell in love. London is truly one of my favorite cities in the world.  

I'm heading back to America with a suitcase full of Primark clothes and memories, a handful of new slang words, a passport full of stamps, and enough game theory textbooks to start my own library. 

As I begin to embark on my new journey and new chapter of my life, I want to say thanks for everyone who was apart of this chapter of my life.  My blog is appropriately named "Wandering Walpole" as even though I will no longer be in London and Europe, I'll still be wandering around this amazing world.

As I'm not good with goodbyes...I'm telling London that I will "see it later." I'm not sure when I'll be back, but I know it will be as soon as possible!

Pip, pip...Cheerio!

Celebrations

On Wednesday, following my last final, a bunch of us went off to celebrate. There was a group of us that had some of the last set of finals. 

Appropriately, my Congress class headed to the George to celebrate being done with the class!

A tad later, I met up with Federico and Simon. We survived capstone, so naturally we all had to celebrate being officially done with the MPA! 

Following a quick lunch, we gathered with our other friends for some rooftop drinking. 

Talk about a great view!

We all ended up watching the World Cup game that evening at a local pub. It was an absolutely lovely day spent with some close friends celebrating freedom! 

O-Town Concert

Back in my elementary and middle school years, boy bands were the trend. 

NSYNC was my favorite followed by the Backstreet Boys. I'm fairly sure I made my Mom and Dad take me to the CD store at the mall to buy new cds the day they came out. 

I was devastated when NSYNC stepped aside as a group. Love ya, Justin Timberlake...but get the band back together! 

Anyways, I was also a fan of O-Town. Again, another band that fell to the wayside following a few hits and albums.  But, as of this year, they have reunited! They are without one member, but they still got it. 

Chelsea Football Club

Last Friday, Susannah and I went to the Under the Bridge venue at Chelsea Football Club to see them perform for the first time in a decade! 

It was a flashback to our years of middle school. Both opening acts were boy bands, and they played the major hits of our youth during the breaks. Although, we both agreed that being adults now made the evening better with a pint or two! 

O-Town performed several of their hits, talked about getting back together, and played their new song!

Well worth the trip down to Fulham to see them perform! Be sure to check out their new song, 'Skyfall!'

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! 

Studying

The month of May was truly a month of travel for me. 

It was also a month of tremendous excitement as I accepted a job offer!

However, now that June is here, I've succumb to the tool of 9-5 studying. I was lucky to have all my papers and projects due at the beginning of May. Those long hours paid off as now I can devote my entire time to my last two exams.

Both of my exams are back to back...go figure. The first is on June 17th. That is my "Cities, Politics, and Citizenship" which is 100% of my grade. Thankfully, it is only two essays on the test. My second one is the next day. That one is for my class on the US Congress, and it is only around 66% of my grade. A tad less stressful than the first! 

I'll be hitting the books straight until the 18th...but I do have a few fun plans to report on the next few weeks (polo game, birthday parties, sightseeing). Stay tuned! 

Viva Las Vegas

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have noticed I creeped over to the United States last weekend.

I went to Las Vegas for four days, primarily for business (more on that, later). Yet, I also got to have some fun.

I got in late Thursday night, and I chose to stay at a hotel farther up the Strip. I actually had a view of the famous Stratosphere from my room.

Stratosphere

On Friday morning, I tended to some business. But, I then found myself by the pool. 

Cheers!

My brother, Ben, lives in California. He came in to spend the day with me for some sibling bonding! 

We soaked up the sunshine before heading out to see the casinos. We rode the roller coaster at New York, New York...which I do believe I passed out due to being so afraid.  We took in the Dueling Pianos Bar, caught the fountain show at the Bellagio, and just had a lot of fun catching up! 

Ben and Me

Ben left the next morning which meant I got to decide how to spend my last full day in Nevada. I started out by grabbing a pedicure. Post traveling around Europe, it was much needed.

From there, I went on a Hoover Dam Tour! I have always wanted to see the Hoover Dam in person being a history nerd. It was an incredible tour, and I don't say that lightly. One of the best day tours that combined the normal tour of the generators inside the Dam. 

Lake Mead

At the Hoover Dam

Generators 

Hoover Dam

Returning to Las Vegas, I took a night-time tour to see all the light shows, casinos lit up, and to learn more about the history of the City. 

We started at the famous Las Vegas sign!

Viva Las Vegas

Then, we stopped at the Golden Nugget and Freemont Street! What an experience!

Golden Nugget

Freemont Street

World's Largest Golden Nugget

And, finally, we got to see the volcano show at the Mirage and the fountain show at the Bellagio! 

Volcano Show at the Mirage

Bellagio Water Show 

I left fairly early on Sunday for the airport as I had a 10 hour flight back to London. It was a quick, fun, and exciting weekend! I hadn't been to Vegas in 10 years, so it was nice to go back.

And, stay tuned...I'll let you in on another secret on why I was in Las Vegas! 

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!

Five on Friday

It's been quite some time since I participated in the blog round up for Five on Friday! Being on spring break, I've been able to structure my time during the week to get prepared to begin regularly blogging, again, and I knew this is something that I wanted to start doing again.

1.  Everyone knows I've had my Starbucks Gold card for years, and I'm coming no where close to never not being a gold member. The other day I was in Target, and I finally found the Starbucks Discoveries for the area! I've picked up the vanilla latte, and I love it! Has anyone else tried these?

2.  I've gotten wanderlust this past week. I'm still home in the States for another week or so before heading back to school for my last term. But, that hasn't stopped me from looking into a trip to Morocco and Hungary before I graduate!

Source

3.  The new lines at Target for spring have gotten me snatching up dresses left and right! I just picked up this gem for an evening with the girls!

Source

4. Did anyone else watch the Scandal season finale last night? I'm still coping with the last five minutes!

5.  And, this is just hilarious for all my fellow Beyonce fans.

Source 

Have a fabulous weekend! 

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! 

MPA Ball: Round 2

As our spring semester came to a close this past week, it was time for the annual MPA ball! 

Susannah and Me

This year, it was held at the Grand Connaught Rooms with the after-party at Sway. 

The Boys 

The evening included a speech from our Dean, several musical performances by classmates, and incoming/outgoing MPASA board members. 

Plus, there were the token superlatives awarded to my graduating class.

Yours truly won for 'Most Likely to Like your Facebook Post!'

It was a fun evening of dancing and sharing laughs before we all depart on our five week spring break! We've got one more term to go before we are done!