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!

Wrapping up Spring Break

I'm about three days from the end of what is very much likely to be my last spring break, ever! 

Tomorrow, I head to Newark to spend the night to catch a 7am flight to London on Saturday. Talk about an early wake-up call on Saturday! 

I'm excited to be getting back to finish up my last semester at LSE. The first week back is going to be crazy due to a lot of assignments being due, interviews, a showcase event, a few parties, and a potential tube strike.  Not too excited about that last one...

Once the first week is over, I'll only have one more essay to finish and two exams. My exams are not till the middle of June. That leaves plenty of cushion time to relax for a few days before diving into the books.

Spring break was full of relaxation, seeing old friends I hadn't seen in years, spending time with my parents and animals, and just enjoying the last few weeks of freedom!

Stay tuned! 

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! 

Greetings from America!

It's been about a week and a few days since I've been home! 

Where does the time go?

On the day of my last exam, there was the end-of-the-year MPA party! It was the last hurrah for the second years. Sometimes, it is weird to think that there will be new first years in September/October!

The night before I left London for the summer, I went out to grab drinks with Zaina and Elena. I quickly ran into my friend Lexi before we went off to get Mexican food at Wahaca in Covent Garden. It was a great way to start my summer vacation!

My flights home were not too bad. The layover in Newark thankfully resulted in me spending time in the terminal with the huge Starbucks and a Crumbs bakeshop (yum!). 

This past week, my brother, sister-in-law, and their two children visited upstate NY which was great! It was so lovely to see them, let my childish side of my personality show, and just begin to relax for the summer. 

Stay tuned for posts this summer! 

Back to School: Summer Edition

School started again today. That was weird.

It is almost May, and I'm still not used to the United Kingdom higher education system. There are so many days that I wish I was already taking finals and ready for summer to start next week. Yet, here I am sitting in an EAT near campus figuring out my to-do list for the week.

Summer term consists of numerous review classes, group project presentations, end-of-term papers, and of course, exams.  It is consistent with how the end of the semesters were at Syracuse, but having an entire term devoted to it is different.  I have a paper due this Thursday on the mass media's agenda-setting role in presidential elections and how social media could disaggregate that stronghold. Next week, I have a group presentation on the decriminalization of drugs and the profits of pharmaceutical companies.  And, for fun, the week after I have a management paper due.

Exams take place in June, as I mentioned. I have three in a row with a week before the last one. I'll be done by the second week of June which leaves time for a hopeful weekend getaway before my current internship wraps up as well.

For now, though, the rain is starting to fall, and I'm in desperate need of a cup of coffee. Adios friends!