merci beaucoup, paris.

Bonjour!

This weekend, Chelsea and I headed to Paris and 

spent 3 days being major tourists!

 It was the first time to Paris for both of us, so everything was new!

We saw it all: the Louvre, Notre Dame, Champs Elysees, the Arc de Triomphe, and of course...the Eiffel tower!

We had no schedule—our itinerary included getting lost, and 

walking around only to explore whatever we could discover.

The weather was colder than usual Paris weather, and we were FREEZING! 

Thankfully, the sun was out for most of the weekend,

 so it was beautiful despite the cold!

Also, the fall colors and piles of leaves all over the ground made it even more beautiful, specifically around the Eiffel tower.

Other than sightseeing and taking tons of photos, we ate. And ate. And ate...

I learned a few French words too! {thanks to Grant who gave me a mini-lesson before leaving} and thankfully, Chelsea knew quite a bit as well!

The best part about Paris?

 {besides the Angelina's hot chocolate and the baguettes}

The sparkling Eiffel Tower. At night, the beautifully-lit Eiffel Tower sparkles for a few minutes every hour.

It was a great weekend of exploring, and so, 

so fun to travel and see a new country!

Paris is a lot different than London 

{and I really did miss it—I just love London so much} 

but it was a nice change for just a few days.

{Plus, I was so excited to get new stamps on my passport!}

Merci, Paris! Merci, beaucoup.

we walked and walked and walked and walked.

Can you believe that October is almost over? Holy moly this is insane. 

I do love October, and of course, like with any month, there are pros and cons to it's passing—many things I will miss about October, but am definitely looking forward to SO much in November! 

{things like Wales, Scotland, and Brussels}

Anyways, like most of you know, my parents were in London for a few days this weekend! I made a little insanely jam-packed, OCD-esque itinerary since they weren't here for long.

 I wanted them to see everything, regardless of the time they were in London.

That meant we {speed} walked a lot everywhere, took few bathroom or sit-down-and-relax breaks, and honestly never stopped being busy. We woke up around 6 or 6:30 every morning, and were out until 10 or 11 pm. The intensity of this trip is comparable to the intensity of our Disneyland trips. 

{And some of you know—our Disneyland trips are very intense}

My parents really enjoyed London, and I think they truly appreciate my minute-by-minute planning skills. I had to get it from one of them, right? They would not have seen so much if it weren't for the schedule! ;)

Here are a few photos from the weekend!

My parents LOVED Vapianos—we went there twice!

The escalator on the Tube...one place where we slowed our walking down

Billy Elliot was amazing!

Afternoon tea at Harrods

The Icebar!

The London Eye—it was soooo foggy, and we saw nothing. Haha

Traditional fish and chips at a local British pub!

It was a great weekend, and I had lots of fun showing them around everywhere! The trip was way too short, but

 I just am so blessed that they were able to come at all! 

On another note: how does everyone feel about Taylor Swift's new album? I am listening to it as I write, and I don't really love any song, except

 "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together"

I am sure the songs will all grow on me eventually, though. At least I hope so!

I found this on Pinterest {duh, where else?} and it's pretty hilarious...

Be on the lookout for an update on my Paris trip after this weekend!

the parents are coming, the parents are coming!

Get it? Like, "The British are coming, the British are coming!" 

{Paul Revere—Revolutionary War, anyone?}

 Sorry, I had to. 

{My history-major boyfriend will be proud—you too, Kate Pfaff}

The only difference is, Paul Revere wasn't happy that the British were coming...and I am STOKED that my parents are coming!

Their formal tour of the UK ends today in London, and now I get 

to take over as their tour guide.

We only have a few days before they head home, so I have planned a jam-packed itinerary to show them everything here! {Because really, you could spend 2 weeks in London and still have more to see!}

After they leave, I only have a couple days to write a paper, update you on their visit, and pack for PARIS! From then on, it's traveltraveltraveltravel time, then my sister and the Henderson's are visiting{!!!!!!!!} then a little more travel, then I come home. Just like that.

In other words, I am about to be very busy. I will have a lot to blog about. This semester is about to fly by even faster than it already is. 

{How is that even possible?}

Although I may not be blogging for awhile, stick around.

 I plan to have many stories in the coming weeks.

dreaming of style.

Most of you know that I love shopping--I mean, who doesn't?

My style is definitely being influenced by London, and I love it!

I want to share a few products and brands that are 

super popular across the pond. 

London is ahead of America in trends and style. 

 I am no fashionista, but I have friends who sure are. Some of you probably have seen/been there, done that/owned all of these already. But as far as I know, these are British trends, at least in my eyes.

Regardless, I want to show you the trends that I have noticed and fallen in love with--things I cannot take my eyes off of!

First, Longchamp bags. 

I love the "le pliage" bag and I see it EVERYWHERE. 

Longchamp is coming to the states {it's actually already super popular on the East coast} and I cannot wait to buy one when I go to Paris! {They are a lot cheaper in Paris than in London or America!}

My biggest dilemma: what color do I get?

This trend is SO CUTE. I am not sure if they are popular in the states yet. All I know is, I love them! They are basically necklaces that look like collars. Here are some cute ones I found online:

this one, this one, oh and this one.

I adore these cute little collar necklaces! They can be simple or fancy, glitzy gems or classy pearls, petite or bulky. They are just so fun and they really do look just like embellished collars! 

If you know me, you know I LOVEEEEE Vera Bradley! 

 I was so excited to find what I call the Vera Bradley of England.

Cath Kidston has the cutest mugs, teacups, tea pots, tea towels, pajamas, stationary, and wallets! {Just to name a few things}

Cath Kidston's style is a little different than Vera Bradley's. Cath has softer colors, and more vintage patterns. Vera is brighter, with more detailed patterns! Both are equally as cute as one another.

These are my top 3 favorite trends in London right now. I may or may not come home with a suitcase full of Longchamps, collar neckalces,
 and Cath Kidston teacups. 

Lets be real, I probably won't have a full suitcase. 

But hey, a girl can dream, right? 

football, disney magic, harrods, windsor, all mixed with a tiny bit of chaos.

This weekend was a whirlwind of exciting moments, 

mixed with frustrating obstacles.

I have lots of picture and stories, so I will just 

quickly highlight all that went on!

Friday, Chelsea and I got together in the morning to plan our trip to Paris! After, we went to lunch at a perfectly adorable cafe that is literally a 20 second walk from my dorm. {Why hadn't I been there before?} I am so glad I found this place and plan to go back many times! 

It's a {anthropologie-esque} home store and a cafe.  

http://www.pitfieldlondon.com/cafe 

After lunch at Pitfield, we went to the Chelsea Football {soccer} Stadium--Stamford Bridge. Chelsea and I realllllyyyyyyyyy want to go to a game. What happened at the box office of Stamford Bridge? We signed up for membership. Yes. I know. I know. Yes. Why? Because we really want to go. Chelsea {the team, not my friend} won some championship last year {I know, my lack of football knowledge--considering I'm a member now--is laughable} but basically it's insanely hard to get tickets even more so this season than normal. We wanted to guarantee that we could get tickets, and signed up. There was a lot more thought put into this than I am explaining, but for the sake of keeping you interested, I will stop here. 

Now, we are "True Blue" Members, and "We are all Chelsea"

It's hilarious, actually. The things you do when you study abroad...

After leaving Stamford Bridge with our new memberships in hand, we headed for Harrods. {Chelsea and I share a common love for Harrods, so I can count on her to always go with me} Remember when I said they were opening a Disney section and I hoped it would be there before I left in December? Yeah, that was last week. This week, we stumbled upon it. Harrods is amazing. Or maybe it's the Disney Magic? I'm not sure. But it was so fun to see! They have a castle in the middle of the room, where little girls can buy glitzy, glitter shoes--or slippers. There are princess dresses galore, and a Pixar section balances out the girly-ness. For the Mickey Mouse lovers, there is a section for him and Minnie too. The best part? The happy Disney music playing throughout. I loved it!

Because I was on a roll with purchasing random memberships, I signed up for a Harrods rewards card. {The cashier offered--I couldn't say no!} Plus, it was free! I will never spend close to enough money to even receive rewards, but they sometimes have sales for card-holders AND the plastic card that says "Harrods" on it makes a nice souvenir :) One more thing: I made my first purchases at Harrods this weekend. I got the famous green bag. I promise you, I did not plan this, but Harrods and I totally matched. {Obviously, my sweater is green. But what you can't see is the gold chain on my crossbody-bag that totally matches the gold writing on the bags} No shame in my game.

I had a little laundry fiasco on Saturday. {I won't get into it, but basically I paid more than I should have, so the lady treated me like I didn't know how to do laundry.} Once again, I won't tell the story, but know it was annoying. After the fact, it was hilarious though.

ISA took us to Parliament on Saturday, and it was so cool learning about the history and more about the government in England! {Nerd alert!} After Parliament, I rushed to the train station because my parents landed in England on Saturday! They are touring the UK for a week, and their tour started in Windsor. I went to Windsor for the night and stayed with them at their hotel. The hotel was literally right across from Windsor Castle, which is beautiful. It was so nice seeing them in England {and really weird!} and now I cannot stop planning for when they come back to London at the end of the week! 

Another frustrating obstacle was figuring out the National Rail to get to Windsor. It is completely separate from the Tube, and I had a really hard time with it. It sounds pathetic, and it was pathetic, because it is so easy. This is another really long story.

I have learned that these minuscule issues--the laundry and train fiascos--are inevitable when traveling. In the moment, it totally stinks. But in perspective, they are the experiences from which I will truly grow, and hey, they make great stories in the future. Because looking back, it is silly that I was so upset about them.

 I am truly blessed and thank God every day for my semester abroad! 

moments in london.

This week, it hit me that I actually don't have a lot of time here.

I keep walking by different restuarants, seeing cathedrals, talking about tours I want to do and things I want to see and I always say, 

"We'll get to it...we have 3 months!"

Well, now I have about two months to cram everything in.

This makes me happy, and sad. But that's a whole other topic 

that we won't talk about right now.

Since this realization, I have been more aware of how I spend my time. 

I want to make the most of my short time in London.

This has resulted in a couple random adventures and lots of exploring!

Here are some photos and stories from this past week:

Chelsea and I went to Harrods last weekend and found this bottle of water for only 30 pounds. Great deal! The bottle was embellished with Swarovski crystals. Sold. Please, please sense my sarcasm.

I also went to the Victoria and Albert museum last weekend to see the ball gowns exhibit with Chloe {aka Claud} Megan, and Ciara. Basically, we saw beautiful gowns from the 1950's up until the present that were worn by important people. It was so fun! We weren't allowed to take photos, but I was sneaky and got a couple! {I couldn't help myself--the dresses were gorgeous!}

After our class on Tuesday, Katie and I decided to go on a spontaneous adventure. {We talked over lunch when we decided that we need to make the most of our time, hence my epiphany, and now all of this!} We headed to South Kensington to try and find the Parent Trap house. We found it! However, we could only see the huge pieces of plywood that covered the house. They are doing "work" on the front of it {whatever that means!} I hope it is done before I leave and that it doesn't look too different! 

Our adventure to the South Kensington area wasn't ruined by this, though. We saw some GORGEOUS flats and we actually were able to hear birds chirping! I have not heard that sound for far too long. It is true suburbia in South Kensington, and I plan on going back to explore even more!

Yesterday, I went to The National Gallery with my class. Just when you think you've seen London, you fall in love with another area. I have never really been to Trafalgar Square {so weird since it's so touristy!} but from the minute I walked into the square, I was in love. It is so beautiful and lively! 

After class was over, I went to lunch with Chelsea, Jessica, and Stephanie and we bought Pret take away {to-go} and ate on the steps in Trafalgar Square. I guess you could say we had a pinic!

Last night, ISA took us to see "Rock of Ages"

This musical was...raunchy. Slightly uncomfortable at times. But still super fun! I mean the singing and dancing was so great, like musicals always are!

It gave me chills and it made me so excited to see

 more musicals while I am here!

I am planning on seeing:

Phantom of the Opera

Billy Elliot

and the Lion King

The shows here are beyond incredible...I am going to stop talking about it, because I could just ramble and ramble about this subject.

At the end of the show, the main character said "THANK YOU LONDON" as everyone was standing and cheering. Chills again. Another "Oh my...I am really in London" moment.

Today, I walked around and explored a little bit on my own. The most exciting part: finding these little gems in the Disney store. 

Please note: Minnie is the queen.

And Mickey is a guard.

Donald and Mickey guards stand at the front of the store to greet Disney fans!

Check out my FaceBook for more photos, and follow my blog!