The 50-Day Countdown

As of this past Saturday, I will officially only be in London for 50 more days. I remember when I was counting down the days to leave Arizona and just like that my time abroad is dwindling down quicker than I ever thought possible. I feel awful for not updating as often as I should. My time here is being used so efficiently that writing—one of my favorite pastimes—has recently been put on the back burner.

This past week alone, I went to my first football game (the real kind), saw Wicked the musical for the first time, went to the movies and saw the most recent adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, embraced my inner tour guide and showed the lovely Sala Shanley around London, visited Oxford and easily had the best night of my life—John Mayer’s final show of his 2013 world tour.

Seeing John live in London was absolutely unreal. I laughed, cried, smiled and just took in the wonderfulness of seeing someone grow right before your eyes. It had been 5 years since the last time I had seen John perform and everything about this show was special. This man has received so much backlash over the years and although I’ve stood by him throughout his personal and professional struggles, he’s finally in a place where he’s truly happy.

He opened with one of my favorite songs from Born and Raised, Queen of California and continued to pleasantly surprise me for the entire night. He played the perfect mix of old hits to some that the crowd might not even recognize and of course, in typical John fashion, went on his intellectual tangents that prove his passion. I could go on and on about how much personal growth John has endured over the years and how much I respect him as a musician but mainly I love him as a human. We all know how controversial his 2010 Playboy interview was and when I saw him in Phoenix in 2008, his attitude was just about the same. He was simply a lost guy who said some crazy things and let fame get to his head. I like to think he’s the perfect example of a person who hit rock bottom and truly learned from his mistakes.

This show though was different. At one point, I looked around the arena and was just in awe that John could have such an impact on such a diverse group of fans. In front of me were some 30-somethings and in front of them were some teenage girls a bit younger than me. I literally teared up because they reminded me of myself when I first saw John at 15 and remembered how cool I felt seeing my favorite artist live for the first time. In a sea of Londoners, I felt right at home.

The one aspect that I found to be the most liberating was not having my camera. If 15-year-old me forgot her camera, she would have freaked out. But this time, not having my camera allowed me to genuinely be in the moment and I appreciated that more than I can explain. I was able to see John end his 2013 World Tour and I’m certain that is something my mind will never let me forget.

Full setlist from the night:

Queen of California

Wildfire

Slow Dancing in a Burning Room

Waiting on the Day

Speak for Me

No Such Thing

They Call Me the Breeze

I Don’t Trust Myself

I’m on Fire

Stop this Train

Half of My Heart

Something Like Olivia

Who Says

Lost at Sea

Paper Doll

Vultures

Age of Worry

Gravity

Walt Grace

Dear Marie

As I’m writing this, my mind still has thoughts of John but I’m also really looking forward to my fall break trip to Scotland tomorrow through Saturday! Although I absolutely love London, it’s always nice to get out of the city. Sending you all lots of London love!

Cheers!

Lauren, In London

On set with Union J – one of the UK’s hottest new boy bands!

Passport to Paris Pt. 2

“Tel était le Paris de notre jeunesse, au temps où nous étions très pauvres et très heureux.” –Ernest Hemingway

Translation: “Such was the Paris of our youth, the days when we were very poor and very happy.”

Wow. Where to begin! Paris was both the greatest and most stressful experience of my life. I learned so much about myself and what I’m capable of. The fact that I traveled alone was exactly what I needed at this point in my time abroad. Ok, so I wasn’t entirely alone. I booked a trip with a travel company with a bunch of other study abroad students from all over the world. It was a really great opportunity to meet new friends but it also exposed me to the, shall we say, “variety” in study abroad student personalities. The good news is I met some incredibly genuine people who I’m now excited to call friends. Bad news is I also met some not so great people… Not enough to ruin things though.

So let’s start from the beginning.

After I ventured through the London and Paris airports, I found myself completely culture shocked. I don’t speak the language, I don’t know the public transportation system and I especially didn’t know a single soul in the area. I quickly found out that the bus I needed to take to my hostel was on strike for the day. Go figure. So being the resourceful type, I asked the Info Desk for directions and went on my detour route to St. Christopher’s Hostel.

While in line for the bus, I overheard the beautiful sound of youthful Americans. I then pushed through and asked if they knew where they were going. Thankfully, a guy from Kentucky was headed the same direction I was and we decided to figure the craziness of Paris out together. Nice chap.

About an hour and a ½ later, I finally arrived at my hostel and dropped my luggage off while they sorted out the room situations. Because I was so late due to the strike I had to get back on the Metro (Paris’ version of the Tube) and meet up with my tour group near Notre Dame Cathedral. Feeling like a pro at that point, I hopped back on the Paris underground and made my way through the city.

On the first day, we saw Notre Dame Cathedral, walked around the Latin Quarter (where I would later return to visit Hemingway’s house) had an incredible lunch and saw the Eiffel Tower before meeting up with Sarah Day for dinner. I hopped back on the tube again and met her and her new friends at The Lourve, which if you didn’t know is one of the biggest museums in the world. The Mona Lisa, Code of Hammurabi and countless other timeless pieces reside here. It was way too big to only spend an afternoon at and I would be back the next morning anyway with my tour group so we headed out to find a nice French dinner.

After eating, we set out to see the Eiffel Tower at night to witness the lights in real life. I kid you not when I say that this structure is massive. For whatever reason, I did not imagine it to be that big!

Later that night was probably the most exciting part of my trip. As I enter the hostel’s lobby, everything is apparently going to shit. A ton of the people on my tour were at the front desk apparently trying to get their room situations sorted out. I guess the hostel had overbooked us (oops) and was not anticipating this many people in our group. Being the crisis manager that I am (go PR!) I suggest we head to our hostel bar and come back once they had figured things out. Only two of the girls wanted to come with and they ended up becoming two of my best friends for the remainder of the trip. About 30 minutes later, we head back in and I’m the last to check in with the desk. This is when things get real exciting.

I wasn’t accounted for during the placement so now they really had to scramble to place me somewhere for the night. I of course begin word vomiting saying things like, “I’m really not picky”, “I’ll stay anywhere” and my best statement yet “Even if it’s with all guys, I don’t care!”

Well, that’s exactly what happened.

I get to the sixth floor and upon opening the door, I see 3 friendly faces—all of which are guys! Needless to say, I put on my best social attitude and made the best of the night—which was incredibly easy considering these guys were awesome! Everyone had their own story and was in Paris for completely different reasons. Our homes consisted of Canada, Hong Kong, Brazil, Boston and Arizona. I ended up talking to “my boys” until 3am and learned so much about the beauty in meeting perfect strangers. It was such an eye opening experience and yet another one I will remember for the rest of my life.

The next day, my group did a lot more touristy things. We went to the Louvre and saw the Arc de Triomphe. Then we had free time which I made the absolute most out of. The friends I made that day were such great sports as I dragged them into the neighborhoods of Paris in search of Ernest Hemingway’s Parisian home. We found it and I was absolutely starstruck! I was in Paris at my favorite author’s house. IT WAS AWESOME. After that, we got some street food, did some shopping then headed back to our hostel to meet up for our night bike ride then boat ride after.

Biking through Paris was beautiful. The sun was setting and everything looked especially magical. One of the highlights was me completely wiping out in front of the Eiffel Tower. In typical Lauren fashion, I was leading the pack with our bike leader and underestimated how high up the sidewalks are in Paris. So there I was, in Paris, almost causing a 30 person bike pile up in front of good old Effy. I got a standing ovation from the spectators and was applauded once I bounced back up.

So Paris was awesome but I was missing London hardcore. That night we went back to the hostel, stayed at the bar until close then I went to bed to catch a nap before my morning flight back home.

Cheers!

Lauren, In London 

PS- Sorry this update is almost two weeks late! It’s just been such a great time lately I haven’t had a chance to really write. I’m currently tackling midterms before fall break so I’ll be able to catch up more this weekend. Love and miss you all like crazy!

Passport to Paris Pt. 1

It’s 3:22am and I’m fighting the urge to fall asleep. But if we’re going to be completely honest here, I’ve definitely dozed off a few times in my 3 ½ hours at Heathrow Airport thus far. It’s just so peaceful. Something about airports makes me feel safe. Crazy concept—I know.

I think it’s the fact that we are all here to EXPLORE. Whether you enjoy flying or not, once you get to an airport, you immediately become an adventurer. There are a few people here with me tonight, toughing it out these next few hours before the magic begins. Yes, magic. Because let’s be real, there is no way planes are up there gliding on their own.

Wait, a new thought just sparked.

Maybe it’s not even airports that feel magical to me. Maybe it’s because I’m in London en route to Paris. If that doesn’t sound magical to you, you can stop reading right now.

Paris, France. That city/country combination used to sound so foreign and now it’s a tangible weekend getaway. Not for a second am I forgetting how incredibly lucky I am—this all just seems so surreal. Like COME ON. These sorts of things do not happen to normal people.

Like, I’m literally listening to T. Swift, snapchatting and attempting to read. All very normal things that I used to do as an American. (Sorry guys, I forgot to tell you I’m just really embracing my newfound English persona.) If you think that sounds crazy, just wait for my next statement… I’ve even caught myself feeling a little guilty with how much fun I’m having. After snapping out of it, I finally figured out the reasoning behind it. As much as I love my time abroad—trust me, I don’t think I could love it much more—I wish I had my family and friends here to share it with. This world is absolutely breathtaking and I’m promising myself right now that sharing it with my future family is an absolute must. Don’t worry Ramsey and Mama Guz, you two are coming along for the fun too!

Anyway, I should probably conserve my battery since I forgot my UK power adaptor and only brought the French one. #studyabroadprobs

Next stop: Paris!

Cheers!

Lauren, In London

PS – let’s add Parisian navigator to my list of skills! Get ready for my post about tackling the Paris bus and metro system. And of course, all about the beauty in Paris. All in a day’s work.

Now Implementing: GUZDAY

Tonight, I found my people. I went to an Imperial College social and learned all about how the local college radio stations work in London. Imperial College is a local university where us CAPA students are allowed to join clubs or socities OR “socs” as the Londoners like to call it. Basically, I had the best time which seems to be the norm here. Also, this is me just rambling but I totally feel like I’m channeling my inner Hemingway–who famously said, “Write drunk, edit sober.”  Which makes sense since I’ll be in Paris next weekend and Paris was totally his city. Hope you caught that I’m embracing my alcolholic legality here.

Anyway, these people were perfect. They were weird and talked about strange topics and it was totally my cup of tea. I have not felt more at home since I joined Sigma Kappa and that is just a whole nother feeling of being at home. Tonight, I met people from Nigeria, France, Ireland and of course the good old US of A.

As I was speaking to one of the guys from London, he was like, “Oh, there’s someone here from Minnesota.” Low and behold it was the official CAPA blogger himself, Lucas Scheelk. This was a dream come true as I’ve secretly not so secretly made it a point to become friends with Lucas because he’s seriously SO interesting without even realizing it.

So there we were.

The two Americans working the room with such grace.

I was proud to say the least.

Now, I haven’t made any decisions yet but just know you may or may not be hearing DJ Guzzy Guz on the 1s and 2s on Tuesday AKA Guzday. Who knows… When in London though, right?

Anyway, I have to go write a Shakespeare comparison now. The stage versus Hollywood version.

I just wanted to quickly share how surprisingly exciting my night was! I LOVE LONDON!

Byeeeeeee,

Lauren, In London

Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves

“Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves.” – Henry David Thoreau

This quote could not have been more fitting than last night. Sometimes, the best part about being in London is how often one is lost. I’m serious—I’m typically lost about 97% of the time here. I’ve come to find humor in my daily travels. Sure, going to class and work is simple. It’s just when I’m feeling extra adventurous after work on the hunt for a crumpet or a decent dirty chai that I become a total tourist. But the brilliant part is that if we’re all lost here, we’re all together in that sense too.

So I spent the weekend with Sarah Lynne Day. Sarah is one of my five flat mates and also one of the greatest people I have ever met. She is incredibly genuine and always has advice that is wise beyond her years. Oh, it was also her 22^nd birthday on Thursday—so naturally, we celebrated all weekend.

While the rest of our flat was off gallivanting in Paris (it’s fine guys, we’re going next week) Sarah and I had numerous heart to hearts, adventures and made the most of our quality time together. I kid you not when I say that I feel like I’ve known this girl my entire life. Seriously, she just gets me. Some of the most beautiful parts of our time together were when regular conversations turned into moments of self-discovery.

We learned that all encounters have purpose, all insecurities have meaning and all flaws make us who we are.

As cheesy as it sounds, it was one of the most influential weekends I’ve had in a long time and we didn’t even do anything super special. We went to a new awesome pub that has a ton of ping pong tables, walked around the 2012 Olympic grounds, had amazing Chinese food, saw a Scottish musical, directed lost tourists and just enjoyed every simple pleasure London has to offer. From the complete Godsend of night busses to the comfort found in coming home to Camden, the coolest part of the city, it’s always a blessing living in such a lively city. Although our flat is directly over one of the loudest pubs in the area you learn to love the lullaby of drunkies in their prime.

To recap what went down the week before, I went to Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre and saw Macbeth live, saw a mock Victorian amputation and celebrated my 20 ½ birthday. Macbeth was unreal. I was completely star struck being in such a historical part of London. These actors meant business and it showed in every scene. The amputation honestly made me kind of queasy. Our “doctor” chose an assistant from the audience and explained how the surgery would have happened back in the day. Although no limbs were lost it was still pretty gross. Lastly, I celebrated—in true American fashion—my 6 month mark of being underage! Mill Ave, get ready. I’m comin’ for you in March!

For now, that’s all!  This time next week, I’ll be running around the streets of Paris! In case you didn’t catch that at the beginning, I also booked a weekend trip to Paris for next weekend. Saying I’m excited would be an extreme understatement.

Bonjour, mates!

Lauren, In London

PS – I was also featured in Simply Audree Kate’s fashion blog last week – sharing my insider opinion on the London Look! Check it out, and all that SAK has to offer, here:

http://simplyaudreekate.com/2013/09/30/laurens-london-look/

“You’re a Londonder if here is where you feel most at home”

Such a great quote from who I can tell will be an amazing professor.

Writing the City is a class I’ve been dying to take since I knew I would be studying abroad with CAPA. This course does an impeccable job of allowing its students to fully immerse themselves in the London culture in the most elementary way possible. That’s right – tons of class field trips. Today, we went down to the River Thames (pronounced: tems) and it was memorable to say the least. Ok, I’ll just cut to the chase. One of my classmates Essa totally wiped out in the sludge of the “beach” (disclaimer: not the beach you’re probably envisioning) and it was hilarious. Now that that’s out of the way, I can be all profound and describe it to the best of my ability. The River is timeless. Seriously. This waterway served as one of the first sewage lines in London – gross, I know. Back in the day, people actually used to drink the water because for whatever reason they thought that’d be ok. Spoiler alert: it’s not. After walking what seemed for hours, we finally arrived at the bank of the river and listened as our professor read works of Dickens and others who had been inspired by the city. Just being in the presence of landmarks that have influenced some of the best writers of our time is encourages what I’m doing here has meaning. We later walked to the Tate Modern, one of London’s famous art galleries, had a coffee break (or tea, depending on your preference) and continued on to Tower Bridge. This is the same place that you might incorrectly confuse as London Bridge , or as I like to refer to it, the Spice Girl Bridge. Fun fact: the actual “London Bridge” resides comfortably in the amazing Arizonan city of Lake Havasu. See you in SB2k14, Lake HavASU!

Jumping around to the past week, I wanted to update you all on what’s been going on since my last post. Monday was pretty spectacular. It was the first day at my internship with the new intern Tom who I will most likely refer to as “Intern Tom”. We had some formal training on some of our company’s newest software then the fun came. One of our clients was the chosen venue for a local boy band’s photo shoot. So Intern Tom and I took off to represent the company and hopefully get a quick pic with the boys. Well, it happened. Unfortunately, due to a nondisclosure agreement, I can’t release the photo until mid October when the article is released but it was pretty sweet. I could definitely get used to the lavish side of the PR life.

Tuesday through Friday were pretty typical. I had school on Tuesday and Wednesday and work Thursday and Friday. Tuesday, I went to Platform 9 3/4. Casual. Wednesday I got to see my favorite Shakespeare play, Taming of the Shrew. It was a modern adaptation and although the venue was absolutely freezing it was still interesting to see a London crew’s take on the story. Thursday, I discovered One Direction and now consider myself a Directioner. Then Friday night, in typical London fashion, was spent at a pub with some of my flatmates. We stayed local in Camden and stumbled upon a really cool place near our flat called The Monarch. Camden continues to surprise me every time I go out and I love it.

Saturday, a bunch of CAPA students ventured on a day trip to Brighton, which is the seaside equivalent to London. It was quaint and sweet but still somehow reminded me of the neighboring west coast beaches I’m used to back at home. Later that night is where the real fun began. Flat 402 took on Camden in the most infamous way possible – the official Camden Pub Crawl. For 10 quid (that’s almost like saying 10 “bucks”) it got you a free shot at every bar in addition to heavily discounted drinks all night. I couldn’t tell you how many pubs there were in total and I also won’t go into too much detail of each individual pub but just know I made it through the entire crawl and happily ate awful food at 3am. Worth it. It was one of those nights where I met some of the most interesting people all by complete chance. From the wonderful Nigerian woman in the bathroom to the cool Canadians on the crawl with us, it was definitely a night to be remembered. Or forgotten – one or the other 😉

Lastly, Sunday. The day that consistently surprises me in the best way every week. Because the tube line I usually take to get anywhere in London was down this weekend for maintenance, our Sunday scheduled walking tour was changed from a London borough to Abbey Road. That’s right, THE Abbey Road. It was chilling how much love was felt at this touristy oasis. In case you didn’t know, Abbey Road is actually a fully functioning street. Meaning that while tourists are attempting to recreate the most famous album art in the history of music, what you don’t hear is the honking horns and pissed comments from the locals trying to pass through. Luckily, my friends and I got a winner on our second attempt and I’m not going to lie – IT LOOKS AWESOME!

All in all, that was about it for this weekend. I’m looking forward to booking my flight to Italy for fall break this week because that’s right – I won a free 10 day trip! Thanks, CAPA! That’s in addition to the Ireland trip that I booked a couple weeks ago, which the 12.5% Irish lass in me is dying to see! Considering Paris as well, but that’s still up in the air so stay tuned for that update.

Loving and missing all my Arizonans like crazy!

Until next week!

Lauren, In London

PS – Here I am at Platform 9 3/4 AND the Peter Pan Statue! Check it out!

Learning, Living and Loving London

If it wasn’t evident by now, I’m 100% in love with London.

This week, marked my first full work week in the city (that’s right THE city because any other description would not do this place justice.) At this point, I feel completely comfortable in this magical wonderland. Not in a creepy, I would fall asleep on the Tube, way—although I have been known to fall asleep at Nascar so I guess anything goes. More like, this place was made for me. It’s so incredibly hard to describe why I love London so much but I’ll do my best to paint you all a picture.

London is loud.

From the tube screeching down the tunnels that were built hundreds of years ago, to the pubs that are just as lively on a Tuesday afternoon as a Saturday night, this place knows how to get down—but in a normal way. The fact that it’s completely normal for my boss to order a beer at lunch, that’s right, we hung out today to celebrate intern Andrew’s last day, is incredible. Drinking is so casual here. It might be because I’m actually legal (come on America, get with the rest of the world on this one) but I feel really mature.

London is quiet.

Yes, the tube is crazy loud but the people on there mainly keep to themselves.  Everyone is so independent. They all know exactly where they’re going and how to get there. I think this is where I feel most at home. I mean, love people—I’m in PR, it’s sort of my career choice. But there is nothing I love more than having my “me time.” For example, my journey to work is unbelievably gorgeous. It takes about 40 minutes door-to-door for me to arrive on site but it’s totally worth it for 3 days of my week. I’m taking a method of transportation that many of my friends have yet to experience—the national rail. It’s an over ground train that allows its passengers to see the city in all of it’s green, misty beauty. This ride is where I, and tons of other Londoners, spend our “me time”, together.

London is historical.

Let’s be real. How many times have you walked down the street and stumble upon buildings straight out of a history book? All right, maybe if you’re anywhere in Europe. But back in the states, this literally never happens. Although the area of town I live in doesn’t have as much historical significance as other places, Jude Law does have a house here. So there’s that.

London is modern.

Did you know Londoners are big fans of nicknaming things? Basically, my personality in a nutshell. If you’ve ever been out with me, and experience me attempting to learn names, you know that I just end up renaming people. London likes to do the same thing—but with their buildings. We have The Tube, The Lipstick, Big Ben and The Shard just to name a few. Literally, just across the street from so much history, London shares its ancient history with the changing times it now encourages.

London is green.

Can I just say that as a girl from Dirt City, USA I’m overwhelmed by how much greenery there is. (Side note, I love Arizona. I’m just in love with London!) To be fair, some things never change. Lunch is still my favorite time of the day except now I get to go on outside adventures in any of the many parks here.

London is wet.

It rains about 85% of the time here. The bad part is I have curly hair so we all know what that means. The good part is that the rain is more like a mister rather than a downpour. It’s like only walking through Tempe Marketplace on a toasty Tempe day. I’m the weird girl that doesn’t bundle up because I’m like a kid splashing in puddles all day. PS – Mom, I promise I’m staying warm. I’m also taking Vitamin C to kickstart my immune system.

London loves tourists.

I can’t tell you how many times I overhear a different language a day. I actually feel super lame that I only speak English. Not even the way English people speak it, mind you. But apparently I do have an accent. Today I was told, “You sound like the girls from The Hills.” To which I responded, “Stoppppppppp.” Touché man, point proven.

I hope this offers a smidgen of an idea as to why I’m absolutely, irrevocably in love with this place. Everyday I’m here reminds me that it’s one day I won’t be here which is actually a really great motivator to get the most out of my experience.

It’s also my new life mantra.

I promise I’ll try and post weekly, with something interesting to share I’m sure!

Until next week friends.

Cheers!

Lauren, In London

Officially Lauren, In London

Guys. I’m here.

It’s so surreal to think that this beautiful, magical, cultural oasis is mine for the semester!

I literally love everything about London. From the sweatiness that the tube offers to the funky vibe of my home borough of Camden, this place was made for a traveling college student. Although I can’t say the exchange rate is in my favor, as always, I make it work.

Now, down to the specifics. Let’s talk about how absolutely amazing my roommates are! I have two girls from New York, two from Minnesota and one from Massachusetts. These girls are fantastic and I love listening to all of the stories they have to share from back home. It’s only day two and I can already tell these girls are going to be my friends for a lifetime. In fact, whenever they speak, I see their ASU counterparts – it’s kind of strange.

Now on to school. It’s in Kensington, AKA the oldest, most historic part of town. It’s insane to see a building from ages ago directly next to a modern one. I had orientation today and will continue into the rest of the weekend but it doesn’t feel like school at all. Tomorrow, I learn about my internship – WHICH IS AWESOME – and prepare for the courses I’ll be in. I’ll be taking an approximately 40ish minute tube ride and will be feeling much more confident this time around.

Today, two of my roommates and I ventured out to various parts of town to set up phone service, buy flat essentials and really just get familiarized with the city. The best part was being able to walk everywhere. It’s perfect outside and I could really get used to this.

Basically, I’m in love with this city and can’t wait to see what else this place has in store for me!

Just wanted to quickly update you all on how it’s going!

PS – the pub life is just as great you’d think it’d be!

Cheers,

Lauren, In London

Airport Life 9/3/13

The Independent American

Somebody pinch me—but don’t because I’m currently alone at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York and that’d be really creepy.

Well friends, I did it. Halfway to my final destination and about 4 hours away from boarding, I’ll soon be at my new home in London. Not gonna lie, I thought I had this whole independent thing down but traveling alone is not as easy as I thought it’d be. It’s not like this is even my first time flying but I somehow managed to make a spectacle of myself in the Big Apple.

It’s been quite the adventure thus far. From rain delaying my flight in Phoenix—seriously, I was just as shocked—to having the middle AKA worst seat on the plane, I’ve actually been enjoying every second.

It all started in Phoenix last night when my mom, older sister and I had to go back home not once, not twice but THREE times before finally being ready to send me off. I promise I’m not a forgetful person, which is what made the entire evening so incredibly bizarre.

First, I forgot my hairbrush and earphones (which came in handy as I’m currently listening to the man, John Mayer). Then, I forgot my jacket that I planned on taking with me on the plane. Finally, as I’m checking my bag in and about to pay the overweight fee (whoops) I realized I forgot my laptop at my sister’s house. Needless to say, she was not happy. But everything worked itself out and I was reminded that I have the greatest mom and big sister that I could ever ask for. Plus, they couldn’t stay mad at me—I mean I AM leaving the country for three months!

After finally boarding the plane at 12:55am, I sat middle seat, 6^th row in the roomiest coach seat I’ve ever flown in. I should’ve fallen asleep immediately especially since I pride myself in my ability to sleep virtually anywhere! Something about this flight though made me uncomfortable—probably my butt refusing to sit any longer than it wanted to.  Eventually, I was able to sleep a few hours then woke up to watching the Today Show in real New York time.

Which felt REALLY cool.

Then I had my run around JFK from Terminal 3 to 8, took the Air Tram (Tran? Train? Who knows… Phoenix just built their’s), stored my luggage in the convenient storage place, found out I could check my luggage in early at the airline counter, went back downstairs—large coffee in hand—to request my bag back 10 minutes later, went back to the airline counter, paid another overweight fee and then breathed a sigh of relief. WOOOOOOO!

JFK: 37

Lauren: 0

But it’s fine because now I’m sitting in the waiting area, writing my life story because who knows when I’ll find time once the madness of arriving in London ensues.

I’m feeling pretty proud of myself and I can’t wait to see what the rest of the day has in store for me!

In about 2 more hours I can cross through security and start the waiting game on the other side.

Next time you hear from me, I will be Lauren the Londoner!

Cheers!

Lauren, In New York

Not Goodbye – See you soon!

I’m not sure HOW I forgot to mention my wonderful farewell party but this post is entirely dedicated to just that.

I literally have the best friends any girl could ever ask for. From the beautiful friends I’ve made at ASU to the work family I have with the Diamondbacks, I was definitely one happy girl. Let’s just say I was very prepared for my new legal life abroad… If you know what I mean 😉

Apart from my family, these are the people I will miss the most. They have been there for during my most trying times and it saddens me that they won’t be a part of the greatest adventure I’ll have yet! (There I go again, getting all emotional at work. Disclaimer: I work at the front desk of one of the largest universities in the country and freshman just moved in this past weekend. Needless to say, I’m pretty sure I’m scaring them with my ugly tears.)

So, here’s to you, friends! I can’t wait to bring you all along with me—virtually, of course, since there is no way you all would make the weight limit on baggage.

Cheers!

Lauren, In Arizona