I Will Be Your Freudian Slip

One of my favorite things in the entire world is live music. So, what is the first thing I book when coming to a different country? A concert, of course. The Wombats to be exact!

The Wombats are a poppy trio from Liverpool known for their fun stage presence and witty lyrics. While I have been a fan of them for a while, they rarely come to the states, so it was a treat to see them while I was here! (Yes, I know they'll be in the states next month... but hey, I'm HERE now.) As expected, they were lively and silly... and above all, amazing perfomers. I was glad they proved true to recordings; often you'll see a band you LOVE in studio, but that isn't quite up to par in their live performance. Mind you, they're not as vocally savvy as say... Josh Groban... but, hey, they're not trying to be!

Two of my good girlfriends in Swansea- Alex and Melissa- accompanied me to the show, and it couldn't have been a better trip! We even got to satisfy our Sushi desires! MMM. I wish I would have snapped some pictures to show just how yummy it was. It's nice to have such a close group of friends, already! I will have to introduce you in the next few weeks... I'm sure you'll be hearing lots about them. But for now, it's definitely time to sleep.

Mad Love.



Like a Comet Pulled from Orbit

8:40 PM: My contacts are dry. I fell asleep as soon as we got on the bus; about two hours ago. I can't decide if the dryness is from sleeping or weeping. Seriously, you guys. WICKED was amazing. Reinforced a lot of things for me.

I sat in the second row, which allowed me to almost quite literally participate in the show from my seat. Musical theatre is infectious. Our Elphaba and Galinda were both understudies today... Which was actually a positive. Elphie started off calm, but began to blow me away after a few songs. G was equally amazing; starting strong with those insane high notes in "No One Mourns The Wicked". Sometimes i feel like the understudies give the show new life. However, Fiyero was characteristically perfect: beginning strong with "Dancing Through Life" and leading me through a such a strong journey of character development that I nearly jumped over the man in front of me during "As Long As You're Mine" to return the butt grab he had just laid on Elphie.

I nearly lost an eyeball, to a rushing river of tears, during "For Good". It was the only time I didn't see Galinda and Elphaba. I saw Maren. And me. It was pretty hard to watch that scene; I'm missing her big time. It did, however, rejuvenate my desire to be onstage... Especially in WICKED... With my beautiful best friend.
All in all, it was an incredible show... And an incredible day. I haven't even mentioned Buckingham Palace, Millennium Bridge, Platform 9 & 3/4, or The Globe... I'll save that for later. For now, it's back to sleep on the bus.
Mad Love.

Foggy London Town

6:56: The sun is rising in Bristol. We are on the second train from Swansea to London, after our first train failed miserably to arrive at our final location. I suppose it's a good thing we tool the 3:30 am train for a 2:30 pm show. This is definitely cutting into valuable Rachel McAdams time, though, which is never a good thing.

I suppose I should explain. Miss McAdams is filming exactly 7.2 miles from the theatre I'm attending WICKED at today... That means I'll be spending approximately 7.2 hours searching for her, around the vicinity, to finally tell her that I think we should be best friends in more than just my dreams.
The sunrise isn't as beautiful as I'd expected. It's rather dismal and grey. I guess that's why they call it London Fog. Makes me sleepy. Train nap, anyone?
Mad Love.

Splish Splash I was Taking a Bath

Breath taking, eh? I stepped off of the bus to this beautiful view on Wednesday. We went to Bath for an afternoon trip, and surprisingly, it was my favorite trip yet. I imagined Bath would be a giant puddle in the middle of the woods; kind of like where the Wormers splash around in "Now and Then" (or, to be more culturally accurate, where they bathe in "A Room with a View"). However, it was not. It was probably one of the most beautiful places I've been. 

So the entire city isn't a bath... obviously. But ^this^ is. A portion of the original bath is encompassed in a beautiful museum at the front of town. The water literally steams like a spa. I can imagine that it was quite the luxury once upon a time.

This is Allison, Nick, and myself standing in front of the bath. It is so surreal, we almost look like cardboard cut-outs.

We only went to one museum, other than The Bath Museum, which was a preserved portion of The Royal Crescent. Nick wanted to go because almost every Keira Knightley movie is filmed there. It was actually pretty awesome; it played a dual role as a Jane Austen museum. There were first publications of all of her novels there. I wish my best friend Maren could have been there, she would have adored it.

This church was downtown, right in the midst of crazy Bath life. It was so beautiful; it almost reminded me of where Wills and Kate were married. I have more photos, so if you'd like to see the inside, I would love to share more. 

This is Nick and me in the Abbey; a few thought this pic was a bit sac-relig, but I just think it's adorable. 

Here we are at Sally Lund's... the oldest home in Bath. It has been converted into a tea house, over the years, and is famous for it's tea buns. So, needless to say, there were a lot of inappropriate jokes about Sally Lund's buns going around the table. (PS, the girl in the red is Courtney... she is a ball of fun and probably my favorite person I've met in Swansea.)

I am having a blast... and I have so much more to blog about in the next few days! WICKED is tomorrow in London and I have 2nd row seats. WHATWHAT?! So, you'll be hearing from me soon.

Mad Love.

Sipping on Private Stock

We watched a movie in our pre-sessional course today, titled Last Orders. It was actually pretty awesome. The cast was fabulous... but when you've got a movie starring Michael Caine and Helen Mirren... can you really go wrong? The story was sentimental, a little wild at times, and over-all very well constructed. I would recommend it highly and will probably watch it again, myself.

But for now, I'm simply packing. Packing. Packing. 

Tomorrow we are moving to our full time housing, so this evening was spent re-packing my entire life into three suitcases. Suprisingly, it was no easier than it was the first time, even though we're only moving two miles up the road.

Along with moving, we're also visiting Bath on the morrow. From what I can tell/hope... we won't be utilizing the bath... rather we'll be touring around the town and possibly getting ourselves into some kind of Jane-Austen-leather-bound-hot-tranny-mess. It will be everything my best friend Maren could have dreamed of.

I'm positively pooped from packing, so I'm off to sip on my new favorite drank...

...Represent, Juice Boxes.

Mad Love.

Pop Psychology To Keep Us Appeased

Today has been the most uneventful day since I've been here. Not that it was boring, just a bit relaxing. I think I took 3 naps today... Hey what else can you do with 1 hour breaks between classes? I did, however, manage to book 2 more very exciting trips!
Next Saturday, 7 of us are heading to London to see "Wicked"! I absolutely love that show and I'm so excited to go to London. Lucky for my wallet, London is my dream location, and it's a lot more affordable than some of the other trips I am seeing planned!
The next trip I've planned is to Bristol to see The Wombats! I'm so excited they are close and a couple of the American students were interested in going.
So, we have London, Bristol, Amsterdam, and Paris lined up and paid for... Now I need to book a trip to visit my cousin in Germany during October. I'm not missing Oktoberfest if there's anything I can do about it! A couple of us are also looking at going to Madrid for a weekend, too! I just have to be careful with spending... I still have to go home eventually ;)
Mad Love.

Let Your Waves Crash Down

Today was all about relaxing: a little shopping, a little eating, a little beaching... mmm.

Last night we hit up a club called "Disco" that played almost nothing I didn't adore. This includes, but is not limited to, 5ive, S Club 7, Whitney Houston, and my secret dance weapon- Michael Jackson. It was like the DJ took my iPod when I wasn't looking (I mean, hello, the bar upstairs played ROONEY).

I like Swansea alot. The weather is gorgeous, there are lots of new foods to try, and there is a mall less than 2 miles from where I live.

All of the shops here are so cute. Some are kind of overwhelming, though! Primark is awesome- it's like Forever 21 and The Dollar Tree got together and had a very fashionable baby. It was really packed though, with clothes and people, so my friend Courtney and I ended up getting seperated from the group for most of the shopping day. It ended up alright, though, since we are both avid shoppers and wanted to stop nearly everywhere that had a killer shoe display in the window.

The public transportation here is amazing. I always wish we had a system like this in Tulsa! You can literally go EVERYWHERE (which I'm hoping includes The Wombats concert next Wednesday). Here are Courtney and I on the bus, after enjoying some incredible Welsh Cakes (which are basically a pancake/scone hybrid).

After we rolled out of downtown, Allison, Caleb, and I went to the beach for a quick stroll/photo session. It was chilly, but so nice. 

Caleb thought it would be a great idea to put me on his shoulders... as you can see, we were having a ball trying to figure that one out!!! I am so glad I have made friends this quickly! I know that right now we're only with internationals, and not with locals... but I enjoy having a base of friends from the start! It's nice to know you're not alone in the big scary journey of Studying Abroad.

Mad Love.

And Over Again And Over.

I'm officially a student at Swansea Uni!

Sadly, even though I've attended 2 days of class, I'm just now enrolled.

I actually got a lot of things done today! I went to the grocery store today... and I never thought I'd be so happy to see food in my whole life. Not that I haven't eaten, but I hate to be a moochie-coochie, so it was SO nice to finally be able to pick up some grub of my own. I got my bus pass, student ID, and EVERYTHING I COULD EVER WANT today. Ok, maybe not that last part, but I did get curry and beer for 5 pounds... which is pretty awesome.

I finally got notified of my permanent housing today! I am pretty excited because I'm in a 4 bedroom house;  the rest of the internationals are in 10 bedroom houses, which seems a little too crazy for me. I'm rooming with two other Okies, which will be nice, and possibly a third... we're not all too sure yet. Whatever the case, I'm glad we got housing (and in the Med/Grad student division... SCORE).

And now it's time to celebrate... with a little of this.

Mad Love.

Get Down On It

OH MY GOD.

Today we went 300 feet underground in a MINE SHAFT and I SURVIVED.

I feel like I need to get one of those ultra cliche "I Survived..." t-shirts now, because I feel so accomplished! Somehow I don't think that wearing a shirt that says, "I Survived the Shaft," would be very lady-like... Hilarious though it may be. 

So, secret time. I am totally claustrophobic. Like, "I cry when I have to go through creepy tunnels in Haunted Houses" claustro. So, as you can imagine, I didn't fancy spending my first full day in Wales underground. Motha. Frickin. Scary. We weren't allowed to take photographs underground, because apparently batteries make coal mines explode, so I only snapped a few "artsy fartsies" around the property. Above are the belts we wore underground... They gave everyone big ole badonkadonks, which is always a plus. 

This is some random spindle outside on the property... Not really sure what it was used for, but it was pretty cool looking. Plus, I'm just drawn to anything that's orange... so there you have it. 

Again, I have no idea what this is... but I have such a crush on it. I want one in  my house... and I will probably attempt to DIY something similar when I get home. Maybe for Laundry? Something about the rust and turquoise was just really hitting the nail on the head for me. 

Again with the turquiose! This train was so gorgeous against the sky. It's so strange where you find inspiration sometimes.  

I came to the conclusion today that I definitely need to live in a Castle. This was in an old Welsh Village that, again, wouldn't let you take photographs inside. I wish I could share the interior with you... it was so ornate and flawless. They had these bells in the maid quarters that would make a fabulous wall statement, and doors that you would swear were carved by a Fleur de Lis God. It was pure beauty.

I am not too sure what we're doing tomorrow... I heard something about watching Heritage Films? I suppose we'll see!

Mad Love.

One Big Exhale Never Did Me No Good

Well, folks, I made it.

After two days of traveling... I'm beat! I'm so glad to be in my flat for the night.

Eventful happenings thus far: passing out on the flight to London, hauling three oversized suitcases across the airport/bus station/campus, and (on a good note) finally getting to meet some of my classmates/flatmates.

Yeah, these puppies don't photograph nearly as heavy as they feel. Too bad the camera only adds ten pounds to humans. 

This is my room! Our flat has a little kitchen in it, as well. I think there are like... 10 people in my flat... I'm not too sure who all actually lives here, though :-/ There are definitely more than 10 people in the kitchen right now playing Mafia! 

This is my little bathroom. Everything in my room is really white... I definitely can't wait to get to the village and start unpacking just to give the room a little color. But hey, atleast the bedding is orange, eh?

Tomorrow night is Curry Night at a restaraunt in town, so I think a bunch of us are going to head thattaway after our COAL MINING field trip.

But for now... I'm so tired and so grubby. So it's time to hit the shower and the sheets!

Mad love.

Let's Make This Dream That's Barely Half Awake Come True

10:23 in the morning. I'm in Chicago today.

This morning I strapped on my powersuit and got a plane to London. In the process of getting to London, though, I am destined to spend the next 7-8 hours in American airlines purgatory. Ok, I'm obviously making it sound worse than it really is. My inner child led me to the "cubby" with all of the Disney movies I could imagine. So, that's pretty awesome. There's about to be a coin toss between Aladdin and the original Parent Trap.

Maybe I should just take a nap. In true Cristen fashion I stayed up most of last night stocking up on kisses to last me a while three month trip. Usually I'm only gone for a week or two, so you can imagine there was lots of damage to be done.

Chicago is pretty. It might be one of my favorite cities. It could be the fact that "kiss quick" is softly serenading me, but Chicago is kind of romantic. In a weird, "she had it comin'" way. Maybe I just romanticize any city with a theatre district bigger than a fingernail.

I'm debating grabbing a cab and using my time wisely, but my yawn is serving as a constant reminder that I'm nowhere near coherent enough to run around a big city alone. So I guess I'll wait 'til London.

Mad love.

You Think You're Tired Now, Well Wait Until Three

Bored. Of. Packing.

Don't get me wrong... I love that I'm packing to go to Wales on Monday... but I am also packing my entire bedroom to move houses before I leave Monday. Procrastination, much?

Also, I have discovered I'm the world's worst packer. I feel as though I need to pack everything in my wardrobe... just incase. WORST. EVER.

 Need more proof than this? Even with space bags... Grandma has overpacked.

 Of course I need to take this ridiculous trucker hat? wtf self.

I can't forget this handy dandy neck pillow for the flight. THAT is precisely why I'm still at home when my classes started today. I somehow managed to get a pinched nerve in my neck last Friday. GROSS and incredibly painful. So I was pretty much out of commission until Tuesday (yeah, that's what I'll blame the procrastination on). Needless to say, this little puppy will come in handy while I'm soarin' over the world. 

Thank God for Diet Coke and The Cure... Or I might NEVER make it through this day.

On the (almost as) bright (as my flash) side... I made a really cute tank top yesterday. Who needs to shop when you can up-cycle too big t-shirts into adorable laced up tanks? Ok, that's obviously a trick question.

Mad Love.