Baltic State of Mind

• Baltic rappers try to be good.  They really do.  They act all tough and intense with their tats and Iowa State jerseys and covers of Jay-Z songs.  
• And then you look closer.  And see that the sleeves/body of the tats are, in fact, a flesh-colored t-shirt and that you would bet elevendybillion dollars that #7 has never actually been to the state of Iowa.
• And then the back up dancers? Just...no.

Baltics Basics

• Baltics = brrrrr.  This unexpected frigidity will result in epic hat purchases.  Contain your jealousy.

 

 

• Meeting the Estonian Prime Minister is pretty epic.  Especially when he shows you his "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" balcony after letting you pose in his press room.

• Politicians like to talk about themselves.  Luckily, the Lithuanian Speaker of the House had political cartoons to back up his stories.  Downside: they were all in Lithuanian.  Upside: it seems forced laughter is a universal language.

Sweet Sunshine

• It's much easier to stay inside to study when it's cold and snowy.
• The first days of sunshine after a dark and gloomy winter are an incomparable temptation.  Worse than Facebook.  True story.
• Having a sunny lunch in Lincoln's Inn Fields with a group of friends to celebrate the last official lecture of the term is potentially the best thing ever.
• Even if the grass is still a little damp...

Fancy Pants

•  Adult proms are a perfect excuse to buy a new dress, get all gussied up, and take an obscene number of posed pictures.
• There is nothing quite like a handsome man in a good suit.
• Apparently the cool new hipster thing is to call the DJ a "deeszay," pronounced like the soft 'g' sound in DiGiorno.  I have secretly embraced the amazingness of this as I did with "Tarjay" for Target.  Things are just cooler with foreign pronunciations.
• At some point I am going to have to acknowledge defeat and recognize that my feet were simply not made for wearing heels.  Despite the relative 'comfort' experienced while still at Top Shop, my appearance today as though I had just run a marathon has been painfully enlightening.
• Alas, outfit compliments make up for the pain.  Almost.

Go with the Flo

• Florence and the Machine is amazing.  The end.
• When a performer is playing a huge show back in her hometown it's pretty precious to see her get excited to give a shout-out to her family and to mention how she had been in the same venue to see another band play a few years ago.  Never dreamed she'd be back to play there herself.
• At a standing room only venue, one must be fully prepared to throw some elbows to secure a quality vantage point.  You might think Brits are 'too polite' to get mean back.  FYI, they aren't.
• There's nothing quite like listening to an album on repeat for years and then hearing it sung even better live.  Perfection.

La Dolce Vita

•  Parties in which you ask poor graduate students to bring Italian-style dishes bring out a certain level of creativity that can actually be deliciously surprising.

•  Especially when a main dish consists of strawberries and whipped cream.  Everyone's classy side was on full display as whipped cream towers grew to gravity-defying heights.

• Putting aside two essays and a presentation in favor of enjoying homemade tiramisu and cheap red wine with friends leads to an insanely stressful Sunday night.  Worth it.

Prettier in Paris

•  Everything is simply prettier in Paris: flower, sidewalks, storefronts, even old newspapers on the ground.  Gloomy days turn into delightful strolls along the Seine.  Eiffel Tower in the background.  You know, because it's a casual afternoon in PARIS.

•  Wine is also tastier in Paris.  Even the cheap, student/teacher-budget ones.  And especially when your chairs are facing out onto the street so you can gawk at all the passersby without looking like you're staring.  Forget the Louvre, this was Emily's favorite attraction.  Obviously.

• I cannot EVEN handle the baby stuff.  If I knew whether Sarah's little eggplant (is that what the size is now?!) was a boy or a girl, oh man.  Cashmere booties, little pink capelets and ruffled babykinis almost put me over the edge.  The store pictured above however, DONE.  Game over.  Sarah and Mike: This will be your Parisian destination #1.
• Despite incessant school stress, having a 'romantic' Parisian getaway with Emirry was exactly what I needed.  Such a breath of stinky French cheese air :)

Meaty Meals

• Sunday Roasts are a necessary part of any true Englishman's weekend.  As a local myself, I felt it was my patriotic duty to partake in this time-honored tradition.  That and Emily was visiting so I needed to load her up on quality British produce. 
• Group outings tend to be more popular and widely-attended when meat is involved.  Fact.

•  Granted, Paris is not exactly known for its gastronomic limitations, but a few recommendations from Parisian friends led us to quite possibly the best meal of our trip: couscous chicken and salmon with various veggies.
• Being Catholic did not prevent me from enjoying my meaty dish along with a few other meals that day...Sorry Mom.  You should probably adopt Emily instead (see fish choice above).

• Bibimbap (previously mentioned on this blog) is yet another meaty meal that I forced upon Emily.  In case the above picture does not fully demonstrate, she loved it.  Every. Single. Bite.  If you, too, are lucky enough to visit me here in Londontown I might be kind enough to introduce you to my dear Bibimbap.  Start planning your trips accordingly.

Barca Barca Barca!

 

• Apparently, Madrid is the Jan Brady to Barcelona's Marsha: fine on its own but constantly compared to its more beautiful and adored older sister.  (Story of my life.) So when one's Madrid trip is unexpectedly cancelled, what better way to recover than to plan an even better one to Barcelona!
• La Sagrada Familia (pictured above) is quite epic and unarguably stunning...from the inside.  From the outside, it closer resembles the dripped-sand-mud castles we used to build at the beach circa 1994.  But, yeah, Gaudi did alright with this one.  Definitely a must-see.
• Getting tips from my Spaniard-esque friends (ie Rachel) was incredibly helpful.  Being able to avoid the tourist traps on and around La Rambla was perfect--especially since it took us into Barrio de Gracia where we found sunshine, beer, and happiness.
• Six years of high school Spanish and another 4 months of LSE-based review resulted in quite a few compliments from real live Spaniards.  Was also spoken to a few times in a speed at which only legit Spanish speakers could understand.  I got about 50% of it but still successfully navigated, ordered, chatted and occasionally translated.  Mucho éxito indeed!
• Flamenco is not the dance of Barcelona.  Spaniards from Andalusia in southern Spain do, however, often migrate north to cities like Barcelona and have brought Flamenco with them.  And, as cheesy tourists, we obviously wanted to see a show.  By 'we' I mean the only thing Bob had on his 'must-see' list was Flamenco/Spanish guitar.  Thanks to his odd fascination, we went to a dinner/drinks performance that was simply amazing.  Small, local place with live guitar (thank god) and delicious sangria.  Perfect way to end the weekend.

Intelligence Via Osmosis

• Despite what you may think, visiting Oxford does not actually make you smarter.  In fact, it might ultimately make you feel like instead of taking this city break, you should really be studying at the library at your own school.  Whoopsies.
• Understandably, touring the storied Bodleian Library and other buildings around Oxford is pretty humbling.  Built at a time when books were a luxury few could afford, the Bodleian now contains hundreds of thousands of manuscripts, printed books, and other treasures.  The nerd in me came out to play for realsies, even throwing out some knowledge courtesy of my "History of Books" course back in the day (thanks UCLA!).  My friends showed obvious enthusiasm at my limited, and probably incorrect, recollections about illuminated manuscripts.  Team players.
• A cold crisp day of sightseeing is such fun!  Warm ciders followed by pub lunches by the fireplace are a great way to spend an afternoon.  But then the sun goes down.  And it starts to rainsleetsnow.  And then the crisp day turns into wet soggy night.  And then it's time to go home.
• London snowball fights are fun but they can still make you miss those quality DC battles during Snowmageddon.  And all the friends who enjoyed them with you.

Aunt Katie

• Finding out that I am going to be an aunt as of September 2012 was, by far, the best Christmas gift I received.
• Keeping that information secret during our whole-family Christmas dinner and the months since has caused me physical pain.  Many, many moons of agonizing silence.
• Stopping myself from walking into every single baby store in London has been even worse.  Especially the ones with the mini-person shoes in the window displays.
• I may or may not have cheated on both of the above efforts.  Minor detail.
• Witnessing Sarah and Mike's excitement as they broke the news to us Christmas morning made me imagine how wonderful it would have been to have Dad standing there with a video camera, unknowingly recording the announcement of his first grandchild.  He would have had a montage edited by lunchtime.

Congratulations to my beautiful sister and her wonderful husband!  

I love you both and can't wait to be your child's favorite relative.

**The happy parents have requested Facebook silence...for now.