Hecticity

I don't know if that's a word, but if it is, it totally describes the last two weeks. I get back in town from the US, go straight to work, and just barely finish packing before the friend visits begin. It was soo much fun to have people to entertain for 10 days! My friend Zach, who I know from Tasmania study abroad and now lives in Geneva, was in town for business so I got to hang out with him a couple days. Then he flies out on Saturday just as my friend Hope flies in from the US! We managed to fit in an incredible amount of fun in 9 days. We went to Portobello market and a leaving party Saturday, Windsor castle on Sunday - this time it was a gorgeous day and we actually did the tour and saw all the cool stuff inside, ate fish and chips by the river, and found this cute used book store with these amazingly old and well kept classics. Monday I had to work, so she went off on her own to explore the British Museum, london Tower and Bridge, etc. We met back up at my house after work, and then headed out to see Chicago! It was really good, and as a bonus star sighting, Kelly Osbourne is playing Mama Morton now, so that was funny to see her on the stage so close.

Tuesday Hope toured on her own again, then I met her at my flatmates pub for a few drinks, and some of my other friends from work, etc showed up, so it was a fun evening. Then it was home to pack and get ready for Scotland!!! We left early wednesday morning and flew into Glasgow, then took the train to Glasgow Central, where I had just discovered (Facebook is amazing) that one of my good friends from Tasmania was now living! So we met up with her for coffee before taking the train on to Stirling, where I burned more calories than I ate this whole month. Seriously, the whole town is uphill. Both ways. :) It was a gorgeous day though, and we had a great time! Walked the whole way to everything, which was great, but exhausting, we had at lease 6 miles under our belt when all was said and done. From there we got on a train to Edinburgh, and the only real stress of the whole time she was here started, as we discovered we only had a name and number for the Bed and Breakfast, and the phone number wasn't working. We killed time eating dinner, then started asking around for phone books to find the address, then desperately calling friends with internet until I ran out of phone time, then finally going to other hotels until we got the address and took a taxi. Luckiest moment of the trip - another couple walked in with the keys right as we arrived, so we could sit in the lobby until we got through to the owner and could get in the room. After that close call with sleeping on strange carpet, everything else went off splendidly! We had a tour through the highlands of Scotland on Thursday, which was great - went all the way up to Loch Ness (no Nessie sightings though) and through lots of cute towns and castles and rolling hills.

Friday was Edinburgh day, which I loved! So pretty, so old, so cool. We had a pretty chill day, walked up to the castle and then all the way down the Royal Mile, stopping at shops, having coffee and fudge and yummy scones, enjoying the nice weather. Headed back to Glasgow to meet my friend again and see the square before taking the train to the airport. Plane was delayed, so I missed my friends going away party that night, but we were so tired it was probably better that way anyway.

Saturday we went for a lovely day trip - Borough Market near London Bridge, which is a really cool place, flowers, cheese, veggies, fruit, chocolate, bread...we go some of everything and then headed to Greenwich to sit in the park and eat our delicious purchases. It was another beautiful day, and we got to see the Meridian along with great panoramic views of London.
Saturday night was a recovery time, we cooked dinner and watched movies. Sunday we went to Covent Garden, which is always fun, wandered around the markets. Then it was home so Hope could start packing up. :( She left early Monday morning, and I went back in for a freaking longgg day at work, catching up from the time off.

This week's been pretty crazy too, especially since WE'RE MOVING! More on that later, but Im so excited :) Place has a garden, a yard, a jacuzzi bath, and my room is massive with wall to wall closets! Maybe we'll even get a piano....hmm...

the 12 days of going home

Wow, I didn't write at ALL while I was in the US...so now, where do I even start? I got back from Holland on Thursday, knowing I was heading to NC on Sunday. I had only purchased the ticket on Wednesday, so I touched down in London for what I knew would be a wild few days before flying West! Thursday night I relaxed and unpacked, and Friday was Daniel's last day at work so everyone in the office (slim pickings due to travel plans of 4 people - half the office) went out for a drink afterwards, then we met up with another friend, and relatively calmly celebrated his last day as a Lulu. Saturday was the big event for my flatmate and her not-boyfriend. I think there needs to be a new term, something to use when one or more of the two people involved has a problem with the girlfriend/boyfriend title. Because otherwise you're stuck with this long explanation every time you reference them, like "Jane and the guy she hangs out with a lot but isn't dating because he's still scared to commit after his marriage fell apart last year and she's not sure he's really her type after what happened with that other weird New Yorker guy" Whoooaaa...dude, we just need to know they are an item, not the gory details. So if anyone can create a new term and get it adopted into pop culture, I'll happily jump on the bandwagon. Or maybe it's already out there and I am just slow on the uptake!

anyway, the point of all that was to say it was party time. Which meant baking 3D teddy bear cakes all day and running out to get last minute gifts and supplies, right up until the last minute when we iced the cakes in shifts while getting dressed and made up to go out. Quite funny, really. I have pics of the cake and the party, just not my cord to upload from my camera. I seem to be especially skilled at losing that...

So the party was heaps of fun, I danced and danced and met a bunch of people, but couldn't make the 'after-party' at Pascal's house because I had the minor life detail of a flight to Raleigh leaving the next day at 12:45. Darn planning, should have flown on Monday. But it was probably best, it got messy over there apparently. I eneded up jumping in a taxi headed back towards my side of town with some people I knew and stopping off at a club to continue dancing until it shut, and then had just a quick cab ride to the house, and time to pack and fall asleep for a few hours before loading up my bag and hopping on a bus to catch the train to catch my plane. Public transport is so crazy - and the fact that I am so used to it now is awesome.

So I arrived Sunday at 4:20, breezed through the one-room customs drill at RDU, and walked outside to be smothered in humidity. Wow I'd forgotten how miserably hot it can get in North Carolina! It was great to see my Mom and Alan and settle back into my childhood room for a week, go to the farmer's market, shop with my friend and exploit the dollar-to-pound ratio as much as possible...then Tuesday I got to walk into work and see my department and my boss and it was just exactly what I needed. I feel great personally, socially, career-wise, everything that felt out of sync is back on track, or close to it. :) I went out for dinner with a couple girls Tuesday, to my favorite restaurant Underground on Wednesday, to Chapel Hill to meet my flatmates sister - that was a randomly cool coincidence, they are from Canada, my flatmate ends up in London, and rooming with me, and her sister in Chapel Hill. Small World. Then we all met up with some work people and sat on the terrace with some wine...anyway, I won't bore with details, but I had a great week. Even got to go to the mountains for a day on Saturday and chill out in nature and at the house...it was great :)

So now, I'm back, although I brought a little cold with me :( Will upload some pics to Flickr soon, provided I find my camera cord soon....