Happy Father's Day!

The Fatherhood Project is an online YouTube series from the media company Soul Pancake. Soul Pancake's YouTube channel is fantastic and home to the widely popular Kid President videos. The series the Fatherhood Project is one that I have begun to watch recently where a filmmaker father Corbyn Tyson explores what it means to be a good dad and what fatherhood is today. 

In honor of Father's Day watch a few of the Fatherhood Project's videos and be mindful of what makes your father a good dad, not only today, but everyday!

#makeitcount like Casey Neistat

I love surfing the web to find the latest and greatest fads and a couple months back I came across Internet sensation Casey Neistat.

His story is quite amazing and I read more about Neistat in this article from The Day last year.
What is even more exciting and why The Day most likely chose to feature Neistat in a story is that he is a native of Connecticut.
Beyond that, his fame and popularity stem from the videos that he makes that were made popular with the help of You Tube. After eventually moving to New York City he teamed up with his brother to create a series entitled The Neistat Brothers, this is where the video making began and his career took off soon afterwards.
I initially discovered Neistat after watching this video that he did for J.Crew, which was just awesome. Check out his You Tube channel and his website where he has videos posted as well. 
My favorite video is his #makeitcount movie as it simply encompasses who Neistat is, at least from an outsider's point of view, it shows his adventurous and creative side to creating an advertisement for NIKE and inspires us all a bit to think outside of the box and make everyday count, to live life to the fullest and continue to be creative. 
Basically Neistat is a really cool dude that despite any background education in film making has become quite successful and well known and I could not wait to share him and his story with you all, finally! And if you've watched a video or two of Neistat's then great, and if not even better! 

Back in the good ole' US of A

And I'm back. Wow, did that semester fly by or what? As everyone said it would, April 26th came before I even had time to blink and now I'm back in America and already missing London. As most will agree, my time abroad was filled with some of the best, most memorable moments of my life so far and on top of that London could have not been a more perfect place to study. Every day I would wake up unaware of what I would learn and explore. London was full with infinite possibilities and adventure. The culture, weather, food, and people were like non other and I could not be any more fortunate to have been able to study there. I am so thankful that I will have these memories that will last a lifetime. For now though, here's to an amazing summer back in New England!

London Pop-up Culture

If I leave London with one bit of knowledge to share about this utterly incredible city it that pop-ups are rampant and sweeping across every borough from North to South, East to West.
From restaurant pop-ups to fashion, music and art pop-ups this city literally has it all.
I've also learned, after discovering these pop-ups, that most everyone in the states has a narrow-minded stereotype (sorry folks, but it's true) of the kind and quality of food London has to offer.
Let me tell you though, some of the best food I have ever eaten in my life (not including my mother or grandmothers' cooking of course) has come from restaurants and pop-up food locations in London. No lie folks.
Not only do I love restaurant pop-up locations in particular as I consider myself a foodie, but the fashion and arts pop-ups are just as incredible and creative.
Some of my favorite parts about the pop-up scheme is the fact that these locations are clearly well thought out projects.
When I go out to dine for example (and make the decision to spend my hard earned money) I want to genuinely enjoy every bit of my dining experience. I have come to appreciate the pop-up schemes and locations that feature such well thought out out concepts from the food to the decor to every other last detail.
These pop-up locations must work to make the most out of the few months that they have in their London space.
What I also appreciate about the pop-up scheme here in London is how it exhibits the innovative minds that a city like London can cultivate. I have, no doubt about it, been so extremely lucky to have been able to study and discover such an amazing city like London.
London is truly an epicenter for pop-up schemes and I think this will be one of the things that I will miss most about what this city has brought to my life everyday (yes I am guilty of spending way too much time online finding pop-ups). I am constantly exploring more and more pop-ups across London. Here are just a few places that I have come across and have either visited or will be visiting within the next few weeks before my time here in London comes to a close (for now at least, who knows maybe I'll return to London to do some more pop-up exploration).
The Study- A pop-up laboratory for brands and companies to utilize the space for weeks at a time
Flat Iron- A pop-up food spot made permanent after much found success last summer, oh and they only serve flat iron steak... get it?
When Mac Met Cheese- have yet to go here, but no worries, already scheduled in for next week...

So much to do, so little time...

Wow! Time flies when you're having fun right? I can't believe it haas been over a month since I wrote my last blog post. Life in London certainly has been busy and every moment of every day is filled with something to do!

Since my last post I've definitely found my place here in London. I am absolutely in love with this city and could not be more happy that I picked London for my semester abroad.

In February I completed the first half of my program and went on 'spring' break to Rome. It was beautiful and we were blessed with the most amazing weather while we were there. We saw all the sights including the colosseum, trevi fountain, and the vatican.

Since my last post I've also started my internship with a local weekly newspaper in North London. The experience so far is great and on the weekends we try to fit in as much exploring in and around London as possible.
Some of my favorite things to do in London so far have been exploring the many markets that London has to offer from Portobello to Borough to Spitalfields, walking through Hyde Park and along the Thames, and checking out the awesome food and nightlight scene that London has to offer.
It's hard to believe that it is already almost the end of March! It feels like I just got here, but there are so many good memories that I have so far and so many more to make! Here's to more good time in London and around Europe!! Miss everyone at home, sending my love!!

All Things London

It has been five weeks since I have arrived in London and I am finally starting to get a feel for this city. The past few weeks have been filled with a lot of school work, but we have managed to find time to do some more exploring and adventuring here in London.
To start, we have been able to find some pretty amazing places to eat out in just about every corner of London. Last week for my birthday we went out to dinner at a Mexican tapas restaurant called Wahaca. The food was fantastic, the atmosphere was amazing and the company was just perfect too!
Venturing out to some of London's outdoor markets also gave us a chance to find some yummy food. Last weekend Leah and I went to Portobello Market, and explored the shopping scene there. I was able to pick up a dress for myself and a few gifts along the way, which was great. The market was filled with antique vendors, shops and numerous food stands (we found some pretty delicious falafel wraps).
Then this Sunday I visited what has become my favorite market so far in all of London- Spitalfield Market. I thought the area around the market was just as awesome as the market itself, there were some pretty cool independent stores surrounding the market. The actual market area is located under a glass canopy where art, clothing and food vendors set up their stalls. There is just about everything you can think of at Spitalfield Market and a few items caught my I that I suspect I'll be returning for. And again, you can't go to a market without trying some of the food, so we got breakfast crepes called 'The Londoner' that were filled with cheese, egg and sausage, and then we split a cupcake from the most adorable cupcake stand ever called Lola's.
Hope you all enjoyed these highlights from the past two weekends! Here's to some more exploring!

Paris

Wow. What more is there to say. It has been a few days now since I have returned from Paris, my first trip outside of London since I have arrived to study here, and now it is time to share the trip with all of you. Looking back on the weekend I can say without a doubt that we crammed almost every last thing into this trip.
Last Friday we left early in the morning from London on the Eurostar and headed off to Paris. First let me just say I LOVED the Eurostar. No fuss of planes, it was great! Since there is so much to talk about I'll just give you the highlights/ my favorite parts of the weekend. But first, not without a shout-out to my cousin Jess who studied in Paris for a semester and provided me with the best insider tips for where to visit while I was in Paris!!

Lets begin with the food! Yum!! I don't think I've eaten so many carbs in a 48 hour period in my life. From the crepes to the croissants to the baguettes, it was all so delicious and fresh!! Once we got to Paris our first priority was getting to the Latin Quarter to eat crepes for lunch! We also went to the famous home of French Macarons, Ladurée and I bought eight macarons for 17 euros.
#sorryimnotsorry Then I went and ate them on the evening river boat cruise. With the Eiffel Tower sparkling behind me. Ah, what a picture!

The sites! A few of my favorites included Notre Dame, Musée d'Orsay, and Sacre Coeur. And of course the Eiffel Tower!

On Saturday late afternoon we walked up to Sacre Coeur, the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paris, through these winding, very steep road, but boy was the view worth it! Just an amazing sight and we got up there while the sun was setting! Again just perfect!

Well that is all for now! Hope that gives you a little taste of what my weekend in Paris was like! Will certainly look forward to going back one day!!
P.S. Tomorrow I turn 21!!!! Yeeeee!!

School and Shakespeare

Wow! It's hard to believe it has already been two weeks since I've been in London! This week began with scheduling some of our first trips to visit a few of the other lovely cities that Europe has to offer! So up first comes a trip to Paris next weekend! I could not be more excited, but first lets get to what happened this week here, in London!!
This week also began the first full week of classes. For my English class I must read a book for every class, which results in my reading of two books per week for the next few weeks. Although it will be quite a bit of reading I am excited to have an inside glance into contemporary British literature and what titles have been popular over the last few years on this side of the pond. One of the best parts of the class is getting to meet the authors of each of the books we read. So far we have only met the first author, Stephen Brown, of the first work we read, which was a play titled Future Me. In my Journalism class we have mainly focused on learning about the political system in the UK and how Parliament functions. We have also discussed the wide variety of print media that the city of London reads every day. Did you know that in one day you could pick from 10 different newspapers when choosing to buy your paper in the morning?
On Tuesday Leah and I got to see the show Richard II at the Barbican Theatre. Naturally being the newbies that we are to London, we left for the theatre probably later than we should have and once the tube that we were riding got delayed a few minutes we ended up arriving late to the show. After running around the Barbican Center for a good five minutes we finally located the correct theatre and made our way to find our seats. Since the show had already started we had to wait until a quick scene change to open the door to our row and find our seats. Well, when the time came of course we opened the door to complete and utter darkness with little aisle room to locate our exact two seats... long story short there was only one seat open in our row and Leah and I shared a seat for the first act of the show, which of course ended up being two hours long! Yes TWO hours long people! Basically I got a really good workout for about two hours where I was half sitting on the arm of the seat and half sitting on Leah, so it was a good time. Once intermission came we felt a huge sigh of relief when the British lady sitting next to us voiced her concern over my uncomfortable situation (the whole time I thought she was going to attack us once the lights went up) and we eventually made our way to our actual seats. Anyhow, the second act was great once I had my tush in my own seat... this evening will certainly be one for the books!
This week I also discovered a small street, which has become my favorite street in all of Kensington. The street is Stanhope Mews East. It is barely a street in fact. There are hardly any cars on its tiny roadway. But around half past noon when I take Stanhope Mews on my way to class everything in the world becomes right for a few minutes as I make my way to the end of the street where on the corner sits a small schoolyard for the Glendower Preparatory School. Everyday when I walk by the little school girls are playing in the yard and it is absolutely the cutest thing I have seen in London so far... they have uniforms that remind me of Madeline and everything.
Anyways, the rest of the school week finished up well and now onto a great weekend of checking out the local markets and exploring more of downtown London!

Getting to know London

Today is Thursday and also the day we start classes. The way our schedule works is that we have one class each day, except the class runs for four hours in length. This will certainly be a test for most of us I think, but I imagine that with time it will feel like a no brainer and just fly by.
Over the past couple of days I finally got a better sense of the areas surrounding The Crofton, where I am living. After orientation sessions in the morning yesterday I walked around for a bit and discovered some of the other streets beyond Queens Gate. There are lovely shops, pubs, cafes, and more on quite a few corners in the Kensington neighborhood. Walking around at lunchtime the vibe is so relaxed. Yesterday we walked through this square area that was lined with bakeries and cafes where people sat outside sharing tapas and sandwiches.

Not before long though it started raining again. I've come to learn quickly that it rains just about every day here in London, but only for 20 minutes or so at a time. It has rained every day since I have arrived so I am learning to deal with that quickly and have prepared myself to expect the sudden change in weather pattern.

Yesterday evening I also got the chance to have dinner with some friends that are also studying in London for the semester. Scott and Tim are both studying at the London School of Economics (this is their second semester in London) and with their expertise of the area of Covet Garden they were able to take Reid and I around a bit last night. It is great to have friends from home here in London and its all still a bit surreal that we can all meet up in this city.

Besides orientation sessions, which have filled up most of the week so far, on Monday we took a boat tour on the Thames River, which gave us the chance to see some of the cities' most recognizable sites from the water including Big Ben, the London Eye, Tower Bridge, St. Paul's Cathedral and more. The boat took us all the way to Greenwich. It was beautiful there and we were able to walk around for as long as we wanted before having to find our own way back to Kensington by train. While exploring the Greenwich area we came across some beautiful buildings and climbed up to the top of Greenwich Park to the site of the Royal Observatory. We also came across the filming a commercial, which was supposedly for McDonalds, so we will have to keep our eyes peeled for that one on the TV! With all of the boroughs in London it will be hard to visit every last one throughout the semester, but visiting Greenwich was a good start. Overall the area was very quiet and serene. I think visits like these to some of the rural outer boroughs of London will be added to the list of things I would like to do while here.

Monday afternoon ended with hopefully the worst experience of the semester (I may be exaggerating a bit), but on my way back from the grocery store, with a full load of bags, it began to rain. And of course this rain wasn't the light mist that I had experienced prior; it was a complete downpour, but with only 10 minutes to walk I sucked it up and walked in the rain back to The Crofton. I managed to soak my shoes, which dried rather quickly so that was a plus, but now I know to take a better look at the weather forecast before I buy a huge load of groceries. Luckily we finished off the night by visiting a local pub called Gloucester Arms, where I purchased my first legal drink!
Well that is all for now!

Update: Second pillow purchased! The bed is now much more comfortable and I'm sleeping like a baby :)

I've made it to London...

It has been approximately 24 hours since I arrived in London. Once our flight arrived and we made our way through customs we took a cab to our building, The Crofton, which gave us a chance to see a bit of Kensington on our ride. My room, shared with my friend Leah is fantastic, we each have our own nooks of the room and our own bathroom too! There are two kitchens and living spaces per floor so we share one of those spaces with about eight other people. Our building is less than a block from Hyde Park and Kensington High Street, so Leah and I walked around a bit yesterday getting the lay of the land. We found a few grocery stores (yayy for Whole Foods down the street) and had quite the adventure trying to buy a hairdryer and pillows. At a local store called Argos, instead of browsing the shelves for the items you need, customers look through a HUGE magazine of items that they sell, once you decide what you want you write down the item numbers and then you bring it to the cashier who checks you out and within minutes your items have been brought out from the magical storage in the back and there you go, you've just bought a hair dryer and few pillow! We also made a quick stop in T.K. Maxx, not T.J. Maxx for all of you common folk, however T.K. did not live up to its American counterpart. The rest of the day finished up with a walking tour of the area to see the other BU buildings and then finally a long good nights sleep. Not too eventful for a first day in London, but the perfect amount of exploring due to all the jet lag that we were experiencing. Today we have a few orientation sessions this morning and then a Boat Tour on the Thames in the afternoon! Should be a fun day! 

P.S. I must get another pillow and a mattress pad, otherwise by the end of the semester I will have a bad back and a strained neck! 

Next stop, London

In a matter of just 12 hours I'll be driving to the airport to begin my semester abroad in London. Coming off of a fantastic semester in Washington D.C. I am super excited for what this semester has in store for me. I'll be updating from abroad about daily life in London and highlighting some of the trips I take around Europe! Here's to a great semester! Cheerio!