On Our way to hogmanay!

So, we have some very bad news. Our charger for the macbook has been destroyed, meaning we no longer have access to our computer at home. However, the bright side is that the first apple store in london just opened on regents street and ellie has an appointment to see if her charger is under warranty. If it is not, then we will have to wait to buy one from the states and have it shipped here because here the apple chargers are £59.00 which is double of what it in the states.

Bad news aside: Merry Late Christmas everyone! We had a very lovely Christmas. London literally shuts down on Christmas. There is no tube running, no stores open, no pizza places. So we had to stock up at the grocery on christmas eve and it was a mad house. People were bumper to bumper with there shopping carts and there was hardly anything on the shelves. We managed however to snag some materials for banana pancakes and some chips and hummus. That night, Christmas eve, we went over to Georges mums house where she cooked us salmon, potatoes and brussel sprouts and we had minced pies for dessert with red wine. She bought us some really cute little slipper/socks and gave us a Christmas cake. We mostly just drank wine and watched television. George was out with his friends so it was quiet.

Christmas morning we awoke around 9:30 and opened our stocking that ellies mum had sent us. Then we got up and ellie made banana/chocolate chip pankcakes. Afterwards we set about opening our gifta. We had received many packages from our families and so that was really thoughtful. Heres a little list of what we received and thank you to everyone who sent us presents or cards, it made us feel at home. I got a change purse from my brother and sohmer, plus an album of my niece sohpia, I got two books that I have been wanting from my mom, some bath and body works perfume and lotion, some amazing bath and body works sleep socks and matching blanket, a purse from forever 21 and some candy, all from my mum. From Ellie, I received this other really cute owl change purse and a gym membership which I have been wanting for a while now. From her mom, I got some face wash and face lotion and some target candy. Ellie got the same socks from my mom, some money from her mom, a necklace from her aunt, some candy from my mum, and I got her an umbrella, a starbucks gift card, a scarf she had wanted and a haircut voucher. Oh and of course, my brother Joe put money in our account so we could go on the london eye and also so we could do pretaportea, which is this amazing tea time at this ritzy hotel where everything is shaped like fashion, so for example the cookies are shaped in the exact color and scheme like a hermes scarf or a gucci purse or a pair of manolo blahnik heels. I am really excited to go.

After we opened our gifts and ate our pancakes we settled in on the couch and caught up on some nip/tuck and then ate some pizza from papa johns that we had ordered the day before in preparation and drank some beer. We talked to our families and I got to see Sophia in the onesie that I bought her that says I LOVE LONDON.

Later that night Lauren came over after she had dinner with a co-workers family from ghana and we played cards and hung about and the next day it was back to work for me, while lauren and ellie got to hit the sales on oxford street at the top shop.

Last night, we went over to Gaelles flat as she had been away for a week or so for the holidays. She went back to France, to her home, and got to go skiing. We missed our bus and had to wait a long time for the next bus, but that was soon forgotten once we were in her cozy little flat and as we were walking up, we saw Masih and Masih's boyfriend also walking up and just back from their holiday in Istanbul. Masih is one of the most amazing people I have ever met. She is from Iran and is a really serious journalist. She has had a really crazy life and is the leading source of iranian journalism for the new york times and has written a book about her struggles and the oppression in Iran. She is extremely well-read and is so courageous as she can not return to Iran for fear of her safety since she has been on the cover of the new york times with out her hijab(head covering) on and if they find out in Iran, she could die. Because she writes out against the Iranian government, she has extremists who want to kill her and so she has to be in exile for the time being with the fragile political climate of iran. She has a son in Iran and she is divorced now because she caught her husband having an affair with her best friend and her husband wanted to take her best friend as his second wife but she left and lost access to her belongings and her son.

Enough about that, but gaelle had anoter french friend over and we ate the cheese that she bought back from france. You heat it up in the stove and then serve it over potatoes. It was unbelieveable and so rich, exactly as amazing as you picture true french cheese to be. We drank red wine and chatted and showed each other pictures on our homes on google images and gaelle showed us her pictures from france. Her friend antony was from cannes where they have the film festival. Overall, it was really nice to be warm and eating cheese and drinking red wine with interesting international people.

Tonight at midnight we are off to edinburgh by night bus. It will take ten hours and we are going to be prepared with snacks, cards, books and a case of stella. Nex time I write it will be with pictures of scotland and hopefully a blog with our christmas pictures and some old ones we haven't put on yet. Happy New year!!

O Little Town of Beth-Leeeeee-hem

At the grocery store here, you can't just use a grocery cart for free, you have to put a deposit for it to become unlocked from the railing, much like those luggage carriages at the airport. Strange? Of course our refrigerator is so small anyways and we live right, literally, right next door to the huge grocery that we just buy what we need when we need it. It's really refreshing and nice not to have to do that "big" grocery trip where you are planning meals for days and then once it comes down to eating them, you don't even crave that anymore.

As Ellie said, I heard back from the london south bank university and received a position with them. My offical title is faculty administrator and what I do, I am not entirely sure. I think I help students and faculty, with what you may ask, I'll answer you on the 2nd after my training. The campus is really diverse apparently to the point where in the interview the woman asked me if I had a problem with diversity. Obviously, she couldn't have asked a dumber question because as I enthusiastically responded, I LOVE diversity.

Until then, i've been doing the casino thing a lot. I work five straight days starting thursday until christmas eve and then i am off on christmas and then I work the day after christmas through the friday I leave for scotland, edinburgh to be exact and I am really excited. We leave at midnight on the bus on friday night and arrive in scotland on saturday morning. It will be me, Lauren and Ellie.

Also, They call the day after Christmas here, boxing day. It is a holiday and basically what it means is that everyone gets to sit around and be lazy for another day, except i have to work on it. Christmas and boxing day are really intense here because the subway stops running basically for those two days so you are pretty much stranded where you are unless you want to walk across london or take a cab. Some tubes run on boxing day but it's every half hour so getting to work next week should prove interesting. I personally came up with the solustion that we need some jewish subway drivers who could care less about christmas and working on it.

Last weekend we went to notting hill and the market called portobello road street market that is on the main strip of notting hill. Notting hill is the cutest little neighborhood. It has really cute clothing boutiques and little sandwich places. We shared a huge falafel from this stand called happy vegetarian and we walked around and window-shopped. Then later that night we went to chinatown and ate sweet and sour tofu, rice and veggie spring rolls. Being a vegetarian in this town is the best. I haven't been anywhere where I have been hard up to find something i could eat. Every single restaurant puts a little (v) next to items that are meat-free. After chinatown, we walked around soho and had a nutella crepe for dessert. Then we went to sing christmas carols at a non-denominational, all inclusive church called st. anne's. Here they say beth-lee-ham, even when they sing christmas carols. They gave everyone mulled wine afterwards and ellie and I went home tired from our busy day.

The other day, ellie and I decided to walk to this indian vegetarian buffet we read about. We invited lauren and met her there. It was a fifteen minute walk and the food was pretty good. I am no expert at indian but i thought it was pretty tasty. Then we stumbled upon this weird museum and looked around for a little bit. It was a mix of a science and art museum, it was called the wellcome collection. I kept hearing people say I lived on regents park and I was determined to find out where and what this was all about because everyone just says that regents park is like central park in nyc but better and lovelier and then i realized it is just down the street from me and it is so lovely. i really want to start jogging there.

Later that night, Lauren, Ellie and I wandered through our "Fresh and Wild" which is owned by whole foods and is just teeny and so sweet and cute. It's right down the street which is great. Then Ellie went to her babysitting job and Lauren and i, along with laurens old roommate ashley went to primrose hill. Primrose hill is apparently the major hub for celebrities, because it's quite residential and all of the homes are probably 5064568 pounds. The little main strip was cute with shops and restaurants but really was the most amazing thing was the actual hill. We climbed up it with our cans of beer in hand and when we turned around it was a 360 degree view of London. Apparently Primrose hill is one of the highest points in the city. It was breathtaking and cold and stunning. Somewhere I will bring anyone who comes to see us.

We miss everyone as Christmas gets closer. Having a Christmas dinner (a week before) in a work canteen cafeteria style sure does not beat mom's green bean casserole hot out of the oven.

Contract with...

Bryden Wood and Associates

Just a quick update:

I (ellie) got a job! It is a 4 month contract (I can't believe we only have four months left!)with an architecture firm (www.brydenwood.co.uk)as a receptionist/office assistant, but I also get to do some graphic design for them when they need extra help on a project. It's 9-5:30. Plus it is the best paying job I have been offered yet.

Kelly got a job too! She applied to London South Bank University on a whim YESTERDAY, and they called her today and hired her. She will be doing administative work as well as working with students on scheduling. At least that's what I have gathered about it. We will be making about the same and she works 9-5. So good bye boring temp casino jobs.

OK so here are some more pictures from the last week or two....

still alive



our room:

a view of our bedroom window. (first one on the left on 2nd floor)




cluttered, we have a little space and a lotta stuff, but it's cozy





the Natural History Museum (one of the prettiest/largest buildings I've seen in london, the photos don't do it justice since it is almost impossible to fit the entire building in)




this is the christmas market in front of the natural history museum



picadilly circus "the times square of london" i.e. too many tourists/too much commercialism. But we went there anyway.


Portobello Road Market:
every friday and saturday this road fills up with booths selling antiques, fresh produce, and all kinds of cute random things.



this one is for Rachel- more delicious looking/smelling cupcakes. (i'm still kicking myself for not getting one)


would have gotten one if we had a place to put it




oh yeah, kelly got a hair cut in Norwich. here are some pics of it. (for cory (: )


Hope Everyone has a wonderful Christmas/New Year/Break... whatever you are celebrating.

<3 Ellie

let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

Here is an old one that I forgot to publish:

So as the temperature drops, I get increasingly confused because in the states when it says -1, you are pretty much dead and dying oh hypothermia if you step foot outside, however here on the ever confusing celsius system, -1 is just a windy and chilly 30 degrees. I still can't get used to looking at the weather on my desktop though and thinking that it is going to blizzard.

With that said, George our roomie, told us it was going to snow a few nights ago and so far nothing, except a thick layer of frost covering our bedroom window. I would like a little snow for Christmas, I mean i am not living in Florida for a reason. However, it rarely snows in the city because of some warm current or something that Merlin was telling me about. So there goes my white Christmas.

Ellie is baby-sitting today for this lady who she met through this other girl that was temping and it is three hours for a ten year old so it seems pretty straightforward and easy. apparently, as our experience shows, when you babysit in the U.K. you are also expected to do chores around the house, so last time I talked to her ellie was unloading their dishwasher.

Tonight Ellie has an interview with a coffee and tea company who needs a personal assistant so she is doing that at 5 and then tomorrow she got another interview with an architecture firm at 10:30 and then she is going to work at London clubs in the afternoon tomorrow. So hopefully, she will have a full-time job by tomorrow night!

As for me, well, I have casino work on sunday and monday and then again saturday-monday and the hopefully full-time after that as the full-time girl is heading back to the states.

This weekend we went to norwich for gena's birthday. I took my first train ride ever. We almost didn't make our train because I had the brilliant idea that we could get on the underground around 2:30 to catch our 3:00 train. We made it but barely and very out of breath. The train trip to their town was only 1 hour and 45 minutes. Merlin and Matt met us at the station and we headed first to get gena an ipod for her birthday from her housemates and then we rode the bus to their house. Gena and merlin's house is really nice and so cute. They share with 3 other people, matt, jemma and daisy. That night, Gena was working at Office which is the cutest shoe store so us and merlin went to Pulse a veggie restaurant and it was awesome. Then we went to see Gena and went to get some pear ciders at some pub I cant remember the name of. The next day, gena had to work again but we walked into town and ate chips(fries) and I got my hair cut at Kinki. Kinki is an amazing hair salon and the people in there are so hip and trendy. A girl named Kate cut my hair and I wanted to go short so I told her to do whatever she wanted and she gave me a really nice cut. It's short in the back and angled towards my face. I'll put pictures on later of course. That night Merlin went to do his radio show and we made bruschetta and laid in bed with gena, listening to the show and catching up. The next day was gena's birthday and she had to work again! but jemma called in her work and sweet talked to her boss and let her come home early so merlin and el and I walked to her work and then ate at this really great restaurant that was cozy inside which was a nice contrast to the pouring down rain and then we opened gena's presents when we got home and ate merlin's amazing brownies and had champagne and went to wagamama for her birthday dinner. Noodle bars are really popular here. We proceeded to drink pear cider at her house like 8 of us on her bed, playing drinking games and the next morning we woke up and had sunday nut roast, which was incredible and so traditional in a little pub, before ellie and I took a taxi back to the train station.
draft

Hello! It's December. We haven't updated in a while because figuring life out has been time-consuming and tiring, but still fun in most respects.

Here are the basics: Ellie got a job working for a marketing agency except we think it may turn out to be a bit of a scam, basically she goes door to door to businesses with a team of other coworkers and sells products, like right now she is selling make-up. The job is a little cheesy and a little pep rally-ish and very very long hours. She works 12 hour days everyday monday through friday and the problem is that it is based on commission so if no one buys the product than she doesn't make a single pound even though she worked all day and walked ten miles. Apparently you can get promoted and make a lot of money but in the meantime you may starve so she thinks she may not go back anymore and she may try to find a job that doesn't kill her self and is guaranteed money. There are some pluses however, she gets a lot of exercise and every single day she gets to see a new part of london by foot and there are people from six continents that she works with which is really cool but its not worth it if you cant enjoy your life outside work.

As for me, so last monday I interviewed with an American family for a nanny position and I got the job on the spot and they seemed to really like me so I began work with them on tuesday. The money was phenomenal, i would be making about 440 pounds a week which is 880 us dollars, but the hours were really long from 7:45 until 6:30. They told me when I first started that I was going to be a member of the household and had to do light cleaning up after the kids and just sort of everyday tasks like loading dishwashers, laundry etc. No big deal right? Well when I get there the children are complete monsters, the two year old who I am in charge of all day is very opinionated and when he doesnt get his way he throws his head and body down regardless of where he is and he starts kicking you and breaking his head on asphalt, wood floors, in musuems etc. He's almost three and he's not potty trained but they are more interested in teaching him french then disciplining him or teaching him how to poop in the potty. The other two kids are three and five, a girl and a boy and they are terrible. The mom turned out to be crazy and she made me get on my hands and knees after dinner with a small dustpan and sweep up crumbs by hand and she has three sponges for different uses, like surfaces, dishes, stemwares, etc. She made me lint-roll her bed sheets, all while watching these monster children. She also told me that I would have to arrange my mom's visit around the childrens school holidays. It seemed very rigid and by the time I was home at night, I was exhausted. Well in turns out, I wasn't the only one who didn't enjoy being there, they apparently wanted someone more "house-keeping oriented" and someone who will worlk 7 days a week, i.e. no life at all. So I got let go and I was shocked, but i think it's for the best. Tomorrow I am going back to my agency to find some more work through them and I think temp work is good because then I can choose when I work.

So ellie and I are back to square one with jobs but so far we have done six jobs between us: hairdressing, audio transcriptions, nanny, door-door salesman, casino receptionist and part-time babysitting for this other family. crazy right?
But kind of interesting in a way and also has taught me to be more resilient.

Ellie and i both agree that so far, regardless of how difficult this trip has been so far, we have learned so so much already about the english culture, about ourselves, about what we enjoy and how we interact with others, and about how much we can take.

We have been trying out a lot of the vegetarian restaurants in london and we are so in love. Last week we went for sunday hangover lunch with lauren to a place near baker street that was pretty good, but not nearly as good as this restaurant that we have already been to twice called 222 vegan. Everything on the menu is vegan and they have homecooked stuff like strogonaff and spaghetti with tofu medallions and its so so amazing;

Friday night we went out to Edinburgh castle which is a pub near our apartment and we really like it there. We ended up seeing gaelle and george met us there and we all drank and then we went to the good mixer which is this weird little nieghborhood place and gena and merlin who were seeing interpol play in london met us and then spent the night. Yesterday, we went out to vegan buffet lunch at 222 and then went to the national portrait gallery. They are hosting an exhibition which was a contest and it is for the best photographic portraits. The stuff that was chosen is simply unbelieveable. I have seen some innovative art exhibits that have stuck with me forever, like some mixed media stuff at the guggenheim in new york city and some at moma in nyc and this exhibit is certainly one to join the ranks. The photos are varied and interesting but I realize that I really like portraiture because its a lot like character studies and makes me feel the same way as when a character is really well-written in a book. Later that night we went out to Soho to try and find some clubs, but the clubs here have really intense entrance fees beginning at 7 or 8 pounds which is such a big commitment. We ended up walking around, stopped in a bar had a beer and then got the best hummus pita salad bar ever and then realized we missed the tube and it was closed and we had to take the night bus home.

The city is so decorated for Christmas and it is really pretty in the touristy areas. We went to trafalgar square and picadilly circus and they looked beautiful. They have these balls that light up and hang throughout the streets. It makes me wish our family and friends could be here at this time with us. Today we went to kensington gardens and hyde park with lauren. We walked around taking photos and enjoying the weather and we made our way towards the christmas fair in hyde park. They had rides and mulled wine and ice skating. They had this weird ride that was a christmas haunted house and santa was hanging from a noose in front, it was disturbing but funny. It was gorgeous though and then we went to dinner at a restaurant called giraffe.

an interesting observation as I watch tv is that they are allowed to say all curse words on cable. I keep looking up in shock as the actors say eff this and eff that and ellie just told me that they are also allowed to be topless on television.

Sometimes when I am walking home from the tube, I just feel so happy. There is so much to see here and to discover and figure out still and there are so many weekend trips to take. Next weekend we are going to norwich for gena's birthday and we are really thrilled to meet her friends and see her place and see where she lives. Then we formally booked our new years eve with lauren in edinburgh, we are taking a night bus on friday night and it takes ten hours by bus. We arrive in the morning and we are staying at a hostel that used to a church but they converted it and there is a huge party there every night pretty much it seems. Then on actual new years eve, also known as hogmanay here there is a street party and we have open bar all night long at our hostel. Then we take the train home on new years day. I can't wait to start traveling around england, scotland and wales.

<3 kelly

Here are some pictures from the last week or so*:

*if you don't see enough of me (ellie) thats because I'm usually behind the lens. But if kel is lucky, I'll let her take the camera on our next few adventures. : )


lauren and kelly. (we didn't go in)


woman outside of the national portrait gallery. I think she was just begging to have her portrait taken.


Thanksveggin Dinner



gaelle, lauren, and kelly laughing after our anti-turkey day


bff tree stump. (one of the bffs' is the photographer) ( :



more of the hyde park photo sesh.



on the escalator on the way to/from somewhere fun.


the entrance/exit of Hyde Park


before a night on the town



just some things pretty and yummy from the winter festival...