Even on a Cloudy Night We Still See the Stars

I forgot another major difference.... the fashion here! Most college students back home live in sweatpants and t-shirts, but here is very different. People always look nice! I will see the occasional person wearing sweatpants, but it is usually a guy going to play football. Some girls here even wear fake eyelashes to class. It's so different! Most of the American students have been wearing leggings or jeans with a nice shirt. Oh, and the closer you get to Central London the crazier the style gets. In Kingston you will see the person with rainbow colored dreadlocks (I really did see this), but in the city you see many people with their own personal sense of style. Some of it doesn't look bad, but some of it is interesting. I think most of the study abroad students are still getting use to looking presentable for class everyday.

This is the drink to get! Make sure to get the Orange flavor... it's the best I've had so far. 

This weekend was more "chill" for me. Since I get done with class at two I went back home to organize my room... it's starting to get a little bit messy. Then I packed a bag and headed to Ellyn and Kaley's for the night! Maddy and Kara stayed the night, as well. We went to Pizza Hut for dinner (first pizza I had in London). We then headed back to the house for an interesting night. Since Maddy is from Australia she brought Vegemite to have with her breakfast the next morning (that is what many Australians eat on toast). Naturally, we thought that us Americans should try it at two in the morning. For anyone who is ever offered Vegemite, don't try it. It may look like chocolate but it is very deceiving. Maddy put butter on bread and then put the vegemite on top of that. It would have tasted fine if it wouldn't of touched my tongue. I drank a LOT of water to get the taste out!

Favorite candy here!

We were planning on heading into Central London on Saturday to go look at some of the free museums, but by the time we all woke up and started to get ready it was almost one. Ellyn and I decided to stay back since we wanted to get back fairly early (we didn't want to only spend three hours in town). It was also a bit rainy so we wanted to go back to Central London on a nicer day. We went to the grocery store and bought some snacks then went back to my house to have a Disney movie marathon. We had some of the things I am becoming obsessed with (bueno bars, quavers crisps, tea biscuits...). It was good to have a weekend that wasn't so hectic.

Today I saved for skype dates with my friends and family back home and to start an assessment that is due in May. There was a change in plans, though. I got a text from Ellyn that morning asking if I wanted to go to the BAFTA red carpet (British Academy of Film and Television Arts). In case you haven't noticed, I really love anything that has to do with celebrities! I had already heard that Jennifer Lawrence was in town for this award show so of course I was keen to go! Getting there was quit the challenge, though. Certain train stations were closed, other tubes were down and the Chinese New Year was being celebrated throughout London so it was difficult to find the red carpet. But for some reason whenever we can't find the building we are looking for while in town we always end up in Trafalgar Square. Always. Without fail. So once we ended up there we found a map that showed us where to go! We found a Starbucks on the way and stopped to get a warm drink because it was so cold.

First glimpse of the red carpet!

Then we found the red carpet.... at least we thought we had. All of the security was telling us that we would not be able to watch but we saw online that it was open to the public. So then I suggested we walk around the building to the other side to see what was there. And there it was... the red carpet! I know it really just a carpet that is red but seeing one in person is awesome. We found a spot to stand and the long wait began. Luckily we stood by some really nice people! The lady next to me put her umbrella over me so I wouldn't get wet and the guy behind us kept telling us who was there and what movie they were in (some of the people we did not know because they were only in british movies). All of a sudden I heard Ellyn yell "Oh my god!" so I look over and Hugh Jackman is getting out of a car right in front of us! I tried so hard to take a picture with my camera but my hands were so frozen that it didn't work out so well. He did wave at Ellyn, though. She is now convinced that the wave meant they are engaged and since I witnessed it in person I think that means I'm the maid of honor.

So for those of you who don't know, Jennifer Lawrence and Anne Hathaway are two of my girl crushes (along with Kate Middleton). I heard people start yelling "Jennifer!" and I looked over and saw her! AHHH!!! It was crazy! It was cold though so she was moving quickly to get onto the carpet so she could get out of the cold! I had already decided that if she were to get out of the car right in front of me I would yell to her "I volunteer! I volunteer as umbrella holder!" just to see what she would say because she obviously needed an umbrella holder on a night like tonight! Sadly, she didn't get out by me and when I saw her I couldn't even speak for a few seconds. I also saw Anne Hathaway, which might be the closest I get to seeing a princesses so it was another surreal moment for me (she was in Princess Diaries for those of you who do not understand).

Out view for the red carpet.

The other celebrities we saw were Daniel Day Lewis, Helen Boham Carter, Quentin Tarantino, Jennifer Garner, Ben Affleck, Amy Adams (another person who played a princess!), Chris Tucker, George Clooney (swoon), Bradley Cooper (double swoon), Helen Mirren (who had pink hair), Sally Fields, Eddie Redmayne, Jim Sturgess, Samuel L. Jackson, Sarah Jessica Parker and so many more!








While walking back the the tube station we realized how cold we really were but it didn't even matter to us! We just kept asking each other "did that really happen?" Our joke is that people won't believe us! Since we didn't get any pictures of Louis, Liam or Tom Cruise last weekend and our hands were to frozen to take pictures tonight that people will think we are just making this stuff up! Next on our list of famous people to see: Emma Watson.