its been ages...

I haven't written in a month. I'm sorry-I've been busy! But in all seriousness with the end of the semester followed by Christmas and then going to England then the past few days I've just had no time. So end of the semester- finals killed me a little bit but I managed. I have about a 3.6 GPA right now and thats with one grade missing cause it STILL hasn't been submitted. But thats okay cause I don't think its one that'll hurt me no matter what I get, cause I really don't think my grade can be that bad. Anyways... Christmas was busy- tumultuous. But we managed. The house was nice and clean and everyone seemed to have a good time, while in the back of my head I kept screaming I'M GOING TO ENGLAND TOMORROW! But it was still fun.

The next day Jess, Mom and I went to the bank and CVS really early thinking we would get all of that done before the Boyle's showed up at our house. Of course When we're still supposed to have an hour before they come I get a text from Tim saying "It's funny cause we're at your house and you're not. " They got the times mixed up and showed up at 10 instead of 11. So we ran back to the house and had a nice time. I love Sarah. She is my happiness, for real. She's just adorable and so lovable and cute. I want to keep her! (Except not really) But anyways that went on and we had brunch and family time and fun and then eventually they all left and me and jessica packed in a hurry because of course we were not. But we managed. Then we went to the airport.

I've never been on a plane for longer than a flight to Florida. So flying to London was kind of long compared to that. But I managed. British Airways was really nice. But yeah we got to London and it was about 7 in the morning. So we left and drove from Heathrow into town and get a little bus tour from Diane, the tour guide. We stopped at Saint Pauls Cathedral and Westminster and Buckingham Palace. Walked a bit and then around 12:30 we got to our hotel. We all moved our stuff in and then the girls went to a little pub for lunch. That night we had a little welcome thing that involved wine and cheese and then a planned dinner that was pretty nice. All of us "kids" went out that night to a little piano bar where this little band was playing. It was cute and fun and drinking was legal.

I can barely keep track of all the things we did really so instead of doing what I just did I'm going to do a much shorter version.

Theatre Museum- We were one of the last tour groups to go through since it closes to the public this week. We got a workshop on make up and one on costumes. They were fun. The museum itself was amazing. So much theater history was inside of it. I was in awe. Especially since we were right in covent garden- hello, eliza doolittle.

Dancing in the Streets- oh dear jesus, that show should be shot. It was a MoTown revue exceptO the first half was so boring- I fell asleep. The second act wasn't bad but there were all sorts of fake American accents that killed.

Coram Boy- Oh My God. Quite possibly the most amazing show I've ever seen. The quality of performance coupled with the scale of the production was incredible. Everyone was so in it and at the end of the show when you would expect the cast to be drained from going through all this heavy stuff on stage they were skipping off, because they put everytihng into their performance- they had nothing left of that heaviness in themselves. It was truely incredible. Plus it was at the Olivier, of the Nation Theatre which is so beautiful. I want to be a tour guide there now cause I think it would be amazing just to be that.

Maxines- a little restaurant we went to one night. It was like an American styled place, but not at all. We had the cutest waiter. He was from New Zealand (sp?) and adorable. I had a "Wou Wou" for the first time and it might be one of my new favorite drinks. It was quite good.

Don Juan in SoHo- This play at the Donmar Warehouse took Molier's Don Juan and moved it to SoHo in London in the present. It was great! Not everyone enjoyed the way Patrick Marber changed the show but I guess since I'm only vaguely familiar with the original I couldn't take issue with the adaptation. I thought it was funny and light but still had a somewhat heavy message about the way people live thier lives. All in all I enjoyed it.

The National Theatre- Oh Dear Jesus. It was incredible. SO huge. All three theaters in one building. Plus all the workshops and practice rooms. I think its what Lincoln Center wants to be, but all in one building. I loved it. And then later that day...

The Globe- Oh Shakespeare! We got to sit in the theater and look around and wander the museum and it was wonderful. I don't even know what to say cause I was kind of in awe. Just thinking of what happened in the original Globe and the history and the productions that are now on the stage. Eek! So amazing.

The Club- OhMyGod. It was so much fun to go out to the club one night. It was on the 30th. We saw a show that night, went to dinner and then afterward were looking for this one club (WalkAround I think it was called) but this girl stopped us on the street and said she was promoting a club. Normally it was a ten quid cover charge but she could get the girls in for free and the guys for only 5. So of course we went there. It was so much fun. Just dancing and drinking and dancing with random people I didn't know. I'm kinda sad I didn't give this one guy my email address like he was asking for (I was kinda too drunk to remember it) And its not like I could give him my cell number since its American and he was from the South of London. He tried to get me to go to another club in Covent Garden with him that was open til 6 am since the one we were at closed at 3 but I couldn't. I was too far gone and I knew that Jess wouldn't let me. And plus there were things to do the next day and if I drank anymore who knows what I might've done. Anyways...

Blood Brothers- I know Jessica loves this show. And I love the story line. But the production values and the music quality was just so 80s-tastic. Like... I dont even know what to say. I'd almost prefere they take down the production that been running for 20 years now and update the music so its not so synthesized, cause it was painfully synth. But oh well, what I say doesn't really matter.

New Years Eve- During the day I was so hung over. I could not keep anything down, not even water. That was my punishment for kicking back the margaritas and Long Island Iceteas like there was no tomorrow at the club. But oh well. After everyone got stuff to eat, which meant I sat there watching them eat while I tried to dinrk water that I couldn't even keep down, we went wandering. One of the guys, Chaz, needed to get shoes so the boys went in search of those while us girls went for a little bit of shopping. I found what might be my favorite store ever- and I can't remember the name. But it was like a melding of BoHo and Mod style into one. I loved it and the clothes fit me! I tried stuff on and played and whatnot, but Jess wouldn't let me buy anything- oh well.

Grims Dyke's New Years Feast- So much fun! It was a 7 (i think) course meal and between each course there were singers doing first Gilbert and Sullivan songs and later opera pieces. It was just really cool and we were all dressed up cause it was formal- like Black Tie. Everyone looked so pretty. And we managed to make friends with the owner, who was this little Indian man. So we got to go to a little party after midnight in the one bar room. Free champagne! And lots of sing-a-longs. It was fun.

Stratford-Upon-Avon - Oh dear. Shakespeare all over the place. My love of the bard was welcomed here. We saw Pericles and Merry Wives: The Musical. Pericles was incredible- Merry Wives... not so much. But because of her starring role in Merry Wives we were able to meet Dame Judi Dench. Hells yeah. It was a merry old time... (hehe.. merry.) But we got to go to Shakespeare's birthplace and Anne Hathaway's cottage, where the bench that Anne and William would sit on together while "courting". It was cute. But yeah everything was pretty cool.

The Royal Shakespeare Theatre- Oh dear God. We took a tour and not only did we get to walk around both the theaters, but we were able to stand on the stage and the set of Merry Wives:The Musical. It was amazing. Just an experience that cannot be repeated. I still can't wrap my head around the fact that I stood on a stage where some of the greatest actors in the world have worked. Its just so big that I can't comprehend that yet...

But then it was time to go home. And the flight home took forever... Near 8 hours I think. But it wasn't too bad.

And since then I've just been living. I went to get coffee last night with Leen. Breakfast this morning with Dimple. And all day Saturday I was with Amy and Beth. We went to Philly to laugh at Erin while she was in the Mummers Parade. And it was certainly an experience. It involved wandering around the city (but not getting lost! yay!) and then going back to Beth apartment to find that Amy's car had been towed. And thne driving allt he way to Norristown (and getting lost on the way there) and then jsut having all sorts of issues. And it really was just an unending day. Amy and i were together from 8 am to 8 pm. 12 hours together. But it was fun and now we have a story to tell.

And now I'm here. Theres a few people I haven't seen yet and I would like to so hopefully that works out.

My UArts audition to be a Music Major- Vocal Perf. comes up soon. And of course I'm sick right now. I have 12 days till my audition and I currently have no upper register. Like no sound comes out at all. It makes me sad, but whatever. I hope this works out. I really want it to. I really want this. Hopefully I can get in a few voice lessons in the next few days so I can tighten things up before its my time to go. Gene said he would give Jess some numbers of voice teachers from either the Musical Theater program or even the Music program. My mom thinks that his willingness to help might mean that he has faith in me and my abilities. That I might have a real chance of doing well... but who knows. He has heard me sing on new Years when we were all singing I sang My Funny Valentine by myself in front of everyone (the one G&S/Opera lady told me it was "lovely") and its not like he said anything to discourage me from auditioning so maybe...

I need this to work out.