Reading Week

Hello there everyone!

I must first apologize for my absence from my blog! 

Unfortunately schools really starting to set in and I actually have work to get done! So the past week thats what I've been focusing on. Thankfully this week is reading week which means no class! While most students take it upon themselves to use this time for vacation and traveling though, studious me decided to stay at school and actually do work.... BORING.

But anyways, let me catch you up on some of the things I have been doing since I last blogged!

Last week my museum class ventured to the National Gallery. The picture above was taken from the back so don't be fooled, its a massive building! Unfortunately you can't take pictures of the paintings but don't worry, I found google images to help you visualize them! Below are some of the most famous paintings within the National Gallery.

 Sunflower by van Gogh

The Ambassadors by Holbein

 The Arnolfini Portrait by van Eyck

The Leonardo Cartoon by da Vinci

 Virgin of the Rocks by da Vinci

 Bathers at Asnières by Seurat

 Rain, Steam, and Speed by Turner

 Wednesday's are one of my free days so I spent the day on Oxford and Regent street just walking around, in and out of the shops. 

I couldn't resist walking into the M&M store and filled up a bag of my choice of colorful M&M's!

Later in the night I was feeling really spontaneous and decided to go see Les Miserable!

Buying my discounted ticket an hour before the show, I was lucky enough to get a front row seat in on the top balcony!

I've seen the movie but nothing could beat the theatrics of going to a musical and the live singing. It was a very beautiful performance and I really enjoyed it.

Moving onto Thursday, my friends Jade and Katelyn joined me for an after class brunch at The Breakfast Club!

I have been wanting to check this place out for a while so I excitedly suggested it after Jade mentioned brunch!

The atmosphere was just fun and comfortable and let me add they were playing the best music! The three of us were all very impressed!

But aside from being impressed by the decor and music we fell in love with their awesome food!

Both the girls went for "The American" which included every breakfast food imaginable.. 

of course thats why its called the American!

I ordered the bacon and banana french toast and it was like heaven in my mouth!

Sunday I had brunch at....
my mom's best friend growing up....

her cousin's flat who lives here in London with his wife and two kids!

I had such a lovely time talking with them and their friends and am so thankful that Sue set me up with them!

It was sunny and fifty the entire day! 

So I decided to end my day with a run through Victoria Park.

And finally my most recent excursion:

All Saints Church Margaret Street

I selected to write about this building for my architecture class. The main drawing point of the building, as you can probably guess, is the polychromatic brick. 

Something else that is very remarkable about this church is that it was built into a space that is only about 100 square feet!

I can promise that you won't expect what you see once you enter All Saints.

Covered from floor to ceiling with beautiful handcrafted designs, the interior is truly a masterpiece.

Now that I've had my fun sharing with you I must get back to my school work!

I think I'll share with you my favorite artist to listen to while writing papers. Their music doesn't distract me but more helps to get the ideas in my brain flowing! You most likely have all heard this song, but just think of it as motivation to do your work!

Now off you go...

Flume : Bon Iver

Pish Posh

Okay quick disclaimer:

I was lazy and didn't blog during the week so here's everything all at once.

Sorry if it's an overload but I swear it's good stuff!

This week the chosen location for my museum class was:

 The Natural History Museum

One thing they are known for is their taxidermy collection. It has actually caused quite a controversy because they originally acquired the animals through hunters who would purposely kill them just for profit. Although the museum no longer actively collects taxidermy, people have mixed views on the display. They recently destroyed their four huge displays and put majority of the animals in storage. The only collection on display now are the birds.

What do you think about this? I personally think that it's terrible that they have all these animals they are keeping in storage. Yes, it's sad they were killed for the wrong reasons, but whats done is done! Let the people see the animals!

Had to throw in a rhino cause Dan loves them!

My favorite exhibit that I saw was called Earth's Treasury.

The collection consisted of tons of rocks, minerals, diamonds, and gemstones.

 As you can probably guess it was filled with lots of pretty, sparkly pieces!

This was my favorite because my birthstone is an amethyst.

The stone was bigger than my head!

Next I'll just briefly skim over some of the food I ate this week. 

Most of them are chains but all still so delicious!

Snog: Frozen Yogurt

Pizza Metro: 1 Meter (3 feet) Pizza

Ben's Cookies: Oatmeal Raisin Cookie

And then I'll talk a bit more in detail about Wahaca!

I first went here last week so that's what these pictures are from. But I also went to a different location this week so I decided to throw it in!

Obviously had to start off with some margaritas!

Wahaca is a mexican restaurant that specializes in street food!

While they do have main entrees, the cool thing to do is pick 2 or 3 of the street items. Tacos, taquitos, quesadillas, salads: you name it, they have it.

We all traded and took turns trying each others food. I loved every single item!

I think its safe to say I'll be back to try as many dishes as I can!

Moving onto friday night.

I met up with my girlfriends, who I missed so dearly after not seeing them for about 2 weeks!

We went to a cool place in Shoreditch (aka the bumpin' place to go out) called 

The Book Club

The picture above is downstairs where all the dancing is. 

The entire ceiling was covered with light bulbs! 

All in all good drinks + good music = happy girls!

And last but not least is Portobello Market!

This past Thursday I was lucky enough to meet up with one of my parents good friends for dinner. While Les was just visiting London, I also go to meet his sister and her daughter who live here. Karen has been living here for many years and offered to take me to the market. I gladly accepted and met up with her Saturday morning at Portobello.

The Market is mostly know for its quaint little antique shops but there's more than just that. Behind the stalls there are boutiques and then also at the end of the road they have fresh produce and food vendors. Everyone's destined to find something to buy on their visit!

Also, the buildings are all painted in super fun colors!

Karen also took me to an all organic cafe called Daylesford. I'm kicking myself for not taking pictures because everything was SO delicious. I had a large glass of freshly squeezed orange juice that I can honestly say was the best juice I have ever tasted. Yes, even better than Mariano's! And then for a late breakfast I had srammbled eggs, bacon and toast. Literally freshest eggs I've ever tasted. But I'll stop because I don't have any pictures and this is getting boring.

As Karen and I said our goodbyes she recommended a chocolate shop called Melt right around the corner. Of course I couldn't resist and made my way there. Also, still not thinking I didn't take pictures of the shop. But let me tell you it smelt heavenly!

I quickly snatched this chocolate raspberry bar, my absolute all time favorite combination.

And do I even have to say it: SO GOOD.

My day ended coming back to this outside my window:

The most vibrant double and full rainbow I have ever seen!

And for the music this week I am going to have to go with our choice of pre-game music for Friday night. Don't ask why, just enjoy! 

(Yes, I know it has nothing to do with London...)

One Short Day : Wicked Cast