Chocolate and Tea

here's to

2007-08-13T02:03:00.000Z

the lone ranger

the pack leader

the rockstar.

we'll miss you buddy.

relevance?

2007-07-10T03:57:00.000Z

sorry. there is none. other than i've taken these recently and they're begging to be seen. atleast i appreciate their random beautiful humorous meaningless importance.

life is funny, huh.

red, white, and woo hoo!

2007-07-05T15:23:00.000Z

july 3rd was potentially the longest day of my life. time at the studio had never seemed to drag on so much before. espresso made an effort to aid, but failed. we got on the road about 30 minutes late ... only to get stuck in one of the worst downpours i've ever been in a car for. lovely. but we knew there was wine, fish tacos, and jensen/nagan/lewis/sigmeth fun at the end of that long, straight, wet road.

i walked in the door and not only had the rain stopped and the wine been poured, but my future had already been planned out for me. thanks rita. i always knew i could count on you for this kind of stuff. so apparently after graduation my life goes something like this:

...get the hell out of madison

...make some serious CASH (or atleast enough for a couple months rent and some cheap food)

...move in with fuzzy in astoria, queeens.

...live the life in nyc

i could not be happier with their plans for me. now i just have to figure out how to get through this next year, get a kick ass portfolio together, find a way to make some real money, and oh, you know, convince myself that moving myself out to nyc without anything is not suicide.

one way to start solving these problems ... 'dude. we need to go to brewsters!' and so we went. first to the 'classy' cf bar for a glass of honey weis. but it was kind of crowded, not as cheap, and well, just not as entertaining. so off to brewsters we went. let the fun and night of quotes begin.

'i don't think i can do this' .. says a worried kitty.

'it's ok. trust me. it's worth it. just wait ... it gets so much better' ... i reassure the underage sis.

literally not more than three minutes after arriving at the BRIGHTLY lit (this is really an understatement) townie bar and courtney walks up to me, fuzzy, david, and kitty as we hold our ice cold $1.50 mugs of miller light ... than we get this lovely story.

'so i'm in the bathroom, and this girl looks at me and says 'stick your mouth under that' referring to the super powered hand drier. so i tell her to do it, and there she goes and sticks her mouth under it. after a few seconds she comes back up and says 'yup. dry.''

nice. quality. INAPPROPRIATE. this was going to be a good night.

i think this is supposed to mean '$1.50' ... don't ask ...

fuzzy's reaction to a woman in some seriously high pants ... and an oversized belt ...

the infamous hand dryer ... it really was powerful ...

random saliva swapping among a few locals, and some offers made by bright-blue-shirtwearing-carnies kept the ball rolling. cheap beer and amazingly horrible/great music left us in hysterics until 1am when the bar shut down. disappointing... but apparently 'chuggers' (the other quality place in town) was not abiding by the 1am on weeknights rule so we crossed the empty street and went and had one more. lower lights and less excitement, but a good end to the evening nontheless.

awakening at 10am 'prepared' (or pretending to be) to jump in the back of brent's car and ride through the cannon fourth of july parade, we were all slightly relieved when we were informed that we would be staying home instead and having a kick ass breakfast. that's ok with me. eggs with spinach, shallots, and goat cheese. yum. good bread, good meat, good oj ... good morning.

another drive back to the cities ... a quick shower ... and off to the jensen/nagan valley. pims in the yard ... some weiners ... a teasing of rain ... and of course charades. quality time with 'our people'.

here's to our independence.

who's ready to blow stuff up?

2007-07-03T03:28:00.001Z

so apparently it's july.

since miss fuzzy jensen is home for the occassion ... i'll consult her.

are you excited for the fourth?

while we ponder ... let's review

it seems to me the family has some experience in this department.

let's do it.

p.s. are fireworks now legal in mn? whatever.

happy fourth to you all ... wherever you may be.

summer in the cit-ay

2007-07-02T03:46:00.000Z

i am officially once again a minneapolis girl. it's nice. i've kind of fallen in love with this city again. not in the way i loved mpls before as a kid, but in a new way. in a way cooler way. right.

i've been inhabiting the mini guest (storage) room at my dad and angies place, going to bed early yet still too late, waking up not quite early enough, slaving away with a steamer all day as a prep stylist at 8th st studio

walking the lake harriet neighborhood pretty much every night while listening to wilco over and over (and over?)

reconnecting with the local music scene

catching up with old friends, making a few new ones

hating life, loving life. it's great to be back. to be somehow so isolated and integrated all at once.

limbo really. 'where in the hell am i going anyway...?'

good question. i've been thinking about that a lot lately. whether it's what i'm going to do for lunch today, what i'm going to be doing after graduation this next spring, to where i'm going to be living when i'm fifty. who are my friends going to be? what kind of house am i going to be living in? what is my life going to look like.

cliché? a little. but i can't deny it or ignore it.

doggy paddling between fear and excitement, i'm figuring shit out. or atleast learning to deal with not being able to figure it out. coping with the idea that we have the potential, risk, opportunity of inumerable lives. not rewind/repeat/replay/redo, but the thought that i could go a million different ways from here, and no path has the same end point. that life is really not so linear.

i can't even decide whether i like the idea of living in one of the numerous overpriced, oversized but gorgeous houses on the lake or scraping by each day in a tiny studio and walking to the nice neighborhood to enjoy their well spent ( ? ) tax dollars. for now, i'll just keep 'playing' with the idea of what i could possibly 'be'. whatever that means exactly.

one thing i have managed to figure out, my yard is going to be filled with daisies. screw mowing and weeding. daisies. little white ones.

bad! bad blogger!

2007-06-04T02:09:00.001Z

do i even attempt to do this? it's been, what ... almost TWO months since my last post? one whole month since i landed back on american soil? yikes.

instead of trying to recap each day of the last two months, how about i answer the most commonly asked questions for you.

Q: so. india. what was that like?
A: ha. um. well. let's see. absolutely crazy terrible beautiful exhausting amazing. yeah. oh, and my boyfriend was there. that was cool.

Q: so. helsinki. what was that like?
A: they have a nice airport.

Q: so. london. i bet that was cool. (i guess that's not a question)
A: um, totally.

Q: so. jet lag after returning from the other side of the world. what was that like?
A: did you say something?

Q: so. are you glad to be home?
A: ............................................. yeah.

but really. it's good to be home. talk about one hell of a ride. even now after two months i'm still trying to 'process' the whole thing. that sounds really cheesy. it's true though. sometimes it's almost like i never left at all. it's very strange to go somewhere, be there for a while, and leave no mark behind. it makes you feel small.

it's cool though. it's realistic. it's just how it goes. it makes me feel even more insignificant than i did before i left, but that in itself is truly enlightening. not that i'm enlightenend. i'm just sayin. yeah.

Q: so. what have you been doing since you got home?
A: um. sucking at life.

ok, i'm being hard on myself. it went a something like this:

get home. pouring rain. kiss kiss hug hug talk talk eat eat. 'huh? yeah i'm awake.' sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep. eat. 'huh?' 21st birthday. 'woohoo. now i can legally do what i've been doing illegally for years.' hammock. sleep. sleep. hammock. mom's cooking. porch times. computer. porch. computer. music. sleep. movie. movie. movie. sleep. allergies. benedryl. sleep.

and then i woke up. it was a new world. the sun was shining. the birds were chirping. and i had nothing to do.

so since then i've been following my mom around like a puppy dog, trying to line up prep-stying work for myself at various minneapolis photo studios, making plans to move into my daddio's place, eating more of mom's cooking, going out for the occasional legal adult beverage, and well ... getting back into the swing of this grand country that we know as 'home'. or something.

HEL to DEL

2007-04-09T14:47:00.000Z

well. this is long overdue. i'm not even quite sure where to begin.

so ... after returning from greece and spending some quality time with grandma joyce and ginny and bob exploring londontown together, i prepared for my trip to idia. packed up all of my things, moved them with the help of csm friend jen to her place, and waited for the time to arrive. took a cab to the airport. got my ticket, went through security, ate a crappy sandwich and and overpriced orange juice, and then boarded the plane. smooth sailing to helsinki, finland where i was scheduled for a 2 hour layover. from there it would be a short 6 1/2 hours to delhi.

as most of you already know, things did not go quite as planned.

helsinki finland. approximately 14:00. quite. uneventful. boarding begins.

'passport and visa please.'
'here's my passport.'
'visa?'
'no. i'm only a tourist.'
'visa?'
'no ... i'm only a tourist.'
'no. you need visa. can't let you on.'
'what? ... umm ... is there any way ... umm ...'

shit. yeah. a 'slight' miscalculation. and so it began.

the women at the airport were incredibly helpful ... rescheduling my flight for free ... getting my luggage off the plane before it took off ... finding me a 'relatively' inexpensive hostel ... getting me into a cab. they pretty much held my hand. they didn't have to ... but i wasn't about to turn away free help. a couple nights in the hostel (hostile? ... haha) a can of nuts, and some fancy work with the indian embassy to finland ... and i was back on track. i guess that is the slightly simplified version. aside from the mental freakout inside my little head ... everything was under control. if you are ever flying across the world and have to get stranded somewhere i recommend helsinki. clean. quiet. safe. even a few things to do. great photo booths as well.

and so i was off yet again. a little hesitant, but ready to get to delhi. really ready. it had been almost three months since i had seen franz, and at that point making me wait three more days was just not cool. after giving me a bit of a hassle at the desk because my bag was a little too heavy i made my way to yet again through security ... another crappy sandwich ... a little light reading ... and an hour of waiting for something to go wrong.

nothing did. the flight was smooth. the food was surprisingly good. and then i was there. it was hot. and i couldn't find the guy that franz had sent to pick me up (he was in ranchi for the weekend ... of course i was supposed to be with him) i decided at 2am that it was time to just get a hotel room and sleep. finally sleep. so i did. it was overpriced, but safe. and there was a phone. it was beyond weird to be laying in a 'swanky' hotel in delhi ... and have franz be somewhere else. but this is how franz and i travel. the highs and the lows. there's a history.

since then it has been blissfully uneventful ... aside from the whole 'being in india' thing. it has been greater than great to be here with franz ... over 2 months into his stay here he has things figured out which takes an immense amount of stress out of the simplest situations. from mosquitos to bollywood films, cows and rickshaws, good food and bad food, gurgaon to jaipur, hot as hell to ac, 5 1/2 hour bus rides to historic forts ... this is only the beginning.

in the beginning ...

2007-03-31T16:51:00.000Z

my last day of class seems like a month ago already. how can this be? i just got here? i just started? this is only the beginning! well... the end my term at central saint martins was hectic, stressful, and a blast all at once. projects due ... trip plans to be made ... parties to attend ... friends to say goodbye to ... rooms to pack up ... places to go one more time. a beginning and an end at the same time ... and all the contradictions that accompany each.

so it was off to greece with kp, jen, and kori. big plans ... but not much planned. the usual college student excursion. our flight left at 6:30 am ... meaning we would have to be at the airport approximately 2 hours prior departure. seeing as it was the end of the term and their were social functions to attend, we decided the perfect solution would be to bring our luggage to the party ... have a little fun ... say goodbye to everyone ... take a cab to the airport from the party ... and go to greece. great plan. great. and it was. celebrated miss piepers 21st birthday with a couple bottles of wine and a few brightly colored roller suitcases (turquoise, cobalt, lime green, and lilac ... no joke). perfect.

we landed in athens early in the afternoon. gorgeous. sunny. warm. nice breeze. smelly hostel (roughly salami and wet dog). good food. great sights. off to a good start.

two nights in athens and then it was off to santorini. an 8 hour ferry (cheaper than the 3 hour super duper fast speedy something or other) and we were there. again... beautiful. warmer. not the usual tourist season ... but that's a good thing, right? for the most part it was ... minus the fact that it got cold ... and then it rained (1 out of supposed 3 days out of the year that it does) ... and then the island shut down. in the end we had an amazing time. random. but amazing. we definitely saw a santorini that the usual visitor does not. from donkeys to a sketchy local bar to the 4 of us squeezing into the tiny rental car of 2 girls we met from jersey and driving then entire length of the island.

black sand beaches ... red sand beaches. santorini boasts a gorgeous coast.

but this was not the end.

hyde... and seek.

2007-03-11T23:19:00.000Z

so i was talking to my dad and angie on skype today and angie mentioned how when she lived in london she would always go and walk through hyde park. i realized i had only walked past hyde but never through... and thought "what better way to spend the end of a beautiful sunday afternoon." a 35 min tube ride (this may have something to do with why i hadn't walked through yet) brought me to the far edge of the park. while the "lakes" hardly live up to the standards of a minnesota lake, the park overall was beautiful... and just the sort of thing i needed.

things have been insanely busy... in a good way, but busy still nonetheless. my first instinct before i left the house to go to the park was to call someone to go with me. why? i left by myself. i'm a social creature... but london has taught me how to be alone with a ton of people. it's one thing to be alone in your room on your computer (which i've also spent a lot of time doing... hahaha) and another thing to DO things alone. it's relatively new for me. i like it. thanks london.

first there was one...

then there were two...

and then there were three.

ok, but seriously. the whole "two swans facing eachother forming a heart" thing... turns out while it looks romantic... it's actually quite aggresive. i was standing behing this fence and was like, "oh my god.. cute!" ... and then they basically started barking at eachother. then the third one came over. there was biting of feathers. in the end... they all just stood there. i guess it's spring time. they'll figure it out soon enough.

london loves its daffodils. i love them too. they manage to look happy, silly, loud, orderly, refined, and quiet all at the same time.

family times.

2007-03-11T22:18:00.000Z

so... i should probably let them tell everyone... but i'm excited and don't want to do work... so i'm going to make an announcement kind of thing. my family is growing, again. i'm getting another momma and sistah. not replacements... just additions. sweet, huh!? that's right daddio and angie are getting married! yay! i love you both and am so happy you are together. and how cool is it that i now have a sister with my same name... that doesn't happen too often.

how about some photos? (from kit kat's graduation)

hahahaha ha ha.

miss hannah rose with the jensen cousinz. love you girlie.

LOVE YOU ALL!

attention please.

2007-03-10T22:35:00.000Z

just in case you didn't know. i love london.

the other night

2007-03-07T20:40:00.000Z

i sat down to "catch you guys up" on everything that's happened since the 22nd... and then i woke up the next morning... my computer open next to me in bed. it was then i realized there is no way i am going to tell you everything that's been going on lately... and really... you probably wouldn't want to read it. so how about some highlights?

PARIS: we took a BUS. not just a bus... an overnight bus. we met a rock band, drank a bottle of wine, ate a bunch of junk food, and that was all within the first two hours of the bus trip. i almost don't even need to say anything else about the rest of the trip because that was just so damn funny/awesome/absurd... but i will anyway. we did it all: the louvre (at 9am when they opened after not sleeping at all on a bus... bad idea), the champs elyse, the arc de triomphe, the eiffel tower (all the way to the top=windy and cold... but oh so perdy), the musée d'orsay, baguettes on the go, the cemetery where jim morrison and oscar wilde among many others are buried, the moulin rouge (3 blocks away from our hostel), an adorable hostel (with great beds), awesome coffee, a terrible waitress, multiple packs of evil 14 year old french boys (i won't even go there... grrrr... watch out boys!) walking, laying, wine, conversations, pictures, pictures, pictures. it was a great weekend... and a great bus ride home.

LOUIS VUITTON: what you've all been waiting for. well... what can i say. kelsey and i did not move onto the next round. total bummer. but, we were both happy with what we had come up with and presented. the only problem was, everyone who participated in the brief did amazing stuff. louis had a pretty great deal coming to csm. basically got to pick the best out of the best. i'm ok with that. we weren't the best... but we weren't the worst either. and at least i'll have it for my portfolio... but let's not talk about that anymore.

CURRENT WORK: focusing on a brief for "dove" and "images of disability" for d&ad (design & art direction) which is an international competition for students (there is also one for professionals). pretty much all of our work at school is based off of these briefs. if you do a good job they promote submitting it to the competition. my tutor (remember the evil frenchman) thinks i should submit mine. i was shocked when he said that. i guess he's not so bad after all. i'm glad to find that out.

FUN TIMES: aside from all the "serious work" ... i've managed to have a little fun.

for david's birthday kels, robert, david, alex, and i saw a comedy show (hilarious) and then cut the line... and got in the club for free. good job david.

all was good until the boys stole our french fries and then ripped our directions home in half. kelsey got angry.

AND NOW: i'm basically finishing up the term ... yeah i know... crazy. i'm done with briefs THIS FRIDAY and then next week are just assesments. i don't believe it. i DO NOT believe it. i'm sad to leave. i really am. i feel so comfortable here. when i'm crammed into a corner reading a book on the tube on the way home from class, i find myself thinking "oh cute... tourists on the tube." and then i realize i consider myself something other than a tourist. thank god. it's one thing to tell yourself you don't WANT to be a tourist... but a whole other thing to realize that you really are not. good. very good.

PROM 2007: "team america" (which is what the photo department named our group of american girls here on study abroad) are throwing a prom for the graphic design program tomorrow. free punch (spiked?). i kind of think the photo guys just wanted an excuse to drink at school. they do it anyway... but this is more festive. glad to help guys.

ok... longest post... ever? i'll be better next time.

p.s. i'm going to india for a month. oh my god.

and they're off!

2007-02-22T20:41:00.000Z

to paris that is! literally running out the door as we speak to go meet up with melissa to catch the night train to paris. we'll be watching the sunrise and getting into the land of love (also the home of my least favorite tutor at csm) at 7am.

i'm excited. seriously.

i'll be rolling back into london at 7pm on monday night... pulling an all-nighter finishing louis vuitton... and winning in the morning.

love y'all. peace out.

what's on your list?

2007-02-21T01:03:00.000Z

today felt like a monday. i wonder why. do you think that means i didn't do anything i should have on monday? but i did watch 5 episodes of "six feet under". totally my new favorite ... and the school library has it on dvd. sweet, i know. my school is cooler than your school.

after spending $100 on materials for a scale model that kelsey and i are constructing for the louis vuitton brief we are working on ... we decided to cheer ourselves up by spending more money by grabbing a beer at "the ivy house". the pub is right next to school and is filled with men in suits after work. they are too tired/busy/important/cold? to take their coats off or take a seat, so they hover around the bar talking to eachother. it's fun to not be like them. it's also fun to watch them. i got a XXXX since it's on the student discount menu. the first time i ever ordered a beer at the ivy house the bartender told me to get that because it was cheap. when i went to order a second (also on the first occasion) i approached the bar and asked for "a triple 4". yeah... don't ask. i wish i could say that one beer would make me say something that stupid, but unfortunately i was completely and utterly sober. the bartender didn't believe that. i don't blame him... but he just doesn't even know anything.

since i'm not one to let something like public humiliation get to me (who am i kidding...) i was determined to order it again... correctly. one goal i can now successfully cross off my list.

like the responsible students we are, kels and i said goodbye to textile design pal jen and tipped our hats to the guys in suits and made our way out to leyton. our agenda was something along the lines of:

1. go to asda (purchase chocolate covered raisins, shampoo, and maybe something for dinner)
2. make "dinner" (a challenge kels and i are rarely excited about...)
3. build a freakin' model
4. win the louis vuitton brief (that will come later)

oh...

5. eat chocolate covered raisins

upon entering asda (my second home, if you have not picked up on it by now) i grabbed a basket from the incredibly friendly "greeter" and began what was to be a "quick grocery run". "i should get some eggs... i need protein", i explained. eggs in leyton are so much more than protein... they are really a form of entertainment in themselves.

as hard as it was to turn down... i'm just not ready for a little one... so i grabbed another carton.

my bedroom looks a bit like a contruction site... which makes me really excited, just in case you were wondering. yeah, so what that the wood is actually balsa and the closest thing to a saw is a no.11 blade. glue = nails. masking tape = clamp. am i a geek for loving it? well... i don't care what you think anyway. i mean, i do... just not right now.

now it's time to let the glue dry... which is strangely hard for me. i like to see things working NOW not in a couple of hours. but i will say i'm learning patience. kind of. slowly but surely. so instead of messing with what i've done so far, i'm going to watch my last episode of "six feet under" ... and pass out.

the sound of music

2007-02-19T23:14:00.000Z

this post is being made promptly at the request (demand) of a miss kitten.

i woke up at 11:30 am on sunday morning quite proud of myself. not only had i stayed up until 5 am drawing some 30 new dress designs (what COOL KIDS do on a saturday night in london... ? ), i had actuallly managed to wake up before 2 in the afternoon. "good job hannah". pat on the back.

it quickly became apparent why i had woken. now i don't know about you guys... but there is nothing better than blaring and bumping techno to really get ya goin' on a grey sunday morning. wait. no. that's just what my NEIGHBOR thinks. while i completely appreciate and support expression through music... COME ON! i'm going to kill you! soon enough i found myself stomping around my room, slamming doors, and making angry comments aloud to myself. i literally had to leave... or someone was going to die. sometimes i'm surprised (pleasantly?) by the rage that can form in between my eyeballs in those little creases in a matter of a minute.

i straped a green-houndstooth print bandana around my head, put on my jacket and puma tennies ... and got the hell outta there. standing outside the door of my flat ... i wished desperately that someone could be there to laugh with me. no one... damn. the "techno" i was so angry about moments before... turned out to actually be some ridiculous early 90's r&b ballad ... played extremely loud with the bass turned up too high. if you know me at all you will not be surprised to hear me say that while i recognized the song... i couldn't remember for the life of me who or what it was. whatever. not the point.

a few more steps down the block and it sounded like bollywood was about to bust out onto the street.

apparently leyton likes its music. as do i. apparently we just don't like the same music.

and so it was off to camden town ... also a musical part of london, but known more for its punk than whitney houston. the outoor market (pictured above) is great. better than great. so great... it's a little overwhelming. you just have to be prepared to put on your mean face to push your way through traffic and escape the "offerings" of crazy japanese ladies trying to force feed you then make you pay for it. i was there on a bit of a mission (could have something to do with an upcoming birthday... on the 26th of feb the aforementioned miss kitten will be turning 19... so get on it people!). on the way i picked up a few little things for myself. it was a great and successful escape. weaving my way through the masses and back into the tube station to hop on the northern line i could hear a dude belting out some gnarls barkley song. he had been singing the exact same one when i had arrived in camden two hours earlier.

on another musical note (ha ha ... clever i know) kitty has been sending me clips of a song she's working on. she rocks. serisouly. she will be famous someday... and i'll design her cd covers ... and the dress she wears to the grammys. i can't wait.

so since i know you peeps don't tune in just for "words" ... here are some of my favorite pics from the weekend. enjoy.

what? is it so wrong for a girl to match her tea cup to her pink fuzzy pants and hoodie?

as you can see by their footwear, people in camden are way more creative than the rest of londoners.

chinese new year = pretty.

whatever.

happy love day

2007-02-14T00:51:00.000Z

i love all y'all ... but i kinda like this guy too...

his "chugging grey goose straight outta the bottle" days may be in the past (maybe)... but he's still pretty entertaining. this picture is also entertaining... since i kind of look like an alien. cool.

love to all. spread it around!

i have a secret

2007-02-13T21:29:00.000Z

bright and early on monday morning a brave few congregated in the photo studio to be instructed on a one day photo brief. the theme... secrets. in a short 5 1/2 hours we were expected to shoot, print and present our "solution". this was mine.

p.s. i love the photo department at csm. best guys + girl ever. they've taken "team america" (what they call the group of us 6 american study abroad girls) under their wing from day one. to pay our debts to them for their kindness, they have insisted we throw a party for everyone in the studio. we will be hosting an american style prom. most schools in the uk don't have prom... so we will be putting together a prom that they will never forget... and i'm sure we won't either. more to come on that later.

i can see clearly now...

2007-02-12T00:05:00.000Z

the rain is SO not gone. a few brisk yet beautiful days were followed by, well, crap. some london "snow" which the city had amazingly prepared itself for by salting and sanding the streets excessively the night before. funny how productive fear can be. a snowy night and morning turned into a slushy afternoon and a very wet and windy weekend. the london i expected all along... no disappointments. don't worry. a few drops of water aren't about to get the best of this mid-westerner.

the weekend went somthing like this: kill bill, stella artois (bottle and can ... we like to switch it up), the club 93 feet east (from djs and dancing to live music and beyond), lost in translation, 2 1/2 hours of runway fashion shows on vhs, ELLE-collections, id, the british museum, comics and coincidences, high heels, cheap wine, a tube encounter with an easily suspected mental ward escapee, bathroom adventures, an artsy house party, what felt like a 12 hour bus tour home, cereal in bed, lost in translation (again), pajamas, shopping in camden market, cool artists, the best sweet treat ever invented, skype, and dinner with parents of a crazy bostonian.

that brings us up to now... with a cup o' green tea (which tastes strangely like tobacco compared to the black tea i've become slightly dependent on) in bed ready to watch yet another movie thinking about how that long list i just made did not include any work. hmmm. oh well. that't what mondays are for.

a walk in the park.

2007-02-08T18:51:00.000Z

it has been the coldest the past two days out of my entire time here. actually smelled like winter wednesday morning. there was a thick frost over everything and it just smelled crisp, but for once i didn't really mind. i was starting to think that the colder it was in london the sunnier it was, and that was ok too. kp (my friend kelsey from uw) had made a date the day before to meet at school at 10:30 to discuss a brief that we are working on together for louis vuitton. yes. LOUIS VUITTON! basically they have come to central saint martins (and no other school) and have set a competition to design and implement their christmas windows for there 368 stores worldwide for 2007. yeah... how sweet is that!!!!??? anyway, we met, had a caffeinated beverage of choice, and set to work on the brief. so many ideas, so little time. we decided that instead of doing the whole "photoshop something that isn't that thought out and just try to make it look that way" was so not the way to go... and that we were going to fully hash out this concept and then do a magazine collage to present our initial ideas and theme.

too sunny for london to sit inside on a computer... so we both grabbed 35 mm's and went out to shoot... whatever. decided to head over to green park. this is a little of what we found... you just have to love february in london...

and then right across the street to buckingham palace... not that you can tell from the pictures (which are from my digital not the 35 mm ... those will come later ...)

following frosty flowers, we went to buy a few different fashion magazines for homework (i love that i just said fashion magazine and homework in the same sentence and it didn't have to do with procrastination!). instead went shopping. got a great coat for 15 quid. then it was down to business.

won't go into the hours spent up until 5am today rushing to prepare our presentation, but i will say we were primped and ready at 10:15 am in the conference room ready to rock (or pass out... nerves or lack of sleep or lack of food or lack of caffeine). we went third. we stumbled a bit. we were nervous. we were standing in front of 4 reps from louis vuitton as well as a film crew. FILM CREW. yeah, fun. anyway... it went really well. we still have a ton of work, and i won't go into our concept quite yet... but i'm just proud that we stood in front of louis vuitton reps, presented an idea, and didn't get laughed at or blank faces. score! we rock! more to come... we're going to win. i've decided. i'll keep you posted.

monday morning...

2007-02-05T09:17:00.000Z

too late to still be in bed... but toooooo early to get up. argh.

i read mummies new essay on mental contagion as i was going to sleep last night. check it out people (i would assume most people reading this have already read that, but just double checking). i could not relate anymore with the dishes. such a strange satisfaction each time. it's funny. i can't seem to share the task either. it's really all or nothing. i have a system and you just can't mess with it. i'm sorry. i don't care how many years you've been washin dishes... i just do it better than you.

wish i was there to help you out with a load mom. you know how pretty my stacks are too.

alright. a bowl of muesli awaits my attention and consumption downstairs. maybe i'll get ambitious and shower too... maybe.

super bowl ... !

2007-02-04T22:50:00.000Z

so i guess the super bowl is on. perfect time to make a blog post.

today was sunday. otherwise known as "lay around the house and do nothing" as well as "drink 14 cups of tea and watch episodes of tv shows you never cared about at all in the states". i love sundays.

another thing that sundays are good for ... or at least this sunday evening would be good for ... is giving you all a bit of a catch up, seeing as i started this blog just over a month after arriving in london. so where do i begin?

is billy joel singing the national anthem? funny.

ok, back to the "catch up". lets see. so like i said in the first post, i arrived in london on new years eve day. arriving in london for the ball drop seemed like the best thing ever. of course after becoming quickly reacquainted with the concept of jet lag, i started to doubt my ability to get pretty and get out of the house. thanks to franz's persuasive skills we got out of the flat. first stop: some random "tapas" restuarant for a quick bite. well... let's just say "welcome to london". overpriced, overall crappy food. out of the 4 tables is the place i think there were people at one other table. i felt extremely bad to be sitting there while i'm sure the employees wanted desperately to leave and go celebrate themselves. somewhere along the line this crazy south african guy with these two kind of scary looking russian girls came in and started buying everyone drinks. the night was getting cheaper... thanks to his desire to show off for one of the russian ladies. i'd like to say that the reason we never made it to central london to some classy club or funky pub was because the tube system would have been closed and we wouldn't have had a way to get home... but that would be a lie. the tube was running all night for the occasion. still, we ended up staying at this hilarious little place with these weird people. kind of entertaining. kind of pathetic. regardless, that was new years eve.

the following days were plagued by staying up incredibly late and sleeping in the same due to lack of time zone adjustment. we would drag ourselves out of the flat and make the trip into the city via tube after dark. the first few times we were in central london it was this way. it was weird and kind of surreal. there was usually no one on the streets. nothing open. it felt like a ghost town... hardlly the london i remembered or franz had expected. but it slowly came into focus. we started to get out of the house earlier each day (packing a lunch to save money) and started seeing the sights. we scraped the surface of both of british museum and the national gallery which are both amazing. a little too much to take in completely in one visit. here's some nice camera work by the master gastler outside of the national gallery one night.

we did a ton of just wandering around the city by foot and becoming familiar with the tube system (which p.s. i LOVE!). we even went to a service one sunday morning at st. pauls cathedral, thinking, what better way to see the cathedral than "in action". the attendance for the main service was surprisingly small, but the cathedral itself is beautiful. we also checked out a few more of the touristy sites like the london eye (which is i believe the worlds largest ferris wheel) and the various bridges/towers/etc that london offers. more entertaining to watch the other tourists in these areas than it is to see whatever it is you're standing in front of.

after the first week of being there classes started for me. i'll explain this in more detail later, but let's just say art school in london is in a class of its own... in many ways. basically we don't have "class". can't even go there right now. like i said, i will later.

a stairwell at central st. martins. one cool old building. awesome wood staircases. slippery i will say. last week as there was a tour going on, kelsey (my friend from uw) and i were walking down the stairs through the crowd of prospective students... and i proceeded to slip and begin to fall down the stairs. lovely. classic. only me. the tour guide stopped his speech to ask if i was ok. "no. i just fell in front of a bunch of people!" "yeah ... hahha... eh."

anyway, much of the second week was spent saying goodbye to franz. our last night i made rules. #1 no talking about money. we're not going to go on a date together for the next three months, so i'm getting dessert. #2 let's play it by ear. that was about it. it was nice. sad, but nice. a classic "london meal" of shepards pie along with pims and lemonade. yummy. then went to the haagen daz cafe. pretty much the best thing EVER! as if i wasn't addicted before.

followed by coffee at this hilarious little place that looked like the inside of a circus tent.

prince for the super bowl half time show? interesting. hmmm. i'm sure football fans are also huge prince fans. right.

basically... it was more than awesome having franz here my first two weeks while i was getting settled. not to mention that it was great getting to spend 2 weeks together in general. i can say that hasn't happened as much as i would like.

so it would be totally cool of me to keep writing this post until the end of the super bowl, but since they aren't playing the good commercials here in the uk, it's just totally not worth keeping it on and trying to stay awake. the commentary here is totally lame in a funny way though. i'm surprised i even turned it on.

another monday awaits me after the short 6 hours ahead of me.

thanks for tuning into super bowl XLI.

"don't whaaaaannnnnuuuuuuuu!" (please read in brents voice.)

2007-02-03T08:46:00.000Z

it's almost 9am, i have a fashion design class at 10am (yeah that's right, on SATURDAY... not quite sure what i was thinking...). the tube is out at my station. NOW, instead of a 20 minute tube ride i will be making an hour long journey by bus/national rail/tube. grrrr. not happy. sleepy. want to make pancakes. *correction* want to be MADE pancakes by someone else. or maybe french toast.

this morning aside, this fashion design short course is great. it's an extra class i signed up for outside of my regular load because i have pretty much ALWAYS wanted to do fashion design. my "pracitical" side has somehow kept me from actually doing anything about it. hopefully the money i have spent thus far to supposedly become a graphic designer will not be wasted when i suddenlly admit i have to be a fashion designer. we'll see though. none of that yet.

timeline:

we started out working on fashion illustration

one of my drawings ... sorry for the crappy image

then we started working on collages ... colors/images/styles we like...

one result

and along the way i found this...

could it look ANY MORE like KITTY!!! omg.

i have just over 10 minutes. gotta go!

mistakes

2007-02-03T01:10:00.000Z

on my first of many trips to ASDA*

*sidenote... while i usually avoid wal-mart at all cost in the states, the ramen noodles for 8p have been more than persuasive.

franz and i made an amazing discovery that really set me wondering ... "did i make the wrong decision in coming to london to attend central st. martins college of art and design when i could have gone to mexico state?" i'm still pondering this deep and disturbing question. any and all opinions or suggestions welcome.

i figure, i can always buy the sweatshirt at asda and SAY i went to school there...

ivy baby, yeah!

2007-02-02T20:15:00.000Z

ok... so i am aware that it is after 8pm on a friday night and i am posting yet AGAIN on this thing... but i just realized that i presented the outside of the flat without giving any credit or even air time to the most amazing part of the whole she-bang. my room. there is a theme here... let's see if you can figure it out.

do you see a PATTERN here perhaps?

in other news... my light that previously looked like this

has now been upgraded (thanks to a £1 purchase from ASDA ... the UK wal-mart).

sweet, right.

52 and sunny

2007-02-02T18:40:00.000Z

that's right. the land of grey skys and hellish wind has been blessed the past few days with temps of 52 degrees and sun. yeah sure, it rained in the morning, or half way through the afternoon... but this is london we're talking about here. just thought i needed to rub this in all of your faces while i have the chance. sounds like minnesota and wisconsin have had far from pleasant weather lately... ha ha ha. and believe it or not ... the flowers are blooming. beat that! you guys won't see any buds or leaves for at least another month. i love london. i might just stay.

now's the perfect opportunity to introduce the amazing, the luxurious, the one and only ... LEYTON! yeah, so i guess i've been lying when i told you i was living in london. well, not REALLY lying. anyway, leyton is about 20 minutes by tube (that's what we "locals" call the underground system ... duh.) away from where i go to school in central london. not bad for a london commute. as you can see it is truly nothing but the classiest most happening place in all of zone 3. well, kind of. doesn't matter. what matter is that i am saving a good $240/mo by staying here instead of a few stops closer. i'm smart.

the outside of my flat. yup, it's pink.

my block. cute little flats all in a row.

the leyton tube station... conveniently just around the block. (ya hear that mommy and daddy... no walking home in the dark for 30 minutes by myself.) again, i'm smart.

yeah ok

2007-02-02T01:32:00.000Z

since all of you folks are just finishing up dinner and need something to do ... i'll post a few more pictures. but then i'm going to sleep ... OK! g'night.

love you kitty ... even though you smell.

he learns so quickly.

happy new years 2007!

... but since new years it's been NOTHING but work... i swear...

my first time

2007-02-02T00:42:00.000Z

post number one. hmmmm... (good way to start).

so apparently i left the country. although franz (aka the master gastler, franzia, franzie, fa-wanz ... take your pick) was to be accompanying me on the first 2 weeks of my london adventure while on his way to new dehli to begin his own adventure, we had made the trip on different flights due to usual complications with ticket prices and scheduling. arriving in london via new jersey on new years eve day after approximately 14 hours of travel felt strangely like i simply rolled out of bed (wearing the same clothes from the night before) and turned down a different street than usual on my way to do whatever it is that i usually do.

thinking back to the 8 year old hannah sitting in the back seat of the rental car on our yearly 3 week long road trip, i can clearly remember questioning (most likely silently) whether my mom had any clue where we actually were. i would then imagine getting completely lost ... having no place to stay that night ... and one way or another dying of starvation (or more likely heat-stroke). despite my worries, we never died... and maybe more notably, my mom never lost her cool. sometimes i think it's quite amusing to compare myself to the 8 year old hannah. amusing because those exact same thoughts and scenarios still develop in my head. maybe i've just gotten used them. or maybe i just don't care about them. or maybe they've gotten funny. i still can't quite figure it out.

regardless, i've now been here for 1 month, 1 day, 1 hour, and 20 minutes. and i haven't died... yet.

cheers.