nye 2015

This year began with a beautifully bubbly soiree and three of my greatest friends in a new favorite city. 

Roadtrippin' to DC with my girl (and Izzy)

Champions of the champs bar

L & T wishing a very voluminous new year to all!

What might have been is an abstraction
Remaining a perpetual possibility
Only in a world of speculation.
What might have been and what has been
Point to one end, which is always present.

Footfalls echo in the memory
Down the passage which we did not take
Towards the door we never opened
Into the rose-garden. My words echo
Thus, in your mind.

                                   But to what purpose
Disturbing the dust on a bowl of rose-leaves
I do not know.
                                   Other echoes
Inhabit the garden. Shall we follow?

 T.S. Eliot, The Four Quartets

From dtown to DC -- there is nothing more spectacular than old friendship

Happy 2015 -- may all your mistakes be new ones. 

Thanksgiving 2014

Celebrating Thanksgiving abroad is inevitably an occasion for ambivalence.

On the one hand, it's a total bummer to miss out on Gram's homemade pecan pies and the sudden switch to Christmastime, ushered in by the appropriately capitalistic Black Friday pandemonium. On the other hand, it's the perfect opportunity to share in others' traditions and predictable (mis)understandings of the American holiday.

When I'm really lucky, I even get to plump for more than one Thanksgiving feast. And that's exactly what happened this year! 

Round One: Hannah and Yona

Jews do Thanksgiving: meet Doug, the turkey challah

On Thanksgiving eve itself, Jenna and I loaded our bags with Prosecco (good move, selves) and headed to Hendon, where she promptly took off her trousers and changed into these gorgeous things:

The Americans, before we belted O Shenandoah

Legwear at the ready, she then explained the entirety of American colonization and revolution to a room of wide-eyed Brits. (How do they not learn this in school?!) Then, we stuck in!

The following morning, stuffed to the gills with Hannah's culinary delights (and three desserts), I packed my duffel, hopped on a train from Kings Cross (platform 2, not 9 3/4), and soon found myself somewhere just as magical as Hogsmeade --

Round Two: Willow Cottage

Worried I'd be a lonely American in the big city, my favorite man put me in touch with some of his family on this side of the pond. Specifically, his too-fabulous-for-words Aunt Marla married a Brit five years ago and moved to Linconshire, a small hamlet about 160 miles north of London, where they've created quite the little life together. I was lucky enough to score an invitation to their British-American-Twist Thanksgiving festivities!

Her husband CJ picked me up from the train station and, seeing as it was mid-afternoon, promptly brewed us cups of orange pekoe upon our arrival at their love nest, Willow Cottage. We talked about his adventures sailing the world after serving in the Royal Air Force, and he told me the beautiful story of when he met and fell in love with Marla. Soon, the lady of the house returned from work-- and I didn't stop laughing from that moment until I departed the next day!

CJ's cheeky British grub stole my heart!

The view from my room!

Marla and I stayed up far past the witching hour that night, girltalking and eating chocolate -- as her nephew promised, our connection was instant. Don't you love when that happens?

With Aunt Marla in front of Lincoln's incredible medieval Cathedral

The next morning, I awakened early to see CJ off to work (and sample his homemade whiskey marmalade!) before hitting the shops on Steep Hill with Marla. We explored the quaint town of Lincoln, stopping for culture, nibbles, and the occasional Christmas bauble along the way.

Steep Hill, a perilously cobbled street lined with pubs, cafes, and boutiques

As the day turned sleepy and the sun headed to slumber, we met CJ for tea and local plum bread with cheese before cruising off to the train station.

I returned to London one very happy, very stuffed little turkey.

The best parting gift I could hope for -- CJ's homemade jams!

Nothing beats holidays with family, but this year's Thanksgiving celebrations were truly magical -- and a poignant reminder of how lucky I am to be surrounded by individuals who give me so much to be thankful for.

7.46

Have I mentioned that I'm living in a mansion?

Well, ok... I'm living on a street that used to be the site of this beautiful thing:

Unfortunately it was razed by fire in the late 19th century, and upon its ashes was constructed Northumberland Avenue -- then, enter me, stage right! I'm actually living in an early 20th century hotel that was recently converted by LSE into dorms, leaving us with teenie tiny shoebox rooms, but lots of lovely crown molding and one hell of a spiral staircase!

Though we live in singles, each cluster of 10 or 15 rooms shares a kitchen. My room neighbors the kitchen (strategic), and I find myself in there quite often -- brewing tea, smothering Nutella over everything I eat, sauteing porcini mushrooms... the usual. More times than not, someone else is around, working on their laptops, chatting in the sitting area, or cooking up some delicious curry paneer.

Luckily for me, my "flatmates" are awesome. I'm the only American, and I wouldn't change a thing -- I'm constantly learning about Canadian politics, French cheese, German beer, and the proper balance of spice in dhal. They're a properly hilarious bunch, too.

Last week was Julien's 23rd birthday, so Sudhanshu seized the moment of having all of us together, whipping out his fancy camera to capture the festivities...which of course promptly degraded into silliness:

Felix, Swati, Taylor, me!, Stuti, Julien, Dhan, Tressie

Throwing what actually neither of us knows :)

Felix: I can't flex and smile at the same time!! Me: died of laughter

At the end of long (dark, rainy, cold) days here in London, this kitchen (Room 7.46) is the bright, bustling home I look forward to coming home to. Thanks, team :)

"boys will be boys"

Sometimes, I hear about things that happen. Sometimes, I get really mad. Sometimes, I even write about it. And sometimes, it gets published!

For the latest tale of a viral street harassment video, rugby "lad culture" in London, and how these are not just women's issues, click-y here:

Who Owns Public Spaces?

to give is to receive

In addition to my studies and general revelries around London, I've also been enjoying an education of an entirely different sort -- through all the extracurricular activities I've predictably oversubscribed to.

Some were obvious choices (feminist society, literature society), some are totally new (like the capoeira team... but I'll have to discuss that in another post!), and one has been a combination of both: the jsoc.

At a challah making pizza party... classic jsoc

Since traveling to Israel last summer, my curiosity in Judaism (as a religion, philosophy, and culture) has been piqued. But when it came to joining the Jewish Society here on campus, to actually staking a claim in the community, I wasn't entirely sure of myself.

My oh my, am I glad I did.

I've attended shabbat every week, bunches of educational-slash-social events on campus and off (like the challah making party, pictured above -- our loaf was delicious, I'd like to note), and have found a truly fantastic group of people who are graciously guiding me along this new path.

Yesterday, I learned something particularly cool that I wanted to share with you:

In Hebrew, the phrase "and they shall give" (v'natnu) is spelled vav-nun-tet-nun-vav. In fancy parlance, this is called a "palindrome," a word spelled the same forward and backward. And this is precisely how Jewish tradition understands generosity itself -- it impacts your own soul, just as much as it benefits the recipient. It's magic, in its ability to give as it takes.

Shabbat shalom!

adventures across the kingdom

Well, it happened. I was struck by a British cold that refused to quit.

After about a week and half of the bugger, I adopted a stop-and-go cadence, so as to be rested and ready for any gallivanting opportunities that may present themselves. Last night, after a wildly fun afternoon, I'd finally had enough -- I quarantined myself in my room, snuggled beneath my duvet and sipped my favorite tea from an LSE mug gifted to me from a particularly lovely Wharton professor.

This morning, after a full night's snooze and a miraculous extra hour of sleep due to the annual clock change, I am healed!

Rested and ready for a new week, here's a peek into what the heck I've been up to whilst battling the fresher's flu:

UPenn's own Dr. Robertson in her posh new LSE digs!

Between lectures,  library marathons, and brewing tea (it's true), I've found a few groups of friends who are keen to explore this fantastic city with me. Here are just a few of our (mis)adventures over the past two weeks:

"The LLMs," as I lovingly call them, are a group of three fantastic women who are my foodie partners in crime (you'll recognize them in the Carpo photo from a previous post). Together we've thrown baking parties, explored many the cozy coffee shop, and went to Borough Market, pictured here!

The Market is celebrating its 1000th year, and it looks darn good for its age -- the area overflows with stalls of every culinary delight imaginable, from fresh produce to French cheese, from Indian spices to tabasco-infused chocolate (delicious, by the way). We sampled our way through the maze of offerings and picked our favorites to take home.

Let's be honest -- samples don't satiate.

One Monday evening, I donned my favorite red dress and joined a group of French and Australian women at a very cool venue near Camden: Koko, an old theatre-turned-club. We danced amid mask-clad gentlemen until our feet ached and the threat of Tuesday morning lectures whisked us home:

But, I promise, I've been doing some studying too:

One of my favorite study spots so far - the economics library at UCL

Yesterday, I even devoted my entire afternoon to the subject of vinology!

I took notes and everything!

A fellow American won tickets to the annual Bettane and Desseauve Wine Experience, a festival sponsored by two French wine critics. The event was held at the gorgeous Saatchi Gallery in Sloane Square, providing a lovely backdrop to several hours of glass clinking and wine tasting. Jenna wrote her Amherst thesis on French wine, so I enjoyed her reasoned reflections and studied insight as I happily sipped my way from Champagne to Saint-Estephe to Languedoc.

A brilliant installation to house the event, I think!

The Bordeaux Master Class we talked our way into ;)

Now, for a few single shots that capture some of my favorite moments here in London town:

Playing tourist from a double-decker bus, en route to a dinner party in Hampstead

An amazing canapé, crafted by a "great Dane" from my cohort :)

The LLMs at it again -- I'm an honorary law student these days!

So yes, I suppose I'm settling in well enough.

Today I'm typing away at a coffee shop on Villiers Street, and am thinking of relocating to a poetry library this afternoon for a new tempo of inspiration. What adventures have you found these days?

L

my first big girl blogging appearance

Greetings, lovely readers!

I write to you from a (predictably) damp London. Honestly, there's no use in even checking the forecast here -- today was a 0% chance of rain, yet the whole city has been swallowed by a rather grouchy, gray raincloud. On the way home from a newly discovered library, I carpe'd some diem and did the only thing a girl can do: purchase tea and biscuits.

If you're in the mood for a cuppa, too, how 'bout you crack into the latest guest post on SoapVOX, a feminist website based in Manhattan? You'll see a rather friendly face, if you do (hint hint, it's me!).

Click here to read it!

L