Let it Be

June 4

Hi!
3 hours of class this morning...
it was my first day of dish crew too. 
But wait,

silver lining

I got first choice at breakfast.
My favorite?
Banana yogurt with chocolate flakes

These muller babies have become

 a definer of my London experience.
You can't have a bad day,
when you start off with these.


We had to recite another poem today.
Ohhh how I love our TA
Paige Thompson,
aka
P.T.T.A,
P.T. Cruiser.
She is the best to recite poetry too.
This time I did Wordsworth's poem,
"Composed Upon Westminster Bridge."
My lovely friend Amanda Baugh and I
had a 
marvelous time 
trying to memorize it. 
Weird Kelsey-like sound effects included. 

It was time to go

back to Portobello Road.

This was the first time where I 

really

had 

to 

stop myself for a moment.

I stood there and realized that this may be

my last time on this street.

Soooo

I made sure to 

really

seize the day.

That meant eating 

one,

 two

black bottom cupcakes 

from Hummingbird Bakery.

 

  I had heard

that these were the

treats

to

beat.

Who knew that the treats within this box

would hold so much joy?

These were our final seconds

before the world of cupcakes as we knew it

would change...

forever.

 

Mmmm!

Soo soo delicious.

Let me add,

that I'm not a huge cupcake person.

So this,

this is a big deal.

 

I just wanted to dance

and sing

and twirl

and possibly frolic. 

And...

MaCall and I went back 

to buy another one

just twenty minutes later.

 

And to add to the joy

we went back to see our very favorite gal,

Cath Kidston

aka

Katniss. 

  

MaCall was just a little torn 

about which bag to buy

so she confided

in this lovely chap.

 

Woot woot.

and we both left happy!

 Oh Cath Kidston,

how we will miss you so. 

But we have our matching bags now

to always keep you,

and London,

near and dear

to our hearts. 

 

 

Little did I know

that tonight I would be seeing

Sir Elton John,

Stevie Wonder

and Sir Paul McCartney.

Mhmmm.

Everyone is in town

to celebrate the Queen's Jubilee.

I saw them broadcasted live

here...

 

 

Hyde Park,

One of my favorite places 

in the whole wide world.

It was a splendid night of  

wavin' flags,

 

 creepy yet somewhat awesome Queen masks,

 

 a fabulous British host
who made fun of Americans for 
"sitting and eating their peanut butter and jelly"

 ...he said, it's "jam."

but come on, 

we just can't call it peanut butter and jam!

and,

it was a night full of music.

I will never

ever,

never ever forget

when Paul McCartney sang 

"Let it Be." 

Tonight,
I felt like the luckiest girl in the world.
I truly feel blessed
that I am here in London
at this time
and tonight, 
that I was at Hyde Park,
singing "Let it Be"
underneath the stars,
surrounded by thousands of
happy and proud Brits.
 And either I cried,
or a huge gust of dust went into my eye,
from pure happiness.

Thank you London,
for one of the best nights
of 
my
life
:)
 

Diamonds are Forever

June 3

Before I came to London

 I would hear of

Queen Elizabeth the 2nd

and tend to think of

The Parent Trap...

(once again)

"We met on the QE2. 

 It's an ocean liner that sails from London to New York."

However,
Queen Elizabeth the Second
is so, so
oh so so so
much more than that.
She has been the reigning Queen now for
60 years.
Woah baby!
And to celebrate
the Brits threw her one smashing party.
It lasted the whole weekend.
Talk about a loved woman!
And now I can honestly say,
I love her too.
:)

Thank you for inviting us to your big party!

Here's Lauren and I with our own
Diamond Jubilee Flags
:)

Today after church
a group of us went down to the
Thames River
(pronounced Tems)
and parked it right in front 
of the Tate Modern
to see the river-boat parade.
And man oh man was it packed
with people
and
British pride.

Look, you can even see Amanda and Bronwyn
in front of this lady with the lovely hat.

To help us endure 

climbing through the masses of

enthusiastic,

fantastic,

love-the-Queen-tastic

people

the Centre provided us with food to make 

our own sack lunches.

That didn't last too long.

Not just the food..

(I mean, there were Snickers bars in there!)

but also the bags.

Jaden and I had a hard time coping at first.

...

then we realized we were in London

at the 

Queen's Diamond Jubilee,

and we couldn't help but smile

and take a picture

to remember this moment forever!

Other moments to remember...

We wanted to actually see

the Royal Family 

and the beautiful Thames

in all its glory.

But where to go?

There really were people

everywhere.

Ey yo Tarzan?

People were in the trees...

really anything that could hold you 

up into the London sky

was taken...

Except for 

our own secret weapon...

our huge muscles.

Oh yes,

we took turns holding each other up.

Probably one of my 

funniest

and 

favorite 

memories in London.

 

Right when we were ready

and heading back to the Centre for the night 

we had to stop because on the next boat

was

...

the Queen!

And just how did we know it was her?

I think it was all of the adorable kids screaming.

"God Save the Queen!"

at the top of their lungs
 that tipped us off.

:)

I absolutely love 

how much 

the people love 

her Majesty, the Queen.

Getting to back to the Tube was 

crazy.

The rain was pouring down.

Everywhere,

 dancing and singing.

I was so completely soaked, 

I didn't bother putting my hood on,

and I danced 

and I sang 

right along with them.

Happy Diamond Jubilee and Happy Sunday to Everyone!

At Wem-buh-lee

June 2

Do I love soccer?

Nay,

do I love football?

Yes.

Oh how I love football.

My first team ever

was back in Washington.

We were called

 the Breezers.

Do I have a Pochahantas hairtie in my side ponytail?

Once again,

yes.

I loved playing soccer.

I still love playing soccer.

But now I can say

I love football too.

I love football in England.

and most especially

 the

England

National

Team.

Thanks to my buddy Romm,

I got to dance like a fool

out of pure excitedness

because he let me have one of his extra tickets

here...

...Wembley Stadium.

Or as I like to say in my raps

to make it rhyme with things...

Wem-buh-lee.

(This was taken after I stopped

dancing to "like a G6"

in the middle of the street.)

Here I am with the kind man himself

in the

19th row

just before the game.

I felt like a little kid at Disneyland.

I have been dreaming of going to

Wembley

ever since I can remember.

And probably since even before I can remember.

Thanks again Romm,

you're the best!

It all started with

"God Save the Queen."

Attached to everyone's seat was a

piece of red or white paper.

We were asked to hold them up

when the national anthem started to play.

And when we all did

it made the England flag.

I have to admit I felt some British pride.

Just a tid bit :)

Here's the England vs. Belgium lineup before the game.

And it wasn't too long until

my main man

David Wilbeck scored.

And that's the way the score stayed for the rest of the game

:)

Cheers to England!

I was happy with that.

Oh yes indeedy I was.

But...

one thing I've learned about London

is to expect the unexpected.

Everything here is unreal.

Like seeing David Beckham

and my personal favorite moment of the night

...

seeing my main squeeze

Wayne Rooney

play the second half.

Here he is reppin the 2-0!

Listening to the crowds cheer

"Rooney, Rooney, Rooney!"

was so much fun!

Except I didn't just listen,

I cheered,

loudly.

And I was so excited,

I'm pretty sure even Rooney himself

may have been able to hear me!

At least I hope so.

:)

It was such an amazing night.

I can't wait until I get to come back

only 1 week from today

to see some more of my favorite

playahs...

...also known as...

J Beibs, Usher, Jessie J and Coldplay.

Thank you Wembley!

Peeta enjoys runs through Hyde Park, Double-decker buses and a nice cup of Fro-Yo

June 1

Seriously, 

where did May go?

June is a big month for me too.

I come home,

I start my internship,

and I get to work on wedding plans

...

no no not me, I didn't meet a British man :)

they're for my big brother and his adorable wife-to-be, Casey.

I started out the day with a 

run through Hyde Park

flyin' solo.

First song to kick it all off?

"What Makes You Beautiful."

Oh One Direction, 

MaCall and I think you are beautiful.

I have come to love Hyde Park.

This part is my favorite.

Plus, remember the picture of the 

awkward hugging bears statue,

the ones I named Polly and Rufus?

They live just right around the corner.

  I had to stop here for a minute

and just walk around.

I love the fountains, the people there, and the view of the pond.

All the while thinking of Wordsworth's words,

"Dull would he be of soul who could pass by

A sight so touching in its majesty." 

I've had a lot of moments like that here

where I've just had to stop and look around, 

reminding myself of where I am.

Kinda like a remix of "Stop in the name of love,"

but more like

"Stop in the name of London, before it's June 14th."

Today I also went to Greenwich!
That was one of the things on my list to do.
We took a boat there and everything!
This is Amanda
and I think she is soooo sweet.
Plus she's going to the Summertime Ball with
MaCall, Lauren and I.
:)

And see these shoes...
and these feet...
they have walked
and walked,
and walked
everywhere.
(with much swagger nonetheless)

First stop?

Food.

That's been a fun experience here.
We try to never go to the same place twice.
And this place...
well I don't think we'll ever see
 one like this again.

The Big Red.
Yummiest Margarita pizza
and
in a double-decker bus. 
I highly enjoyed myself.

And then...
...cue movie trailer soundtrack...
we stepped on the Prime Meridian 

 That's where the line of longitude is defined as
zero.
We couldn't stop laughing while we took this
for some reason.
I guess that line is just a good joke teller.


And here's the Jader-bug and I!
She calls me Kesley.

We've decided we can give each other 
nick-names
since we're just that tight.
We're top bunk buddies and
she wakes me up in the morning
since I am without an alarm clock.
I just love her.

 When we got back to London,
there was only one thing on our mind...
homework,
working out,
frozen yogurt!

Never,
I mean never
has frozen yogurt ever been so full
of such deliciousness!
Strawberries, kiwis, mangoes and blueberries?
Yes, please.


And what better way to end the night
than with
Peter Pan.

I would have written 
"Peeta"
because that way it sounds more British...
but
 now that Hunger Games are
swooping the nation
that's not the first thought.
No, no.
Peeta equals British Peter.
Peeta equals Katniss Baker Boy.

 Today was so much fun.
I really have learned that 
nothing
is ever 
a waste of time.
We can choose how we remember our time.
And I plan on remembering it
all
with a smile.