2 weeks ago yesterday, I landed in London, and wow, time has flown! The last week/weekend has been unbearably hot… in an apartment building with no AC. I am dying. I was NOT made for heat. I seriously don’t understand how people live here without AC in the summer. Anyways, here’s a little ramble about the last week: 

Last weekend consisted of lots and lots of shopping, and a cutie little day-trip to Brighton, UK, which is a beach town about an hour and a half train ride out of London. So much good food has been consumed over the last few weeks. 

Had dinner with Zoe Griffin at The Black Dog last Thursday, and the chicken nachos were fire. I LOVE seeing friends from home/high school because you best believe that dead horse is going to be beaten. It is also a refreshing reminder that real life still exists outside of my life here. The pub itself is awesome all around; we went back on Monday. 

Most importantly, I tried UK McDonald’s for the first time. Life. Changing. I had a sweet chili chicken wrap. The chicken tasted so real and perfectly breaded. And there were cucumbers on it. CUCUMBERS. McDonald’s having fresh cucumbers was genuinely the most insane thing to me. They also have better McFlurry options. I obviously had to indulge in a Biscoff cookie McFlurry. It was awesome.

Now, I am sitting at my internship mentally packing for PARIS this weekend! I am so excited to see Andrea and spend the weekend with my friends here, too. It is going to be one large party. I am pretty nervous to stay in a hostel for the first time… but we will only be there for 48 hours. You can do anything for 48 hours, right?!? Hopefully, I do not get robbed. Can’t wait for Brandy Melville.

I have also been coping with the fact that I am actually taking classes here, and they are lowkey not Mickey Mouse. I just wrote a 4-page paper. Really been trying to lock in and put the study in study abroad, but that’s not as easy as opening Skyscanner and planning a weekend trip. 

But I have been thinking about this text from my dad all week. He sent me a picture of Olivia Guyer’s house on CTC, and wow, I miss home! 

It’s hard to be away from all the people you love when everyone is all together except for you!!! Thank god it is the middle of the night here when everyone is together back home. Been trying to remind myself that I am living my dream in London and Europe, and you always want what you can’t have.

The text was a good reminder for me to stay present where I am, and soon enough, a raspberry lemonade Surfside will be waiting for me back in Minnesota. And Chick-Fil-A breakfast chicken minis. And a vanilla iced crafted press with oak milk. 

For those of you who care, here’s what my next few weekends are shaping up to be: 

May 29-31: Paris with Andrea, Eleanor, Kyla, Prestyn, Ariella, Emma & Alli. Plus Andrea and Eleanor’s friends! 

June 4-7: Malta with Kyla and Prestyn 

June 12-14: Dublin with Ana Lopez #reunited

Love and miss everyone so much😘

Wow! What a whirlwind the last week has been. Let me just lay it out for you. 

Monday: Had a final from the J-school until 4 pm. Drove all the way back to MN that night and got home at 11:30 pm 

Tuesday: Finished packing and left for MSP at 7:30 pm. Took off around 11. Booked my train and hostel to see Eleanor and Andrea in Paris! 

Wednesday: Landed in London at 1 pm BST 

I learned that Heathrow Airport is nothing like I thought it was going to be. I expected it to feel like Minneapolis, and this felt… ratchet? I had no idea how to order an Uber; it probably took me 30 minutes to get to the right place. Sat in an Uber for over an hour to get to my hotel and learned very quickly why everyone takes public transportation. 

Got to the hotel, met up with Kyla (my roommate), and it is genuinely terrifying how similar we are. Every time I learn something new about her, we increasingly become more alike. We went to dinner at this hole-in-the-wall Fafal place, and it was FIRE. 

Thursday

We moved into our apartment, which is amazing. Each of us has our own room with a beautiful view of Vauxhall. Seriously, I couldn’t have asked for anything better.

Prestyn, our third roommate, flew in, and we all went grocery shopping, walked around the neighborhood, found some pubs, and hopped around to different restaurants for dinner. I love the area that we live in; it is the perfect neighborhood vibe while still being close to the city. 

Friday

Orientation! We navigated the tube for the first time and got Blank Street, which was so fire. Jet lag really started to hit as we were running through presentations that felt like they were dragging on and on. We met this group of girls from Florida who live in our building, and we went shopping in Sloane Square with them. Reminded me a lot of Santana Row in San Jose, CA. I could have dropped a BAG in Subdued, but it’ll be a purchase for later on in the trip. The shopping in London is insane, but the conversion rate is KILLER. Like, I mean killer. But money comes back… 

We got ready and went out to some pubs close to our apartment with more girls from our building. Everyone was so nice and welcoming, and I felt like these were my people. During orientation, I was feeling very weary about some of the girls in the program, but the friends we have made are truly the best! We pub crawled and found the cutest place called Cavendish Arms. Awesome cocktail menu and a great vibe. If Hunt and Gather in Edina were a little less creepy and a bar, it would have similar vibes. We had a great night and came back early (since everything closes at 11). 

Saturday

Notting Hill. 

Just like the movie! The Portobello market is just like you see it on TikTok, if not better. I would’ve done some insane damage if I hadn’t already spent like $400. I will be back. 

Went home, and went out to SoHo to Waxey O’Connor’s and O’Neills. Learned why my family loves Irish pubs so much, and I definitely inherited that gene. I had the time of my life. 

Sunday

After a 3 am bedtime, we had a super slow morning and ended up at Borough Market for a little Linner action. The chocolate-covered strawberries were everything I could have dreamed of. I am so glad that I am here for a long period of time so I can go to the market on different days to try different things, because there were so many good options I couldn’t have stomached it all in one day. 

Went home and bed rotted for 4 hours. I needed a reset after last week. 

I can’t lie tho, today (Sunday) has been harder for me. I knew I would experience a little bit of culture shock, but it is a little bit different from what I expected it to be. I never thought there would be a language barrier between two English speakers. I would go and order a coffee, and it kind of felt like a different language depending on who you are talking to, which I guess I didn’t expect. 

It is also starting to hit me that I am working/going to school from 9-6 Monday through Thursday every week. My schedule back in Kansas was super hectic, so it’s nothing new to me. The newness of London is starting to wear off, and it is sinking in that I am not just traveling for 8 weeks, but taking classes and working an internship. I am so grateful to be here, and I am having an awesome time, but boy, do I miss Minnesota! It was so hard to have a glimpse of being home, just to turn around and leave again. I am already having FOMO from Melanie’s 21st birthday in June. 

Traveling without my dad is also weird. We have always been travel buddies. I cried in the airport when saying bye to him because it is just so weird to not have him here with me. I felt his absence today while I was at the Borough Market because everything reminded me of him! 

I am super excited to see Andrea and Eleanor in a few weeks and I think that will be the perfect thing for me to help reset. Looking forward to starting work and school this week and I’m sure I will have another update soon enough. Love and miss you all if you read all of this!!!!! 

Letters, Chapters & Moments

Many of you who know me personally know that my family dynamic is one of a kind. My mom and stepdad are the godparents to my dad’s child with his new wife. Wild. 

My parents have never raised their voices at each other in front of me. I have never seen them fight. In the 18 years since the divorce, all that there ever has been between the two of them is mutual respect. When I was 8, my childhood dog Molly passed away. She was originally my mom and dad’s dog, but my mom got her in the divorce. It was really hard on everyone, and I vividly remember my dad and mom hugging and crying for a long time. I think that’s when it clicked with me how lucky I am to have parents who are so emotionally mature for my sake. 

As I get older, I realize how hard it must have been for my parents to go through something as emotionally heavy as a divorce, but they still put on a brave face for the sake of my childhood. That is the ultimate sacrifice I will never be able to repay them for. 

My mom and Pete got married in the spring of 2013 on the beautiful Sanibel Island, Florida. I am not going to sit here and act like I didn’t throw a tantrum when Pete proposed to my mom. It was never personal; I ADORED Pete. He did and still does so much for me. But it was when I realized it would never just be my mom and me ever again, which was hard for me to understand at the age of 7.

My dad and Ash got married in the spring of 2014 in Key West, Florida. If you know my parents, it was one big party. We rented a beautiful Airbnb with a pool, and I had a ball. I don’t remember as much, other than my dad was sweating through his suit on the beach, and it was a small ceremony.

“Everyone wants a village, but no one wants to be a villager.”

My parents are the definition of villagers. They moved a mile apart to make my life easier. They constantly drove me back and forth between houses when I forgot something (especially St. Hubert uniforms). And they would do anything for each other’s children. Maggie, Joey and Mateo think they are cousins. It will always be Aunt Kara and Uncle Pete. Now with all of them at St. Hubert’s, they all spend so much time together. My dad literally watched Maggie and Joey for an entire week, so my mom and Pete could celebrate their anniversary in Florida. 

If there is one thing that has shaped my values today, it will always be the way my parents and family treat each other. I would not be who I am today without these people. 

Life is too short for grudges.