the golden days

I only have three weeks left in Europe.  Cue sad face.  

I'm very excited to go home.  Don't get me wrong, there are so many things I love and miss about America, and so many things I have come to dislike about London (cost of living, homicidal drivers, constant rain, to name a few).  But those things I dislike about London pale in comparison to the magic of being young and living in Europe and having absolutely not a care in the world beyond finishing a super-easy paper or finding a cheap flight to the next weekend destination.  I'm going to be so sad to leave London, as excited as I am to see my family and friends.  Looking back on this semester, I realize just how lucky I've been to have this experience, and have it the way I have had it...interning, making some amazing new friends (both in the program and among Europeans!), using my French, visiting my best friends all over Europe, seeing the world on a shoestring budget and loving it anyway.  

I've drunk cheap wine, dined on the most innovatively cheap meals possible, and cut costs wherever I can, and it has been so worth it.  I've seen amazing plays and musicals.  I've visited museums I'd only read about in books and seen innumerable works of art, artifacts, and relics.  I've pub-hopped, clubbed and socialized in bars like a real grown-up.  I've mastered public transportation and traveling alone.  I've heard Mass in some of the most famous churches in Christendom.  I've learned to budget and watch money more effectively than ever.  I've gained work experience I couldn't possibly have gotten in the States that will look amazing on a résumé.  I've created memories and stories that will last a lifetime.  

I know I'm getting really sentimental but I just spent 20 minutes on the phone with my mom (who turns 50 today! Happy birthday Mom!) talking about life in general and it made me realize just how fortunate I've been.  I have the best family.  I have the best friends.  I have the best life.  I only hope everything continues to be as golden and wonderful as it has thus far.  

Anecdotes from an amazing week:

1. On Monday at BBDO I put together the budget for a 100-person worldwide company conference in Madrid this July...and my supervisor told me it was "phenomenal." On Tuesday Steph and I worked together all day to totally redesign the system for expense claims and automate it.  Again, we got a great review on our work, and being able to speak up about why we'd done what we'd done made me feel like a huge contributor to a project that will actually have long-term impacts for the company.  I love my job!!

2. On Tuesday night we saw an absolutely amazing play called "London Assurance" at the National Theatre for my London Theatre class, with two of the best comic actors in the UK, Simon Russell Beale and Fiona Shaw (who played Aunt Petunia in the Harry Potter movies).  It was absolutely beyond critique...perfect acting, a beautiful set, great costume design, a plot that kept you riveted and laughing the whole way through.  Our professor called it "a show of glee incarnate" and I agree 100%.  One of the best plays I've ever seen.  I smiled the entire rest of the night!

3. On Wednesday I received flowers at the London Centre from somebody special :) and they were gorgeous and made me happy.  I also discovered Monmouth Coffee Company, the "best coffee in London," and found out that the reputation is true.  Best cappuccino I've ever had...and second-best croissant (the first best being in Paris, of course).  If you are ever going to find yourself in London, ESPECIALLY if you are in the London Program, go to Monmouth Coffee Co.  It's right on the way to class from K-M and it's to-die-for.

4. "Glee" is back and I love it.  Peter, Colin and I watched it Wednesday night and it was so great.  So so great.  :)

5. Today after London Theatre class, a bunch of girls went to Bea's of Bloomsbury for tea and cupcakes.  Red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.  And black-vanilla tea.  Oh my goodness, my taste buds died and went to heaven.  I also made a new friend, Laura, who will live right down the hall from me next year.  I'm so excited now for a year that sounds like it will be full of amazing ladies and lots of good times.  

I just feel happy all the way through right now.  I can't wait to see how much I can get out of these next three weeks...hopefully everything continues to be as great as it's been so far.  Sending lots of love radiating out around the world...because happiness like this should be contagious :)