Shakespeare's Globe
Jade, Melissa, Myself and one of Jade's friends went to Shakespeare's Globe! We saw "Much Ado About Nothing" and stood in the "peasants area". This area was the part right by the stage where you stood for the entire play. The actors were brilliant and we even saw Jeffery from the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air play the role of the King! The actors were so close, it was a totally different theatre experience than anything I've ever seen before.
Visiting Craig in Manchester - June 11th / 12th
I spent a night up in Manchester visiting my buddy Craig from back home in Toronto. Craig is a friend from the high school era who had been working in Manchester for the past year. It was great seeing him and meeting his buddies. We toured around Manchester and went on the Manchester Eye (not as cool as the London Eye, sorry norther neighbors). We also came across a Malibu makeup tent promotion and I got a free makeover! Craig was a good sport and stood around awkwardly as I got dolled up. In the evening, a lot of his friends were at a music festival close by so we met up with them afterwords. Had some drinks and some dancing and some laughs! Good times! The hungover 5 hour bus ride back to London was not much fun the following day though...
Cocktail Mixing Class - June 16th
As part of Melissa's birthday gift and Jade's goodbye, the ladies of Felday went to a cocktail mixing class in Greenwich! They fed us cupcakes, showed us the tools to use and provided the alcohol to make 5 different summer drinks. We made: Passion Fruit Bellini, Caipirinha, Apple Moonshine, White Wine Sangria and a Pineapple Pina Colada. It was a lot of fun and a very welcome girly night out!
Royal Ascot - June 18th
We went to the Royal Ascot horse races again this year! It was a true Felday outing: Mon, Chris, Melissa, Fletcher, Jade and myself. Unfortunately, the weather was pretty unpredictable - alternating between gorgeous sunshine to 10 minute rain showers. I was prepared though. Even with my nice classy dress on - I wore my wellies! I looked like a complete tool at the station but as soon as we got there and it started raining - look who was laughing now! :P In pure classy Ascot style, we drank wine and bet on horses mostly because of their names. I even won about 10 pounds on a horse named "Waffles" with that strategy! It was a lovely day full of fun, betting, and wine. Let's just not mention me sleeping on the ground of the train carriage on the way back home.... :)
Mom and Dad Howse visit! - June 19 - 24th
My parents came to London for a week to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary. They spent a week living in Whitechapel and then a week home on the St. Mary Cruise ship across the Atlantic to get back to North America! I toured them around Harrod's, The Imperial War Museum (for father's day!), saw the musical Betty Blue Eyes (very recommended!! It was hilarious!), and visited Windsor Castle (I can't believe I hadn't been there yet! It was gorgeous!!). It was wonderful showing off my city to them. They arrived at a time when I was really homesick so I appreciated them visiting even more. :)
Britain's Got Talent - June 23rd
We had become addicted to this show while in England. It was always on! So when a groupon came up that offered 15 pound tickets to see the top 10 acts, we went for it. It was at the 02, so that was an experience in itself - such a big stadium! Michael Jackson was supposed to play there - single tear. The performances were fun, but I think this little boy blew them all away. Ronan Park. He was bloody brilliant, but came in second place.
Bournemouth Day Trip - June 26th
I was getting itchy feet from my lack of traveling and the limited time I had left to travel, so I convinced Jen (and her friend Joe) to come with me for a day trip to Bournemouth, a seaside town with a SANDY beach! it was about two hours away from London, but the commute wasnt' that bad. When we first got there, it was cloudy and foggy but we were determined to make the best of it. Then, a few hours later, it was sunny and wonderful! I swam in the Atlantic!!! We dozed on the beach, got burned, ate ice-cream and walked along the pier. It was a lovely lovely summer day. :)
Mumford & Sons / Arcade Fire / The Vaccines - Hyde Park June 30th
I FINALLY SAW MUMFORD AND SONS!!!! There have been four opportunities and four misses to see them in concert, but I finally did and they were wonderful! Oh and the other bands were great too! :) It was fun going to a concert at Hyde Park. Huge venue, cheap beers, good vibes. The Vaccines sang most of their album, catchy fun indie rock. Then Beruit preformed (i wasn't too fussed about that band). Then Mumford came on and I lost my mind. I squirmed my way to a better view and lost everyone else until they went off stage. They were wonderful and I am a total fan girl when it comes to Marcus Mumford. lol. Arcade Fire were great too, but I only know a few of their songs. Canadian content what! :)
Canada Day @ Trafalgar Square - July 1st
A tradition as of last year, we went down to Trafalgar Square to celebrate Canada Day with all the other ex-pats. They sold poutine, curly fries, Molson and Sleeman's. They had street hockey tournaments. We all wore red and white and tons of temporary tattoos. I convinced my Aussie friend Andrew to come join us and he was an honourary Canadian. Mike Myers made a surprise appearance and waved to the crowd. Cabbie on the Street and that Asian chick from E Talk hosted the event. Blue Rodeo headlined the concert. We met a bunch of new awesome people, including a cool South African model/photographer named Zeke (who came to my goodbye party the next day!). Great day full of Canadian pride!
Goodbye Party - July 2nd
We had a "Bye Bye Susan" party at Felday on the Saturday. Complete with flipcup, beer pong, disco balls and a dancing frenzy. It was so nice to see everyone one last time!
Billy Elliot - July 5th
As my last night in London, I went with the girls to see Billy Elliot. It was good, but not as amazing as everyone had hyped it up to be. I still think that Wicked was the best theatre show I saw in London. But either way I loved how we went out for my last night!
Phew! There you go! Recap of June!!!
