passion fruit && boston butt

cheerio! okay, so, yeah. i know i've kinda been MIA for a while now, but guess what!? I'M BACK! you thought you could get rid of me. you thought 3,500 miles would be enough to lose me. you thought a 5 hour time difference was enough to throw me off the scent. oh no. you're wrong. i'm back and you best be ready for more!

okay. so that was the original opening to a post that i started about 1 month ago, and i thought it was pretty witty, so i kept it in (along with the blog title, which i think had to do with valentine's day...not too sure). ANYwho. i wanted everyone to know that i am, in fact, very much alive and will be TRYING to add random updates/pictures whenever i can, during my last few weeks abroad. but, due to popular demand (aka threatening blog comments and facebook messages) here is a real quick update on the past 2 months (which will hopefully be elaborated in separate posts later on):

1) traveled to brussels/bruges, belgium. my passport was stolen. had to sneak back into the UK. i am now an illegal immigrant.



2) went to roller disco with the mates. only fell once, but it was due to a backside attack from a man in a business suit. clearly, not my fault.



3) won a free trip for 2 to stonehenge/bath. took along renee. met the aliens who put together the stones. swam in the roman baths. ate my first pasty.



4) went to my first footie game (portsmouth vs. everton). portsmouth won (YAY!). met the insanely sexy mr. niko kranjcar. renee couldn't speak. met a croatian television crew. renee spoke croatian. i pretended like i could understand them. bought a portsmouth scarf and football keychain. slept next to a drunk && crazy old man on the bus back to london.



5) went on a day trip to brighton. walked on the beach. ate a crepe. ate some ice cream. ate some japanese noodles. caught some flies on the bus back home.




6) oh yeah. and went to school.

well, there you have it! i hope you enjoyed the pictures and i'll be doing more random updates soon. much love!
- laurenlash

ps. i leave for athens, greece (to visit the beautiful and amazing helena and sara!) on friday for spring break! then the madre comes to visit me in londontown, and we hop over to paris. needless to say, much more fun to come :D

the end of the end and back again.

good morning, everyone! as you can see, i survived my first 2 days of classes. all i can say is i better get in all of my weekend trips and release all of my touristy urges before classes get too intense. but in all honesty, i love my professors so far and am excited to actually study in a completely different country. go England!

but actually, i felt like i was back in the states for a few hours last night. as EVERYONE knows (and if you don't, you live under a rock and should stop reading this blog right now and pick up a bloody newspaper...and hit yourself with it) yesterday was the inauguration of now President Barack Obama. if you know me at all, it was a bittersweet event. being a republican, i voted for mccain, but i can't sit here and deny the fact that history has been made. it's amazing to see how much our country has progressed over the years, and i am interested to see how/if Obama follows through with his promises. anywho! in the spirit of the day, some friends and i went to Sports Cafe (an American-geared bar) and took part in all the red, white, and blue festivities. people in London were so excited for Obama's inauguration that i almost believed i was back in new york. needless to say, i sucked it up and sipped on some cider while listening to Britney Spears (and other classic American hits) and avoiding this one british man trying to scam us poor, stupid american girls. nice try. my mama taught me better!

however, in the end, i'm proud to be an american, but i'll enjoy being over here in londontown for obama's first few months ;) cheeriohhh snap!

picture cred: (the real big ben) thanks to, me!

falling in love.

so i'm sitting here on sunday night enjoying my last few moments of complete freedom with a cup of twinings while listening to "the ting tings" (you should totes look them up) with a view of kings cross and st pancras stations in the distance. i know what you're thinking, can it get any better? well, my friends, i believe it can.

last night there occurred a moment of pure ecstasy. on our way back from an nyu social event at smithy's bar, a torrential downpour snuck out from behind the clouds and enveloped me in the epitome of pure london-ness. words cannot express the feeling of love that overcame me while i ran through the narrow winding streets and alleys past hundreds of brits sitting in the pubs, all warm and cozy, sipping their cider. once i reached NIDO, what my friends thought was a beacon of salvation (and dryness), i stood outside, arms opened wide, looking up at the sky, thanking God for letting me have this life-changing/enriching experience that i'll remember for the rest of my life.

okay, so enough of the sappy stuff. today was a "half day guided panoramic coach tour of London" and when they said half day, they meant it. 4 hours with an extremely energetic british woman (who knew anything and EVERYTHING about London) and her secret-lover-man-bus-driver Keith. after seeing buckingham palace, the tower bridge, the tower of london, big ben (and i don't mean the egotistic, bigheaded steelers quarterback), and st paul's cathedral, we sloooowly traveled down sloane st, drooling over the gorgeous, untouchable clothing items. and that brings me back to my lovely cup of cranberry, raspberry & elderflower tea.

in conclusion, i have found true love in london. love of the dim-lit pubs, energetic british-speaking tour guides, parliament buildings(...), tripping on cobblestone streets, rusty park benches, bent over trees, running through pouring down rain in suede boots, smokey stoops, and bad british food. i could get used to this.

(picture 1: the sexy girls after the rain; courtesy of laura)
(picture 2: dome of st. paul's cathedral; courtesy of me)

the illegal crowd surfers.

so, it's offish. i'm in foggy london-town and yes. it is foggy :) it's kind of late here, so i'm just telling you i'm safe and happy and loving london a little too much! i love the streets, the buses, the phone booths, and i'm even loving how i almost got hit by a motorcycle not once, but twice! (btw. thank you renee and anthony for saving my life)

but anywho, cheers to the ULU loo, pub quizzes, amazing neighbors, dancing, accents, british advice, nigel freeman, aim/skype/facebook/the internet, and strongbow :)

a better post to follow. cheerio!

ps. picture courtesy of me. on shuttle ride from the airport to NIDO on 14/1/09

denial.

so it's now 06:30, and the padre wants to leave in 90 minutes, and that includes eating a french toast breakfast. i have 2 halfway filled suitcases that can allow a total of only 28 more pounds before i have to pay extra, i have 2 completely empty carryons, and my list of "last minute" tasks is one full page and growing. even as i stare at the London countdown (see first post) i am still in denial that i will be in london in less than 24 hours (after a 7 hour car ride and 7 hour plane ride. words cannot express my excitement! [i still can't decide if that's sarcastic or not]). i feel like i'm going back to the city (nyc, that is) for the next semester, and don't know when it will finally hit me. but anywho, i'm about to turn off my computer for the last time in the burgh, and just wanted to say cheerio! see you on the other side (of the pond).

all the best,
your newb world traveler.

I Elfed Myself

i love seeing other people's videos made on ElfYourself.com so i decided to make one myself! here's my friend Renée, Me, and the love of our lives, Niko Kranjčar (a Croatian football (soccer) player).

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Merry Christmas, Here's To Many More

Merry Christmas, everyone! we just finished opening presents, and yes. it really is 4am =) i just wanted to quickly thank everyone for their wonderful christmas wishes. i have realized how lucky i am to have such loving family and friends surrounding me during the christmas seasons. i really could not ask for anything more. God has blessed me with an incredible support group, and sometimes simply knowing that i have people who care about me so much is the only thing getting me through the rough times. so once again, thank you so much for everything you do for me, and i hope that someday i can repay every single one of you for what you do for me each day. i love you all, and can't wait to see some of you over break! and if i don't see you, please know that i am thinking of you during this happy season.

ja te volim! (i love you!)

xoxo laurenlash

PS. if you get a chance, you really should try to listen to Relient K's Christmas Album "Let it Snow Baby...Let it Reindeer". Relient K is a Christian Punk Rock music group, and some of their original songs on the album are extremely well-written. some of my favorites are "In Like A Lion (Always Winter), I Celebrate the Day, and Merry Christmas, Here's To Many More". enjoy!!