Yuck. Whiskey

KAILS... WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOU :) Official Jamison Wiskey Tester hehehe

"It's a Lovely Day for a Guinness"

COOL waterfall! This is the purified water that is put in the Guinness (i think)

At one point they had an entire room where people could post things. I'm sure they have to switch it everyday, but we all made sure to post a little something on the wall to show that we were there.
Santa Clara would be so proud haha

We made it to the top! 7th floor and you could see all of Dublin. Stunning if you ask me. This was my first ever Guinness. I have to say that it wasn't my favorite, but enjoyable none the less.

Nice Cliché Picture

*Luck of the Irish* Day 1

Kailey at St. Patrick's Cathedral

I lit a candle for everyone at home
*Christ's Cathedral*

Trinity College

A wedding we saw at Trinity College . . . nice kilts :)

"Laughing Leprechauns"

BEST WEEKEND EVER!!! I can't wait to go back to Ireland soon. Sorry, I'll put up more pictures and stories very soon. Love to everyone! Oh yes, and Pop was all over Dublin and says Hi to everyone :) XOXO

"Éirinn go Brách"

I'm off to go find the best looking leprechaun of them all :)
Enjoy the weekend everyone!! XOXO

PARTY AT KATIE HAYLEY & MEGS HOUSE/APT.

I HAVE A HOME I HAVE A HOME I HAVE A HOME HEY HEY HEY HEY!!!!! Okay... so it doesn't look like this, BUT who cares! It's a roof and has four walls! 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms a balcony kitchen living room THE WORKS! So...if anyone has some extra furniture sitting around let me know :) hehe. LOVE LOVE LOVE EVERYONE! Oh yes... I'm living with Hayles and Megarooooo and Britty is going to be our silly fun always there 3rd roommate :) LOVELY. Can't wait! COME OVER AND PLAY

Dad.... one step closer to having tea with the QUEEN!

Well I am a working woman once again!!! HOWEVER my boss nor the people I work with are as nice (or funny) as my friends at Therapak :)
I started my day like a typical Londoner as I sardined myself in the tube for about 45 minutes until I finally arrived at Bermondsey stop. I was warmly welcomed by the five employees that were in the office today and thrown into work immediately. I’m working with Lena, the president, for three weeks mostly in sales and marketing and then afterwards I will be downstairs with the events planning team. I'm pretty much intimidated as hell by Lena, but I'm sure I'll end up learning a lot from her. Today I made portfolio's (a.k.a. pretty paper with ribbon tied like a present haha), sent out their autumn newsletter, AND called everyone on the guest list for a party involving........... Prince Charles and Camilla WITH a guest performance by STING!
SERIOUSLY....... how cool is that?! Hopefully I'll get to wiggle my way into working overtime (for free of course – damn).

Anyway, it was a good first day and I got let out an hour and a half early … can’t ask for much more.

The Sights of Rome

St. Peter's Basilica
We got there a little late and the line was wrapped all the way around the circle. So, we settled for a picture infront instead

Couldn't help myself... I know it's a little stalkerish to take pictures of someone from behind, but hey... we're in Rome and there are cute little nuns walking along the street... why not!

Our Hotel ... wasn't I lucky :)

My favorite part of the picture are the dressed up Romans

The Ruins

DirtyWineNight

Thanks Meggers and Al for a FANTASTIC night! It was so good to see you both and I can't wait for us all to be back together in the winter. You have no idea how much I miss you! Thanks for sharing Florence with me! Meggers, can't wait to meet you in Dublin and then show you around London. Alpal, I'm bummed Dublin didn't work out, but prepare yourself for one huge reunion in January!

"Katie + Al '06 SCU" - Glad we declared our love for one another on a wall in Florence haha.

Beautiful girls, beautiful city, beautiful wine

The two girls I miss the most :)

Reunion with GEORGE!! XOXO to you!!

The Best of Firenze

Second Night in Florence
We were literally pulled inside for dinner by the chef who was standing out front

First day in Florence standing by the Fiume Arno

The Duomo

I bought my first piece of art from this man :)
Such beautiful paintings ... I couldn't resist

6 Days and 6 Words . . . that's all it took

Buongiorno, Ciao, Arrivederci, Grazie, Mi scusi, Prego
Welcome to Firenze

Hayles is an utter saint because she put up with my "Jim Houghton-ness" (Sorry Dad) throughout our entire 6 day travel. If you understand that analogy then you know that I was sitting at the airport two hours in advance and looking at a map for all the places we were going about an hour before we got there. But not to worry Daddy, I was everywhere on time with room to spare :)

Our trip started off after three hours of sleep on Saturday night. At 3:30am we traveled down the 91 stairs and while we had backpacks on and bags under our eyes we opened the door to a whole crowd of people just coming in for the night. It was a little silly - oh well. As I explained to my parents, the ride to Heathrow felt like an "E" ticket ride and while it usually takes about 35 minutes via car we were there in 15! After a long wait we finally checked in and plopped down in our seats. First landing in Milan and then Florence I stepped into an entirely different world.

Florence is very small, but to a newcomer it can be quite overwhelming (at least for me). We started off small, but by the end of three days I felt that I had a grasp of the city. We had absolutely delicious dinners, relaxing lunches, yummy gelato all surrounded by amazing friends. It was so nice to see all my SCU buddies after such a long time apart. We visited Santa Maria Novella, Uffizi Gallery, the Duomo, had wine on the river Fiume, and (my favorite) shopped in the street market searching for good little trinkets.

Our time was entirely too short and I wish I could have spent more time with Meggers and Alpal, but it made me that much more exited to go home in January and spend all our time together.

Thanks for sharing a little bit of your new-found culture. Ciao Ciao bellas

Welcome to Roma

Well... this is quite the story. You see Tuesday night was Santa Clara Reunion/Katie's 21st Florence Birthday/Hayley's 20th midnight birthday party. Needless to say we had a GREAT time. Therefore, as seen in earlier posts by multiple family members you understand that I was moving a little slow Wednesday morning. Okay... maybe very slow, but "when in [Florence]" right?? So, our travels to Rome were a little slow and quiet for Hayley, Lauren, and I. We took a taxi to the train station and then ended up in Rome around 2ish. We were booked for a hostel and were told that it was "centrally located," but that was not the case. We weren't even on the map! After what seemed like 3 hours of searching I thought I was going to break down and cry. We finally found it and then spent another 2 hours trying to cancel our reservation. It just wasn't very nice and definitely not a place three cute girls should be staying in. SO... but of course we did a hop skip and a jump and landed at the top of the Spanish Steps at a safe, very quaint little hotel. It was BEAUTIFUL! Although Lauren (our savior for most of the trip) left early, Hayley and I traveled all over seeing St. Peter's Basilica, The Vatican, Sistine Chapel, Coliseum, the Arch of Constantinople, Circus Maximus, the Ruins, and LOTS more that I can't really name.

My trip to Italy was a wonderful treat and an experience that truly made me feel more independent, self confident, and grown up. I feel a little worldlier now. It is such a romantic city and I hope to one day go back and revisit the places I saw and then continue to embark on many new adventures!

Hope you enjoy the pictures

CIAO

I'm off to Italy for the week!!
I'll update when I get back on Friday or Saturday

LOVE YOU ALL!!!

PS. Grey's ... SO GOOD :)
xoxo

I WON I WON!!!

Friday the 13th is actually a LUCKY day!

FIRST TIME IN A CASNIO....
FIRST TIME AT A SLOT MACHINE...

38 POUNDS!!!! SWEEEEEEEEEEEET

Peopleeeeeeee

Okay numero unooooooo.... take a look at the meds. see those. they're real nice. night nurse tickles my fancy right now. cold and flu relief helps at about 4 in the morning. chesty cough and all in one are complete shit nad chesty cough relief is nice during the day. seeeee you really don't want to hear about that.. do you? I'm boring and sick. I had a really cool doctor come to my room on Sunday and I'll be done with my pills on Saturday. neato.

secondddddly... see those lap tops and the nice little eye patches (thank you Virgin Atlantic) ..... it's finals week here and the three of us like to talk and not write papers. AKA we're not getting anything done. But it's back to good old Henry VIII - actually no, it's Mary I and Elizabeth right now. Anyone want to finish for me. I'm on page 2 and have at least 3 more to go. Bugger.


ps. i fully understand that i am the biggest dork in the world. and im okay with that.

Egg on Pizza ... whaaaaaattttt???

LOOK... it's so AWKWARD! Egg on pizza . . . who came up with that one?? Hayles, Britty, and Drew took me out to dinner tonight and when deciding what I should have I went with Prince William's fav. I don't know it's a new year ... thought I should try something different :) And it was surprisingly GrEAt. How cool .... Do you think Tony's will make it for me at home?? hehe

PS. Thank you Grace's for your long distance call! Sorry I missed you XOXO

HaPpY BiRthDaY & How about an interview too!

Sooooo… the whole American 21^st birthday celebration didn’t quite go as I thought it would. Instead of the usual 12:01 birthday bash, I had a nice little 20ml shot of my Night Nurse in hopes of sleeping through the night. Damn bronchitis!! Oh well! There is REALLY good news though. I slept for the first time in about 3 days! Oh my gosh I feel so great! Haha but seriously I think I’m getting better. I’ll be done with my antibiotics just in time for Italy! YIPEEEE can’t wait to see Meggers and Alpal!

I also had my internship interview this morning. I got there wayyyy too early. So, I had myself a little seat and watched the world go by for about 40 minutes. Then I walked in . . . shook the hand of the first person I met and asked where I could find Mark. The place is SO cool! I just had a little chat with my interviewer and then he showed me all around. They have a huge storage place full of china, vases, table cloths, etc., a full kitchen, gym, show room, and offices! Everyone is very relaxed and there are only 18 people in the company. I’ll be working mostly in event planning, but have many other opportunities to experience new things while I’m there. They also make us lunch everyday. How fun is that? The commute is only about 45 minutes and the attire is business casual . . . very nice!

Anyway, it’s finals week here. I only have one paper to write, but everyone else is pretty busy. I think we’re all looking forward to our upcoming travels. Hayley and I leave for Florence on Sunday and then we’ll come home from Rome on Friday. AND the next weekend we’re going to Ireland! I’ll be sure to look for a four leaf clover while I’m there.

Hope all is well at home! And again, thanks for all the b-day wishes! Cheers! XO

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY CHARLIE!!!

Buggie! It’s your 1^st birthday today!! I can’t believe how fast you are growing. I miss you and wish I could play with you and Ry this weekend. Give my Mommy and Daddy a kiss for me okay ;) I can’t wait to see you in December!! I promise to bring back some really cool gifts!!
LOVE YOU CHARLIE!!! Happy birthday!!

GO DODGERS!!

Go Dodgers!!!

Not to worry . . . Drew bought the whole playoff package!! Which means the game will be on in London tomorrow! Can't wait!

And a special thanks to Ginny, Lindy, and Grammie for my cards! You made my day :)