update

i felt like i was overdue for an update. so here's a laundry list of what i have been doing:
-started at beggars/xl/matador yesterday. my boss is RAD and the work is really teaching me alot. perfect.
-start my international entertainment law class next week. the material looks interesting
-been going out lots and having lots of fun. i need to curb it before i die/go broke
-been jog/walking in regent's park every chance i get (unless i am paralyzed by a massive hangover as i am this morning)
-boys: the reason for the season. haha
ok, must go eat breakfast and read for work.

so it turns out i'm what they call a "gambling addict"

i went to the bookie today and he called me by my first name. and for good reason. i've been frequenting him quite a bit for placing my bets on just about anything: horse races, dog races, football, etc. i have even bet on some cricket matches going on in india (note: i have never even watched a game of cricket). so, yeah, i guess i officially have a "gambling addiction." but i'm not afraid or upset. oh no. gambling is just like any other hobby or pastime. in fact, it makes other pastimes more fun and brings fun to the boring or even traumatic things in life. here's some examples of how gambling can improve our everyday lives:
-watching the world cup: fun; watching the world cup when you bet on the first goal scorer: REALLY FUN
-going to the gym: not fun; betting with a gym buddy on whether my face will turn purple after 1 minute on the treadmill or two: REALLY FUN
-finding out your pet has cancer: kinda sad; betting with your friends on how soon they will die: more fun than before

ok, so anyway, i rest my case. and its not really an addiction. i could stop anytime....but what are the odds of that happening? 123,456,633 to 1.

beware

if you are anywhere in the UK or Ireland and you decide to chat someone up, make sure to find out how old they are. Because of the young drinking age and the toll that starting to drink at 3 years old has on the aging process, people look much older than they are in these parts. In the past week, I have hit on a 20 year old and a....oh god,...17 year old (he looked 26!). shouldn't young people be wearing uniforms or something? jesus christ.

balls are great for sluts and alcoholics

So yesterday i went to a ball with my old friend Ieuan at Cambridge University. It was quite impressive. There was any type of alcohol or food you could want in great quantity, there were surprisingly good bands playing, and it was in an ivy-walled courtyard. The only bad part about the ball was the lack of hot people. The boys were skinny, pale, and pimply (though with high earning potentials, in their defense). The girls, though some having good bodies, were quite dog-like with frumpy fashion sense. However, Ieuan and I managed to find some catches and have a bit of fun despite the challenge.

It is good not to have any trips ahead of me. I am enjoying London a lot right now. I have been having jogs in Regent's Park, pints at every bar in the neighbourhood, and well, more pints at different bars in different neighbourhoods. I start working next week and my international entertainment law class starts the week after so I am going to try to organize my life a little bit before I have responsibilities again. Sorry about yet another boring blog.

italy

so, i was in italy for a few days and haven't been able to blog. we drove overnight 8 hours to the coast of italy and here are the things I did: consumed mass quantities of wine, went to venice, got badly sunburnt (which will turn into a beautiful bronze tan), took part in some drunken romps (ow, watch the sunburn, please), watched A LOT of football (world cup, baby), gambled in a tiny Italian Alpine town, and ate lots of awesome food.
ok, so what has been cool is that i am very much in the middle of the world cup but my viewing experiences have been quite strange (in a good way). i watched germany play in an outdoor cafe in venice with hannes (a german) surrounded by italians and german tourists. next, i watched england play at an italian hotel bar with a bunch of italians and sunburnt english tourists and a german. tomorrow, i will watch the US play in a swiss bar with...swiss people. but the greatest part is that switzerland has made it to the world cup for the first time since the tudor period and everyone is going crazy! so, on tuesday, i will be in switzerland to witness firsthand just how rowdy the swiss are. haha. another funny thing is that the swiss national football team got beat up by the turkish national football team after they beat them in the last qualifying match. golden.
anyway, europe is good. we are playing tennis tomorrow and going to a swiss law school party tomorrow night (jasmine's boyfriend luca is in law school). i suspect i will have to pre-game before the swiss law school gig since i hate most law students and lawyers.
sorry if this is dull. now i have to sleep.
xox

another spectacular lazy day in zurich

here's what i did today:
1) ate my weight in nutella and bread for breakfast.
2) sat online for three hours
3) went with luca on his boat in lake zurich and had a yummy lunch
4) paid my respects to coco by visiting zurich's chanel boutique
5) met with jasmin and we all bbqed at luca's and drank swiss beer

tomorrow, i am having a spa morning and then i am making dinner for everyone, then we are going out drinking and from there, we are going to drive all night to Venice (8 hours).

it's not all fun though. i have to read a book about the music business before i start at matador/beggars. but, you know what? it really is all fun.

i feel bloated...let's go topless on the beach!!

It was too expensive to drink anything but beer in Iceland. In England, well, I drank everything and now in Switzerland, I am being fed like a sumo wrestler and have been sucking down the wine. I think the healthiest thing I have eaten in the past week has been a piece of marzipan that was shaped like a carrot. i am now vacation pregnant (vacation pregnant-a state of bloat resembling pregnancy often acquired on holiday). so, you can imagine my excitement about hitting the beaches of Italy this weekend with my svelte Swiss Jasmin (bless her toned little heart). I've decided that my best solution is to get one of those sarongs and just wrap it around my entire body and head. Then, no one will even know who I am, let alone the fact that my skin is in distress and the state of my body has made me one step closer towards being Danny Devito's doppleganger. I think everything will be better once I reduce my caloric intake to less than 30,000 calories a day and start drinking less than 3 liters of booze each night.
Other than feeling like shit (thank you, London), I'm having a great time in Switzerland. I am going to do a lot of sightseeing (as well as partying) with my friends here. I arrived in Basel yesterday, went on a ferry to an old church (that was closed), had a massive dinner Jasmin made, and then went to the discotheque and danced whilst dodging some ugly Swiss guys all up on my shit. This morning, I have the house to myself and am just being lazy as Jasmin has a packed itinerary for every second I'm here.
I will put pics up later. No nude shots...I promise.

LONDON!!!

So, I am flying to Switzerland in a few hours where I'm sure I'm going to have a blast, but let me say...I did not want this weekend to end. Friday, I got drunk with Flick (lovely roomie). Then, on Saturday, I met with Ilana and we spent the day in Camden Garden and then had lunch at a gay bar (these gay men weren't very nice to women, by the way). Then Saturday, Flick, Simon, and I had the best time: starting off at the house drinking champagne, then going to a beer garden, then Flick and I went to the dodgiest rock and roll bar and plowed down Stella and got down on the dance floor. I met a hot skinny Richard Ashcroft-esque Swiss boy (who is flying to Switzerland today oddly enough) and we made friends with these really great guys in a band called the Reverend Coyote. On Sunday, super hung over, we went to the park and watched our new mates' band play and we ran into almost every guy we met the night before...from the shady, but sadly hot, married guy who tried to hook up with me to the crazy guy on the dance floor with the fucked teeth and the bad disco moves.


So, the Swiss trip will be interesting. I am visiting one of my best friends ever, Jasmin, in Zurich and we are doing a road trip down to Venice with her boyfriend Luca and his friend Hannes (there's a past...). Before we leave, though, we are going to watch Luca and Hannes on a Swiss game show. Class.


I'm going to be so strung out once I have to actually start working. OH oh oh! London is so good to me...

Farewell, beautiful land of constant sunshine and $20 beers...

My last night in Iceland was wonderful. We had a few drinks in the really cool bar that Damon Albarn (Blur) owns. I ran into this Icelandic girl that I met in New York, which was funny. After drinks, Ingi and I walked to the water and it was miserably cold. We pretended like it was summer time and ate Icelandic cheese puffs and talked about puffins and the big problem Iceland has with child rape. I wish I could have stayed longer but I don't think I could stand another night of not sleeping or another night of spending waaaay too much money for alcohol.
My departure was bittersweet. We decided to stay up all night because I had to leave for the airport at 5am. Sounds like a good idea, right? Wrong. Imagine lugging 150 lbs of luggage onto the London tube while fighting to stay awake while standing up! This was my reality today. However, I arrived to my London house to be pleasantly surprised. The location is ideal and the place is just huge and gorgeous. I still haven't slept and I am toying with the idea of going out on the lash tonight just cause I'm here. Ah yes, I am the queen of good ideas.
Well, just keeping everyone posted. I am too tired for wit at the moment.
xox

Oh, Iceland!!!

Iceland. I have learned that perfection is tangible. Sure, you pay for all the hot hot boys through overpriced alcohol, food, clothes, and well, just about everything…but let me tell you: it is SO SO SO worth it.

Before I came here, I had this image in my head of everyone seeing me and thinking I was exotic and different. Nope. In fact, shockingly, the opposite has happened. Everywhere I go, despite the fact that there are foreigners everywhere, people keep speaking to me in Icelandic and three people I befriended admitted that they thought I was a local when they first saw me. I suppose I should take it as a compliment. The local girls are fabulous. Right now, they are all wearing leopard print, big dangly earrings, 80’s retro, and fake Chanel bags. Other than the fact that my Chanel bag is real, I can totally relate to their tastes.

Also, before I came here, I expected everyone to be freakishly good-looking. This is not the case. I have only seen a select few of the typical 6-foot tall blonde model types. In fact, lots of the girls are normal height, chunky, but oh so fabulous. And the boys? Well, they are doing quite well for themselves these days in Reykjavik. The beauty is definitely here and when you see it, it is absolutely breathtaking. Last night, I went to Sirkus, the hottest spot in Reykjavik—where Bjork and the Sigur Ros boys can be spotted if you’re there on the right night. Of course, I pre-gamed in my room since I knew that a mixed drink would probably set me back close to $20 and it is not custom for boys in Scandinavia to buy drinks (and for $20 a pop, I don’t blame them). Of course, after I went out and met some people, I realized that the myth about Scandinavian boys not buying drinks was a myth. I got wasted for next to nothing. I had the good fortune to befriend the cutest boy named Ingiberg (pronounced Ink-a-Bear) at Sirkus, who works at the big Icelandic record label 12 Tonar (check them out---http://www.12tonar.is). He introduced me to the label owner and Sigur Ros' producer (who also produced most of the Queen albums)---and we all got trashed on Black Death and Viking lager. I'm at the 12 Tonar shop right now burning almost everything they have. If you haven't already, check out Singapore Sling and Hudson Wayne. They are amazing bands on the label.

So, the nightlife is funny. It was hard for me to get used to being dressed like a total slut and going out in broad daylight. Of course, this lessened the blow of this morning's Icelandic walk of shame back to my place (come on--you knew that was coming). Tonight, we are going for a traditional Icelandic dinner. I'm excited because I love bland fish dishes.

So, yesterday during the day, I discovered all the Reykjavik vintage stores which are nothing less than fabulous. Since everything was so expensive, I decided I wouldn't buy too much. Of course, I then proceeded to buy too much.

The weather has been on again/off again rain but I’m not fussed. One minute, it is sunny and bright, then it is pouring rain for 4 minutes, then it is bright and sunny again. Apparently this is normal here. I am quickly becoming used to it. The friendly vibe and surreal beauty of this city more than makes up for the spontaneous downpours. Reykjavik is now one of my favorite places on Earth. The effect it has had on me in the short period I've been here is indescribable. I'm definitely going to come back soon. Ok, so now I'm going to get out and do some sightseeing before I go get obliterated on Viking again.