when tesco opens.

being back in london felt great.

i was already completely attached to the people that i've met here.

staying away from them for three days was agonizing.  

but the timing of things worked out quite well. 

we had plans to see jarrett's gig all together as soon as i returned. 

so i put on on of my new dresses and we headed off. 

we stepped into the dimly lit room after a bit of a walk. 

our strength in numbers filled the room. 

as jarrett's band began to play, it was clear that he had quite the fan club.

we showered him with compliments. "so buff!" "so buff babes". 

jesse quin himself had to acknowledge the overwhelming enthusiasm on display especially for our friend. 

by the time the show ended kebabs were sounding pretty good. 

it was because of our little stop to feed our tummies that we nearly missed the last tube. 

there we were. on the platform waiting for the tube. 

jarrett and liam were entertaining us with a little rendition of SNL's "dick in a box". 

but after a while we were sure that we missed the tube that we needed to go home. 

before we knew it we were running through the station. high heels and all. 

jarrett was yelling "last tube. last tube. run"

we made it. 

after finally reaching oakwood station, 

we collectively decided to stop by our friend chris' house. 

hour after hour passed with loud singing and rather philosophical conversations. 

laughs all around. and pictures to capture the moments. 

5 am rolls around. so of course, we have to wait for tesco to open so that the boys can buy some sandwiches. 6:30 comes, and selina and i found ourselves walking up snakes lane and to our beds. 

you know that you've had a good night when you go to bed after the sun rises. 

castles and cathedrals.

sadly enough, i was not feeling in the best tip top shape. 

my energy was dwindling. 

the feeling clearly self inflicted from my late nights. 

although i must say that the entire team of rugby boys in the next room did not do much for my recovery. six bunk beds of ten-year-old boys without adult supervision is bound to cause some boisterous disorder. 

but i was determined to see the sites despite the obstacles of rest. 

i've never had much luck with maps but i figured the touristy ones at the hostel would be much more fool proof than the rest. 

i started with trinity college. 

...st. partick's cathedral and park...

........dublin castle...

...........natural history museum

................the custom house

...................christ church cathedral.

these are the structures that fill the frames of my photographs. it is quite difficult to take pictures of yourself without 3/4 of your arm blocking the left half of the shot. no need to take silly myspace pictures in ireland. 

i also made a decision to do some therapy shopping. 

the streets that were lined with flowers, not to mention all the girls holding them, started to irritate me. PDA all around. single awareness day is not my cup of tea. thank goodness i wasn't in paris. 

it seemed that buying a few new dresses was a more than suitable solution. 

in between my tourist endeavors and shopping spree i witnessed some things you don't see every day. 

-a "viking tour" in which a bunch of tourist rode in a boat car with viking hats, making loud grunting noises as the tour guide pointed out interesting facts about the town. 

- a bunch of little rugby boys attempting to join in the guinness drinking game in the game room of the hostel. 

-a plethora of stale bread and jam advertised as an extravagant "free breakfast". 

good times. 

wholly isolated in adventure.

when i arrived in dublin, i was so appreciative of the little notes i wrote down.

scribbled in the corner of my notebook page was directions to my hostel. 

a doodle in dark black ink was my "map". 

jacob's inn had the honor and privilege of being the first youth hostel that i've ever inhabited. 

i was glad to hear friendly irish accents as i checked in. 

as i walked out of the doors to explore the town, i soon found that there were plenty of people eager to be extra friendly...a little too friendly. 

for the record, it is very difficult to ditch creepsters without the assistance of your friends. 

this australian boy invited himself on my exploration of the the city. 

i have never had a conversation filled with more awkward comments and even more awkward silences. i surprised it took me such a long amount of time to conjure up an excuse for exit. 

no need to go through the other numerous encounters on the streets of dublin.

i'll sum them up for you:  whistle. dance? day-um. 

etc. 

the temple bar district was interesting. 

clearly set up for tourist. 

most signs said something like "authentic irish music inside"

things of that sort. 

the cobblestone streets caused a real problems for all of the inebriated girls in high heels. 

i ended up going to bed quite early. 

it was wonderful to be in full control of the itinerary. 

i would wake with every opportunity to create my own adventure with no opposition. 

being alone in ireland for valentine's day weekend didn't turn out too bad after all. 

top o' the mornin' to ya'

until the night before, my preparation for my trip to ireland had gone swimmingly. 

train tickets and ferry journeys were all set to go.

i wrote down directions to my hostel and everything. 

but then i found myself suddenly convinced that, because of my soon-to-be three day absence, that i should go out to a club with my friends. i hadn't even properly packed, but i figured that i was alright at last minute packing anyways. 

i met up with stine, marianne and selina.

and of course we can't forget james and james. 

it ended up being quite the expensive outing with the cab and all

...but it was so worth it.

not to be cliche, but we danced the night away. 

literally, as in- we were well into the morning hours when we finally got back to halls. 

2 hours to pack and sleep. i split the time 50/50.

***

well thank goodness most of the population is fast asleep at 5 in the morning

because i would've been extremely embarrassed if anyone saw the speed-walking number i was doing down snakes lane. 

if it weren't for my large backpack, i would've more than likely broke into a jog.

but the lack of sleep was working against me. 

by the time i reached victoria station, i was nearly late for my train. 

approximately two minutes to spare. 

and in those 120 seconds, i was able to sprint towards the last platform to my train. 

just my luck that it was all the way down at the end. 

i was finally on the train. relief. time for nap time part two.

by the time i arrived in dublin, my sleep had been interrupted by my necessity to change trains twice and board a ferry. not to mention the screaming kids that went wild on deck 12. 

but finally, i had arrived. my second wave of relief had come. 

hillsong london.

from the day that i left i swore to pay a little visit to hillsong london. 

and so i kept true to my word. 

in fact, it was quite the trek to get there. 

i arrived a little bit late because of the unanticipated length of my walk from the tube station.

i was seated near the back of the theater where the service took place. 

but i had a clear view of the stage nevertheless and an overwhelming sense of the amount of people attending. 

the set up of the stage replicated the hillsong united dvd that i've seen about a billion times. 

they sang 'savior king'. which reminded me of iz and willie. 

in fact, the entire experience reminded me of home. 

it was so refreshing to be at church. and i left with a peace and joy like no other. 

marianne's "birthweek"

numbers increasing in increments of one

celebrating the passing of another year

the annual milestone known as your birthday. 

i've seen some extravagant festivities as far as birthdays go, but never before has a birthday extended an additional 6 days, thus creating a "birthweek". ...leave it to marianne to be the first.

it all started with a little thing i call a surprise party 

(which was disguised as a birthday dinner). 

selina used her incredible cooking skills to make delicious treats for everyone. 

giles and dave helped me put up streamers and balloons. 

ollie got everyone to shut up and turn off the lights as the surprise was about to be unveiled.

it truly was a group effort. 

and the party was lovely. 

next up was 2 for 1 cocktails at camden 55 bar. 

a place in which there is a blatant requirement to have good looking employees. 

...yet another social gathering in marianne's room....

        .....dinner at nando's in enfield in which marianne and i decided to get super spicy burgers

              ....not to mention the incredibly accurate depiction of andrew on marianne's birthday                         card thanks to claire's talent and skill. 

the celebration of marianne's birth could not have been better. twenty years. say goodbye to marianne's youth, she's become quite the lady :)