This isn't about London. In fact, I didn't even write it.

A very good friend of mine just posted this on facebook, and I thought I'd share. Its informative AND entertaining! You may not understand all of the terms... but thats ok. Enjoy!

A Lesson in Domestication!

Okay Enough is enough. I don't know what is going on with people lately but people are acting so brand new when it comes to their personal relationships, friendships and their own habits. People(myself included) are acting so BASIC and its gotten to the point where I just can't take it anymore. Like Moses, I feel like I've been Chosen to lead us out of Egypt and into the promise land of Domestication Nation! If you think you're not gonna like what I have to say, simply click on that arrow in the top left corner and it'll boot you from this page. I'm calling people out. ( I won't say no names cuz Destiny's child taught us in 2001 not to diss ppl on the internet...For more details listen to the hit single "Survivor") Don't worry, I'll be calling myself out too cuz we all know I'm a hot damn mess.

FIRST- If you're constantly having to guess, or draw pie charts and bar graphs to come to a conclusion about how that person feels about you, let me give you the simplest conclusion. They probably DON'T FEEL ANYTHING FOR YOU OR ABOUT YOU. atleast not substantial enough to let you know. TRUST ME, if someone likes you, they'll let you know. you won't need sherlock holmes to solve the mystery.SECOND-After you realize the person doesn't feel for you, don't try to force it. like Jo Dee Messina said, "I got pride and I'm taking it for a ride." (See her smash single "Bye Bye") Honeychild TAKE your pride, pat your weaves and PRETTY GIRL DIP out of that situation. It might hurt (it will) but again, TRUST me on this. you don't want to end up in a 14MONTH guessing game thats nothing but a confusing SITUATION. This brings me to my THIRD point.

If someone won't give you a TITLE, BOOT THEM!! (for example, if you own your vehicle, The DPS vehicle registration gives you a TITLE of the car with YOUR NAME on it.) If the person won't give you a title, BOOT!! Whatever their reasons are for not giving you one, they're not valid reasons. Those are what I call sorry ass excuses given by sorry ass people. TRUST TRUST TRUST me on this point the most. Straight, gay, black, white, purple, orange, male, female, one simple rule applies to all. IF SOMEONE WANTS TO BE WITH YOU, THEN THEY'LL GIVE YOU A TITLE. No excuses. be firm on this from the get go.  it might make you seem a tad aggressive but atleast you won't be visiting this site. (www.thatshowyougetyourfeelingshurt.com) If you're dumb enough to not be clear on this from the get go, then you can only blame yourself. the only "title" you will get is a sideline ho, a jumpoff or at the best, a basic dip. This is like the same as getting a rental car. while it might satisfy you for a period of time, know that it doesnt belong to you. you're gonna have to return it soon and someone else will be there waiting to rent it out too.  now lets move on to individual behaviors.

TEXTING- we all CONSTANTLY have our phones on or around our person. If someone texts you, IT IS RUDE to make someone wait extensively long for a response. (The author wants you to know that at this point, he had to go downstairs to make a rum and pineapple  in order to not blast people for their texting habits). I understand we gotta play the game so spacing out a reply is okay but only to a certain point. you dont want to seem too available, but make sure you don't end up seeming like a rude bitch who thinks they're too good to respond to someone. If its just in the context of a friendship then its downright stupid to not respond. reply to your friends people, don't lie. you ain't doing nothing. (Jasmine don't call me a hypocrite I'm super lazy and forgetful you know I've been working on it!)

This next part about texting is CRUCIAL people. PLEASE don't make them Doctoral Dissertations. YOU ARE NOT writing an English Lit paper. It is so aggressive when you open up a message and suddenly find yourself wishing that your wireless service provider offered cliff notes for the messages you just received. you are not John Steinbeck or Jane Austen.  NO ONE wants to read the Grapes of Wrath and even fewer people want to read Pride and Prejudice.

This brings me to my next point. Why do people aggressively feel the need to put their business out there? then they get mad when ppl talk about them. Ask anyone who knew me fall 08, spring 09 and fall 09. Yall my business was OUT THERE. And I was the one putting it out there by hot twatting and acting aggressively. When 2010 rolled around, I had a really good discussion with Cynthia and she told me the best way to get ppl not to talk about you is by not giving them anything to talk about. I mean I'm doing aggressive activities that clear out a garage (see cynthia's camera/nikki favor's 2009 birthday) and I wanna get mad when I get talked about. thats stupid. So I stopped hot twatting, stopped acting aggressively in public and just domesticated myself. how often do you now here OTHER ppl telling yall about me? exactly, anything that you hear, its usually coming from ME cuz now I am in control of what I put out there. And people in relationships, DON'T air your dirty laundry aggressively on fb with updates and status changes. thats how ppl get irritated with you and block you and your significant other. as I was thinking about this  in class earlier, it dawned on me that XXXXXXX and XXXXXXX are actually a perfect example of a couple who does their "laundry properly". They're not perfect so I'm sure they argue but they take care of that ish in the privacy of their place of residence, not on the world wide web. and, they call others for advice and move on in a very civilized manner. so XXXXXXXXX and XXXXXXX, even though yall are aggressively cupcaking, good for yall for properly using the correct washer and dryer!!

FRIENDS and your relationships,

we all know that some of our friends and our significant others dont need to mix. I don't think there's anything wrong with keeping a healthy distance with them. now, don't hide and be all suspect but just watch it. they could end up bringing drama to your relationship or worse, STEALING YOUR PERSON. the following is from my website www.thatshowyougetyourman/womanstole.com

You know we all got some hoeish friends or just people in your life you shouldn't leave your significant other around. They are alright people, but they'll throw your ass under the bus and take your man/woman from you and if you're not careful you won't see it coming! If this person constantly asks about your man/woman and only wants to hang out with you when you're with your significant other, take this as a warning! If they're more worried about who you're dating, thats a red flag.Example. I was seeing someone fall 08. my friend and that person started hanging out. Long story short they both left and now  live on a different continent together.

Friendships- It is important to have the right friends. those are the one's that will tell you about yourself and call you out. not those who will lie to you and let you make an ass out of yourself. (great friends let you make an ass out of yourself and then tell you all about it. See Matthew Slayter for further details).

How to deal with Cheaters- Just listen to irreplaceable by Beyonce. says it all. or Pull an XXXXXXXXXXXXXX and burn his/her shit in a bonfire and send em a pic. The XXXXXXXXXX approach works well too, send their ass a text saying its over then go have soul.southern  food with your friends.

Hopefully this has been a help. I certainly know I feel better and to the person who "inspired" me to write this, I hope you realize that I'm now finally and completely done with the situation you've had me in. we can be friends but that part is GETTING THE BOOT!! (did I just air my dirty laundry?? lol couldn't resist)

Love,

XXXXXXXXXXX

26 days...

Once again, I am sitting in the library, and blogging when I should be finishing a paper. And with 26 days left in this beautiful city that I have come to love, here are my thoughts:

Going home/back to TCU may be the most bitter-sweet moment of my life. I really, really, REALLY love this city and the people here, and have come to the conclusion that if I had a steady job, I could easily live here. Sure its really crowded and sometimes that gets to you, but there's always ways to escape the crowds for a few sweet moments. And culturally, I belong here, and fit in so much better than I do at home. But thats not to say that I don't miss things. In particular: My car and driving, my dogs, my friends and family, having money, being in theatre, and video games. Yet if I had the option to stay.... it would be a really hard decision.

I love people's attitude about body image here. It just doesn't matter nearly as much here as it does in the States! People pay just as much attention to their clothes and fashion (which is fantastic), but as far as their actual body goes, its just not a big deal! There are very few gyms here, and the ones that are here are pretty tiny. Very few tanning salons. In fact, the girls who are tan stick out and just look ridiculous! Even more so than they do in the States because here they're few and far between. The stigma to have the perfect body just isn't here.
That being said: I CANNOT WAIT TO GET BACK TO THE GYM, if for no other reason than to have some sort of physical outlet! There is no room here for physical activity unless you go to the park or something. But I was dumb and didn't bring running shoes, and therefore get no physical activity other than walking. A few years ago, I could have cared less. But the me that has developed over the past year or so, especially over this past summer, is dying for some kind of physical activity and the feeling of well-being that comes with it. Because really, when you take care of yourself physically, you feel so much better about yourself.

Speaking of bodies and that kind of thing, here's something that the States can learn from the Brits: Eating habits. America is Fat. Fat fat fat fat fat fat fat fat fat. You know why? FUCKING MCDONALD'S, WENDY'S, TACO BELL, AND KFC. Now, they have McDonald's and KFC here and they're moderately popular. But the biggest food chain here, by far, is called Pret a Manger (French for Ready to Eat). They are EVERYWHERE. Like, you can't walk 5 minutes without coming across 3 of them. And I'm really not exaggerating. But you know what they sell? Pre-made sandwiches, salads, paninis, wraps, fruit cups, and coffee. And its really good! And cheap! They only have 2 types of soft drinks: Coke, and Diet coke, and I never see people buy them. Ever. Its always either water, coffee, or tea. America... do you know how many callories you could save if you ate this every day instead of the fast food shit that we eat??? Laura and I keep saying that we are going to open a Pret with a drive through window at home and make a killing.

School is actually picking up here towards the end. I'll have a lot due between now and January 6th. I've only gotten two grades here so far: An A+ and a B, which is quite exciting. But in general, school here is really easy. Like, REALLY easy. Maybe its because i'm taking freshman level classes? But even so, I feel like my freshman classes at home were a lot harder than they are here. Oh, and did I mention that I only go to class on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and I only to each class once a week? Baller.
I like 3 out of 4 of my classes. My sociology class is really interesting as is my History of Victorian London class. I'm also taking a class called Art and Society where we go to lecture for the first hour, then go to museums for the second part of class. Badass, right? Yep. Totally. My theatre class however.... is cool in some respects. We were required to see a lot of good shows that I would have never seen on my own. But the last few shows we've had to see for that class have been absolute crap. Like, BAD BAD BAD BAD BAD. And my teacher is an absolute idiot in every single way. I hate her. She hates me (I think). But I think she's just jealous that Laura and I know more about theatre than she does. So whatever. She got mad because I hadn't started the paper for her class A MONTH before it was due. This paper is only 2000 words! Why on earth would I start it that soon???

There is a little Asian girl that keeps running through the library past me. Literally, running. Back and Forth. Chill out little Asian girl!

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and while it wont be the traditional thanksgiving, I'm still pretty pumped. A few of us in our hall are going to have a feast. My contribution? The Stove Top Stuffing that my parents shipped me (THANKS!), possibly sweet potato casserole (Mom, can you e-mail me your recipe?), and then a recipe I found on the internet for BAILEY'S CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE. Om nom nom nom nom. But since its thanksgiving, I'll list a few things I'm thankful for:
Eternally grateful to my parents for letting me come here and helping me out of the financial side of things. Even though I worked my ass of this summer, I never would have been able to afford this on my own. Thanks!
I'm thankful for great friends. Annie and Andrew came into town this past weekend to see Harry Potter and for a few other activities (Hyde park, Harrods, etc.), and seeing them always reminds me that I have some incredible friends both here with me, and at home.

We went on a pilgrimage to Mecca... I mean Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross Station.

Notice the poster above us. We're running from the Death Eaters in our custom made shirts.

I'm obviously thankful for this opportunity. I've always thought that God can put people exactly where they need to be at any given time if they cooperate, and I know that right now, I am exactly where I need to be, school-wise, career-wise, London-wise...
And I'm thankful for the people that I've met here. I'm very rarely without something to do or people to hang out with. I ended up with an awesome roommate who I get along with great, even if he does steal my chocolate. Bitch.

And on that note, I should actually get back to this paper. Edit, reference, bibliograph (yep, just turned bibliography into a verb), print, turn in. Bam.

Sorry this post was kinda boring. I'll be sure to blog about more exciting things next time.

...I'm gonna be sad to go. But in the interest of my rising credit card balance, I think its for the best. See you in 26 days!

Thirsty Thursday.

If you're friends with me on facebook, then you already know that Laura, Myself, and a few other people attended the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows red carpet WORLD PREMIERE this past Thursday. Now, many people have asked, "How did you get tickets??? Did you see the movie???" Well, no we didn't have tickets, and no we didn't get to see the movie. But it was still AWESOME.

Basically, the premiere took place in Leicester Square, which is big place for nightlife, restaurants, movies, etc. I went there straight after class and met up with our friend Devon, and explored the area a bit. Because I didn't get there until about 4:15pm, there was no hope of getting a good spot. So we were shoved up against fences, peeking inbetween media vans trying to get the smallest glimpse of what was going on. And we did! Not only did we get to see the trailer for the movie on a jumbotron about 16 bagillion times, but we briefly (and I mean VERY briefly) got to see Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, the Weasly twins, Ginny Weasly, Cho Chang, Luna Lovegood, Professor Flitwick... And Zach Effron? Well, Devon swears she saw Zach Effron. I'm not so sure. But the entire time the girls were screaming at the stars, whilst I laughed at them and snapped some very blurry photos, which are up on facebook.

Now this next story may contain some questionable material, depending on what you define as questionable. But its pretty entertaining nonetheless.

After the premiere, we went back to the dorm, and I was bored. Real bored. And real broke. And everyone is off doing something else. Now up until now, we've all gone out in groups, and the only pubs/clubs that I had been to with people were straight ones. I've been here for almost 8 weeks and the only gay bar I've been to was the one we went to in Dublin for Halloween, which was awesome, but I had yet to check out the gay scene in London! And I wanted to go to a gay pub, dammit! So, I decided to go to the one and only gay pub in Chelsea (the neighborhood where I live).

Here is my inner monologue at this point: "I really wanna go, but I'm broke. I really shouldn't go. But I'm soooo bored! And I have to take out money for next weekend anyway. I can just take it out now, and pull out 10 pounds for tonight. No, I really shouldn't. Oh well, screw it I'm doing it! .... But I'll be going alone and will look super lame by myself at the pub. So? Should I take a book? Seriously Matt, you're going to take a book and read by youself at a pub? What is wrong with you? Ok, no book, but I'll take my iphone and play games. Yeah... that's a lot better. I am probably the lamest person ever. Oh well. I really shouldn't go. I'm going."

So off I go to a pub called, appropriately enough, The Queen's Head. I walk in and order a Guinness, and the bartender was super nice, and kept saying things like "Anything for you, young man". I couldn't tell if he was creepily hitting on me (He was like, 50) or just being polite. So I grab my drink and sit in a corner, and start reading a book on my iphone.

The pub was pretty nice, with a really relaxed atmosphere, and it wasn't super crowded like many of the other pubs in Chelsea. As I'm "reading", I'm eavsedropping on other conversations, which were pretty amusing. But as I finish my first pint, I again think of how lame I look sitting in the corner by myself. So I finish, and think to myself "Should I just go home? Or should I stay for another pint and try to be social and intrude on someone's conversation?" Of course, I stayed for one more. However, this time I didn't retreat to my cozy little corner with my beer, but instead I stayed at the bar, standing between a guy flipping coasters (or beer mats as they called them) and trying to catch them in the air, with another man watching and making fun of his lack of skill.

After failing to catch his coasters too many times, the guy on my left introduced himself as Beckett. Easy enough to remember, I figured, because its like Samuel Beckett. He's about 5'2" at the most, and looked to be in his late twenties. The guy on my right.... oh man. The guy on my right was about 50 years old, had multiple piercings in each ear, and obviously did WAY too many drugs in his younger years. I can't remember his name for the life of me, but if you took Austin Powers and Jack Sparrow and combined them, then turned that character into a real person... That was this man. We'll call him Crazy Old Dude. So the three of us start talking, and of course as soon as I open my mouth they realize I'm a Yank (Well, crazy old dude thinks I'm from Canada). So I explain that I'm from Texas ("But you don't have that southern drawl???" Cue British imitations of a Texas accent) and I'm here for the semester, and the bartender gets interested and starts talking to us as well. "So what, you don't have anything better to do on a Thursday night than check out the local gay pubs???" he asks? So I explain to him that my roommate needed the room for a bit (the lame excuse that I came up with while walking there) and that I had yet to go to a gay pub in London. At this point, I had finished pint #2, and he asks if I'd like another. I respectfully decline, thinking of my limited finances, and he replies with "Ah, you Yanks are a bunch of lightweights aren't ya?"

WAS THAT A CHALLENGE????? Bitch, get me another beer.

So Beckett, Crazy Old Dude and I continue talking about a bunch of nothing. Most of what Crazy Old Dude is saying isn't making ANY sense at all, filled with random stories that involved getting arrested in Thailand for driving on the wrong side of the road, and getting into a fight with Micky, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy. ("You can always tell when a Yank has been to Florida..." ...WHAT???). I smiled and laughed in what I hoped were the appropriate places, and when Crazy Old Dude (I'll simply refer to him from now on as COD) went to the gents room to relieve himself, I turned to Beckett and said "This dude is fucking nuts!"
"Oh My God, I'm so glad you said that. I saw you laughing and smiling and I thought you knew what was going on." Beckett said.
"NO! I'm just faking it!"

Soon enough, the bell rings, signaling the closing of the bar. I wasn't quite ready to go home yet, considering it was only 11pm, and I could tell the others weren't either. COD suggests that we go to a place called "The Stag" which was kinda close, but we'd still have to take a cab. "I don't know" I said, "I really shouldn't be spending any more money tonight." Watch. me. work. "Thats ok, I'll pay for the cab, both of your covers and your first drinks!". Beckett and I glance at each other... Done. Beckett leans over and says "I think we should stick together. Because who knows where this guy is taking us. He's bonkers." And I agreed.

Now, real quick, lets sum up this situation. I'm by meself at a gay pub, and am about to hop into a taxi with 2 guys who I just met, one of whom is certifiably insane. Is this the best decision I've ever made? Probably not. But I didn't come to London to sit on my arse and not meet people and do crazy things. So, here we go.

As promised, COD payed for the cab, mine and Beckett's cover, and our first pints (which is actually pint number four for me that evening, but who's counting?). The place was another gay bar that was open later. The cool thing about this one was that it had a second floor which, according to COD, is where they have fringe theatre! Sweet! Nothing was playing that night, but I made a mental note to come back.

In case you didn't know this about me, I am TERRIBLE with names. And true to Slayter form, I had already forgotten both of these guys names. Now, there was no hope in recovering COD's name from my memory's database. BUT! I remembered details about Beckett's name.

Cue frantic text to Laura.
Me: This is important. American playwrights whose last names begin with B. Go.
Laura: Eric Bagosian?
Me: Fail.
Laura: Wait, what?

Luckily, he repeated his name at one point and the day was saved. Because I got game, I got another free drink that night. (Pint #5), and was offered another one after that, but considering the situation, I knew that probably wasn't a good idea. Fun fact: Beckett was a theatre major, does costume design and acts, his father designs aircrafts for BAE, and his mother teaches at a primary school. We're practically the same person. Is that weird or what??? We both have similar takes on religion, politics, movies, etc. At one point we were talking about having to watch subtitles on movies, and I said "Do you know the movie A Clockwork Orange? That's the first movie that I saw that was in English, but I still needed subtitles" And he replied, "Yeah, I just designed costumes for that show!" Weird similarities like this kept popping up all night. Great guy.

I guess the point of this epicly long story is that this was yet another crazy, impulsive, probably bad decision, but it turned out to be a great one. I "bonded with the locals" as the bartender put it, and made new friends, and had a really fun night that I would have never had if I had not grown a pair and decided to spend money that I probably shouldn't have spent and decided that it was ok to be a loner at the local gay pub.

Tonight, Laura and I are going to see "An Ideal Husband" by Oscar Wilde. Score.

ATTACK OF THE ANGRY STUDENTS!!!

So today, there was a giant student march/protest in London. I wasn't there, but I did see video and pictures from it. Here's the scoop.

So, one of the current hot-button issues in Britain right now is the price of college (Here, they lovingly refer to it as Uni, as in University. It always makes me think of Unibrow). The way it is set up right now, colleges and universities have a tuition cap mandated by the government, which is 3,900 pounds (roughly $6,240) for British residents. The rest is funded by the government. Now, by American standards, this is CHEAP. But, with a new proposed budget cuts, the government is taking away a lot of this funding, and they are going to increase the cap to 9,000 pounds ($14,400) for higher end universities. And let me tell you, students are PISSED.

Brits pay a lot more in taxes than we do in the states. But in return, they get much cheaper education. However, they are very, very upset that they are going to have to pay this much. But as an American, can you imagine going to the top universities in the US and only paying 14 grand? How sweet would that be???

Anyway, I guess my point with this is that we as Americans complain about the price of college all the time, and we have a right to. But we don't really do anything about it except complain, and consequently the majority of us and/or our parents get raped by loans. But here in London, the students took to the streets and let the government know that they are NOT ok with budget cuts to their education.

I had a lot of other things that I wanted to blog about earlier, but I don't feel inspired anymore. I'll save it for another post. 

Tomorrow is the BIG Harry Potter premiere. Definitely gonna do some celebrity stalking. 

Wednesdays.

You know, Wednesdays are awesome.

Let me explain...

So today, like most of my other Wednesdays, started out kinda rough, however this time is wasn't because I went out the night before or overslept or anything. Today, I woke up on time and had a nice shower, but then I got on the computer and saw the election news. And thats all we're gonna say about that. So I was feeling kinda bummed, but left my dorm with enough time to grab a big-ass coffee on my way to class (On wednesdays I have class at 9am, so coffee is a necessity). So I grabbed my big-ass coffee, and walked into the tube station, and BAM! TUBE STRIKE!

Now, I saw a poster about this yesterday, but I completely forgot. Last time we had a tube strike, we had like a week of notice. This time, I only had the chance to see the poster once, and therefore the thought never even occurred to me as I was in my room or on my way to the station that I would need to find an alternative route to class.

Well damn. Now what?

I could have gotten on a bus, but at this point if I had climbed onto a bus I would have been epicly late to class, especially once I figured out what bus to get on. AND buses are slower to begin with, but on tube strike days, traffic is AWFUL and you're lucky if the bus you're on is even moving. Thankfully, a few of the tubes were still working, and I just had to take an alternative route and fight the crowds which were about 3 times as bad as normal. BUT! I got to class and was only 5 minutes late! And of course, less than half the class was there. This is due to two reasons:
A) The tube strike. Duh.
B) There's a bar called Sports Cafe that offers free cover to students on Tuesday nights before midnight, and drinks start at 1.50 pounds.

Let me repeat that. You can get a pint of beer for a pound 50. Pitchers are 6 pounds, and they have beer pong and a dance floor.

So yeah, since the class has discovered this place, our 9am wednesday class attendance has been steadily dwindling.

ANYWAY. Because I got to class somewhat on time, and because there is virtually nothing that a big-ass coffee can't fix, my day was officially good. And it only got better.

We went to the Museum of London today for class, which was awesome. It was a museum of the social history of London since it was first formed. They had awesome exhibits on things like the Great Fire of London, the Victorian Era, and any other era you could think of. They had lots of vintage clothing from different eras, and the only thing going through my mind was, "I HAVE TO COME BACK HERE WITH MY CAMERA FOR COSTUME RESEARCH!!!". LaLonnie would have been proud. There was also an area of the museum that was set up like a Victorian street with shops and whatnot that you could walk through. Totes baller.

The best part of the Museum was the "Future London" exhibit. It had a lot of cool conceptualizations of what London could be like in the next however many years. The best part about it though was what they called the London Futures "Post Cards", which were artists renditions of what they think London could look like in the future.

And these were just some of them. There were about 14 of them total, and they were BIG. And the coolest part was that I was so awestruck by them, that I didn't notice that there was a big TV News camera watching me! I turned around and noticed them, and they walked up to me and asked if they could ask me a few questions. I got interviewed by a French news network!

Thats right, I'm famous in Europe now.

Today, I made one of the best decisions that I've made in a while and impulsively decided to see The Kids Are All Right by myself. It stars Julianne Moore and Annette Bening, who are married in the movie, and the plot starts with their children (15 year old boy and 18 year old girl) deciding that they want to get in touch with their sperm donor father, played by Mark Ruffalo. The film was SOOOOO GOOOOD. I cried. But it was awesome and I hope it gets nominated for oscars.

My Wednesdays have been consistantly good. I like this.

Learning How to Smile (The Dublin Post)

From my dorm room to Dublin:
Walk 15 minutes to the tube station.
10 minute ride on the tube to the train station.
40 minute train ride from the train station to the airport.
1 hour flight from London to Dublin.
30 minute bus ride from the Dublin airport to the city.
16 year walk from... well, at this point, Laura and I have NO IDEA where we are... to Andrew and Annie's places of residence.

BUT, soooooo worth it.

When we arrived, it was raining. Andrew's directions for us consisted of "When you leave the airport hop on the 747 or 748 bus, and when you cross the river, get off the bus and call me." Not the best directions in the world to begin with, but when the bus stopped and turned off without ever crossing a river, Laura and I said... "What???" Thankfully, it wasn't too hard to figure out where we needed to go, and we eventually me up with Annie and Andrew.

On the first day, Annie and Andrew showed us around Dublin. Although it was raining, it was still a ton of fun! We also stopped by a pub that had a ridiculous amount of beers from all over the world. I ended up trying the Oyster Stout (It was recommended to me a while back) which was actually very good! We had a couple of really good meals, and then headed back to Annie's place for Halloween celebration number 1. Laura and I already knew a couple of the other girls there from when they came to London (Andrew had suggested that we meet up, so we did!), but we got to meet a lot of other really cool people that  we saw throughout the weekend. Upon our arrival, I had bought a makeshift costume (A pair of dog ears and tail. I know, weakest. costume. ever. Especially compared to last year), and few other people were all dressed up which made for a fun evening.

Our gracious hosts, showing us around the city.

Sidenote: My beer pong game was ON POINT that night. Annie and I make a great team. Holla.

Day 2: A/A took us to an outdoor market for lunch that had so much good looking food! It was pretty hard to decide what to get, but I finally decided on getting the chicken and jalapeño crepe with a lamb skewer. Delicious. We then made our way to Kilmainham Gaol (pronounced Jail, as in prison) which is famous for housing a lot of Irish rebels from back when Britain controlled the Island. Very cool, and very educational. This was followed by the modern art museum, then a rugby match!

We saw Leinster (A county in Ireland) vs. Edinburgh (A city in Scotland), and the game was so much fun! We weren't exactly sure what was going on the entire time, but it was still AWESOME to watch. These guys make American Football players look like a bunch of pansies. Just as much contact/tackling, if not more, but with no pads whatsoever. Also, they pick each other up and lift them in the air to catch the ball. Hardcore.

Day 3: We got to sleep in, which was INCREDIBLE. I'm pretty sure that while we were there we walked the entire length of Ireland, and this plus the long nights, all the travel, etc was starting to catch up to me. So Andrew and I had a lazy morning, met up with the girls, then went off to the Guinness Storehouse! It was like Willy Wonka's factory. Seriously. So much fun! You got to go around and see exactly how the beer was made, and the history of Guinness. At the end, they taught you how to pour the perfect pint (Its very specific, and you really can taste the difference), and then you got to pour your own! Baller.

Last night, we danced our hearts out. Great club, good music, and fantastic company. Laura and I noticed today that we were actually there for about 3.5 hours, but last night we had no idea that we were there that long because we were having so much fun. 2 hours of sleep later, Laura and I were repeating our journey, only in reverse order to come back to London. I was sad to leave the city and our friends so soon, but I feel like we got a pretty good taste of it. Cheers, Dublin.

After upload and looking through all the pictures, as well as some older pictures of myself, I noticed that lately when I smile in pictures, it seems a lot more genuine, and I just look so much happier. Not that I was ever unhappy before. I think that just goes to show how much fun I'm having here and how happy I really am.

Yay life!