update....

soon, i promise!

modeling.

apologies for not updating this as often as i should! i've been up to so much....one activity being modeling. that sounds even more ridiculous in print than it does in my head.....
why am i modeling, you might ask? my dear friend kaylee is in a styling class, and they had to do a photoshoot of 9 different looks for their portfolio. guess who got to be the guinea pig?? this girl. her theme was "opposites attract" - putting together girly, soft looks with rough and bold pieces. one awesome piece i loved was the first black t-shirt you'll see on me. she made it for another project. she used tape and bleach to make the british flag and it looks FANTASTIC. another cool thing is that most of the articles i'm wearing are actually mine! my lovely stylist helped me put different things together. i do need a leather jacket at some point though....
we shot three different days, two in london and one in barcelona. the bummer about the barcelona shots are A) they are on kaylee's camera & B) her camera got stolen somewhere along the way. (i have so many pictures of barcelona - but that's for the next post!)
we shot on the sidestreet by our flat...all of these pictures are just on one street. it's so varied -- i love the juxtaposition of old-timey and modern buildings in such a short area.
my favorite look was the second day with the crazy poof hair. i felt half ridiculous, and half badass.
her project is due today (i have no idea which shots she ended up choosing) so i hope everything turned out the way she wanted!

a few things i learned:

• modeling is not as easy as it looks. i looked pretty awkward in some of the shots or just plain silly.
• it was 40 degrees for most of these shots....trying to hide the fact that you are FREEZING TO DEATH inside is so hard (i now have a cold....coincidence??)
• i have more respect for people who do this everyday
• i love dressing up and being someone else for a little while.

without further ado, here are my favorite shots.

you can contact me at......

NAHHHHHHHH just kidding ;)

winter registration. 2013.

last week, i registered for winter quarter back at SPU. (remember last winter quarter? aka the worst 10 weeks of my life?) it's so strange, now that i think about it, that in just a few weeks i'm going to be home. registering for these classes really made me think about how my time at AIU is almost done. although it's sad; it's reality! 
(um...also, i will be applying to GRADUATE when i get back. what. the. heck.)
without further ado....

Winter Quarter 2013

[UCOR 3000] Belief, Morality, & the Modern Mind
[FCS 3870] History of Costume
[FCS 3822] Retail Buying

i'm really really really excited for my history of costume class. and since i've seen a few ball gown exhibits in london, i'm sure i will have more of an appreciation for what we study.
bonus: i'm keeping with my record of no 8ams in my college career....i hope i can make it a few more quarters! bummer: i have afternoon classes 4 days a week. in the winter. when it gets dark at 4:45pm. bonus: i'm taking ucor with lindsey! bummer: the days of 1000 & 2000 level classes are behind me...from here on out, it's upper-division classes for me. yay.

that's the latest academically speaking....
CHEERS, 
C.

excerpts of daily life.

i've spent the last three days writing a paper that's worth 50% of my grade. as much as i love writing out my thoughts, i'm a little burnt out. so i'm gonna list off things that describe my life as of late.....

huge essay.
country music.
youtube-ing hairstyle videos.
the tube.
frozen pizza.
winter registration.
late night conversations.
lists.

frustration.
patience.
trust.

abroad thoughts.

     i've always intended on writing this blog as a memory (cause we all know mine sucks), as a sort of virtual-scrapbook for my life the past couple of years. and that means everything: pictures, events, rants, dreams, etc. my journey to london is apart of that - and i'm so glad that i can update my friends/family as well as writing everything down for myself to remember and look back at later on. i started writing when i went off to college two years ago (has it been that long already?!) to keep people updated. i wasn't really sure how long i would keep it up, or how often i would post. it's become a labour (i automatically put the 'u' in that...what has england done to me??) of love. i don't sit down and make myself write. ideas come when they want, and forced thoughts are the worst kind to write. or read. through the last two years, i've also realized how much i love to write. i like to think it's genetic: my parents and brother and sister are all fantastic writers. and i mean that. i love writing like i love fashion: you can express yourself through it. you don't have to be perfect. it's individual. it's a craft. but if you ever read my journal, you might think differently. sometimes i just write down what i'm thinking and it makes no sense at all. sometimes writing it down helps me solve an issue. so bear with me here.

     that aside, i've been thinking about how my study abroad experience is expanding my education. while london may not be third-world or in a different language, there are definitely differences. everyone here smokes. people generally care more about their appearance (i've hardly seen any sweatpants!). people are constantly in a rush (maybe that's just a big-city thing...). they know way more about what's going in America than Americans know about what's going on in England.

     at the same time, there are similarities. the thing that's had the biggest impact on me is brokenness. brokenness is universal. it's no secret that we live in a broken world - we as humans are inherently sinful. i've witnessed so much of it firsthand lately: homelessness, extreme intoxication, people upset, angry, yelling....i don't know if i've somewhere along the way forgotten this, or if i haven't been exposed to anything like it. but here it is, in my face. and yet -- i am in no place to judge. i am no better than they are. my sin is just as bad as theirs. as tears stream down my face, i am rudely reminded of how awful i am and how completely amazing God is. i'm the first to admit that i forget it sometimes. but when i really honestly think about it, i don't understand. why me? why does God love me when i don't deserve it? i don't get it. and i don't think i ever will. but strangely enough, that's what i find comfort in. knowing that God is so much greater and powerful than i will ever know is what i find solace in. sometimes the most unexplainable things are the most important. so i can do either one of two things: be quick to judge and not bother understanding other people; or try to love on them as Christ has loved me. i'll give you a hint....the right one is not the easy one.

true, i'm expanding my academic education, but i'm also expanding my world view as well. which, to be honest, i think is more important. to understand how to love people, you have to try to understand their differences and see life through their eyes. it's helping me to comprehend how jesus loved us.

if it took me a trip overseas to see that, it's worth it.

"kevin doesn't smoke. i, on the other hand, smoke like an icelandic volcano."

on friday night, we went on a walking tour around london to see all of the legendary places of rock and roll in the 60s and beyond including (but not limited to): the beatles, the rolling stones, elton john, queen, the who, the sex pistols, jimi hendrix, guns n' roses, and oasis.
we got to go to abbey road which was AWESOME. there, we learned some more history about the iconic cover of the beatles album. at that point, the band members were hardly speaking to each other and the photographer only took 6 frames for the cover. the fact that they were in step was completely a coincidence. [i'm still awaiting pictures from this..i didn't take them!] we want to go back in the day time to get the perfect shot. we also got to see abbey road studios where 95% of the beatles songs were recorded as well as the harry potter soundtracks.

 right off the tube station

CARNABY STREET: known in the 60s, 70s and 80s as the pinnacle of fashion

 [liam gallagher from oasis now has a store, pretty green, on it]

 the palladium.....where "beatlemania" was coined when fans clogged the streets to see the beatles

 one of the first places jimi hendrix played at

the soho lofts (aka "the marquee") where the rolling stones often played. it was THE place in london to see the best in rock and roll from 1964-1986. it moved, and this building became an apartment complex.

when i told one of the tour guides that i go to school in seattle, he was like "OH! so you know all about nirvana then, right?" to which i half-way nodded in response. he went on to say how huge nirvana was/is in the UK and showed me the area where they used to play when they first started out. not picture here is the Trident, which is where the other 5% of the beatles songs were recorded, as well as queen's "bohemian rhapsody" and some elton john songs.

we also walked by a bar called "gem" which is where coldplay played when they first started out.

it was so fun to hear about all these legendary bands and to see where they performed and hung out!! 

obsession: proposals.

so you know how much i love weddings.....i found one thing i might love just as much: proposals.
i. love. proposals. 
for the last two hours, i've watched youtube proposals. and i melt. every. time. i literally get goosebumps and start shrieking.
seriously....just type in "wedding proposals" on youtube and/or pinterest and it will be time well spent. 
(please don't freak out, parents.....my arranged marriage isn't for another 5 months.) 


here are some of my favorite ones:
http://www.susanlinesphotography.com/2012/09/21/megan-john-a-virginia-proposal/
(a scavenger hunt leading to a proposal....SO CUTE.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=DgOqdfG5PFg
(at multnomah falls. her reaction is so precious)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_v7QrIW0zY
(lip sync/flash mob....so creative!)




things i have gathered from these videos/stories:

• there are not a lot of guys this romantic out there.
• i don't want a huge group of people/strangers at my proposal. (although i do want an incognito photographer)
• i don't want to be wearing sweats when i get proposed to.
• i will kill my fiance if he proposes to me on valentine's day. (just kidding. but really.)

i want to witness one of these in real life.

i can only imagine what my own proposal will be like. so don't be surprised if you hear stories of me bawling. or screaming. or fainting.

but that won't be for a long long LONG time. i'm perfectly content living vicariously through these other couples.....

lindsey: from lynden to london.

^how's that for alliteration? i'm a literary nerd. 

that aside.....my wonderful and beautiful friend lindsey came to visit me in london! (read more about her here) she had a week-long fall break from her school in holland, so she went to italy for a couple days, then hopped on a plane to london. she is such a world traveler! in the three days we had together, we covered a LOT of ground. i had already bought my ticket for the london eye, so we went on that too. it was SO fun.  i showed her all around london - buckingham palace, big ben, westminster abbey, st. james park, tower bridge, trafalgar square, harrods, harvey nichols, the london eye, my school, primark (!), etc. 
over frozen pizza and chocolate muffins, we got caught up with each other's lives. i'm so glad she got come - it's so nice to see a familiar face and have a little bit of home from somewhere so far away. i can't wait til we live 3 blocks away from each in a couple months!

underground lovin

 buckingham palace!

 the front!

kaylee came too!

this horse hated us. this was right before he urinated everywhere...

st. james park! (since when did i become a midget?!)

i'm totally creepin....but it was worth it.

 tree huggers...true northwestern-ers.

classic tourist shot

trafalgar square

 love love love these leaves!

 :)

 family pics.

 tower bridge.

 without the flash...the background looks so fake hahaha

 yep........

 view from the london eye!

 inside :)

 you can see forever!

"OMG WE'RE ON THE LONDON EYE!"

 went to a pub

linds w/the harrods bear!

outside!

helping me get ready for halloween.

love you girl!!!

field trips galore.

it feels like it's been so long since i've posted anything! apologies....time seems to slip away so fast here. i've officially been here for one month and one day. it feels like way longer in some ways, and way shorter in others. i will do my best to recap the last week (ish) so bear with me. i'll probably put them on separate posts so it's not overload :)
oh and the time changed here last night, so now i'm only 7 hours ahead....at least for a week.

on monday, my images & society class went to the hayward gallery & the somerset house to see the time walker exhibit. we had to kill some time before the hayward gallery opened at noon. (did i mention how much i LOVE field trips?!!) i love getting outside of the classroom and experiencing what we're studying in real life -- in LONDON. anyways. a little explanation of these pictures. i had actually never heard of the photographer tim walker before this exhibit. but he is FABULOUS. i realize i'm probably one of the least qualified people to comment on photography, but this exhibit was so so so good. he has a whimsical, alice-in-wonderland type style. a ton of the props he used in his shoots were in the gallery too, which is what you'll see below. though i don't have a strong background in photography, i respect the craft so much more. photography is subjective. something ugly to someone can mean everything to another.

 the courtyard at the somerset house

 a background -- right as you walk in

 LOVE these quotes....

 tim walker himself.

 giant swan.

 a bee playing a bass....why not?

 humongous skeleton across the ceiling

 huge crumbled newspaper

 that's not my hand.

HUGE shirley temple. don't worry, it was even creepier in real life...

next, we walked over to the hayward gallery to see the art of change: new directions from china exhibit, where i snapped this picture, perfect of a foggy london morning:

i'm gonna spare you photos of the other gallery because it was kind of boring. and weird. it was all this chinese modern art that felt thrown together. maybe i just didn't understand it. the downside is that i had to write a review for the hayward gallery - not the other one - but that's alright. 

i would definitely go back to see the tim walker exhibit....it was that good.