Birthday Week

Cheerio! Things here at Oxford have been nice and quiet for my birthday. On the Tuesday after my birthday I went to Jamie Oliver's restaurant with my housemates. My mother was very generous and treated the 4 of us to dinner (Thanks mom!). Jamie's restaurant certainly lives up to its reputation- it has a very 'casual-Italian-market' feel to it, which is great for conversation. The food of course was spectacular- it has the typical Jamie Oliver flare- very rustic with simple bold flavors. I had an amazing creamy truffle pasta and my housemates had a variety of lovely pastas as well.

The next day, Wednesday, I headed into London to see the musical Grease. It was a really unique experience because I met the leads of the musical the week before, so when I saw the show I felt a much more personal connection to the characters. It was a truly amazing experience and it reminded me of watching my best friends perform in Les Miserable and Oklahoma back in high school. The musical itself was a HUGE crowd pleaser- everyone was dancing in their seats and humming along to the music- it is such a captivating show with amazing sets that it is hard NOT to at least bop a bit in your seat! Afterward we met up with Stuart and Nic at the local pub and had wonderful conversation. They are truly wonderful people and I am really lucky to have met them!

Then it was back Oxford to hit the books and drill out a few essays! That weekend Ciara, my housemate, had some friends in from Northern Ireland. We had fun showing them around Oxford and taking them to the "must-see" places in our busy little town.

Sunday is one of my favorite days of the week because I head to Spencer House, where many of the American students live, and we make a huge dinner together. It was a great time to make conversation while cooking together- I am usually in charge of baking dessert (last week was apple cobbler a la mode). Then after dinner we sit down together and watch a movie.

Then to catch up on this week- I headed back into London yesterday for Nic's 26th birthday celebration. We went out for Indian curry and then headed to the pub for some nice conversation. Its nice to get out of the Oxford bubble every once and a while and head to London!

All in all I am working on getting my summer plans together. I am really excited to come home to the family vacation at Holden Beach. I haven't been to the beach in a few years, and now that I am abroad my appreciation for our family traditions continues to grow! I am also in the midst of planning my spring holiday which includes trips to Paris, Florence, Rome, Germany, Ireland, and Istanbul. I am really excited to get some more world travel under my belt!