What a Weekend!

This past weekend was crazy eventful! So much packed into three days, but they were a great three days and reminded my old, usual undergrad weekends back at Rhodes. But on to the exciting bits...

Friday began with a mad dash to turn in my essay titles for the history faculty's approval before the deadline at noon, then lunch with a few friends at College. That quickly turned into a four hour "hang out and waste away the afternoon" lunch. Friday night my friend Mike had a bunch of us over to his house for dinner. Although it was a long and treacherous (seriously, more streetlights people!) walk, it was really great to see everyone. And, as Izzy pointed out several times, it was 'bonding!'

Saturday, I saw the movies Warm Bodies with my friend Mary. I'm not usually the biggest zombie fan, but I love Nicholas Hoult and hanging out with Mary (she's teaching me her cool London ways). I haven't read the book it's based off of, but I really enjoyed the film in the end. It was cool to see a more 'human' approach to zombies, if you will. Highly recommend if you're looking for a low-key zombie flick (very low on the gore, which I appreciate).

That evening, I met up with Lindsay, Nick, and Mike for baking and drinking. We made zucchini (courgette for the Brits) bread and banana bread with Nutella. Admittedly, they didn't turn out particularly great, but we enjoyed ourselves.

Mike trying out his best chat up line on Nick... 

Sunday evening I had an alumni event for my high school, so I went to London early and made a day of it. I really love London, and would ideally hope to move there after I finish at Oxford. Spending so much time in Oxford has definitely made me miss living in a proper city.

First stop was the Victoria and Albert Museum, where I spent a lot of time touring their fashion exhibit (no surprises there!) before meandering through the sculture rooms. There's a new photography exhibit on display at the moment, called "Light from the Middle East" and it was really amazing. Anyone going to the V&A soon should make sure to check it out.

Pandora and her box.

My FAVORITE photo in the "Light from the Middle East" exhibit. 

After spending the afternoon wandering through the V&A, I fought through awful traffic and line closures to meet my friend Amy for some much needed sweets at Hummingbird Bakery. There's much more of a cupcake culture in the States, and lately I've really been missing Muddy's bake shop back in Memphis. Hummingbird came highly recommended (thanks Mary!), and I was not at all disappointed. We both got "Black Bottom" cupcakes to eat there, which are chocolate cake with cheesecake in the center, and I also took a red velvet home for breakfast this morning. They were definitely quite pricey, as is everything in London/the UK, but totally worth it to satisfy my homesick sweet tooth and see Amy for a bit.

From there I went to my alumni get together, which was very graciously hosted at an alumni's home. It was really nice to talk to other LSMSA alumni, and hear about what's going on at the school since we've all left. I was the youngest there by a few years, but it was incredible to hear what the other alums have gone on to accomplish - finance, economists, working for the State Department - it made me feel totally under accomplished, sitting here earning my master's degree in a Humanities field that I'm not even going to pursue as a career. Definitely a bit of a reality check, but I think in a good way. 

Mostly, it was just comforting to speak with other people from Louisiana and from LSMSA, and talk about the school and our time there. I'm definitely looking forward to future alumni events now.

I got the bus back to London at 11pm, and returned to a very snowy Oxford - my least favorite Oxford, if I'm honest. Thankfully it was nearly all gone by the time I woke up this morning - this southern Louisiana lady does NOT do well in the snow!

This weekend was exhausting in all the best ways...unfortunately, now it's homework time!

Jane xx