HOT TEA & SIMPLICITY

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

castle's make me happy

hello all! i've decided to post day 3 of Ireland now! :]

Day 3 consisted of a short 45 minute flight from Dublin to Fermanagh, Ireland. We had planned on taking the train, but it would have been close to 4 hours, and we weren't really wanting to waste another day. Anywho, Fermanagh is considered to be the Lakeland side of Ireland. Also, it's Northern Ireland, so it's still considered part of the UK, and therefore uses pounds, not Euro's like Dublin, which is The Republic of Ireland. It's a bit confusing and requires you to keep all currencies separated, unless you enjoy embarrassing yourself in front of the Irish! To each her own.

Fermanagh had lots and lots of really neat castles to tour and explore. and explore we did, friends! explore we did!

here's some pictures from day 3!

^beautiful view from enniskillen castle

^what's left of enniskillen castle...

^SHEEP!!! THEY WERE EVERYWHERE! IT WAS HEAVENLY! :] i love them.

^such pretty scenery!

shirt- mariposa, black jeggings- HUE from nordstrom, jacket- forever 21, boots- zara,

purse- forever 21, sunglasses- forever 21

^in front of a really awesome castle!

^another door pose. ok, i'm definitely mocking. but i simply couldn't resist! :]

side note: is that not the most delicious door you've ever laid eyes upon?!

day 4 soon to come! :]

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

she is handsome, she is pretty, she's the belle of DUBLIN city

well hello all! i've finally gotten back on American time. it only took me a week and a half... :]

my travel post is starting on day 2 in Dublin, Ireland. it would normally start on day 1, but day 1 is something you do NOT want to see. it consisted of 2 planes, 2 trains, a ferry, and a cab. add all of that together and you get one rather shabby-looking ariel. anywho, day 2 was fabulous! Dublin is GORGEOUS and i would LOVE to go back many, many more times!

DAY 2:

basically walked around ALL day, ALL over dublin taking pictures of anything and everything. also ate the most INCREDIBLE and SCRUMPTIOUS peanut butter sandwich of my LIFE! (no jelly, jelly's not for me...blehh.)

and now for los pictures! (spanish is not my forte...so sue me.) :]

^the aforementioned peanut butter sandwich

^rather charming theatre we passed

^inside a quaint/picturesque church

^posing in front of a vibrantly painted door
side note: i have an acquaintance who may or may not pose seriously in front of random doors who i may or may not have been mocking at the time. the world may never know.

^toured the Dublin castle

^throne inside the caste. has a rather fascinating story behind it. for another time.

^GORGEOUS CHURCH!

^COOLEST PODIUM EVER. i'm 98.6 percent sure it was stolen from our very own, Albus Dumbledore. those of you who claim otherwise are liars. LIARS!

^this gift shop can be found in the CATACOMBS of this church. that's right, Ladies and Gentlemen, THE FOXY FRIARS GIFT SHOP can be found in a catacomb! what has happened to modern society?! i digress.

^another beautiful church! this is the official catholic church of Ireland. or so i'm told.

^in front of the dublin castle!
shirt- mariposa, jeans- forever 21, cardigan- forever 21, uggs- the local nordstrom, scarf- ?,
purse- forever 21, sunglasses- forever 21

^just standing in front of the parliament building. the usual.

^found WALDO. turns out he's been hiding in Dublin. sneaky sneaky!

^BEST vegetable soup of my life. (though to be fair, i've not had much experience in the "vegetable soup" department...)

^most ADORABLE cheesecake of my life. this i'm sure of. i've had a bit too much experience in the cheesecake department... :]

i love dublin! more to come from the trip!

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

JET-LAGGED

hello all! i've just gotten back from ireland and london...had the most ridiculous travels back...long story short- i got stuck at an airport in boston due to flight issues, and had to stay overnight, which messed up my work plans for the following day. but all's good now, just have to catch up on some sleep and get back on U.S. time! :] in a bit of a hurry at the moment, so i will post just a few pictures from my fabulous trip! (i will be posting many more pictures of the trip (in a day by day manner) in a few days.)

anyways, ireland was GORGEOUS! and london was tons of fun! here's a few pictures!

^in front of the Dublin Castle

top- mariposa, jeans- forever 21, cardigan- forever 21, uggs- nordstrom, scarf- ?,

sunglasses- forever 21, purse- forever 21

^in Fermanaugh Ireland

top- ?, black jeggings- nordstrom (hue), boots- zara, jacket- forever 21, purse- forever 21,

sunglasses- forever 21

^tiffany and I on the coastal side of Ireland

tank- nordstrom, shorts- forever 21, tights- forever 21, jacket- forever 21, boots- bakers,

sunglasses- forever 21

^LONDON!

top- forever 21, jeans, mariposa, scarf- ?, purse- forever 21, ring- forever 21

i'll be updating about the trip throughout the week! :]

Friday, July 1, 2011

packing post

Hello all! it's official, packing takes me FOREVER! i've spent a solid 3 days attempting to pack wisely for international travel...result: mehhh.

final result pictures:

^couldn't decide between them, so i packed all three:]

^bottom section of my suitcase (contains basically everything)

^added toiletries

^middle section: dresses and curling iron :]

^weighing my suitcase! final weight: 41 lbs. :]] hallelujah! leaves me room for other purchases! :]

this will probably be my last post for a week or so, as i'm not certain how internet will be over there...but i will be posting plenty from the trip when i get back!

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

IRELAND, HERE WE COME!

hello all! in 3 days, i will be heading across the pond with one of my closest friends, tiffany, to the awesome ireland for a little more than a week!!!! i am so beyond excited! this will be my first trip to europe! i will be taking tons of photos, but i probably won't be able to post while i'm there, so i will have plenty to post when i return! wish me luck with international travel! :]

THE ADDAMS FAMILY TAKES ON NEBRASKA!

hello all! I've just returned from the University of Nebraska in Lincoln! I was there with my theatre troupe competing in the category of GROUP MUSICAL at the International Thespian Festival! We are doing the song "When you're an Addams" from "The Addams Family Musical"! we won at the state and nationals the last 2 years, so we were hoping to win nationals for our 3rd time. Our flight was monday morning (wayy to early) and we landed in Kansas City. We then took a bus to Lincoln, which took an extra hour and a half due to flooding in Iowa! Anyways, our first night there, we rehearsed a bit, and then went to bed early. The next day, we competed against over 300 other group musicals from all across the nation! That was my favorite time we ever performed! Later, we found out we had received a call back for mainstage! (they only take 10 acts to be on mainstage, which is performed in front of 3,000 people!!). On Thursday, we had our callback, which went really well! We had to wait a whole day to find out if we had made it to mainstage or not!! On Friday, we found out we were one of 2 group musicals that had made it to MAINSTAGE!!! Saturday morning, we had to be outside of the Lied (the big theatre) at 7:30 am to go through our tech rehearsal/run through! The stage manager for mainstage was the former stage manager for wicked as well!! it was an overwhelming and outstanding experience! MAINSTAGE WAS INCREDIBLE AND THE ABSOLUTE BEST END TO MY SENIOR YEAR! i would go into more details, but i can't seem to get my fingers to type due to excitement! anyways, after mainstage, we went to lunch as a troupe (tradition) and then a few of us headed to the most awesome vintage shop ever! i bought the most incredible dress ever there, and wore it saturday night to our senior dinner, and then to see "Anything Goes" which is probably one of my favorite musicals of all time!! We were leaving sunday morning, and we waited for our bus, which was delayed due to heavy fog, so we had to get another bus, which was very, very awesome! it was basically the harry potter night bus!!! literally!! it had seats that folded into bunk beds, so everyone had a bed to sleep on for the bus ride to kansas city airport! naturally, all good things must come to an end though. about 2 miles from the airport, the bus broke down. we were stranded and faced with the possibility of missing out flight home. we all were praying diligently that somehow we would get there on time, when an empty army bus pulled up. The guy driving was headed to the airport as well, and said he would take us there!! talk about a miracle!! there we were, a huge troupe of thespians, stuck on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere, when an empty army truck pulls up!!! that was all God if you ask me!!! GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS TOO! so kind and helpful!! :] to sum up that day, we basically lived out an episode of SURVIVOR! i will truly miss my theatre family and i can't wait to see what amazing things God does in there lives! Love them all! :] here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip!