I'm Running Half Of London

Yep, I've got the bug.

I've watched people #RunForBoston while I've been busy and too tired to put on my sneakers (trainers? Yeah I forgot I'm in England.)

I've watched people run the London Marathon for themselves, in a camel suit, because it's their job or because they're proving to themselves that it's possible.

I've scoured the internet for the next big race that I'm as passionate about as Brighton.

Although it's not until September, I'm all signed up and excited to run the Nike Run to the Beat Half Marathon in London!

Remember, day month year! We're in England, here!

And it hit me last week that I want... maybe even need... to do more.

So that's why I decided that I'm running this particular half for charity. 

Over the past few years I've watched one of my best friends run her heart out and do it selflessly. And I always thought "Wow. The patience, the drive, the imagination, the passion she has for raising money for charity. I'm so lazy; I've never even tried."

So I started researching. Before I made my final decision, I wanted to see a list of all the charities here in England that I could run for. They had a search engine, so I just typed in "cancer". The very first name on the list was Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust, and I was sold instantly.

I've never done this before. I feel like I can run 13.1 miles no problem! But the raising money bit, I'm going to need to get creative! I'm going to need all the help I can get!!

Have you even to raise money for charity?? How did you accomplish your goals??

Letting A 22 Year Old Loose Around Hogwarts

I told you last week that I went to the Making of Harry Potter Warner Brother's Studio Tour.

Mind = blown.

It's much different than anything I had ever seen before, and blew my expectations out of the water.

Everything is there. Every inch of the tour is covered in props, costumes, sets, secret hidden snitches, etc. I probably missed a lot of stuff, but also found a lot of stuff too (like the sword of Gryffindor is up on a shelf in Dumbledore's Office... It's so discrete and hidden up there!) 

I took about um-teen thousand pictures that day, but I'm just going to show you a bit of my favorites!

(And if you know me at all, you know that I don't even have to add the "paid for this tour on my own", "am not being sponsored for this", "all opinions are my own". Seriously, I'm a Harry Potter fanatic. It's been my life since I was 11. And all of the above quotes are true anyway.)

(Oh and side note, I say this every time there is a photo-heavy post... My camera is crap. It takes pictures underwater but no part of this tour was underwater so.... Sorry!)

The Great Hall. The real set. A-freakin-mazing! So many costumes, including the Hogwarts robes through the years of filming!

Gryffindor Common Room with costumes from the 3rd film. Filled with props and random trinkets. Literally could have looked in there for hours. (By the way, did you know that the character Dean Thomas is a West Ham fan?! The things you learn in the studio tour....)

Dumbledore's Office with everything in it, including the Pensieve and the Phoenix entryway. These are the robes from Richard Harris, the actor who played Dumbledore in the first two films. The robes of Michael Gambon (Dumbledore in the rest of the films) are in the Great Hall.

I've always had a soft spot for the Goblet of Fire book and movie. It's my favorite book in the series and I think I've read it the most times out of all of them! This is the Triwizard Cup and the egg clue from the movie. I freaked out when I saw them!

And look! The top of the egg clue is an owl!! I read the little paragraph on the side of the display where it mentioned the owl opener at the top. Of course I had to get a pic!

Snape in his potion's classroom. I always had faith in Snape throughout the books. I knew he had to be good somehow... Fun fact, I wrote a letter to Alan Rickman (the actor who played Snape) and he sent me his autograph! I was fangirling for years....

The Knight Bus!! The inside was seriously impressive considering it's just a bus! (P.S. it always bugged me that in the movie, Harry didn't tell Stan his name was "Neville Longbottom" on the bus.... In the book he does...)

Privet Drive. The first ever thing you see in the HP films is Privet Drive. It brought me back to being an 11 year old and loving the first film. Fun fact, I've watched the Sorcerer's Stone so many times, I know every single word without the movie even being on... I can start reciting it right now if I wanted to! ("I should have known that you would be here... Professor McGonagall....")

Diagon Alley was probably my favorite set to visit on the tour. It's probably one of my favorite sets in the film anyway! They had every shop from the film and even from the book that you probably never see or hear of in the films.

Ollivanders! The wand shop!

This was seriously impressive. It a model of Hogwarts! But they explain how in the movie, any shots where they go over top of Hogwarts or show it not close up, they've filmed this model. You'd think it was all computers in the movie, but it's not! It's crazy! They have little TVs showing you different parts of the film and how they used this model to film it.

Oh and yes, I'm on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team now. Duh. (When I was younger I actually thought about what position I'd play, and I'd definitely be a Chaser!) This was not only a photo opportunity, but a video opportunity as well! They had you soaring around in the TV screen through London, over lakes, around Hogwarts; it was AMAZING!

And if you didn't already know what a big nerd I am, well now you do! 

Seriously, I've been to the Island's of Adventure Harry Potter theme park, and this was a million, no, trillion times better. I also went with people who weren't particularly fans of Harry Potter, and they loved it! The tour takes about 3 hours, but it doesn't feel boring or time consuming at all! And in the middle, they have Butterbeer! Which also tasted better than the Butterbeer in the theme park to be honest! I had a blast to say the least!

What do you think? Would you spend a few hours here in HP world??

A Week To Go

Day 3 of Wedding Week is everything I did the week of my wedding!

Most people probably don't do what I did. I was in and out of London multiple times, in and out of the country, re-doing and then re-re-doing the table plans, and seeing more of Heathrow than I ever wanted.

Basically, I was completely ignoring the fact that there were decorations to be finalized, hair/nail appointments to be made, and somethings old/new/borrowed/blue to be found.

Remember when I told you the perks of Destination Weddings? This is where that all comes into play....

My hectic week was definitely not the best strategy by any means. But it's do-able if it's what you want. And if you love being on the go like I do, this pre-wedding challenge may be just for you!!

Here's a little glimpse into all of my fun adventures that I went on the week of my wedding!

Stonehenge

We only live about an hour or so away from Stonehenge, so Alex's parents took my sister and I there.

Stonehenge ROCKS!

It was my third time to Stonehenge. It was Alex's moms first time ever! (And my sister's first time, but that's not too shocking...)

The Making of Harry Potter (WB Studios Tour)

This honestly blew my mind. I am a massive Harry Potter fan and I loved it. My brother-in-law doesn't even care for Harry Potter and he loved it. 

In front of Hogwarts... No big deal!

I'm going to do a full post on this once Wedding Week is over. But honestly, it was one of the best places I've ever been to! (And I've been to the HP park in Orlando.... This is better than that!!)

Day Trip to Paris

My sister was in England for almost 2 weeks, so of course Paris was on our agenda.

Of course we also went to the top!

Our Eurostar train left at 5:40 in the morning, meaning we left at about 3 to get to London. We got back to my house just past midnight. It was a long day to say the least (and 2 days before the wedding! I know how to keep things interesting!) but it was loads of fun!

Day and a half trip to London

My sister and I roamed around London (with me as the tour guide... It's a miracle we're not still lost!) and it was the first time I was completely alone in London without Alex!!

I'd say I was an excellent tour guide, though. I navigated the tube like a champ, and took her to London's hot spots! Of course the shopping at Harrods, Hamley's, and on Oxford street were our favorite part of the day! Seeing Big Ben was great, too!  

(And I can honestly say I took zero pictures while in London. That was definitely a first for me!) 

Endless trips into town/shopping

It's what my sister and I do best! Any moment we had "spare time" we walked into town and shopped.

I'm sorry, what?! Florida State University?! No no no you've got the colors ALL WRONG! #EnglandFail

I think that was the benefit of having a "small" wedding. I had done a lot ahead of time because I fully knew how busy I'd be once my family arrived! I'm glad I had a high pressure week because it took my mind off 1) getting nervous, 2) family drama, 3) trying to keep track of everyone and everything.

If you want to have these adventures the week of your wedding, I'd definitely plan in advance. Don't wake up and decide "I want to go to London today!" Have a plan. Tell your family that plan. If they want to do something different, it's all on them. Obviously your family who have traveled have a plan, too. Some are very independent and would rather do things on their own (or they acknowledge, respect, and accept that you're busy). Some want to monopolize your time. (Seriously, the day before the wedding my dad [who by the way was staying a good 30 minutes from my house] wanted to randomly go sightseeing. No dad, I can't go sightseeing! Stick to the plan!!)

Obviously if appointments and/or "down time" are your priority, make them a priority. I chose to make the most of my family being here. There's nothing wrong with whatever plan you choose to make!

Busy wedding week or would you rather relax?

Rugby Part 1 - England For The Win!

Saturday was an exciting day for me. I went to my first rugby game!

England vs. Fiji in Twickenham. 

And although I went into it not knowing all of the rules (actually, I think I just knew they passed backwards and they wear short shorts) I left absolutely loving the game.

Full and massive stadium!

England team lined up

I was incredibly excited for the game itself, but I was probably more excited for this:

It's Fiji dancing! No just kidding...

I wish I could say Fiji put on an exciting dance number with perfect choreography and song lyrics titled Rubgy: The Musical, but I can't. That would be hilarious though. 

I can say that Fiji did a version of the Haka. Basically it's a war cry/chant with lots of stamping and shouting. And I was genuinely amused.

Also, what made the game even more amazing was this:

Side note: My fingers look really strange here. There was a string holding it around my neck and I was trying to take a pic and hold the stupid string out of the way but it just looks like I'm missing some fingers.

It's called Ref Link. You purchase this little radio-like box with an earpiece and it connects you to everything the referee is saying. It was a bit crackley, but it was really cool hearing all the calls that were being made on the field. And you could hear lots of the grunting and general rugby playing man noises when the refs were close enough to the action. That was pretty funny.

Imagine hearing all the GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR throughout the game. Thanks Ref Link!

England absolutely annihilated Fiji. That was nice. There are not many things worse than your team losing (as I've discussed before), especially when you've traveled to London and still have a dreary ride back home. Losing just sucks.

The final score. Go on England!

Yeah and everyone who said "rugby is just like American football!" lied. These are the same people who say cricket is just like baseball. LIES.

To sum everything up, I now can say I've been to and enjoyed a rugby game. Obviously, I think I'll stick to running. I won't be a former dancer turned running enthusiast turned rugby all star any time soon. But it was a great game to watch and I can't wait to do it all again!

Tune in tomorrow for Part 2 - my American/expat list of things you should know about rugby when you know virtually nothing about rugby to begin with. Lots of differences between rugby and other sports. Lots of Americanisms. Lots more reasons to get excited!

Have you ever been to a rugby game? What do you think of the sport? Exciting? Too violent? If it's not popular where you live, do you wish it was? Anyone want to take a beginners Haka class with me? (kidding, kind of) 
What are some of your favorite sports to watch? Do you prefer watching on TV or at the stadium? 

My Trip To The North

In case you didn't get the memo covered in Marmite and HP Sauce, I finally moved to England!

Overly excited/incredibly touristy picture of the flight details from Newark. Ready to touchdown in London town!

I haven't even been here a week and I've already traveled the length of the entire country! I've seen enough sheep on the side of the road to last me a lifetime. As excited as I was about that, I didn't take any pictures. Apparently that's not what the locals do. Noted.

The Fiance is lucky enough to have a job that requires lots of traveling around England. More importantly, the job also allows me to tag along on these journeys!

Monday we went to London. While the Fiance met with his important peeps, I walked from the London Eye to Big Ben to Buckingham Palace.... By myself.... WITHOUT crying to stranger about my poor sense of direction!

I know I get about zero bragging rights for that. Baby steps.

Yesterday, we drove all the way to Blackpool for more work related business.

Look it's the beach! Kind of.

I've never been that far north before in England, so it was kind of cool!

Blackpool Tower. Looks kind of like an illegitimate Eiffel Tower.

And then I saw this shop.....

Oh lookie! Just what I need!

I've seen these shops in lots of cities around England. This one had a hefty selection, all of which was overpriced. They even had Vanilla Coke! That's freakin' hard to find even in America! If it wasn't about £3 per can I would have stocked up.

Then another sweets store had my name engraved in some rock candy!

Look! I exist finally!! It's a miracle! 

You don't know how hard it is to find my first name in anything here. Jane, Charlotte, Sarah... Those are acceptable first names. Taylor? Not so  much. Oh dear, I will never be able to buy those rinky dink little pre-personalized pencils or princess stickers ever again. What a tragedy.

All in all, it's been a lovely few days here in rainy England. My wellies and new umbrella (which hasn't fallen apart yet... that's record breaking considering it's from Primark) have definitely gotten lots of use! But no Seasonal Affect Disorder has kicked in due to lack of sunshine. Wahey!

To my fellow expats: Is there any candy or food that you desperately miss from home?? Do you see an American Candy store and just swoon?
To everyone else: Is there any foreign candy or food that you miss from your travels abroad??