Boat Race Saturday

I had been looking forward to going to the Boat Race this weekend for awhile. Every year the rowing teams from Cambridge and Oxford Universities compete in London. It's an all day drink-fest with tons of college aged kids and food and beer tents galore.. It was reported to have a quarter million people lining the Thames banks to watch this year!




Oxford was in the lead at the half-way! Boo. I was rooting for Cambridge! Oxford won. And the reminder of the night was full of pints and good times.

-katie

A Proper Girl's Night

What's the plan for the 4 day weekend ahead? After a brilliant idea from a girl in the office, most of the ladies agreed, it was time for a night out.. no boys allowed. Dresses, heels, and over five bottles of wine! Thursday night out is becoming my new fav. Can't wait for round two soon.





Friday was spent sleeping in and having the best hangover lunch on my own. BBQ for alittle taste of home. :)

-katie

Shop til you Drop!

My weekend plans were very straight forward. Shopping! I started early on Saturday morning to get ready for my day in the Oxford St./Soho/Bond Street areas.. My biggest goal, find and do some damage at Primark.

I had heard so much about Primark before even leaving the States (thanks to Taylor!) and I wanted to finally see what it was all about. Well, tip to any girl that likes to shop but hates the crowds and waiting.. DO NOT go on the weekend. That place was a zoo. Once I found some cute items that I wanted to try on, I figured I could find one of many dressing rooms. WRONG. One dressing room for over 100 ladies with carts of clothing. One look at the line and I gave up. Get me outta there.

I went to TOPSHOP, and loooved it. Found shoes I loved, bought them in a size too big (all they had left), then promptly returned them when I came to my senses. So sad.

Basically after 5 hours of nonstop shopping, all I came home with was a black jean skirt, a shirt, some black tights, and two realllly sore feet. But I loved it!

I'll remember to take pictures next time.. :)

-katie

Orange Wednesdays

I know I haven't updated in awhile, but no apologies here. I'm just out and about and living my life!

Last night I went to see a movie in the Canary Wharf area. All Orange cell-phone users in London get a 2 for 1 deal for movie tickets on Wednesdays, so it was packed! I saw I love you Phillip Morris. I haven't laughed so much in a long time! I LOVED it! I highly recommend it (to all non-homophobes)!




Any one else love this movie?

-katie

The Flat

Here it is... THE flat. I have taken pics to show off the actual place, and not just the apartment's website pics..

This is the entrance to my flat, a little hallway. Let's go for a tour..
Make a left to the unseen door if you need to use the loo


Next stop, my cute little bedroom..



Then my fav, the living room and kitchen..

Theres my place! Home sweet home for the next 4 months! :)

-katie

Week One in London

It's already been a full week of London living! I can't believe how quick that was! I can already tell I am going to LOOOOOVE it here.

On day one, I had a great taxi driver from the airport to my new residence. My flat, to my surprise, was even better than I had imagined! (And yes, it looks almost exactly like the pictures in my previous post!)

My first weekend was full of meeting new people, and exploring my small corner of London. hen a week of work, and I'm back to this weekend. Hooray!

Today I plan on running to a park close by, it's so cute, and watching the soccer players makes me wish I brought my cleats! Add it to the "Hey mom, could you mail me ......." list. I have a feeling this list will grow, so maybe I'll wait a week before any requests are made.

Later I have a thrift store shopping date with a new friend. She is also new to London, so fingers crossed, I have a great new friend to explore the town with.

I'll leave you with some pictures. The park I'm headed for right now, and the reason I am running there! yummm..

-katie

pack pack pack...

This weekend was fun, crazy, and a great time to see all my friends before I head acrossed the pond. Fun times at the bars, a girls night dinner party, and some shopping with the bestie. Great times, and even better friends!

I can't believe its this time already.. but my bed is covered in shoes and clothes. Packing day! I'm super proud of myself for starting this early. I have been guilty of waking up the day of my flight and just throwing everything I own into suitcases.. not this time!

I don't want to pack anything boring. Plus I want to have an excuse to buy all kinds of new stuff. But I caved yesterday and bought a new outfit to take with me.. I just loooved this jacket from Express!

I need to start saving my money for H&M and all the cute thrifty shops!

Back to packing... what absolutely needs to make it into one of my 3 suitcases??

-katie

Austin!

Went to Austin last weekend for a fun getaway with my friends. The second we were on UT's campus I was such a hater, but the people were nothing but nice, and the food and bars were awesome.

Highlights:
- the fun drive there with patty pants
- Round Rock Outlets shopping
- seeing Lew
- meeting new friends!
- Malaia! by far one of the funnest dance clubs I've been to.
- unplugging the dj at Malaia
- waiting for the E bus
- the themepark that is Whole Foods

(Yes the dance floor does have a retractable roof!)

Good times had by all! Now it's time to party Norman style.. then mayyyybe packing..

-katie

PS. Went to Burberry for THE jacket... they had it! only in sizes 12 and 14! boo :(

Prepping

So, with barely 2 weeks to go, I'm starting to go crazy with my London to-do lists..


1. Packing!.. No way, not for atleast 13 days..
2. Find a reasonable way to charge/pay for things. (My Discover Card will not be accepted most places there, and my debit card has ridiculous foreign currency fees!!)
3. Find a really cute trench coat for all those rainy days.
4. Cancel my phone's data plan, car insurance, memberships, etc.. for the next 4 months.

Ok, no one else cares about this.. but it's all I've been doing now that I have a plane ticket booked!



I want that! And it's my birthday soon, so please.. buy it..(for me!)

-katie

London Living!

So, I'm getting more excited everyday that I'll soon be on my fun work assignment. I'll really be taking one for the team by living in London for 4 months...

Here are the pictures of what my temporary flat looks like on the website. (*fingers crossed it will be like this in real life too..!)

2 weeks and 2 days.

-katie

Superbowl Cupcakes!!

I had a Superbowl party to attend this weekend, and couldn't show up empty handed! I wanted to make super cute toppers with each team's symbol on it, but the fleur de lis is next to impossible to make super cute with fondant...

The circles were not bad.. White and blue (vanilla on vanilla) for the Colts, and black/yellow (double chocolate fudge) for the Saints! yumyumyum! Enjoy :)

-katie

London Bound

In about a month I will be living and working in London! My wordless Wednesday a few weeks ago was my subtle way of being excited, but now I'm really really excited! Today I got my work permit approved, soon I'll get to buy a plane ticket and see pictures of my future flat..

Same company, same job position, just 6 hours earlier..!

Only thing I am NOT looking forward to... Packing!

-katie

Peanut Butter Twist Cookiecups!

I made miniature versions of the Peanut Butter Twist Cookie Cupcakes that I made a month ago. I thought 40 minis of these would last... not even close.

Click here for the recipe and pics. (And also one of my favorite baking blogs)

-katie

farr vah.. fav ra.. FAVRE.

Looks like I'm not the only one who loved "Pants on the Ground"!!

Wordless Wednesday

New Year, New Blog Direction

So the football season wasn't what we all expected, which it made it that much harder to keep posting about all the losses. The cupcakes were still made and brought to the office, but... the blog went under.. quickly!

BUT, it's a new year! And I'm keeping the blog. Hopefully sprucing it up, and we will see where it goes.

Happy baking and happy new year!

-katie