midterm madness ending at the market

by some incredible sequence of events, we've made it to midterms week. I'm in official denial we're anywhere close to halfway done with the semester as there is just too much left to do and see! in desperate attempts to make the most of my fleeting moments of final studies, I decided to set out to a bit of this exploring.

on monday : I woke up early to spend a half day interning at snap fashion but upon realizing they had no computer for me to work at, I set out to see something... anything! I made my way south to the victoria & albert museum (host to some billion objects of design) where I obsessed over their eighteenth century statues and historic fashion collection before making my way to spend a fantastic two or three hours in the cafe - anything for a good cup of tea & chocolate bar! 

tuesday : a little less adventurous after my first exam, I took a ten minute walk from our school in bloomsbury to soho/noho (not sure which I found...) to tapped & packed, a local cafe with fantastic coffee and a lovely, neighborhood feel. 

wednesday : after my midterm (only one left for next week! ), a few gals & I traveled a little farther north to camden market and enjoyed an early afternoon of vintage shopping, sweet deals and free samples off asian food stands. I made it back home without too many purchases but the authentic feel was tough to pass up - definitely a destination to return to! 

off to scotland for the weekend : look out for updates from the north!

 walking up to the V&A museum : it already looks elaborate

 the awesome ceiling & windows of the awesome V&A cafe

 as an insta-addict : I had to share my lunch plate, view & snack of tea with a shortbread/carmel cookie

 a favorite view from the V&A : the modern glass chandelier with european statues in the backdrop

 lost in a british alley on a rainy day & not sad about it!

 I blame lack of caffeine/sleep for my excitement over this americano & vintage spoon combo

our first glimpse at the market that lay ahead...

 after many distractions & a couple purchases : the inside of the stables (the vintage side of the market)

 zebra scarf & cable knit henley : final finds of the day!

the crew enjoying a seat on the classic camden vespas (see the canal right behind us?)

this week : fashion & football

this week started out with me pretending I was a part of london fashion week as I shamelessly went people & prada watching after class at somerset house. it is by far the best people watching you could possibly find with the most outrageous ensembles mixed in with the truly classic and tasteful... a great kick of inspiration as I made my way through a busy week of fighting off a cold and preparing/procrastinating for midterms. instead of writing essays I found myself making brief vintage shopping trips and watching sherlock on netflix... 

as we rolled into the weekend, an exhausted caryn & I decided we would simply spend all of friday at the book club sipping cappuccinos while posting up on our laptops. on saturday, I went with a large group from school went to the fulham v. stoke football match. slightly freezing, but the winning score & a hot chocolate made it all the more enjoyable! 

inside somerset house where all the shows were happening

 a few stylish individuals I was able to sneak a snap of on my iphone

 my blue mug at the book club was a perfect contrast for the overcast skies outside

 street art happiness in shoreditch : another green bear was captioned "I love you this much!" with his arms outstretched

 let's go fulham!

a few of the loyal fans of the day strategically wearing neutral colors...

week six of london life

a few pictures from my daily life in london...

I've become quite skilled at scouring secondhand bookstores for my modern british novel class : the classic bindings are fantastic! (also the curious titles like the gentle art of making enemies)

 as a stationary fanatic, I was probably a little too excited to get a snap fashion notebook on wednesday

 catching london's nautical details while jogging along the thames friday morning

I tend to get really inspired to instagram while I jog...

valentino, london eye & portobello road

another lovely week in london has flown by at a remarkable speed! I keep saying it, but I've never felt so strongly about the cliche, "there aren't enough hours in the day," as I have this semester. after a busy week of school & interning, I was incredibly excited for my weekend plans! on friday, my friend clara & I went to the valentino : master of couture exhibit at somerset house and obsessed over all the couture gowns and ensembles from the mod sixties to slightly tacky 2000's. we both agreed we would wear anything given to us from the show... after that I walked across the thames & met a group at the london eye just in time for sunset (can you say perfect timing?). 

on saturday we were in no rush to do anything but with the sun actually shining and temperatures around 50, a slow stroll through hyde park seemed like the perfect activity! I was busy naming all the swans as we aimlessly strolled by all the ponds and fountains. eventually we found ourselves by portobello road market where an incredible assortment of antiques, cute clothes and seriously tempting jewelry made actually picking what to buy a little too difficult. I'll have to go back soon to find the perfect turquoise ring since I'm a little concerned the vintage typewriter won't fit in my suitcase... 

outside somerset house : the red banner is the valentino entrance

our guide to valentino's couture catwalk

before heading up the london eye

 view of the sunset over london

each pod actually held quite a few people : it's slightly more huge than you'd think

 checking things out on the way down

the crew feeling extra touristy

 one of my favorite london pictures so far : sunset over big ben

fountain near the entrance to hyde park

I'm pretty sure this is called the italian gardens : either way it was gorgeous!

very casually strolling

 I named this swan emma

the iconic london market

the pastel houses were so cool! I think it would feel like living in an easter basket

 though I adore pink, I chose this plum house as my future address

 you know life is fantastic when you can get gelatto in february

just a little color inspiration from a very happy bike

silly at the sights

though I've described our museum musings and crepe cravings at length, to get the full feel for how much we've been enjoying our trips : you'll need to scroll through the silly side of our camera rolls! 

we were VERY excited to have just arrived in paris!

we always travel with our hoosier pride

this guy was very determined to take a picture with us, so we followed his lead with the peace sign pose 

a couple of our hosts for the weekend (their names are a little too french to really remember, though)

they not only made us dinner the first night, but started a major guitar hero jam session : we rocked!

making the most of the train ride back from versailles

we're practically the european version of panhel

 shout out to my dg's! miss you all! 

 in the breezy gardens at versailles : fishy faces were absolutely necessary... I blame lack of sleep for this one

throw back to our stonehenge & bath trip : this was our human stonehenge, success!