In May, I drove up to New York to visit family and then stopped by the Big Apple for the NBC Up Fronts on behalf of Poptimal. Having never attended an Up Front before, it was an amazing experience. Everywhere I looked I was surrounded by incredible talent – Jason Isaacs, Will Arnett, Christina Aguilera, Joel McHale – the list could go on! I was lucky to sneak in a moment with Joel McHale, someone I’ve been a fan of since before Community, and he accused me of eating paint. I know, it makes no sense, but that’s the beauty of it!

Report from the NBC UpFront – Giving the Network a New “Voice”

In June, I thought I would be able to put my carry-on luggage back in storage for the first time since January. Turns out I was wrong. I ended up flying to Toronto, Canada to attend a set visit for two USA Network shows, Covert Affairs and Suits, once again for Poptimal. I met other wonderful TV bloggers like myself and reveled in being on an actual TV set!

Covert Affairs Set Visit: The Scoop on Season Two
Suits Set Visit: Welcoming a New Show with Open Arms

Oh, July. Where do I even start here? It was the end of an era for us Harry Potter fans, and I intended to celebrate in style. So I did. First, I headed up to New York City to meet with my other diehard Potter friends. I was asked by The Leaky Cauldron to cover the corresponding press events for “Deathly Hallows: Part 2.”  See coverage here! Then on the day the film opened to the public on the 15th, I was at a midnight showing with my school friends who were with me when I saw Chamber of Secrets for the first time in 2002. A perfect ending!

August has been my relatively quiet month – but then I became an Entertainment staff writer for College magazine. The theme for August was “Throwback,” so I’ve had fun prancing through Memory Lane and coming up with the following blog posts and articles…

Throwback Summer Reading List

Child Stars of the ’90s: Where Are They Now?

One Hit Wonders of Yesteryear

Amongst all this, I also interned at the Washington Post Express twice a week, put together a Shutterfly album about my Study Abroad semester, and created a website for my little brother. He’s quite the pianist.

On the TV side, earlier in the summer I reviewed Doctor Who for Poptimal and just this month started on Jersey Shore. You can’t ask for more diversity in terms of shows I’m reviewing! The second half of Doctor Who‘s season picks back up on Saturday, finally!

I’m moving back to D.C. over the weekend and there’s the usual excitement and dread with classes starting again. After a wonderful summer, I can only hope fall will be just as fulfilling!

Other than that, I’ve done a bit of writing, interviewing and editing for Poptimal. Here are some of my latest articles:

Doctor Who Review: The Mystery Deepens (24 April 2011)

Doctor Who Review: Insert Corny Pirate Joke Here (9 May 2011)

NBC Upfront 2011: Giving the Network a New “Voice” (18 May 2011)

An Interview with Shark Tank’s Daymond John (19 May 2011)

Part 1: Poptimal’s Best/Worst of the 2010-11 Season (25 May 2011)

Next week I begin an internship with the Washington Post Express, but I’m still on the hunt for some paid work. Seems like my summer might finally be coming together, though! Oh, and did I mention I recently turned 21? Epic.

I rode a bike through crazy traffic. Saw several West End shows. Said “telly,” “cheers,” and “rubbish.” Explored castles and palaces. Interned at Variety magazine. Ate and drank in pubs. Attended film premieres in Leicester Square and a football match. Shopped on the high street and so much more.

Some people are trying to comprehend why I didn’t stay for the wedding of the century, but let’s be real – what would I see had I stayed? It was more exciting seeing the city prepare for the event with the decorations everywhere, to be honest.

As they say, all good things must come to an end. But the summer holidays have only just begun for me; who knows what other adventures I’ll get up to in the next few months!

Photo taken by Maite Dalila.

I have just a few short weeks left in London before I return to the political mecca of Washington, D.C. There’s still a lot I want to do in London, but I’ve come to realize that it’ll be impossible to do it all. So my reasoning is just that I’ll have to save it all for when I come back! Sounds fair enough.

My plan was to visit each country in the UK plus Ireland, but unfortunately I’ve fallen two short. I visited Edinburgh, Scotland very early on and recently I flew over to Dublin, Ireland. Both great trips but of the two I think I much prefer Edinburgh, and no it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter there. I genuinely thought it was a much nicer city, more scenic, and cheaper than Dublin.

(Per the thumbnail accompanying this post, I should probably mention I went to a Fulham vs Blackpool game on Sunday and it was glorious. I’d never attended a football game before, only baseball, so it was about time.)

Dear Sir Paul McCartney and PETA,

There I was, enjoying the first steak I’ve cooked since arriving in London and reading my copy of Empire magazine when your full page ad proclaiming “I AM A VEGETARIAN” took me by surprise. There was a really sad story about a fish, and how the fish cares as much about its life as we do about ours. I glanced at the small piece of steak I had yet to finish and felt sick to my stomach.

Thank you for ruining one of the finest meals I’ve had since coming to London. I respect your wishes to be a vegetarian, Sir McCartney, and though I did not finish my steak this evening because of the guilt, I think I’ll stick to being a carnivore.

Yours Truly,

Stephanie

PS: Seeing you at the BAFTAs is still one of the highlights of my trip here. You are such a rockstar; never change!

PPS: No, I am not procrastinating on my presentation research. Procrastinating would be when I have less than 48 hours before said presentation is due. I have at least 55 hours.

PPPS: I will write about my full BAFTA experience later on, because that’s what it was. An experience.

The verdict?  I think it’s still far too soon to tell. I am definitely having a great time, though, and visiting so much. But it’s still early days – I haven’t even started my internship yet! I think that might be the defining point for me.

Like I said, I’ve visited a lot but unfortunately have not documented every little trip in this blog. I’ll try now with a brief rundown:

• Natural History Museum

• King’s Cross Harry Potter Platform  and 3/4 display

• Victoria & Albert Museum

• Camden Town

• Tower of London

• The British Museum

• A 4-day trip to Edinburgh, Scotland

• Tate Modern & Millennium Bridge

• A day trip to Windsor Castle & Hampton Court Palace

• The London Eye

• A day trip to Cambridge

• …and countless pubs

There’s still a lot left on the agenda! Today I did a Beatles walking tour which was basically going to see the various buildings where the rock stars were either married, met their future wives, or were busted for drugs. Charming. Oh, and we did the obvious Abbey Road Studios which was pretty cool. Our tour guide also brought us to see Paul McCartney’s actual house in St. John’s Wood. I don’t think he was home at the time, but it still made me feel like the biggest creeper ever.

I’m incredibly lucky because I have four day weekends every week until March! So I’m trying to take advantage of this and get as much done as possible beforehand.

The 39 Steps – Criterion Theatre, 13th Jan

My first West End show, and it was a comedy consisting of  four very versatile actors who portrayed hundreds of characters (this is not an exaggeration!). There were a lot of great effects, simple set changes, and hilarious costumes. Overall I would love to see this again!

Deathtrap – Noel Coward Theatre, 14th Jan

A play within a play – very confusing to explain but a real stage thriller. It was set in Connecticut which made it a bit strange to watch in London, but it was a great show all the same. It starred Simon Russell Beale, who is a huge British stage actor, and Jonathan Groff from Glee.

La Boheme – Soho Theatre, 19th Jan

A contemporary retelling of the story, still as an opera. The singing was superb but made it hard to follow along sometimes. It was split in 3 acts – the second act required the audience to move to the downstairs bar where the scene would be taking place. It was completely immersive! At one point a dodgy woman came up to us and asked if we wanted to buy cheap cigarettes. We shot her a strange look, declined her offer, and waited for the show to start – only that was part of the show! Not even a minute later, the dodgy woman began singing along with 50% of the bar. Crazy!

Midsummer – Tricycle Theatre, 26th Jan

A romantic comedy starring two actors only. It’s very heavy in narrative and flows a lot like someone’s stream of consciousness. There’s no intermission either and is nearly two hours long, but it is incredible! The actors have such high energy and use every bit of the set for props. It’s also a “play with songs” which basically means the actors will occasionally break out a guitar and start singing about what’s going on.

So far it’s been a mix of high and low experiences, as to be expected. I’m loving being back in a European city and learning to navigate the streets, trains, and buses. The downside is being in London means everything’s smaller….including my room. I have never been in such a small room! I honestly think it was meant to be a walking closet, but then they stuck in a bunkbed, some furniture, built a bathroom, and called it a day. It’s ridiculous how small the room is, especially when I compare it to the other students’ in my program whose rooms are normal and what you’d expect.

So far, my experience as a tourist has led me on a bus tour of London where we saw everything from Big Ben, Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, changing of the guards ceremony, central London, and even where the Queen gets her groceries from! Then we also had a walking tour of the Kensington area including Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens, both beautiful places. We walked through the quaint little streets with homes that apparently cost a million pounds! But here’s the kicker – these homes, some of which are behind Kensington Gardens, were once horse stables!

I don’t think I’ve had any embarrassing moments yet with the cultural differences, but I have almost been run over by a car or bike once or twice because I was looking in the opposite direction. That was mostly during the first few days – I’m getting much better at telling which way the cars are coming from now!

So this was my introductory “omg-i’m-in-london” post. Who knows what story I’ll have to share in the next one…

Mr. Mark had a previous blog entitled Mark Reads Twilight where he read the entire “saga” (I use this term loosely). Apparently, he was not left with warm fuzzy feelings about the series, so he decided to try Harry Potter. The difference is REMARKABLE. Mark began with an indifferent attitude towards the Potter world, not knowing much of anything about the different books, characters, and plots. Now he is reading Deathly Hallows, the final book, and is a converted Potter fan FOR LIFE (my words, not his, cause once you’re in – you’re in).

I love reading Mark’s blog for several reasons, mostly because it reminds me of when I read the books for the first time: that feeling of anticipation and suspense followed by shock when you finally get to the end of the story and realize the clues were there all along. And this will sound EXTREMELY corny, but there’s nothing better than seeing someone else discover the magic of Harry Potter.

Let’s look at it in a positive light, though: by neglecting said blog, it means that I’ve been very busy being super studious. Awesome? Awesome.

Anyways, as I foreshadowed in my previous post, there is a lot going on. In between dodging Nerf gun bullets – it’s dangerous living on this floor – I’ve also been doing a bit of writing, cooking, and decorating. My suitemates and  I recently decided to start doing a “family dinner” every Sunday evening and we take turns every week. This week was mine and my roommate’s turn, so I made some potatoes with lemon-ish dressing taken from a recipe one of my Amword writers provided me with. They didn’t turn out so bad, they were definitely edible, and for that I’m very proud of myself! The finished product:

In the meantime, I’ve been learning a lot of cool things about web design in my Multimedia class and it’s got the wheels in my head spinning like crazy. Maybe over Thanksgiving break or something (when I’m not being super studious) I’ll get around to making some cool changes around here.

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