summer in london

zebras and crocs and crickets... oh yum

Tonight I was lucky enough to enjoy a truly adventurous culinary experience with AE and EH at Archipelago. Check out their menu to see some of the exotic creations they offer diners. Our table was graced with zebra, kangaroo, crocodile, the "love bug" salad (crickets, etc) and last but definitely not least, a scorpion (covered in chocolate of course).

I am proud to admit I tried everything we ordered and enjoyed every single bite, including the potentially dangerous bites of scorpion. Apparently if you do not chew it thoroughly enough the sharp shards of scorpion body can slice the back of your throat. Mmmmm....crunchy and delicious!

The zebra is comparable to a good thin piece of steak. The kangaroo was amazingly soft and chewy but in a good way. The crocodile was delicious as well. Thankfully I chewed my scorpion intensely enough and my throat is still in tact. Definitely going back here if I can!

chocolate covered scorpion

love bug salad

21 --> 22

Tomorrow I will be 22. I would be completely lying if I said "it feels like yesterday that I turned 21"... it feels about a century ago that I turned 21. It's safe to say this was the longest year of my life. When in fact, it was a mere 12 months ago when I was seated in a very loud, very drunken limo, holding a bottle of champagne screaming "Party in the USA" at unsuspecting motorists who happened to be sharing the road with our very entertained driver. (To my dearest friends who were there that night, thank you for managing to get me to my heart's classy desire of a destination, C&J's, though you were in such poor states yourselves. I am looking forward to a repeat of this when I'm home from London - maybe not in a limo but definitely screaming at some innocent bystanders, making fools of ourselves like we so often do when we celebrate each others birthdays, and just days in general).

After a few mealtime heart to heart conversations with some amazing people I've met here in London, I've adopted a new mentality, my 22-year-old mantra perhaps: What's the worst that can happen? Not in that reckless idiotic kind of way, just kind of a content surrender to the fact that life is going to do whatever it wants to you. That doesn't mean you don't have a say - on the contrary it means you should speak up as often as possible because otherwise life will literally just waltz right past you. Its a sweet little reminder to not sweat the little stuff and instead be comforted by the blessings that you have. Because most of the time, the "worst that can happen" isn't that bad in the first place, and if it is - which I have definitely felt, like so many of us have - then it happened for a reason.

Really though, this is quite weird being here in London without my family or friends around me, especially since its my first birthday without a phone call from my dad. Even when I was at school I would get the typical "happy birthday" song recorded on my voicemail. I still have one saved. I already got my first birthday present today which was - soo typical of London - a rainy, humid summer day with a surprise ending: an insanely beautiful sunset. My dad's way of saying happy birthday.

this song seems appropriate :)

august

cheers

for everyone going to OUTSIDE LANDS today: get weird on my behalf, I am so so jealous. Make sure you rock out to Slightly Stoopid for me, I miss them.

for the rest of us: hooray, it is SATURDAY. yes that does mean tomorrow is sunday but for me thats a good thing because I'm seeing the Lion King with EH!! so excited. but really, Saturday is always a good thing... enjoy!

love

Sometimes I feel like throwing my hands up in the air
I know I can count on you
Sometimes I feel like saying, Lord I just don't care
But you've got the love I need to see me through

Sometimes it seems that the going is just too rough
And things go wrong no matter what I do
Now and then it seems that life is just too much
But you've got the love I need to see me through

When food is gone you are my daily meal
When friends are gone I know my savior's love is real
Your love is real

You got the love

tomorrow is FRIDAY

yay. tomorrow is Friday. thats what is keeping me in good spirits this tired, slightly hungover morning. had a pint too many with GT and BM at a cute pub in Islington last night, now I'm paying the price and my brain is working at half the speed it is capable of... thank god for music! even though that one is making me a bit sleepier... this one is keeping me awake!