She's Expecting the World

What I'm listening to now:

Of course it's Coldplay, what'd you expect?  I am so excited for Mylo Xyloto I can't even tell you.  Not ashamed in the least to admit that I shed a tear during their performance this year at Lolla...Gwenyth, you picked yourself a winner with Chris.  Coldplay is the one band that I have listened to since the 8th grade and never got tired of any of their stuff, no matter how many rounds of repeat I put the songs on.  They've fueled many a road trip, soundtracked many a late night essay cram, and calmed many a restless nerve.  I will forever be a Coldplay enthusiast.

Anyways, on to other things.  Hot chocolate ROCKS in England.  Homemade marshmellows?  Um YES PLEASE.  I think I've consumed more hot chocolate in the past week than Santa does on Christmas Eve.  I can't even engage in conversation when I'm drinking it; it's literally like the world stops moving when I take a sip and the Hallelujah chorus kicks in.  It's officially replaced my Starbucks addiction, as the folks at Marks and Spencer Department store now know me by name and prepare my drink while I wait in line.

Fall weather has yet to arrive in Oxford.  Every morning I leave for class, clothing layered, red raincoat on, and every day turns out to be nearly 70 and sunny.  Today I had to run to town after class to obtain yet another one of the thousand obscure books my history teacher has assigned me thus far (sidenote and reason #76 why I don't like him: he has worn a black fannypack to class every single day so far...I mean, I'd at least have a little more respect for him if it was jazzed up a tad, hell, I'd take "Disneyland" scrawled across the front, ANYTHING!  but why BLACK?!  so boring)...where was I...oh yes, my trek to town.  I began sweating on the bus under my 3 layers of clothing but was too tangled in my backpack strings to strip down.  I literally was dripping by the time I made it to Blackwell's...then I found out I had to haul my cookies all the way up to the 4th floor (they call it 3rd floor here EVEN though there are 4 flights of stairs involved, go figure), crawl around on the ground to find this gem:

My copy doesn't look this old and cool...but you get the picture.  That's what I'm supposed to be reading right now...but Lady Jane definitely needed some love first.

I had a lovely end to this Monday though...my girlfriends and I went to the grand opening of Cafe Cairo, a small little Lebanese restaurant located on North Parade, and had a magnificent feast for only 3 GBP a piece!  We indulged in hummus and pita, dolmades, tabouleh, spiced potatoes, and falafels!  Always can dig ethnic eats!

Following dinner, we ventured to the outskirts of town to see how the Brits do bowling.  Not ONLY was it a bowling alley, though...oh no...it was also part arcade and pool hall.  Since the lanes were full, I spent the first 15 minutes schooling Heather in some Dance Dance Revolution, but after we got good and sweaty, we decided it might be more ladylike to observe the others play pool.  Perhaps it was my competitive nature that got to me, perhaps it was the ants in my pants after the Dance Dance Revolution adrenaline rush, but I absolutely couldn't resist joining in:

clearly on fire

just look at that concentration

While it may look like I'm an old pro, I literally cannot think of a game that I'm worse at besides pool.  My grandpa had a pool table in the basement of their old home, and while I have memories of being taught to play and him teaching me how to hold the pool stick and aim, I had more fun arranging the balls in organized rainbow colors.  Needless to say, the lessons didn't stick.  My "guest shot" tonight resulted in a complete refiguration of all the balls, but I guess I'm just happy I hit something.  Usually I sink the cue ball or send one of them spinning like a whirling dirvish.  It was a nice change.

Upcoming posts to look forward to: Oktoberfest, Barcelona, Switzerland, Greece, Istanbul, Vienna...packed October ahead, cannot WAIT!