Phi Mu Sisters Take London By Storm

This has been a busy week, but I want to start off with talking about last weekend, and amazing time I had when my sorority sister came from Budapest for a few days. Courtney brings Phi Mu lovin', the sunshine, adventures...and apparently she is my good luck charm. We have had a crazy weekend, and it all started as soon as she stepped off the plane.

I went into Heathrow to pick Courtney up on Weds. afternoon. On the way back, I had to stop at the Bunac office to pick some mail, so we took the double decker bus from King's Cross. After Bunac, we went up to the Sainsbury's in Isling, and got groceries for the next few days. We came back to the hostel, made dinner, and made plans for the next few days. We decided that Thursday would be a tourist day, and it was exactly what I needed. I've been here long enough to know my away around, but hadn't been around places to appreciate them as much as I wanted. Here is a picture catalog of our first day:


We went down to Trafalgar Square, and walked by the fountains. This was Courtney's first exposure to the more well known London.


Being true Phi Mus, we had to have our pictures taken in front of the lions.


We walked down to Big Ben....


And Westminster Abbey.


Then we crossed the bridge to the Queen's Path on the South Bank. We had lunch under one of the bridges and walked back to Charring Cross.




We went back to the hostel to grab some food and decide what to do that night. A few guys were going to see Spamalot, so we decided that sounded cool. But before we went there, I had read that Bond Street was doing it's Christmas lighting. Bond Street is the most expensive street in London, with shops like Cartier, Tiffany's, and Gucci, and is located across from the Ritz. They had the lighting of the Christmas decorations, and we went down.

They were so beautiful. They even had 'snow' : really, it was about a dozen bubble machines, but it looked like the real thing. Every few feet there was a dancing elf, or a string quartet, or carolers. Plus, a lot of shops were giving out free samples, so we each got a chocolate and some marshmallows.


So we hiked back down to the discount booths in Leicester Square. At this point, Courtney was feeling a little shaky about money, and I had already seen the show,so we opted for the ₤15 seats in the Upper Balcony aka the nosebleed section. We got slices of pizza off a vendor, and ate them as we walked down to the theatre. We got there really early, and went in, thinking we would have to camp out somewhere in the top and rent binoculars or something. The woman looks at our tickets, and says 'The balcony is closed this evening. Head over to the booth, and they will adjust your seating.' We're like crap, where else can they put us. The woman looks at our tickets, checks off a list, and says with a smile 'Just down the stairs, to your left.' Down the stairs? Like to the stalls? Like on the floor?? We go sit in the bar to wait, where we met these two nice guys (our parents' age) who are American, but have been working on planes for the state department in Japan for a few months. One of them goes to church with one of the girls I know from Vagina Monologues!! Small world. Anywho, they open the doors, and we go to find our seats. We are in *Drumroll* 5th row, center. Thats right. 15 quid, and we're in (normally) 75-100 pound seats. GO US!! The show was fantastic, we got sprayed with confetti at the end, and we loved every minute of it. It was nice to see what some of the actors looked like up close, tho I did have 'We're Not Dead Yet' stuck in my head for 3 days.

The next few days were great. We went to the National Portrait Gallery, walked around Oxford Circus, went to Portebella Road Market (got Christmas presents)
and Borough Food Market (amazing samples), met up with Hannah (the sister I met from Virginia) and went to the Mudlark pub (famous bangers and mash and being the location for the Three Broomsticks in the Harry Potter movies), went out for Sunday roast, walked in Kensington Park and found the Peter Pan statue, and ended the whole thing with a little trip to Platform 9 and 3/4.

The nicest parts were that we had a good time no matter what we were doing, we got along the whole time, and we got to Skype with a bunch of sisters at home. It was glorious.

Next entry, job updates!! And possibly flat updates...I'll tell you when I get back...


Love,
Emica

Work News

So I have updates for this week, and the biggest being, I got job(s)! Kind of...I start one on Thursday as a research assistant for an unmarked period of time, but will probably only be for a few weeks. The other I have a training session/interview for, which is with an event company that sends wait staff, hostesses, etc. to events. Here are the details.

Monday: I have been talking to different sorority sisters online for a few weeks now, and Monday I finally met one! Hannah from Virginia, who come over to the UK for grad school and is doing everything not to leave. She is the cutest thing, and so down to earth. She was wearing sparkles, everywhere, and had this confidence about her I hope for. I met her in her neighborhood, and we walked around for a bit before going to see a movie. We sat and talked about our chapters, international experiences, family. This is why I love Phi Mu-we connected right away. She mentioned that she was also looking for work, but for spare money, she contacted Esprit. They are an event firm that provides hostesses, waitresses, etc. for different parties, events, etc. I had heard of them before, but wasn't sure about hours. Hannah sent me an email address, and I sent in a resume.

Tuesday: So I got up for another day of searching, and I get a call from Suzi at Esprit. We chat for a bit, and she asks me if I can come in next week for a interview/training session. Woohoo-I'm going to be a waitress! It pays 6 pounds an hour, and she said that the hours are up to me--its my availability that determines how much I'm working. With the holiday season coming up, and the fact that I'm in town for the holidays, I could work up to 60 hours a week. That would kill me, but I knew I was going to be working my butt off after being unemployed for almost a month and a half. Besides, it'll be good to be busy.

Weds: I get up, thrilled because Courtney is coming to visit for 6 days! For those of you who don't know, she is one of my sorority sisters from home who is studying at McDaniel's sister campus in Budapest, Hungry. Courtney was one of my Phis when I was Provisional Membership director, and I've always felt like we could be a lot closer if we could just have more time together. We are very similar in our likes, our temperaments, and what we want to experience in life. I was really excited.

I also got an email from Bunac that morning saying there was a woman looking for someone to do research for them. I called her, and about 20 minutes into the conversation, I found myself writing down directions to her house for my first day! To backtrack: I called Bunac and told them I still hadn't found anything. I then sent them a list of all the places I had applied, and what I had been sending them. I got a call later that day from Louise, one of the staff members. She said that for a few days, she was going to email me jobs directly at the same time she posted them as available on the Bunac boards. She was a little worried because people who had weaker resumes then me were getting hired for posts. So she sent me a few emails, and I called this woman because it was the first one I got. Her name is Johanna, and she is the managing director for a company called Potencium. They design team building, training, development, and mentoring programs for companies. She does a lot of these programs in the States, and is based out of UCLA. She lives most of the time in LA, and is only here for a few weeks, but needs someone to do research for a program for Women in the Workplace. She was talking very quickly, but from what she said, I can work from her home, pretty easy hours (11am-6pm) at 8 pounds an hour, 5 days a week. I start work with her on Thursday, so I'll let you know how it goes.

The only reason I'm not jumping out of my skin about these jobs are a)I still haven't started them yet, so I'm still a little up in the air to what I'm doing; b) the research job at least is temporary, but that might be different once I start and know what the hell I'm doing; and c) I'm just frustrated that it has taken me this long, and still all I could get was a 2 week gig, and waitressing. The waitress thing is a side job, so I'm still open to other stuff once I know about the research job, but I dunno...I just want to work, I don't care at what now. I just wish I knew when!!

A job is a job is a job. And it would be really great to be out of the hostel for Christmas. I'll let you know by the end of this week what I've gotten myself into :)

-E

Just Keep Swimming, Just Keep Swimming...

Hi all-

After freaking out about no job, no flat and all that, I kind of had a 'pop!' moment. I was walking down to the tube, and I realized that if I was at home, I'd be doing this same thing. But I'd be home, in this little safety net, doing the same thing and not experiencing anything. And the truth is, despite how stressful the last few weeks have been, I wouldn't given them up for the world. I've proven to myself that I can interact on an international level, and come away pretty strong. I can learn my way around a new city (one of the most confusing cities EVER!!! so many roads lead to no where, and nothing intersects the way you think it will). Despite having to get more money from home, I've handled budgeting pretty well, being aware of living costs. I feel that confidence everone always seemed to see in me. Its because of all this crap that I feel that. I talked to Mom last night, and she had a similar kind of moment where she realized as much as she wants to help me, I'm still doing pretty good all things considered. We both kept cracking up because our mic connection on Skype was bad and all I could hear was 'So I think *Static*' or 'This is a good idea *silence*'

Overall, I'm loosening up. This doesn't mean I'm giving up or anything, but I've resolved to be here, keep looking for a job, all that, but I'm going to stay at the hostel for a bit. At least until I find a job. As much as the bed sucks, the rent isn't bad, I have a kitchen and unlimited movies and wi-fi, and I've made friends here. I've re-packed my bags and done laundry to get organized, and am making plans. Courtney is coming on Weds., so I'm going to take the week off from all the stress and enjoy. I've been sending out CVs all morning, and will check in, and I'll set a general spending limit for the weekend, but I'm going to have some fun.

In general news, after my night of 'pop!', I decided to do a London-y thing--I took myself to a musical. Spamalot to be exact (the one based on Monty Python and the Holy Grail) There are all these stalls around Leister Square that sell cheap tickets. I got front row center balcony (normally a 75-105 pound ticket) for 25. Thats right, 25 quid. I went alone, and had the best time. I laughed so hard (I love the Knights that Say Niet!--if you haven't seen the movie, you totally should. It's excellent) and left in a really good mood. I kind of like doing stuff like that on my own. I can just enjoy it for myself, and not worry about what the person I'm with thinks or if they are bored. For some reason, I do that a lot when I go out. But this was just for me.

On Friday night, I shared a few drinks with some of the girls at the hostel and we all sat around in the kitchen with the guys and talked about life, travel, culture, everything, until 4am. It was so awesome--exactly the kind of experience I was looking for. Saturday night, I went out with Jac, her friend from home Erica, and her boyfriend Chris. We went to this intimate club called Juno in Old Street, and had a really great time. Sunday was kind of a re-coop/laundry/bumming around day.

In Thanksgiving news, I talked to the manager here, and he said if I wanted, I could collect money from people here and make it here. Its doable, but I'd have to get a pre-cooked bird. The mini-stoves aren't big enough. People here got ubber hyped about it, and it might be cool--bringing all nations together to gorge on food. Could be a really nice way to spend the holiday. Tho I proved I was a sucky American: I totally thought it was this week, not next. Its like summer here: time has no meaning since I don't have anything to mark it by. Good and bad thing. Plus, the manager loves to tease. I went down this morning to book in another week, and he said his bet is I'll be here until January 3rd--apparently I'm already down to do vegetables for Christmas. Boob.

I'm going to go plan some activities for Courtney and I. Maybe we'll get out of the city for a day and go to Oxford or something. Check in for Adventures of Phi Mu's Abroad soon!

Love,
Emica

Hard but Not Beaten

Dr. Phil says that if you don't have a job, you should make looking for one your job. This means 8 hours a day, 5 days (or more) a week, you should be doing everything possible to find a job. So thats what I've been doing.

I'm still at London Backpackers. Surprisingly, the longer I've been here, the more settled I've been. I like having the longer tube ride back, so I have some time to just be with my thoughts. They moved me into the 'long term' room--means discounts as you book in weeks instead of nights, only 15 beds, and I get to know people better. There are a lot of Aussies staying here, and now we're friends. I know names, we smile more and move over when someone wants to sit on the couch to watch whatever movie is on, and we keep an eye out for each other. Its been nice. They are all in the same boat as me--job hunting, job having but in retail or service, or just bumming around. The free wi-fi is a lifesaver, and I found a grocery store and got things to save money. The really stinky french guy left. And I've kind of become a pet--I'm the only American in the hostel, and they all get a kick out of that. I think they also see how bummed out I get after looking at an apartment and not finding it, or when I don't hear back from jobs.

I think the reason I haven't been updating is because I don't want to disappoint anyone, even myself. Nicole, Nathalie, Jac and I decided to look on our own for places, and more importantly, look in different areas. Its hard, but it should be easier to find places when we all have different goals in mind. I honestly think I'd be ok staying here for a few more weeks and saving up more money to find a better place/room. The only thing I'm worried about is Courtney is coming to visit next week, and I don't have a place for her right now. I suppose I can ask her to book into the hostel, but it would be better to have some space. I've been writing down a lot of numbers and looking for a lot of different types of rooms, studios, or houses. I looked at 2 on my own, but the guy who showed me the first was kind of creepy, and the 2nd guy was going to let me have my room, the bathroom, and the kitchen, but I wasn't allowed access to the living room or dining area until he felt he could trust me. Go figure.

The job thing is back and forth. One of the temp agencies sent in my stuff for a great job at Regents College. Its in their Humanities and Arts department as an admin assistant. The department is in charge of arranging trustees meetings, school activities, graduation, etc., and is right in Regent's Park. It pays 9.50 an hour, and is a temp to rolling position. I really really really want it, but they have been dragging their feet for 3 days now, and the temp agency called to tell me that they had someone apply for it that use to have that job, so now they are taking the weekend to consider everyone and everything. Originally I felt really good about it--my resume has a lot of that type of stuff--but if someone who already had the position before me applied, then I'm not sure how I can compete with that. I've sent out 45 resumes since I've been here, and tried following up on most of them. Some have had the positions filled, some have said no thanks, some have just ignored me. I don't know what to do at this point, but keep plugging away. I think I'm going to look at hotel and live in jobs for a while. Something will come. It has to.

Other then that, things have been ok. I went out to an Indian place the other night with the girls. I walked around Oxford Street in the rain and looked at the shops. I bought postcards that I just have to get stamps for. I walked around Westminster. I'm still here.

Emica

Treading Water

First of all, I need to congratulate the American nation for having the intelligence to elect our new president, Barack Obama. I stayed up til 3:30am at the ISH bar watching the coverage, and I gotta say having a bar full of Americans definitely gives the place a different vibe. I'm not sure how exactly how to describe it, but its almost like I had just let out a sigh--I didn't have to wonder how to behave. Anywoo, go Obama and thanks to my play by play coverage ;-)

Now we come to news: All of it. So I'm going to simplify things into sections:

Job:
Still lacking. But with prospects. The job interview I went on on Monday was for an office assistant at a firm that designs and builds luxury hotels and resorts world-wide. I would have been crazy busy, but they seemed like good people. The interview went really well, they gave me a tour of the building, I thought I was a shoe in. On Tuesday morning, I got a very polite email saying that I had a brilliant interview and I came off confidant and capable, but there was an interview right after me with a Canadian girl who had a year long visa, so they went with her. Makes sense, someone in the company longer is good, but still!! I didn't hear anything yesterday, the today I got called in for three interviews tomorrow :) I have 2 in the morning: both at temp agencies. This is both good and bad--I think they both were offering jobs that I applied for and thats how they heard about me, but still. The last one is at Felix Marketing--I have no idea what the job is, but hey! Could be good.

UPDATE: I am such a bad blogger. I went to all three interviews. The first two were at temp agencies, so I am now registered with them. Yay :) The third was at this marketing firm, and the interview got me really excited: they promote client's products at events. I figure hey, it'll just be like doing a CMN event and promoting Phi Mu, something I can do very well, but also interests me. The guy was really great, and invited me back for a second interview tomorrow!! Woo excitement....

But wait....

As with everything, there is a catch. I re-read the email I received from them and 3 things popped out at me: personal sales, OTE, and commission. Basically, its the knives all over again. For those of you who don't know, I answered an ad in the paper a few years ago that said a sales group had openings making $16.50 per hour. Sounded great. When I got there, I found out that it was a job selling knives from door to door, and the interview consisted of a 2 hour long demo of the knives, then explaining how to set up appointments. They only invited 3 out of the 15 of us to join the team. I was one of them, and the guy looked at me and said 'You're not going to take this, are you?' NOPE. Sorry, but I don't want to live on commission and its bad enough with the culture shock--I am not going to spend all my time here trying to talk people into buying crap when they won't even smile back at me on the Tube. Uhg.

Worst part is, I might be ok at it. Good, even. I have another interview with them tomorrow morning--I can always say no. I'm going to go collect retail applications this weekend. I'll turn them in Monday, and then work my temp stuff around them, if I even get any.

Flat Hunting:
In a nutshell, nada. We split from 2 to 4 back to 2, but different pairs. Jac and I are looking to stay together, but this is proving difficult as our jobs seem to be in different areas and we plain just can't seem to find a place together. After my interview tomorrow, we are going to sit down and really look hard at what needs to be done to get us in a place. As of Saturday morning at 10am, I am out on the street. I refuse to move again unless its into a place, and my hostel is booked solid until Monday. I would like to say I can just say screw it and move to a place in the city, but for some reason, everywhere is booking up, so places are costing more. This is a problem as I am trying to manage my funds. Jac said she would put a deposit on a place for us, since she has more money and will get it all back. I have enough in my account for first months rent in our price range, then just enough to keep me alive until I get a paycheck. If I get one in the next month. Which may or may not happen.

I'm going to be selling crap to crabby Brits, aren't I? Ca va....

Fun:
Moments here and there. The hostel is better as I've become a regular. Tho I need to do laundry so bad, and I'm starting to smell like my room. Not cool.

I know the Tube pretty well.
I really want to do the Haggis Tour to Scotland for 3 days where you stay in a castle, there are parties and lots of snowy Christmas cheer, and its actually not bad on price...if I can get a job.
I have good friends who care about me enough to text before interviews and are always up for a drink after a hard day.

I'm doing ok. But I need to get these things, or I'm not going to be able to relax and enjoy. This chick I met at the Bunac office said that if we can't get anything in 2 weeks, we should go to Edinburgh. I love London, but I wanted to see more on this trip. Maybe its something to think about.

I miss you. All of you.
-Em

Part 2

We got back to the hostel and got ready to go out for Halloween. Bunac had some space reserved at an Australian club called the Walkabout. Basically, we told the guy on the door that we were with Bunac, and he'd let us skip the line and get in free. Halloween here is not a big deal--people don't really get dressed up, not many kids actually go trick or treating-very different then home. Being good ol' North American gals, we went all out. Nicole was the most brilliant--everywhere you go here, you hear 'Mind the Gap' on the Tube. So she had the idea to cover herself in red paint (which got all over the rest of us) and write on a shirt 'I didn't Mind the Gap'. People on the Tube thought it was pretty funny. Nathalie got some black wings and went as a dark fairy. Jac, with only my sailing knots and a belt to hold her up, went as a Greek Goddess. And I recycled last year's Disney social costume and went as Alice in Wonderland. I think we turned out well.

We went down to the ISH bar first. That was more like a classic Halloween party. The only downside: Creeper McCreeperson who hit on Jac in the first 3 minutes in there, then bought us all a round of drinks and left his friend to try to distract us while he tried to get Jac alone. She gave him her number because he said he worked at Sony and could get us all jobs, then we left to go the Bunac thing. We were literally gone 5 minutes before he called her, 3 times in a row! He was trying to come with us, so she finally blocked him and we headed out. The club was cool. It was in a restored church, and had 2 dance floors and 3 levels. They played everything--I mean everything. Pop, rock, techno, hip hop, showtunes, everything. Bre, I thought of you during '5, 6, 7, 8' ;-) We were there until 3am, then got the night bus back to ISH where we crashed hard.

We got up early to go back to look at the dream house. We met up with T, the really cute agent, and Nicole of course loved it. After much hemming and hawing, we decided to take it. EXCITEMENT!! T drove us back to the office to sign the paperwork. Now, the guy we dealt with was nice, but there were things we weren't aware of-such as, the landlord wanted us to pay 75 quid each to pay for our background checks, and that plus deposit plus security would have wiped me out. I literally would have had nothing left until my first paycheck. After talking it over, we decided to sign the papers, and that we would figure something out for me. I left the other girls, grabbed a 65p sandwich from Tesco, and trudged back to my hostel. The whole time, I am stressing and anxious, because this is a big scary decision. But I'm resolved. I'll call home and cash in some savings bonds, take the money I have in my Key account, whatever it takes. I get off the train, and am in the hostel uploading pictures and figuring out how exactly to tell my parents and then ask to borrow some survival cash, when my phone beeps with a message. Apparently, the landlord (who we never saw) has decided that he doesn't want to let the place go for a 6 month lease, and isn't comfortable giving it to girls who don't have UK references. So even tho we signed a deposit and gave the guy 400 pounds, we're out. Luckily, we get the deposit back, but still!!! I called the other girls to tell them, then got on Skype to talk to Mom and Dad.

Honestly, part of me was a little relieved. It was a big step, and a LOT of money. Any place is going to be like that, but I don't want to be somewhere where they jerk us around like that. It was disappointing and emotionally draining. Not cool. Sunday, I took the day off. I called some places and prepared for my interview today. In the afternoon, we got a call from another place. This one is in West Dulwich-about 15 minutes outside of the central city. Cheaper then the last place. Still a house. I called the girls and we decided to take a peek. Jac and I met up in Covent Garden and walked around for a while before, and went to a pub called The Wellington for Sunday Roast dinner. Really good, and pretty cheap. We had treacle tart for dessert, because I'm a huge dork and have read about it in Harry Potter for the last decade having NO IDEA what it was. It was like a blond brownie--but better. We took the train out and met Nicole and Nathalie. Then, we saw the place. I really really like it. It had high ceilings, access to a private community garden, and was really close to the bus and train. The others were a little worried about the distance, but I told them for me, I've always commuted. And it might be nice to be a little outside the city and be able to explore. I mean, its only 15 minutes across the river.

I think we may end up taking it, but I don't want to get my hopes up. I have my interview at WATG this morning for a receptionist gig. The more I look at the website, the more I want this job (www.watg.com) Its a company that designs hotels and resorts all over the world. It looks interesting, and the mission statement is “to design experiences that lift the spirit.” Sounds like me, huh? Wish me luck!! Maybe by the end of the day, I'll have a job and a house!!

-Emica

The Really Great, the Hopeful but Scared, and the Down and Dirty

It has been a hell of a week. All kinds of, but crazy all around.

So, last we left I had made some friends, sent out a lot of jobs and was looking for a two person flat. Currently, I have a bigger group of friends, have 2 interviews next week, and had a DREAM HOUSE for 4 that was ripped out from under me. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Wednesday morning, I finally made my way over to Bunac once again. I checked some more jobs, then Nicole and I were off to see an apartment. It was really nice--brand new, never been lived in, balcony, big beds. However, the guy showed it to us even after someone else had put in a deposit. What is this, tempt the poor foreign girls?? We loved it, and only minimally mourned its loss. I had to go to the bank to pick up my debit card after that, and then I met back up with Nicole to look at another place. This one was way the heck out in Canada Water (about 35 minutes out of the city) and we got all the way out there to be told by the landlord that he got a call and wanted to go out, so could he call us back? Great. Jerk. We turned around, and met Jac and Nathalie for dinner at this Canadian bar called the Maple Leaf. This is where the day picked up. The four of us just click so well. Nicole and Nathalie laugh together a lot, while Jac and I are more laid back, but we can interchange as well. This bar was awesome--we had good Canadian food, and beer, and this amazing ubber dessert. Nathalie got this huge kick out of the fact that Nicole’s cheeseburger came with an egg on it. (ps pass on the beef in England—not very tasty-must not use that good Angus cattle ;-)) We stayed at the pub and watched a football game for a while--it was really funny to see how crazy all the guys in the pub got when anyone scored a goal. The New Zealand boys showed up for a bit, then I had to take off to catch the Tube.

Thursday, I went into town around noon, and met up with Nathalie, Rob, Bradley and Paul (aka NZ boys). We walked through Regent Park and went to the London Zoo. It wasn't crowded because it was drizzly, but it was kind of depressing. I think that was more because of the rain, and all the animals were hiding out, but even still. We went to the cafe and had some snacks, then headed back to ISH. There, Nicole and I met up and went back to her room to talk flats. While we were there, Nathalie came in, then Jac, and before we knew it, we were looking for 4 person instead of 2. We found a few places, made some calls, then went to meet Nathalie's friend for dinner. We went to this place called Pizza Express on Baker Street, (much posher then it sounds, but still cheap) then went to look at our first place. It was so tiny--4 bedrooms, a kitchen and a bathroom. We'd be tripping over ourselves. It could have fit on the first floor of my parents house. Oh well, first one maybe a 6 out of 10.

Friday morning, I did....something. Probably emailed and worked on looking for work. I did get an email back for an interview tho!! It's at WATG--a design firm--in central London--they do hotels and stuff all over the world. They need a receptionist, its 8 pounds an hour, 40 hours a week, for the whole 6 months. I have the interview tomorrow at 11, so fingers crossed! The lady I talked to was really sweet. It would be really great to get involved as it is an international company. Not to brag, but I'm good at the interview thing. I just hope I'm British good. After this exciting news, I head in to meet the girls to look at another place. It is BEAUTIFUL!! Its a brand new house, huge, 2 1/2 bathrooms, living room, great kitchen, backyard, everything. We LOVED it. Nicole couldn't meet us, so we told the guy we had to talk to her, but we'd get back. We went back to ISH, and got ready to go out for Halloween.

Hate to run, but I have to meet Jac for tea! Will continue this story tonight--believe me, it's got some fun twists.

To be continued,
Emica

PS I love this blog. Its made me realize how much I love writing.