Money, Money, Money...

Sorry for the ABBA reference, I had to at some point - I am in Scandinavia! Not Sweden, but close enough. And the song fits well for what I wanted to blog about today. Denmark is seen as an expensive country. Because they don't use the euro, the conversion rate is different, and not as good. One Euro here is about 7 kroner (crowns, but nobody calls them that, even in english) but one dollar is about five. So we again get the short end of the stick. I had read before I came here that it will be very costly and that I should watch my money carefully. I definitely understand why you need to, but there are also some exceptions to the rule (as always).

Fruit: fruit here is surprisingly cheap, possibly cheaper than in the United States. A quart of strawberries here grown locally is about $5, which isn't too different from the imported strawberries I buy in Maine flown in from California. Berries in general are cheaper. At the outdoor markets I can get five nectarines for 25 kroner, or about a dollar a piece. This seems expensive, but they are so huge and so delicious that it is 100% worth it.

So I had to stop typing to go out and take this picture. I forgot to take one of the fruit stand by the train station, but this one is about a block from where I live on a pedestrian street. Everything looks so fresh!

Necessities: today I went into Apotek, which is the Danish pharmacy. Because of the health care system, most things are behind the counter and there is one place to go get it all (there is no need for competition when the customers don't have to pay). I went in to buy contact solution today and it would have cost me $20!!! I do use a certain type that was about $4 more than the regular solution, but still - $16 for multipurpose contact solution!? In the US that would be about $6. I might have to choose between going broke or going blind...

I know this isn't a very good picture, but I had to take it when nobody was looking. All of these are contact solution. To figure out the price in dollars, divide each by 5. 

Travel: here's where the good news comes. Travel in Europe is so ridiculously cheap that I have become a bargain snob. I won't even look at flight times if the airfare one way is more than $40. And I mean it. There are so many hostels to chose from in every city. And since Copenhagen is so close to eastern Europe, I will be heading there a lot (they don't use the euro, so it's cheaper there). So far I have Budapest booked, but we'll see where else I decide to explore!

So as you can see from these examples, it totally depends on what you're buying, how much you really need it and whether or not you can settle for something of low quality. I need contact solution, that's not something I can skip, but when it comes down to the nectarines, maybe I'll get bananas on sale instead and put those 25 kroner towards something else. It's all give and take, and you have to manage wisely!

PS, my mother will be so happy to read this post and hear about my spending habits here. I am notoriously horrible with cash.

dwh.

Meet Lynda.

So yesterday in Copenhagen I didn't really have much to do, so my friends and I decided to head towards DIS to this great coffee house called Studenterhuset, which means "student house" in Danish. It's the student center for the University of Copenhagen, but as a DIS student you get discounts on great food and coffee! But yesterday we weren't looking for cheap food, we were looking for bikes! In Copenhagen everyone gets around on bikes. Cars are seldom on the streets, and there are designated bike lanes to ensure good traffic flow throughout the city (and all of Denmark). Since I will only be here for four months, I didn't know if I wanted a bike or not, but decided to go anyway to see what they had. The bikes were a little expensive, but worth it for the quality and reassurance of knowing you could sell them back at the end of the semester. I looked around for a while and finally found something that caught my eye:

Yes, that's right, I found a pink bicycle. And I have purchased said bicycle and will be riding it to class today. Her name as of now is Lynda, but who knows if that will stick. I decided on this because she is pepto bismol pink, and that reminds me of nurses, and I feel like Lynda is a nurse name. I also don't know why I chose to spell her name that way, but I'm not changing it. Hopefully Lynda does not get stolen, and I promise not to lose her. If I can manage these two things all semester, they will pay me $200 to bring it back to them in December. Which would be a nice perk towards the end of my stay here!

I didn't want this to be a long blog, as some of them have been pretty lengthy recently, but couldn't wait to show you my new bike! I hope you like her, I'll probably have lots of stories from our adventures together! 

Amanda went for an artsy shot...

Until then, 

dwh.

I've Only Been Here 7 Days?!?

So I have officially been in Denmark for a week now! Well, not an entire week, but almost! I feel like I've been here for a month already, I am so comfortable getting to classes and back and also around the city. There are definitely places I haven't even seen yet, but I'll get there eventually!

Ok so this week we started out with orientation meetings for three days. The first day was the opening ceremony at the Royal Danish Academy of Music, which was built before World War II as a building for radio broadcasting, but wasn't officially opened until after the end of the war due to concerns of being too luxurious for the hard times. The opening ceremony was nice - some professors spoke and gave us some tips on how to immerse ourselves. After that I had my urban awareness experience, which was a scavenger hunt around the city with four other people I'd never met before. We went to the Church of Our Saviour in Christiantown, the same island where Christiania is (I'm headed there soon!), the Black Diamond (Royal Library), to the Parliament building, the King's Square (where there is an amazing department store) and to Netto, a grocery store, for lunch. It was a good way to see the city and get more grounded with where things are.

This is the stock exchange, located to the left of the main parliament building. I love the dragons on the tower!

On Tuesday I had an optional session in the morning about etiquette in Denmark and what to do and not do while around in Copenhagen. Apparently if you pick up your silverware, you can't ever put them back on the table (not that I would anyway I guess), and it is very rude to be late or cancel plans. Extremely rude. That afternoon I had to get my books, which turned into a 30 pound nightmare. I got lost on the bus with all those books but eventually found my way (see previous post). Then I did nothing because I was so tired.

Wednesday I had to figure out all of my visa paperwork and file for my residence permit so I'm not living here illegally! That went very quickly and I met up with Andrea, a girl who goes to American with me, and some friends she had met that go to St. Lawrence. Then I headed home for lunch and a nap (and typed my latest blog) and headed back that night for a visiting family session. I have a visiting family, so I go see them for dinner and to go places, but I don't live with them.

Thursday I had classes for the first time, but they don't start until 1:15 so I had lots of time to finally sleep in! I'll post my class schedule below so you can see how everything goes! After my classes I went with Katherine, the girl who also visits the family with me, and we went to meet them at their house about a half hour from DIS (and the central station in Copenhagen). They are so wonderful, made us delicious food, and have three great kids. I really enjoyed talking with them and getting a break from being here in the city.

Friday I also had classes, only even later than Thursday because one was postponed until Tuesday. I went to the hospital that my main class is taught at and that was very exciting. Hospitals are very different in Europe than in the United States, so it's interesting to see how things are done there. Then last night I stayed in (I know, my first Friday, but I was really tired!) and skyped and picked up my room.

Today (Saturday) I went to Fredericksborg Castle, which is about 40 minutes from the city. It is so pretty but I was disappointed to learn it was rebuilt in the 1800's because of a fire, so the interior isn't actually from the 1600's, it just looks like it is. But nevertheless, DIS had a great tour planned for us and the bus ride was easy (despite downpour rain the entire time!). It was a really convenient way to see the castle without figuring out transportation, you'd need a car. We had a great time in the gardens and finding funny paintings and statues to take pictures with. There was also a beautiful wedding in the chapel while we were there, and we were able to see the bride! She was very pretty. Then we were told there are four weddings there today, and on our way to the gardens we saw the next bride making her way into the castle grounds in a very old car before her wedding began! I have to say, I wouldn't mind my wedding being there... So despite the rain and gloom it actually was a very nice day and we had a lot of fun!

Amanda and me at the castle! We probably had too much fun there... but the DIS coordinator kept letting us sneak off and explore!

Tomorrow I think everything is closed, but hopefully we will get to go to somewhere! I still need a hair dryer and some other things. Sorry this is so long! When I have time I will pop some pictures in here, but right now my camera battery is charging! Have a great weekend! dwh.

First Top Ten in Copenhagen!

So this is a list of my top ten favorite things so far:

1. By far my favorite thing is the bicycles. I can probably count the number of cars on a street with one hand, but I'd need a very large abacus to keep track of how many bicycles go by. The city is really quiet, there's no honking of car horns (only a few bus horns - but they kind of beep not honk, so polite!), only the quiet clicking of bicycles as the go down the bike lane. I'm still undecided on getting a bike or not...

2. Danish pastries are not like American danishes. For starters, their pastry dough is beyond anything I've had in the US. I'm not a fan of super flaky pastries that crumble apart. In Denmark they are flaky but soft, so you can bite into them and taste the buttery layers of dough, but then it smushes together and is absolutely heavenly. I had a round pastry with chocolate and vanilla frosting in the middle (I'm talking like almost a half inch thick and the size of your palm) Monday and it was to die for. And I needed lots of water, it was so sweet. But I'll have to ration my pastries or I'll eat one every day.

3. The people are so friendly. I had one student who came early say on the first day, "Danes are quiet and keep to themselves and would never approach you if you looked lost, but the moment you ask they treat you like family and make sure you're on the right path." This is so true. When I got my books yesterday, the bag weighed almost 30 pounds (I'm guessing) so I took the bus home for the first time. Well there's construction on our street so I had to get off a stop past ours and get back on going the other way. Not a good plan when you have no idea which stop is the one after yours (which is nonexistent due to the road having a huge hole in it). I walked around completely lost, and then went to another bus stop and asked a woman for directions. She was extremely helpful and got me to exactly where I needed to be, and repeated the directions four times to make sure I understood. Five minutes later I was home.

I'll keep these next few short!
4. I am legal here. I never really thought I'd be happy about this, but I realized last night how much better it is when they don't question your age or treat you like you're immature and too young for alcohol. I'm not a huge drinker, but it's nice to be able to go out with friends for a change.

5. Everything is natural. There is real sugar in the soda, real ingredients in the food (I think, I can't read most ingredients, but it tastes good), and always fresh produce on the street. America really needs to think about this way of life, it is so much healthier and you feel happier!

6. My class at the hospital is next to the Ikea. Yes. I know. I'm so happy. I can go there for dinner every night. Yay! One good thing of that class being 20 minutes outside of Copenhagen.

7. The weather's not that bad! Think Maine in early fall (early September weather) or DC in late October/early November and you'll get the idea. Cloudy but not dreary. The whole city seems happy and light, so even on a bad day you don't mind walking around (those kind of days are coffee and pastry days...).

8. Tourism? What tourism?! I haven't seen a single street vendor selling "I <3 Copenhagen" shirts in all of the parts of the city I've been to. Even the most touristy areas are pretty normal. I like that I chose somewhere a little more off the beaten path, the culture is so present.

9. Ugh these last two always kill me. Think, think, think!!! OH. The people are gorgeous. So casual but classy. I'm pretty sure Europe is the only place that straight men can get away with wearing tight fitting jorts (jean shorts). Honestly, I have never seen so many in one day. Ok so that's not classy, but everyone else is. Women in short dresses ride bicycles without a mishap (think 9 months pregnant with a basket of groceries and a short dress with no leggings). Men in fitted suits with skinny pants ride around like they're in sweats. Their hairstyles are unique but beautiful, and I have never seen blonde hair like this before. Also as a pale person, I am very happy to finally fit in! (Although nobody has freckles.)

10. Hmm my last favorite thing? Probably that their money is mostly coins, so I can easily have 100 kroner in the bottom of my bag without realizing it ($20). It's just kind of heavy and I need a change purse for all of it... But I forget how much I have! It IS expensive here, I can't say it isn't, but if you are careful I think it's fine.

Ok well that's all, sorry it's so long, I just have so much to say about everything!!!!
More soon! dwh.

I'm Here!

So Saturday (the 20th) I drove from home to Boston with my mom to start my trek over the ocean to DIS. My first flight was from Logan on United and if there is anyone out there planning on bringing an overweight bag on United - DON'T. We had to pay $200 to get my bag to Denmark because it weighed 64.5 pounds. So don't do what we did. But it was worth the money to not to have to stress about packing two checked bags and finding enough space in my purse/bag for my laptop. Then I got my tickets and watched as my purple duffle sailed away on the luggage belt, hopefully to be seen again.

After checking in I grabbed some food and said good bye to my mom, which was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be! I got nervous and sad when I went to Germany because it was so far away, and this was the same. So we did a quick goodbye and off I went through security, which was very quick. I met a girl going to DIS at the gate, her name is Josie and she lives with me! She's my neighbor and classmate, so we'll be seeing a lot of each other! We flew to Dulles in DC and met even more DIS people, including my friend Tom who goes to AU with me. I was sad to be in DC but not be able to visit everyone and go to my favorite places. That will have to wait until January, I already have a list going of where I want to go.

The plane ride had the worst food I've ever eaten on a plane. It was dry and gross - who serves spicy food on a plane?! Go with mild flavors!!! Probably the best food I've ever had was on Virgin Atlantic. But anyway, it wasn't very good. After I ate my food I tried to sleep a little and then we landed! Not very interesting. When we got to Denmark, customs was a breeze and before we knew it we were being welcomed by DIS interns splitting us into our groups! We got on big buses and headed out into the city to go "home". I live in DIS shared housing, which is basically another name for a dorm. I chose it because I wanted to be in the city with a lot around me to do. I didn't want a host family and then have friends visit and be stuck all the way out there without them, even though I don't know how many friends will actually visit.

 My room! Well my half of the room. The white box is the entrance to the cafe on the first floor, so it can't move but we are using it as a comfy place to sit. See our plant in the corner! So nice of them to give us a plant. 

My bed and desk, plus a nightstand thing and the rug plus art they put on the wall for us. Strange but I'll go with it. 

Once everyone arrived we ate pizza, got to know each other (there are about 25 of us - guys and girls) and then some people went out but I stayed in to sleep. I was so tired. Then those of us who stayed in talked for a while and went to bed! I'll put the details of today and tomorrow in a blog tomorrow night, I'm too tired to post that much now!

Bye!
dwh.

And away we go!

This will be my last post from the fabulous USA! Well, this is hoping my flights go as planned tomorrow and nothing gets delayed, or I might have to do an airport blog. And I might write one from Dulles, but probably not. Anyway, this is a more important blog than usual because I'm finally going public! I have no idea who has been reading this for the past three and a half months, but someone has because I swear I haven't logged in 161 times. Only like 50 (once to sign in and once to view the newest blog). So since people I actually know are reading this, hi!! I hope you enjoy the complete randomness my blog has, because it's not going to change any time soon. (If anything this is what the past 3.5 months have told me.)

In packing news, I am almost done, I just have to pack my toiletries in the morning. My carry on is like a small house and my checked bag is more like a storage complex but airlines don't care just as long as you pay your way through. My bag is going to cost like $100 to check. Not fun. My mother said she would pay this $100. Fun (for me). Thanks Mum. I feel like I'm overpacking, because everyone says to pack half of what you think you'll need, but I've been packing for years (literally, between college and going to and from the dorms in high school, I'm a pro at this) and think I know what to bring and what not to. It's my mother that keeps shoving a third pair of black flats into my bag that's making it hard! I will be sending things back with her in October to make room for whatever I buy when I'm there, right now I have no room!

And my train of thought is gone. Sorry, I remembered I had to pack something and came back to blog more and it's lost and gone forever. But what I do want to say is that I've had a great summer and can't believe it's over now. I did so much - summer chem classes, working at the fabulous retail store, my babysitting adventure, having my friends here (Laura you were sorely missed!), moving to Portland, and now packing for Denmark. I have more freckles than ever before, and am happy and ready to start something new! I can't say I won't miss my friends at AU - I am having a hard time thinking I'm not going back to them this semester - but I am excited to see who I will meet abroad! I have already talked to some people and my roommate seems great, so I'm looking forward to it all! Bookmark my blog so you can keep following me until December (and then who knows what will happen, I love blogging!). And Big, I put your blog on my Bookmarks Bar. Just saying. Goodbye all, next stop - COPENHAGEN, DENMARK!!!!

My Last Day!

And I am sad. I feel like it's been this huge whirlwind since I got my babysitting job back in July with no days off and crazy days watching kids. The last I remember it was the end of July, I was taking my chemistry final (which I am SO glad is over - see older post for results) and just starting this job. Now I'm packing for Denmark, finishing up here and flying to DC! To explain how my life is going right now, I am going to make a list. I know, I'm sorry if you've missed them, it has been a while...

Top Five Dumb Things I've done since July because I'm Tired:

1. This is by far the most embarrassing. I emailed a fellow DIS student about myself because I thought she was my visiting family. Um no. She goes to Trinity. Duh, that's what her email said! Yeah I had just worked all day and was pretty brain dead by that point.

2. Walked by the coats, laundry and shoe bin today about 5 times before realizing that I couldn't pick up anything because I was holding a coat, dirty laundry and a pair of shoes. Hello! The house isn't that big!!! And my job is to clean up shoes and wash the clothes. Yeah I'm really good at it.

3. Went to the Apple Store to have my laptop checked without double checking for embarrassing content. Not that I have unmentionable material on there or anything, but I do have a gazillion pictures my sister has photoshopped of people we used to know with horribly funny comments attached. And guess what popped up first. Yep. Oh and I'll add that it was on my birthday. I know I've mentioned this before, but it deserves a spot on this list.

4. Had customers do my job because I was too tired to calculate 40% of 24.99. Which I can pretty much do in my sleep now, so it's even worse. I even had someone go find a sign for me to let me know the discount before I walked them through a step-by-step process of figuring out the current price. In all fairness, they should have done it themselves and never asked me, but I won't go into that. Let's just blame this one on me and call it laziness.

5. Leave every possible thing I absolutely have to do until the very last minute. Yay gold star for that. What I have to do in the next 36 hours (all I have left in the US before the security line at Logan): have 4 ID photos taken, buy a neck pillow, buy a flashlight, buy a laundry bag, pack, call my credit card companies, go to the bank, and pack. Oh and I work until one tomorrow. Yes, this is by far the worst. I am a procrastinator, what can I say!? At least I'm good at it!

Ok that's my five... and as I add a completely ADD moment in here, if you find your mind bouncing and need to go to five different webpages, open new tabs and actually go to the websites all at once, so that when you're distracted halfway through the blog you can go check the status of your bank account - like I just did. And now I'm off to go check my email. So I better post this. Bye! dwh.

I feel older already!

Well it's official, I survived not only teenage pregnancy, but also motherhood. As of August 12, 2011 I am now 20 years old and have started a new decade in my life. Birthdays in my family were never huge, my mom stopped parties when you hit the double digits (although my 15th was a surprise movie and dinner with my two best friends) which I am perfectly fine with now. Back then, maybe not. But what's the use of going all out for eleven? Or twelve? You really don't need a huge party. But now I'm twenty and the birthdays are different. Yesterday I took the bus to Boston (only 2 hours from Portland) and saw my sister for the last time before I go abroad! We went shopping for five hours. We walked down Newbury St. (which is a lot smaller than I remember, I haven't been down it in a while) and then went to Faneuil Hall for dinner (lots of options, my sister is a vegan) and shopped a little more there. It was so much fun to just hang out with her, my fashion tastes have expanded exponentially in the past year or so, so we could look through a lot more stuff without one of us getting bored.

As for my purchases, I got a great dress at H&M (perfect for sorority chapter and fall/winter events), a strand of pink/gray faux pearls at Banana Republic (I got them for a great price), a shirt from Banana but from a very well-known consignment store on Newbury Street, and some yoga pants and basics from Gap Body! I am very happy with everything I got! When I got home my mom had chocolate corks (extremely delicious, dense chocolate cakes from a bakery near us), frosting and ice cream and she sang "Happy Birthday". Definitely a great ending to a low-key birthday!

As for my other events yesterday, I went the the Apple Store to get my macbook checked. And I will tell you all this as a lesson, because I am not proud of it at all. Ok so during the school year I like to watch tv shows online and do my nails (clip, file, paint, etc.). I also love to sit on my bed so my laptop is right there and I can cross my legs and get to work. Well sometimes the nails fly off into the air and land right inside the keys of my macbook, making it impossible to grab them. So yesterday when the genius bar guy cleaned my macbook because the fan was loud, he found these clippings. He called them "foreign matter" and left it at that. If it was a normal day I would have been horrified, but he had already seen the joke pictures my sister sends me so that had already occurred. Also it was my birthday, so I tried not to let it phase me. But for the record, cover your keyboard next time you cut your nails near it.

Oh and one last thing (it's been a busy couple of days, give me a break!), I finally got my camera!!! I'll put the pic below. I think it's perfect for what I need it for, and total with the case, 16 gig memory card, a set of headphones (for my ipod) and the one year security plan, it cost $275, which I think is pretty good!

I also really like the gray color - it's different!

Ok now I'm off to work, back on the job!!! I'll update soon, I'm sure these packing blogs are going to be just wonderful!! I have so many clothes... dwh.

The Verdict is In...

and no, I'm not a month behind on the Casey Anthony trial. I honestly didn't care too much about that. I sat in front of my computer watching the live stream of the verdict being read. OK well anyway, my post today is on my chemistry class! If you've been reading the blog you know I took general chemistry one and two this summer. Gen chem one was fine, I got a B+ after a great midterm, good lab section and an ok final. But as for gen chem two... it wasn't my finest moment. I hate physical chemistry, never took physics in high school and really don't care about temperature of gases and such. I just needed it so I can take organic chem. And my mother keeps telling me (when you live with just your mom, she tends to occupy most of your conversations) all I need is a C, because I won't be denied from medical school for one C. I reminded her the only other C I've gotten in college was in psychology, which I loathed, and she just said 'hmm'. So we'll see. But anyway! I've been procrastinating about looking up my grade because I didn't want to get less than a C. Not only would I have to take the class again (kill me) but I'd have to re-do my entire class schedule for the fall, and most of the courses have waitlists. So that would be no fun. However! I looked last night and  (drumroll please......) I passed with a C! So although I'm not happy with my grade, it is what it is and I can go on with my classes. And never have to do those stupid Nernst equations again. Hopefully. So this is going to be the FINAL post about chemistry, because that is history now! 

Also, thanks to whoever is reading this, because I haven't posted the link anywhere yet and it's already at over 100 views! I mean, at least 40 of those are mine, but the rest aren't! So thank you and please come back, I promise exciting posts I swear!!!

So long Erlenmeyer flask, graduated cylinder and beaker! dwh.

It's Coming...

The date is looming! August 20th is two weeks away (exactly - I'll be going to the airport as I type this two weeks from now) and I am nearing almost ready. I'm not quite there yet, but I've been preparing the past couple days as best I can and hopefully  by Monday I'll be at the almost ready mark. It's not so much about packing as it is running errands (what am I, fifty!?) and getting lists ready. This week I got my massive, extra-large, plum-colored, rolling duffle from LL Bean. I found it at the outlet for $40 lower than the retail price and it is absolutely massive. I think it will work. I will pay the overweight charges if I need to - the thing is absolutely massive. But I usually fill an SUV with my stuff for school, so I think I'll need it. I'll take a picture of my bag all packed and you can see how massive it is, and I will of course update the weight of the bag once it's full.

Also this week (yesterday, the only day I've had free) I bought space bags. I know, I'm succumbing to the as-seen-on-tv powers among us, but you guys, they are the best things ever. I bought the travel ones that don't need a vacuum to be sealed, you just roll them and there's a one way valve that lets the air out and not back in. I think I'll end up using them a lot, my travel suitcase isn't that big (it's also my carry-on) so I'll need all the space I can get when I go on trips.

What else did I get... oh well I got some books and toys for the kids I nanny, but we had an incident involving confusion of ownership of one of the books last night, so I'm not sure they will see much of this new stuff. Maybe some if they are really good. Other than that, I have absolutely no life now that Lily is in Romania (again!) and Alex is off to NYC to visit her dad and rest of family (and then she'll move there next year). I'm just babysitting away, but need some time off next week, for one it's my birthday and secondly, I need to pack!!!!

Now I am off to work (my real job, not nannying) for the day, hopefully it will be busy! I'll update soon I promise!! dwh.

They have arrived!!!

My mom is going to kill me when she sees I wrote this when I did, but I had a few minutes to spare and needed to update before it was too late!

So by they I mean my planner, boots and study abroad cell phone all arrived in the mail yesterday. And I opened them today because I was nannying overnight last night. Here are my opinions on all three:

Cell phone: haven't used it yet, will post a pic later, very simple (I'm currently using a blackberry after years of a phone with no internet or anything but texting) but I think it will do. I'm nervous about not having internet though...

Boots: darker and nicer than in the picture, not sure if they're worth the price tag. But I'm into bargains and these weren't on sale soo... I guess it's to be expected. They are nice and spacious, probs because they are an 8 not a 7.5 but whatever. I will have to see, they're kind of tight at the top.

Planner: AMAZING. I love it so much, I will buy a Lilly planner from now until I die (or stop needing a planner). The only problem is that it's an 18 month planner, so what will I do when I need a new one? I'll have 6 months of unused planner! That seems like a waste. They should sell a 12 month planner in the winter. Maybe they do and I just don't know about this yet.

In other news (I'm writing so fast tonight it's crazy - I did have coffee and chocolate so that must be what it is), I leave in about 2 weeks and I am freaking out. I have so much to do, so many friends leaving, so many days of work and I can't. say. no. I'm horrible, and I'm working on it, but when someone asks me to babysit I always say yes. Now I have no me time and I'm afraid I'm going to panic at the last minute. That shouldn't happen! So hopefully next week I can find some time to get away and do some me stuff. Oops ok my time is up, I need to head to bed! I have an appointment and work tomorrow - lucky me!

Until I have another 5 minutes free! dwh.

I forgot!

I also bought this planner from Lilly Pulitzer today, and I have loved it for weeks. I just didn't know what print to get until my mom pointed out that this one is blue and yellow, the same colors as my sorority, and then I found out my big bought the same one... I guess we're meant to be! And in more exciting news, my big is visiting this week and I get to see her tomorrow!!! It's been WAY too long, I haven't seen her since I was in DC in May leaving school! Can't wait to see her!

The beautiful planner should be arriving on my doorstep in about 7 days!

Dear August, why are you here?!

So my birthday is in two weeks, which means August is here. Ok, it's August tomorrow, but I'd say it's already here. My work has switched to the August fiscal calendar, I won't come back home until it's August (because I stay where I nanny some days), and August means I head to Denmark!!!!

First, I need to apologize to the one person who has been following my blog since May. I have been talking about it for so long, and I feel like I've been learning so much about it, but I still haven't arrived there! Nor do I know who my roommate is or where I'm going to be living... DIS, can you work on that?! Apparently they don't announce it until about 10 days before you leave because they don't want people complaining way before they even get there, which I understand, but I also think we need a chance to discuss things with the person we'll be with! At AU when you're a freshman you learn who you'll be rooming with at the beginning of June, and then you have two months to plan everything out (and realize there will be virtually no living space with three people in a handicap single with half a window and an oversized door). I'm looking forward to getting the email saying who my roommate will be, but also nervous because I don't have internet most of the time at work, so I'll have lots of time to dwell on things...

Oh and in other news, I hated the bathing suites I bought from Lands End Canvas, so those are headed back, I am waiting to buy a jacket until I get to Copenhagen (I feel like it will be more original) and I purchased these boots from Piperlime tonight:

I absolutely love them, let's hope they fit because I either wear a 7.5 or an 8, and I had to buy an 8. Usually I'm more of a 7.5... I can always return them!!! Oh and I haven't bought an umbrella yet, that might be a purchase I make when it's raining in Copenhagen and I have no umbrella...

Ok off to bed and then up early to head to babysitting! 

Countdown: TWENTY days to Copenhagen!