So we’ve realized that when we sit down to blog, we can’t remember anything that happens. We had to consult Google Photos, Google Calendar, and our bank statements to piece together the puzzle that is our lives. But we did it! Enjoy birthday bashes, bulling boots, and late nights watching debates and elections and going to the bowling alley-karaoke-arcade-club.
Thursday June 27
C: We walked to Lidl in the morning to fetch supplies for Callum’s birthday cake! Zoe took her baking skills to the max with a lemon cake with blueberry filling. We walked back home and did some independent work before I left to go to Roehampton for my friend Steffi's MRes exhibition. It was brilliant! I got to deconstruct pointe shoes (very cathartic) and explore her amazing research.
Z: Since we are far across the pond from the U.S., in order to watch the presidential debate, we had to stay up till 2 am (yay). So after eating dinner and taking showers, we prepped for our long night ahead. Catja blew up the air mattress, and we watched a few episodes of Sex Lives of College Girls before deciding it was time to start on Callum’s birthday cake. The plan was to make the cakes while we had all this time in the middle of the night and finish the cake on Friday. So, Catja and I made two lemon cakes and danced about the kitchen.
While we waited for the cakes to bake, we started working on Callum’s birthday card. While walking around Richmond a few days before, we had the great idea to make a Sabrina Carpenter themed card, which included a picture of Callum morphed into Sabrina. Catja started painting away, creating an incredible image of Sabrina, which she then added glasses and a mustache to. It was 1:30 am at this point, and we were dying laughing. It was truly one of the most horrifying, yet iconic images I have ever seen.
2 am finally rolled around, and we witnessed one of the most embarrassing presidential debates of my lifetime. Nothing like staying up for many hours to watch two geriatric white men argue about golf…it made us even more grateful to be far far away.
Friday June 28
C: We woke up late, still reeling from that horrendous debate. Luckily, finishing Callum’s birthday card brought us another bucket of laughs. I’m quite proud of our team effort. We couldn’t wait to see how Callum and everyone would react. I am now taking commissions for cursed celeb mashup paintings.
Z: After finishing up Callum’s card, we got cracking on putting the cake together. This included making blueberry jam filling and lemon cream cheese frosting. After putting all the layers together, the cake began to slide to one side, so Catja quickly put the cake pan back on the cake and we popped it in the fridge. We let it set for a bit before taking it out and putting the finishing touches on. I piled the top with blueberries and Catja arranged lemons around the edge. We then spent like 30 minutes eating leftover frosting and blueberries and feeling rather ill.
C: Later, we head over to Finsbury Park to celebrate Nia and Rachel’s housewarming party! They moved flats a few months ago and finally set a summer evening to celebrate - well-deserved considering the unbelievably stressful house hunting process we’re experiencing too. We piled outside on their lovely balcony, squeezing as many people into a circle as possible to mingle. Luke held court from his perch on the stairs, earning himself many laughs, blue tongues, and red faces.
Hebe, Zoe, and I eventually went inside, getting too chilly from the evening breeze, and drank our shared bottle of orange Fanta. Fun fact - the Fanta here is less fluorescent orange than Fanta in the US… we don’t want to know why. We chatted amongst ourselves and anyone who floated by our group, migrating towards the snack table. We ended up spending a lot of time absolutely demolishing the snacks. What can we say, we’re growing girls who love a cheese cube!
Z: Around 11 pm we migrated to Rowan’s, a bowling-alley-bar-club-karaoke-arcade, a short walk away. We spent the rest of the evening dancing to some 2000s bops where Callum as per usual impressed us all with his fantastic moves. After a couple hours of boogying, we headed home for the night.
Saturday June 29
C: Hebe, Zoe, and I took the train over to Kilburn for a flat viewing in the morning. The location was great, and we were really excited to see the flat. It was gorgeous, with three good sized bedrooms and a beautiful living room with a balcony. There were several girls who currently lived there getting ready for a day out, and the place had the best girl-flat energy. We put an offer in right away!
We stopped back home to get ready for the day. I finished sewing a new halter top out of spare bedsheet fabric and altering Hebe’s jumpsuit just in time to meet up with our friends.
Z: In the early afternoon, Hebe, Catja, and I met up with Callum, Luke, Georgia, and Joe for a little picnic in the park. We stopped by Dunkin’ on the way to Regent’s Park for iced coffee and donuts, before finding a sunny spot to sit for the rest of the afternoon. We ending up chatting and chilling for many hours as other people trickled in. We met some of Callum’s friends from uni and caught up with Ethan and Kadin about school.
C: We walked over to a Mexican restaurant nearby and immediately ordered assorted margaritas. Zoe treated herself to crisp water and a tiny sip of my margarita, which immediately made her face scrunch. To be fair, this was quite a strong marg, which made me much more bubbly and chatty for the rest of the night. However, the table discussion turned into a heated debate about the military, political beliefs, and very specific global conflicts. My tipsy self did not think participating was a good idea at this time.
We ate tacos, street corn, and many more margs before getting ready for another night at Rowan’s. Unfortunately, the restaurant somehow overcharged us by £200 even though we each paid our share individually. It was very confusing and unnecessarily complicated, and Ethan and Callum kindly took the L in trying to figure the situation out. The rest of us waited outside chatting. Kadin, Zoe, and I reminisced on our favorite spots in NoVa. I quickly realized I don’t really go anywhere except Target back home. But it’s very fun having a trio of Virginians across the pond though! What are the chances!
Z: After finishing up dinner we all again migrated to Rowan’s to finish out the evening. We spent a bit of time out on the dance floor, but this time we explored all the activities Rowan’s had to offer. Kadin was eager to go bowling, so we all shifted to the bowling lanes. We had a ton of fun seeing who was actually good at this sport that most of us haven’t played in ages. Tim ended up wiping the floor with all us, but Catja held her own pretty well. After many months of requesting we do karaoke, Callum finally got his birthday wish, so we went right from bowling to the karaoke booth. We all piled in and started picking out songs. Catja and I did a silly rendition of Country Roads where we replaced “west” with “northern”. Hebe and Callum impressed us all with their version of “Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick.” “Travellin Soldier” was selected for me to sing as I of course know all the words to it and Catja tried her best to remember all the lyrics. And Georgia and Hebe smashed “Our Song” by showing off their southern accents. After a long night, we all headed home, making a quick pit stop at a chip shop around the corner before hopping on the Jubilee line all the way home.
Sunday June 30
Z: After getting home at 4am, I was hoping for a nice lie in, but unfortunately my brain had other plans. I woke up bright and early at 9am…:/. After eating some breakfast and waiting for others to wake up, I decided to go for a morning walk. I took a little wander around the park before returning to find Catja very stressed as to where I had been. I cleared up that I had not in fact run away to Paris…and we headed over to meet everyone at Roundwood Park for coffee. After saying farewell to Georgia and Tim, we walked back to the boys’ flat to eat cake and lounge about for the rest of the day.
C: I was so sleepy today after the three nights of staying up until 4am. I curled up on the bean bag at the boys’ place after eating cake and snuggled in like a cat high on catnip. I tried to wake up by sticking my head out the window and getting some sun, which worked for about 30 seconds. I did have the pleasure of seeing Ethan rolling up on his signature lime bike and waving from the balcony. I returned to the bean bag, started reading a book about Shakespeare and American politics, and fought sleep enough to watch England crawl their way through a game against Slovakia, saved by extremely last minute goals from Bellingham and Kane. Luke kindly cooked us a delicious lamb roast dinner since all of us were sleepily chilling in the flat for hours. I wish I remembered more of the dinner, but I was genuinely blissed out and asleep on my feet (Z: the dinner was so good!! Luke, we must know your mashed potato recipe:)).
Monday July 1
Z: This morning we decided to watch a bit of Love Island over breakfast when we got yet another British military advertisement. This one was for the Royal Navy #borninblyth;madeintheroyalnavy. Can you tell we’ve seen a lot of these? Well this one finally did it. Catja turned to me and asked, “Should we just join the Navy?” Naturally, I said yes! We tried to sign up online but as you might assume they don’t take Americans. So Catja had the brilliant idea to just start our own. Because you can definitely do that. We gathered some friends and headed out on the water. The first task was a boat race. Catja of course won but ended up getting yelled at by Captain Charlie Hall because she still wasn’t good enough for her own naval forces. Catja joined me back on the shore and we looked out into the water. She pointed out that there were large animals spotted across the sea, to which I replied, “They are animatronic dinosaurs”. That was the end of the conversation. We then ran into the sea, swimming with the whales and continuing our training. After a long day we decided maybe the Navy is not for us…so we headed back home to make dinner and watch more Love Island. #borninfairfax;definitelynotmadeintheroyalnavy
C: I stopped by the pharmacy to stock up on Prozac then sat at my desk to attempt to write my dissertation. I’m having major writer’s block which is highly unfortunate timing. Luckily, Mikka sent some inspiring news from home: on her half birthday, she went to the DMV and passed the test to get her learners permit! Beep beep, Meeks is on the road. Viggo sent me a video later of him teaching her how to drive in our high school parking lot, and she is absolutely smashing it. Girlie just won a softball championship in Florida too, so I have a lot to live up to!
Tuesday July 2
Z: Today was my last day of classes everrrrrrrr (or for awhile at least. Knowing me I’m sure I’ll be back). So I got some work done in the morning at home and then headed to Central for my final class. I had a nice class of discussing the final assignment and saying my goodbyes to my classmates (aka the one person I have talked to this entire term, who I also find deeply annoying). I even took a picture to commemorate my final day…Catja this is where you should be impressed.
C: YOU TOOK A PICTURE TO COMMEMORATE YOUR FINAL DAY?! Omg I’m so proud! (Z:I did realize just now it is the only picture I took in the last two weeks lollllll so maybe a little less proud :))
Anyways, while Zoe girlbossed her way through her last Masters class, I walked to Sainsbury’s while listening to The Night Circus audiobook (this is one book I think I’d prefer reading with my eyes because of the nonlinear narrative) and picked up cookie baking supplies - Zoe, this is where you should be proud! Although Zoe is the master baker in this house, I am pms-ing once again and decided to bake my favorite chocolate crinkle cookies instead of feeling emotional about literally everything. I was also sad because we found out that the landlord picked different tenants for the flat we viewed. I’m still mourning the loss. I could see us in that living room so clearly. Ah well.
The cookies were delicious, and I felt very happy afterwards. I also saw some gorgeous, massive hydrangea flowers which reminded me of home. I miss your garden in the summer, Mama.
Wednesday July 3
Z: With grand plans for our Fourth of July barbeque, Catja and I made our way to Tesco in the morning to find all the American necessities. Mostly we just needed Sweet Baby Ray’s, which you can only really get at Tesco. (C: Fun fact: Sweet Baby Ray’s is made with cane sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup here even though it is still produced in the US!).
After walking back home, Catja and I got to work on job applications. I somehow ended up applying to a teaching position at a Church of England school, which required some creative writing in respect to my own religious beliefs (shout out to Catja for some wording assistance and the group chat for final approval). I did however get an interview, so my online commentary on religion will have to be placed on pause for the time being.
C: Zoe accompanied me to the butcher since I’d never been before and didn’t want to mess up! We couldn’t find any uncooked racks of ribs in Sainsbury’s or Tesco, so we thought going to a proper butcher would be the best idea. Turns out, there was a Brazilian butcher just down the road from us, and they were very nice! I also picked up a bottle of Guarana, a delicious soda that my Brazilian friend Isabella introduced me to when I studied abroad at KCL.
Also life update - I learned how to dock my American phone number on a website so any texts I receive now go to my email instead of into the abyss! Which means I can FINALLY get the 2 factor authentications from Capital One!!! Sorry to anyone who has tried to text me in the past 10 months, I haven’t had a US phone plan :P
Thursday July 4
C: Happy 4th to our fellow Americans! Our country may not make us proud all the time, but damn do we love a bbq. Zoe and I started our days by putting on our most patriotic outfits and filming an incredible TikTok in the garden. I ran out to the butcher to get more ribs because I woefully underestimated how hungry myself and others can be. I chilled in my room for a bit before getting in the kitchen to prep the ribs and make more cornbread.
Z: With a dissertation to write, I went back to UCL to meet with my advisor to sort through my survey data and determine what my results are. Sadly my data does not show much, so wish me luck on this whole report writing thing. I headed back home to put the finishing touches on our Fourth of July celebration before our guests arrived.
We were joined by Luke, Hebe, Callum, Nathan, Jake, and Anna (a full house!). We all sat in the back garden eating ribs, french fries, and cornbread and catching up on the week. Jake and Anna had yet to meet all our lovely British friends, so it was fun to introduce everyone. We went back inside when the sun set to eat banana cream pie and wait for the election results to roll in.
C: All cozied up in the living room, we turned the tv on to the BBC and watched Animal Planet/National Geographic-style footage of cats sitting in front of #10. Larry the Cat, Chief Mouser of Downing Street for 13 years, made a special appearance on patrol. At 10pm, the exit poll results popped up showing a “Labour Landslide” victory! Luke was very excited as he had been dutifully canvassing for Labour for weeks. I was a big fan of all the graphics in the BBC studios, and it was fun being excited for an election for once.
Friday July 5
C: While I was cooking yesterday, I was also calling estate agencies trying to book viewings of flats all over North London. Today was the first of 3 scheduled for this weekend, and we went in with low expectations since we lost the gorgeous flat last Saturday (I’m still not over it). But we walked around the property, took photos, asked many questions, then followed the group to a property a few roads down that was way out of budget but didn’t hurt to see. Even though it was more expensive than the first place and was a bit larger, they had issues with mice (I’m not doing this again) and big patches of damp on the bathroom ceilings.
At this point, Zoe and I had made a friend who we talked pros and cons with. She later left to continue her flat search, but Zoe and I continued discussing if it was worth it to put an offer on the first place even though we still didn’t think we had a chance. The agent told us that it was first come, first serve, and no one from the morning viewing had put in a holding deposit yet. After a quick call to Hebe at work and debating many pros and cons, we said fuck it and started filling out the paperwork. My heart was racing, and our anxiety brains were working overtime. An hour and a half later, we sent our paperwork and holding deposit in, and the flat was taken off the market! I honestly won’t feel completely relaxed until the keys are in our hands and the contracts are signed but WE DID IT!!!
In a fantastic mood, I made lunch, grabbed my backpack from home, then started waltzing over to Harlesden for a co-working sesh. Unfortunately, the sunny morning rapidly turned into an intense thunderstorm. My raincoat and broken umbrella tried their best, but I turned up to the boys’ house completely soaked (what callum saw when he opened the door). I was mopping the floor with my drenched clothes. Callum kindly lent me some shorts, which I promptly put on inside-out. But then we celebrated finding a new home for another year, just a 3 minute walk from the boys’ new place!
Z: With Catja heading to Divorced Dads, I walked in the opposite direction to have a quick search for my Oyster Card. Somewhere between Kilburn and our house it fell out of my pocket and I was determined to find it. About 5 minutes into this walk a torrential downpour began. As I scoured the sidewalk, which soon became a small river, the rain soaked through my jeans. I made it all the way to Kilburn Station with no sign of my card. So naturally I decided to continue walking in the rain all the way back to Willesden Green Station to get a new Oyster Card. A lovely man at the station linked it with my railcard and even let me set my own password unlike last time. Now if I lose it I can report it lost! So fun!
I then walked all the way to the boys house to join Catja. I arrived rather damp and not in the mood to do any work. Luckily Callum was also done for the day, so he offered to teach me how to play chess. He went through all the rules and then we played a couple games. I could tell pretty much immediately that he found my more unconventional moves to be frustrating, but what can I say I like to keep people on their toes. After a quick first game in which Callum did win as I kept forgetting what pieces could move where and that I actually have to see if my pieces are in danger, we played a second game. Callum taught me the Italian opening, which made for a slightly longer game. I still kept forgetting that my queen could move, but I’ll remember that for next time.
Once the rain let up, Catja and I made our way back to our flat for some dinner. I then laid awake in bed till 4am stressed about our new flat. As Callum would say my brain was going “brain brain brain brain”. Luckily there is one good thing about living 5 hours ahead of my family and that is I can call my dad at 3am and it's only 10pm for him.
Saturday July 6
Z: After the chaos of Friday, Catja and I had some school work to catch up on, so we spent the morning doing work in the living room. We got an urgent text from Ethan asking if anyone could “sow a patch,” to which Catja said yes (C: I am highly skilled in sewing and sowing). He then told us he would “see [us] soon.” We were all rather confused as we didn’t know he was coming into town this weekend. We waited around at home expecting him to arrive, but he never did. So we went to Sainsbury’s, got some pizza ingredients for dinner and waited to see if Ethan would ever show up. Ethan we love you but please I beg of you get better at communication.
C: Spoiler: Ethan did not show up. But Anna and Jake did! We all watched the England v Switzerland game, which I genuinely thought England would bottle considering how they’ve been playing so far. I didn’t want to get my hopes up, which was easy until the game went into overtime and finally into penalty kicks. We were on the edge of our seats, drum rolling on our laps as each England player walked up to shoot. AND THEY ALL DID IT!!! IT’S COMING HOME BABY! I almost cried when Saka scored considering what happened in 2021. I promptly ordered a £2.50 3 lions polo on Vinted after the game to prep for next week’s match against Switzerland.
For dinner, Zoe and I made our typical Friday homemade pizza. Last time, I opened a bottle of tomato sauce that had carbonated and tasted absolutely vile. Oops. Not wanting to repeat my mistakes, I tasted the sauce we had, and it tasted tangy and sweet. So I dumped it on the sourdough base Zoe is experimenting with. It was very yummy. But then my stomach was throwing a fit all night, so I think I ate spoiled tomato sauce again. Oops.
Sunday July 7
HAPPY BDAY CALLUM!
Z: As I was getting ready for the day, I received a text from Ethan asking if we wanted to join him, Luke, and Callum for breakfast. I woke Catja up and we headed over to the boys for pastries and tea. After catching up about our weeks, we made our way to Roundwood Park for coffee and more breakfast. After finishing up breakfast and discussing how we would pitch ourselves on Raya, we made our way back to the boy’s place for the rest of the day.
C: I helped Ethan sew patches on his new military garb while he spent hours bulling his shoes aka shining them until you can see your reflection like a mirror (Z: I think Ethan did this for like three hours, it was honestly more entertaining to watch than Wimbledon though). The military is such an interesting career. I made the tiniest, most precise stitches I’ve ever made in my life because if some big boss Colour Sergeant yells at Ethan because of MY professional sewing job, I will be very annoyed.
Afterwards, I needed to keep my hands occupied with something, so I timed myself walking back to our flat to pick up my new crochet project and Zoe’s book and back to the boys’ to see if I could hit a new speedwalking PR. I got sub 30 minutes which is fine, but I thought I was faster :( Genuinely considered getting a lime bike at one point because I was over it, but all the seats were wet and it started raining again. We spent the rest of the day just hanging out, watching Wimbledon, reading books, gaming, and bulling shoes. These lazy Sundays feel the most like home, and I love doing nothing for hours with our friends.
Monday July 8
C: After hanging out for 10 hours yesterday, Callum was still down to co-work with his favorite American gals! Zoe and I went on a morning grocery run before heading over. I started the day very warm in the humid sun but then got very chilly in Harlesden when the rain clouds reappeared. I snuggled into the bean bag with a blanket and got to work applying for jobs at the BBC and ROH. Please don’t reject me, I’m so bored of being rejected. But also please don’t ignore me, I don’t like being ignored. In fact, please just interview me, I swear I’m qualified.
Z: In a state of panic about this looming interview to be a primary school teacher, Catja offered to help me pick out a book to read to the children from the library. So, we left the boys’ place and went searching for the perfect picture book to impress the five year olds and hopefully some adults too. I have never had to read to five year olds before and all the classics from growing up are American, so this was a difficult task. Unfortunately they did not have Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, so I can’t impress the kiddos with my matching socks, but I may just have to wear them in case one of them was raised by a 20 something year old American.
Well, that has been all for the last two weeks. If you spotted anything strange, Luke gave us a little writing challenge to include a dream instead of writing that we did nothing all day. It should be a real challenge to figure out which day was actually Catja’s dream last night.
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