Glam Jam Thank You MAN!!!!!!!!

What a weekend!!!  

What a GREAT bday weekend last weekend!!!!!  And if I would have been able to spend some time with my family, friends and boyfriend on my bday...it would have ROCKED THIS WORLD even more!!!!!!!

Last Friday was the kick-off to birthday weekend.  I got into work early, but was kicked out by my co-worker who decorated my desk, and set up some gifts she had gotten me.  A big banner was steaming across my desk which read ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY’ and some champagne filled chocolates and pink mini roses were on my desktop with cards that were signed by all of my co-workers....it was soo lovely!!!  Oh course we had to crack the box of chocolates open right away...YUMMY breakfast for me!!!!

The whole day people were coming up to me, giving me kisses on the cheeks, wishing me happy birthday...it was soo sweet!!!  

Later on that afternoon, the same co-worker who decorated my desk, and one of the girls I will be moving in with, brought me the most amazing cupcakes ever...they were super sparkly and cool!!!  Obviously, the first one I picked up and ate was the red velvet one  =)  Hehehehe

After work we went to a pub across from our work, and soooo many of my coworkers come to give me birthday wishes, it was the best!!  I couldn’t believe how generous everyone is in giving their love...even after such a short time of knowing them.  Their hearts are so pure and open, it is soo wonderful!!!!!!

Saturday could not come fast enough.  Not only was it my birthday, but I was going to see Kandee Johnson!!!!!  I hardly slept in anticipation of her Glaminar!!!!  

To my surprise I had a HUGE package that my family sent me, and it arrived on my bday!!!!!!  What a super way to start my day!!!  Touching things that they lovingly packed up to make my day just that much more closer feeling to home!!  I was laughing and crying through opening the whole package...they are sooooo cute!!!!  They got me mints from Roots that have a Canada flag on tin, my mom made me a calendar that had pictures and stickers scattered throughout of our family, my boyfriend and my cute kitty that she strategically placed with party hats on whoever’s birthday fell on that month (she also trimmed the pictures with a picture cutter that was originally my nonno and nonna’s), a little ‘pocket posh soduku’ that has a really cute blue velvety design on the cover, my favourite gold sparkly eyeshadow from MAC in Retrospec, my favourite foundation from Almay (they don’t sell that product here), a notepad that my mom got from her trip to Stratford that has a pic of Shakespeare that says ‘to do, or not to do’, a mini book called mothers and daughters with a beautiful note that my mom wrote inside, a discount for my favourite store Anthropology, a pack of Halloween stickers and a Guardian Angel that has ‘Always with you’ inscribed on it.  They also made me the cutest cards and my sister made a ‘Happy birthday’ cutout that actually popped out of my card - like 3 dimensionally....sooo cute!!!  In her card she also made a mini picture of me hugging my 2 sisters for my wallet!!  I LOVED IT!!!!!!!  I cannot believe how blessed I am to have such an amazing family....you are sooooo great and I love you all sooooooo much!!!

Then the family I am staying with gave me a gift as well, which was sooo sweet of them AND they baked me a birthday cake with the cutest candle on top and sprinkles in the shape of my age.  They gave me a bundle of gossip magazines (so that I could learn English celebrities), a set of purple vases which when filled with water sprout beautiful flowers, and the most thoughtful, a pair of beautiful gloves, because I am always saying how I am sad I didn’t bring any gloves from home!!!

After having a piece of cake for breakfast, I got ready to go see Kandee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The BIGGEST birthday surprise came when I got a text from my estate agent saying that the landlords of this home we put an offer on accepted it!!!!  I was sooooo happy but didn’t want to get too excited because of the great disappointment I faced when my last offer didn’t go through.  This place is even better than the last though - 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, BRAND new everything it seems, 3 patios, and the BEST part, a black chandelier in the kitchen!!!!!!!!!!!  When we walked through it the first time I just stopped in my tracks and stood open mouthed at how amazing everything was!!!  

I got into rainy London, and strolled into a cafe to get a quick lunch before Kandee.  They took FOREVER for me to get a take-out quiche, it was ridiculous!!!

I then went into Le Meridien hotel (where the Glaminar was located) and was getting soo excoted because I kept seeing signs that displayed the event all throughout the entrance and on the way to the room where the Glaminar was being held.  I found a seat beside a really sweet girl from Poland, and I settled in for what was a fun and informative afternoon.

Kandee’s mother went on the stage (she is sooooo cute - like an older version of Kandee) and announced Kandee before she walked through the doors at the back of the room.  Everyone was clapping and smiling from ear-to-ear.  From the many times I had watched her videos on YouTube, she was even cuter in person!!!  She took her place on the stage set up at the front of the room, wearing a cute black and white polka dot shirt and mismatched earrings (a long feather hanging from one).  She is about 5 months pregnant and looks sooo cute!!  

Kandee went over all the things that a girl could want to know about putting on makeup, tips and tricks, and held an open forum for questions throughout the show.  I asked her 2 questions - where I could get this eyelash curler that I have been dying to get for 2 years from Japonseque (it looks like tweezers, but they have mini pads on them to curls a few lashes at a time), and how to take off fake lashes without peeling off your whole eyeball.

The show lasted 3 hours, and she then invited all of us to line up to meet her!!  You can just imagine my excitement!!!  The show had been soo good, I even won a prize (a loose pigment pot in black from Urban Decay) and got a goody bag with fake lashes, 2 Urban Decay eye shadows, a gold shadow from NYX, and a bunch of antibacterial makeup cleaning cloths.  

Since I was sitting near the back of the room, I was one of the first in line to meet her!!!

I told her that it was soooo great to see her in real life, and that she made my birthday so much fun.  We chatted for a bit, and then I left.  It was soo amazing because she didn’t rush anyone through their one-on-one time with her.  She had been standing for 3 hours (plus an extra 3 in the morning session) and was standing for the entire time when people were coming up to meet her.  There were about 80-90 people who attended, I am guessing her poor little toesies were killing her!!!

I walked outside in the pouring rain and walked to Soho to meet my friend for a bday dinner.  Little to my knowledge, she had arranged that a group of my friends meet me there and surprise me!!!!  I was sooooo shocked!!!  They all are soo sweet, and got me really cute little gifts, very thoughtful and over-the-top!!!  Never in a million years did I think my birthday would be sooo great in a city that was (still is) soo new to me!!  I got a super cute red rose headband, my favourite hand lotion from L’Occitaine, a lip balm from L’Occitaine, a box of maccaroons from the best place to get them in London, and a yummy smelling candle.  How nice is that???

We went for a drink before dinner and I had a delicious mojito that rivals the mojito at Tao in NYC, before heading over to Stef’s for a great Italian meal.  We each got an appetizer and a main, and ordered a glass of wine....DELISH!!!  I had carpaccio and an amazing fresh pasta dish!!

After dinner, we stopped at a place for a bday shot before we parted ways.  The girl who organized the night took me to Clapham, located about 30 mins away, to go meet her friends, and meet her boyfriend for the first time.  We had a really great night, saw some really interestingly dressed people, and were laughing, running, walking, swinging (don’t ask) journey back to her flat.  Her super sweet boyfriend made us a snack by frying some peppers on the stove, and taking out some fresh buffalo mozzarella, which we demolished!!!

In the morning we made a yummy breakfast which included bacon, eggs, roasted tomatoes, mushrooms, and squash, pure goodness!!  PS- by ‘squash’ I don’t mean the vegetable, it is a fruit juice concentrate that, when diluted with water, creates a great tasty drink. We got ready and went to meet her friends on an outdoor patio.  It was such a beautifully amazing day - almost no jacket weather - that we stayed on the patio forever!!!!  I took a train back home that night, and crashed after the long weekend.  I felt really bad because the mom in the family I am staying with left for Italy in the morning I wasn’t able to back in Twyford to say buy =(  It was soo weird because the weather had been good all day, but it started getting yucky in the evening on my way back home....but there was the most beautiful double rainbow.....

The reason I have been sooooooooo delayed in writing, is because I went through HELL this week - but I FINALLY GOT A FLAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

I have had the hardest time arranging meeting with bank to set up a joint account for the girls that I will be doing a flatshare with, going to the letting agency a trillion times to over contract after contract because they kept having wrong into on it, and just other time consuming and exhausting stuff related to getting the flat......but now it’s OURS!!!!!  

Tomorrow I will be moving in and I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

I am soooo tired though because Friday I went out for a coworkers bday after work, didn’t stay out late, but I was soooo tired from my busy week.  Then today I packed all my stuff up, then made the trek back into London to buy some last minute stuff for my new home.  As I was eating breakfast though, the cutest little cat came to the back door and I HAD to feed her because she look really malnutritioned.  My 'mom' went to a neighbours house and got some cat food for her to eat...poor thing was soooo sweet and soo hungry  =(

I went to Waitrose first (a really nice grocery store) to buy some cleaning supplies, laundry stuff, etc.  Then hopped on the train and I got to go to my favourite store ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  ANTHROPOLOGY!!!!!!!!!  Seriously don’t know how I could love a store soo much, and it is even more perfect then Topshop (described previously).  It doesn’t have all of the frills Topshop has, but it’s just - hands down - the greatest store on this earth!!!!!  

I could live in there for years, sleep in the rafters, just breath the air in the store forever!!!!!  Nothing makes me happier in life than to be in this store - I SWEAR!!!!!!!!  Hahahahaha  My goal was to buy a little something because my mom got me that 15% off voucher for my bday, but I didn’t find anything that was perfect.  I mean, I found stuff, but I just didn’t want to spend any money because I just paid more than most people pay for 3 months in mortgage payments on my deposit for my flat, and I bought a comforter for my bed, pillows, and a duvet cover today too.  I found this really cute soap dish I wanted to buy for my bathroom, but I already purchased a soap dispensing bottle earlier in the day.  Oh well....maybe it was a good thing!!!  My friend met me there and was sooooo worried that I would be upset since she was late.  I reassured her that she didn’t have to worry for one second because I was in the perfect place, and she could leave me there for another day if she wanted to!!

We went to a place across the street called the Trafelgar (which I had been to before) for a quick bite to eat.  I had a warm Halloumi cheese, tomato, avocado and cous cous salad and a glass of white wine...just the right amount.  We jumped onto a bus after we finished and met a friend at another stop so that we could so to Shadwell for another friends bday.  On our bus journey we passed right by Westminster Abbey and Big Ben...it was great!!!!!!!  

I love traveling overground via buses...it’s such a great way to see the city!!!!  We finally got to the birthday boy’s house after a long trip, and we immediately surrounded by such sweet people, our travel stresses instantly slipping away.  There were these 3 people who were on a month-long journey around Europe fro Venezuela who were such great people!!!  I loved being involved in a gathering with truly genuine people, not to mention the birthday boy and his partner are the nicest people EVER!!!  His partner bought him a monkey shaped bday cake that was soooo cute and this candle that I would never be able to describe, but it was INSANE!!!!  We didn’t stay for very long as I had to catch a taxi, the underground, overground and another taxi back to Twyford.  

Needless to say, I’m tired kids, and I have a HUGE day ahead of me tomorrow!!!!!  

YAY....time to move to London, England!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YAYAYAYAYAYAYYAYAYAYAYAYAYYAYAYAYAAYYAAYYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY