The Good Girl Gone Blog

A mini vacay!

Dear blogtarts,

Before you get excited, no, I'm not going to some exotic location (yet), I just have 3 papers and two tests between now and next Tuesday. So...I've decided for my own personal well being that I will not be blogging for the next few days.

Sorry loves. I will say that I have a very swanky event to attend tonight...should be quite exciting!

Stay safe. Make good decisions.

xx,

G3B

Classy girls eat Godiva

Yesterday, I had a class field trip (yes, we apparently still have those in college) to none other than Cadbury world. I'm not really sure what a chocolate factory has to do with PR, but still.

We boarded a train in London and took a 2+ hour journey to Birmingham, and then took a commuter train to Bournville, home of the Cadbury factory. I'm not sure what I was expecting (ok, something closer to Willy Wonka's factory or at least Hershey, PA), but I wasn't so impressed.

The town itself, built around the factory, was highly industrial and rather ugly. Maybe it was because the weather was particularly dreary, or because it just wasn't Hershey, but Cadbury did not live up to my expectations.

 
Al, Rach and El posing

Rachel showing off her chocolate goo creation

El and Al pre-tour.

Though everyone was giddy about the prospect of free chocolate and a lecture-free day, Eleanor was clearly  the most excited out of our entire class. (She even made up a song about Cadbury Eggs.) We got tons of free chocolate--3 full sized candy bars and a mini cup of chocolate goo and candy mix-ins--and all had tummy aches by the end of the day.

To be quite honest, I don't really like Cadbury chocolate, I think that their "1 and a half glasses of fresh milk" is just a little too much for me. I know, they pride themselves on their "dairy milk," but I'm a dark chocolate kind of girl.

All in all, I think I'll pass on the Cadbury. If you want the good stuff, go for Godiva. Give me a delicious dark chocolate + raspberry Godiva truffle and I'll love you forever.

We've got rules

A few days ago, I was browsing the Harrods Website looking for Tube directions (we ended up walking) when I came across something very strange: Visitor Guidelines.

Yes, they actually tell you what you can and cannot wear. It's slightly ridiculous, I know, but at a place like Harrods can do whatever it wants!

I know. I couldn't stop laughing. Can you imagine if Macy's had a set of guidelines? I do NOT think this would go over very well at the Owings Mills mall in Maryland, although the clientele are a little                                                                                           different here.

Here are the guidelines, found on the Harrods Website:

At Harrods we are committed to providing our visitors with a wonderful experience that exceeds expectations.

Whilst we celebrate and embrace individuality, it is of utmost importance that every single visitor that passes through our doors has a positive and pleasurable experience they remember.

It is for these reasons that Harrods kindly asks all visitors to:

• Ensure all clothing is clean and presentable and that the appropriate footwear is worn whilst in the store.
• Refrain from wearing clothing which may reveal intimate parts of the body, or which portrays offensive pictures or writing.
• Not wear crash helmets anywhere in the store.
• To carry rucksacks in your hand rather than on your back or shoulder. This is both to prevent damage to displays and for health and safety reasons. Harrods provides a left luggage service at small cost, should the bag be too heavy to carry.
• Refrain from eating and drinking, except in our cafés and restaurants. There are over 30 eateries in-store. View restaurants »
• Not take photos in the Fine Jewellery, Banking Hall or Antique Furniture Department, the Fine Jewellery, Banking Hall or Antique Furniture Department, or in any area within the store where photography or filming may not be appropriate. This is for security reasons.
• There are periods, when the store is at its busiest, that Harrods has to take the difficult decision to deny access to tour parties and larger groups of visitors. This is done in the interest of health and safety.

My favorite rule is the one about "crash helmets." I wonder if they've had issues with this before!

Eye Spy

Thanks to this here blog, I was the lucky recipient of two tickets to the London Eye, valued at £17 each. (Thank you BU London student life!) In case you didn't know, the London Eye is a large Ferris Wheel that offers fantastic views of the city.

To be honest, I wasn't very happy with the pictures I took, or the London Eye in general. It's definitely overpriced, so I'm glad I got to do it for free!

 

A hint of pink

 

 

Sweater- The Limited, t-shirt- H&M, skirt- Pink Zone, booties- Target, leggings- Loehmann's, necklaces- H&M, ring- gift from my mom, flower hair clip- The Pebble Collection

I've started wearing a lot more black lately. I'm not sure if it's because of inspiration from some of my favorite fashion bloggers (Leah, you wear it well!), or simply because it screams "fashion." My roommates are in Paris, so I felt no shame trying on and rejecting clothing in order to make the perfect outfit. I think this is one of my favorites.

Thanks to Iz for the photos- she's becoming quite the good portrait photographer- she was in charge of picking poses :)

Duck! What?

 

 

Alright, so I realize that these photos don't actually contain ducks, but the title was just so perfect! It's actually a reference from The Swan Princess, and if you knew that (Sophie, you better know what I'm talking about), then you're a star in my book!

These photos were all taken on a rare sunny day in Hyde Park, just before sunset. I am in love with the contrast between the white swans, their orange beaks and the blue water. Plus, I have a strange obsession with taking photos of birds, even though they sort of freak me out.

Shooting the photographer

Iz is first and foremost a photographer. She's a photo-journalism major, an avid Nikon user and my photography Sensei. (She's going to teach me how to use my flash soon- hooray!)

Izzy is almost always behind the lens, which is a shame, because she's so pretty! Thus, I took the above snaps to remind her of that, plus, she needed a new photo for her blog's about page :)

Also notable, if you give Izzy a chocolate bar, she'll be your best friend for life. Remember that.

The good, the bad and the itchy

Ha! From the title of this post, it sounds like I ate something amazing, realized it contained nuts and then got a strange rash, when I'm actually describing a day filled with delicious food, weird weather and a dress.

Let me explain...

Izzy and I decided we'd walk to Harrod's pre-interview, only to find that it was raining. We ducked into a little bakery on the way and munched on the most delicious pizza paired with...hot chocolate! We finished the meal with a shared slice of chocolate mascarpone cheesecake. I hate to say it, but this cheesecake totally outdid that of the Swiss boy. What can I say, my mother taught me well: chocolate is best. The cake was so rich, Iz and I couldn't even finish our slice. Leaving those few bites on the plate was a very difficult decision!

Throughout our lunch, we glanced out the window to watch the changing weather. We witnessed hail, sleet, rain and then bright sunshine. The sky was actually blue today, which is very uncommon!

Harrod's was definitely interesting. It's the kind of place that's so large, it has it's own maps! It's not like any department store in the US...

I think the best way to describe Harrod's is a museum for fashion lovers. It's crammed with art--some of it beautiful and some of it strange--and you simply have to find those pieces that speak to you.

To me, the greatest art was the quilted Chanel bags, Verseace evening gowns and the French Connection shoes.

Sigh.

I also had my interview at Armani today. After stressing for weeks about what to wear, I never even took off my coat. Ha! Here are some photos of what was hiding underneath:

Dress- FCUK, sweater- The Limited, tights- Ann Taylor Loft, boots- Target, belt- thrifted, bag- Coach, pearl earrings and ring, gifts from my parents

Outfit photos by Izzy (on my Canon point and shoot, no DSLR today because of the weather)

And just for fun...

(Someone should be going out and seeing London instead of teaching herself how to use Photoshop and watching True Blood)

I was pretty happy with my outfit, although the dress turned out to be a bit itchy. This was only one small sacrifice I made for the sake of fashion- you should see the Dora the Explorer band aids on my poor, aching feet!

Scottish men are creepy

• Cute boys in kilts that made the trek from Glasgow for a pub crawl will take a photo with you...and whip our their ghetto disposable camera so they can immortalize their shot with the Americans.
• Scottish people are hard to understand, especially if they're not from a big city.
• Don't use the word "fanny," as in "what do you guys keep in those fanny packs?"
• Scone should be pronounced "skahn"
• Old Scottish men will get drunk, hit on you and jump in your photos...at 8 pm...while you're minding your own business and finishing your dinner at a pub. (See photo below.)

• Cider is best when frozen on top.
• Even though Scotland uses the pound, some of their bills are stamped  "Bank of Scotland," so they look slightly different.
• Scottish people are very friendly.
• I will never EVER eat traditional Scottish food. Haggis? No thanks.
• Always Sunday- has the BEST breakfast. EVER.

Thanks Lynn for the first two photos!

Designing shoes and meeting mothers...in my sleep

Last night I had a very strange dream. I'm not sure whether to laugh at its comedic aspects, gloat over my in-dream fashion sense, or over-analyze the dream's meaning. Let me explain.

I was in my father's house, when a familiar truck pulled up in my driveway.

I opened the garage door and saw that it was my guy friend back in Baltimore and his mother (who I have never met before and strangely resembled one of the  3rd grade teachers from my elementary school). His mother introduced herself as "Mrs. Goldsmith," a strange name for a Christian boy's mother. 

It was then that I threw on a fabulous pair of shoes- one I don't own, nor have I ever seen before. They were black leather booties with a thin stiletto heel and a two light pink ribbon dangling down the sides of the boots. The boy laughed at my fancy shoe choice, but it didn't bother me. Those shoes were fabulous and completely one of a kind. (I'm currently coveting those amazing booties that don't exist outside of my dreams.)

After putting on the shoes, the boy, his mother a girl friend of mine and I go to dinner. The rest of the dream is sort of blurry and involves character changes and location jumps. I remember overhearing the mother say she disliked me because I was too Jewish for her son. She considered my girl friend, on the other hand (who I couldn't recognize) the perfect Christian. Clearly she had long, straight, blond hair. 

I'm still confused. What the heck does this mean?