Tales From Across the Pond

Went to the Ally Pally (Royal Alexandria Palace) to see the Black Keys perform. The performance itself was incredible, but it is what happened afterword that is truly noteworthy. 

After waiting at coat check for 2 hours…my companions and I took a cab to Marble Arch stop. By this time it was midnight and the London train stations had closed. After one of our party got on a night bus into East London, the rest of us were left to fend for ourselves at 1am. OH…did I mention it was blizzarding out and all of our phones were dead. Anyways..after wandering for a time we decided to go into a hotel so they could point us to the right spot to wait for the bus. After an hour of waiting at an outdoor bus stop, in insufficient clothing, the Oxford tube arrived. We got back to Oxford at 3am…and I had an essay due at 9 am, which I had not quite finished.

I was surprised we kept our cool…there was so much frustration and tension that it really could have been sooo much worse.

The rowing results were just posted from the IWL races on February 12th, 2012.

The fastest male and female boats on the river were PEMBROKE COLLEGE. The women’s first crew (which I row in!!!) was faster than 18 of the 54 mens boats on the river and beat the boat behind us by 6 seconds.

I love being part of the fastest crew on the river!!

Last Saturday I went to the RAG Ball. Any excuse to go to a ball is legitimate, especially since I won’t have much of an opportunity to attend them when I go back to NYC. This ball was just as incredible as the last. 

I had a little bit of a struggle finding something to wear. When I packed up my things for Oxford I only brought 4 semi-formal dresses (I thought this would be enough…WRONG!). Since October I have worn them all at least twice. Now, I am not opposed to wearing the same dress more than once, but after ripping one of them and wrinkling/dirtying the other two, I was left with only one choice. I wasn’t entirely sure if it was formal enough (it was a navy blue cotton All Saints wrap dress) so just to be safe I paired it with shear black french seamed tights and my navy blue Manolos.

Things worked out pretty well on that front in the end…but there was a couple of hours there when I was walking around Oxford like a crazy, searching for a dress between the extremes of street-walker and too expensive, that I thought would push me over the edge.

The ball itself was at the University Club and was themed The Great Exposition of All Nations. Basically it was like a World Expo type thing with different areas set-up to fit a cultural/national theme. There was France (wine, cheese and pasrty), Greece (naked statues), Russia (vodka luge), China (noodle nation), Mexico (Mission Burrito), Middle East (hookah and henna) and America (Krispy Kreme Doughnuts!!). The tickets were fairly expensive and I was determined to get my moneys worth of food and alcohol (it was open bar).

Needless to say I definitely got my moneys worth of both!! 

Some of the highlights of the evening are as follows:

• Getting my heels repeatedly caught in the grass and hay flooring of the outside tents.
• Silent Disco!! This is something I will definitely be trying to find in NYC. Basically, they give out headphones, which you can change the channel on, and everyone dances around to their own music. At this particular disco, there were only 2 channels…but they were incredible! They had a great mix of oldies and newies. I just love the idea of walking into a quiet space, putting on headphones and getting into your own headspace, while at the same time dancing around like a nut with all my friends.
• Some of my friends from Pembroke were working the event so they could get cheaper admission to the event. One of the guys was put in charge of the hookah tent. Not only was he the only person working the tent (and it was packed), but I’m pretty sure he was chosen because of his dark hair and beard…slight racial profiling anyone…
• Getting an incredible henna tattoo. I have this amazing Indian bracelet that wraps around my wrist and attaches to a ring on my middle finger. I asked for the woman doing the tattoos to replicate this look and she did an incredible job. Writing this, i can’t help but look down at this creation on my hand…my oh my doesn’t my hand look pretty! 

Overall the event was awesome. Easily one of most fun nights I’ve had at Oxford. Plus, who doesn’t like to get all dressed up and have a great night out with their amazing friends…if anyone reading this disagrees, well…I just don’t know what to do to convince you otherwise.