I was nominated to do a Liebster Award!!

The Liebster Award is given to bloggers from bloggers who are relatively new to give them a chance to get to know each other! Ensemble Deux recently nominated me (thanks!!) and I felt quite honored that she thought of me! 

So...here goes! 

The rules

You must provide 11 random facts about yourself

You must answer the 11 questions given by the person who nominated you

You must create 11 new questions

You must nominate 11 bloggers with under 200 followers to answer the questions

You cannot nominate the person who nominated you

You must let your nominees know that they have been nominated

The 11 facts

1. My favourite things to drink are root beer, lemonade, and English breakfast tea 

(not at the same time, obviously. hehe)

2. I am obsessed with Doctor Who and 10 my doctor

3. I want to name one of my kids Georgia 

4. I show someone a picture of my nephew every single day 

5. I have a selfie with Bradley Cooper and Cara Delevingne

6. I want to go to grad school in either San Francisco or Seattle 

7. This summer I want to have my hair dyed pink and purple 

8. I work at a video store (yes, they still exist) 

9. My favourite kind of art is street art 

10. I like being a teacher's pet sometimes :) 

11. I hate gender roles 

The 11 questions

1. When did you start blogging? 
About a year and a half ago before I went to Rome 
2. Why did you start blogging?

To have a place to express myself and share my travel experiences with others 

3. Who are your favorite bloggers? 
Paris in Four Months, At Fashion Forte , and many, many more! 

4. What is your favorite online shop?
I love Esty! 

5. Who is your fashion icon? 
Probably Always Judging  and Phoebe Lettice Thompson

6. If you could attend any fashion show of your choice, which designer would you choose? 
I would choose Miu Miu for the amazing shoes and clothes but Burberry to see celebes! 

7.What is your favorite show(s) currently? 
Made in Chelsea, Doctor Who, Sherlock, Fresh Meat, and New Girl 

8. If you could be any animal what would you be? 
I would be a Scottie dog or a Shih Tzu because they are so cute and get to relax and sleep all day 

9. What genre of music do you like to listen to? 
I like listening to indie/folk and Freddie Mercury

10. Who is your favorite beauty/fashion youtuber?
 N/A

11. What is your go to beauty product? 
Dark lipstick 

The 11 new questions

1. If you could live anywhere in the entire world (and not have to pay rent), where would you pick?

2. Sweet or salty?

3. Who would be your celebrity best friend?

5. Lemonade or Iced Tea? 

6. What is the first thing you think to pack before going on a week-long trip?  

7. Describe your blog with only one word 

8. What is your favourite (or one of your favourite) quotes? 

9. Hot or cold?

10. Where was the best city you've ever visited? 

11. Who is your style icon throughout history?

Nominees

EVERYONE WHO READS THIS! 

From a different perspective:

I am always searching for new blogs to follow and thought I would 

share some of my favourites with you, my lovely followers! 

First up is the amazing Lauren! She runs The Emerald Dove blog! She lives in the UK and enjoys drinking excessive amounts of tea :) Her blog is a place where she chats about clothes (mostly Primark) and other parts of her daily life. I found her blog on Bloglovin and always enjoy seeing the good bargains she finds in her monthly haul posts! 

1) What is the main purpose of your blog? Why/When did you start it?  

I started my blog about a year ago and I just wanted to make friends and develop my writing in case I chose to go into any writing based careers. I like coming together with like-minded people and sharing my thoughts with them. I think the main purpose of my blog is just to perk up my lovely reader's day and hopefully inspire people - whether I have achieved this or not, I am unsure.*

*Speaking as a reader of her blog, I, Hope, would say Lauren has achieved her goal! I always look forward to her new posts and am inspired by her fashion finds! 

2) Describe the ideal reader for your blog. 

I think someone who likes clothes might like my blog but also someone who doesn't mind long, rambley posts. I also do some lifestyle posts sometimes so anyone who likes to be nosey (like I do) might enjoy reading some of these. 

3) Have you gone on any trips recently? Which was your favourite? 

I recently went up north, well it is north from where I live, to around the Essex and Kent area. It was on a coach trip, which I feel to be a seriously under-appreciated form of transport, and we went around a load of cute little towns and villages. We went to the Dicken's Victorian Christmas Fair in Rochester which was amazing. The cobbled streets were filled with fake snow and there were loads of lovely antique book shops. 

4) What is something you look for in a city? What is something you always notice about a new place? 

I think that if there are a lot of shops, then it is a great place to be! I love old fashioned cities and towns and if they have lots of beautiful original features then that is a sure fire way to make me fall in love with it. Also if they have lots of book shops filled with classics and with an adjoining tea room, then it definitely a good place.

5) If you could give someone visiting England for the first time your top three tips, what would they be? 

             i. Expect queues. Do not skip queues or moan loudly whilst in a queue or expect an onslaught of tuts.

            ii. Do not try to drive through the centre of big cities like London or Bristol - and probably a lot more - else you will be in gridlock for hours. 

           iii. Fill up on tea and cake which is usually great everywhere.

To learn more about Lauren, see some amazing fashion finds, or just need a little pick-me-up during the day, explore her blog! 

Photography Workshop

Recently, I had an incredible opportunity to attend a mobile (cell phone) photography workshop and photo walk with the talented Dan Rubin at the Townhall Hotel, organized by Zoe Timmers, a TV producer and photographer! Dan taught us some photography basics and then gave tips specifically for mobile photography. We learned to use apps such as SnapSeed, Retouch, and most importantly VSCOcam. 

Dan encouraged us to push ourselves to our limits. For me that is street style photography...I always want to ask fashionable people to take a quick photo but get too nervous. After some encouragement, I ended up asking at least five people and got some really cool photos! 

Not only did we get an amazing workshop and photo walk but we got to eat lunch and have an evening cocktail at the restaurant in the hotel! Zoe organized this event perfectly! There wasn't a moment throughout the day that I wasn't learning something new and interesting! 

Another workshop similar to this one is in the works so if anyone is in London and interested go follow Zoe for upcoming events she is planning!  

On a side note, I've had a lot of amazing opportunities in London and it wasn't all by luck or chance. I found Zoe through Instagram and contacted her about volunteering for this workshop, because simply put, I couldn't afford it. I spent a day promoting the event through social media with techniques I learned in school (using my major, yay!). Never underestimate the power of social media and communication! Don't be afraid to reach out to people, something I am truly learning this semester.

Celeb of the week?

Recently my friend Abby, a contributor to the website Her Campus, interviewed me about both my study abroad experiences!

Now a few weeks later...I am the campus celeb of the week!!

Check out the article and tell me what you think :)

5 days until I leave for London!!

Today, I've got quite the treat for you all! An exclusive q+a with Jack Megaw, London-born, Philadelphia-based photographer who works across the globe! I know him through my sister and brother-in-law and thought that he might have some useful insight and tips for me and anyone else traveling to London! 

 1. Introduce yourself and tell us your relationship with London. 

My name is Jack Megaw. I grew up in London before moving to Philadelphia with my family just before starting high school. I stayed in Philadelphia for art school before moving onto Point Park University in Pittsburgh to study photojournalism. Since graduating I have been between London, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh with a short stint in Dubai. Last year I lived in London for six months photographing London during the Olympics and then photographing Premier League soccer for the several months.

2. What is your favourite area in London and why?

I love London because there are so many amazing areas of the city. I grew up in Pimlico which is right in the centre of London. As far as my favourite areas of London go I really like Chelsea. Kings Road. There are lots of great shops and cafes to go even if it can be a little expensive. 

I love going to the parks. It's strange that in such a big city there can be this oasis of green between St. James's Park, Green Park, Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens and Holland Park all in a row. Hyde Park is my favourite. It reminds me of Central Park in New York. 

The variety of places in London is one of the things that make it so special.

3. What are your top tips for a twenty-something in London?

Well my first tip would be get a bike. I like travelling on buses and I like travelling on the tube but my favourite way to get around London is by bike. The last time I was in London I brought my bike over from the States - a beautiful red single speed and it was perfect. It's amazing how distances shrink in London as soon as you get on a bike. There are also the Boris Bikes which you can hire out - but they are quite slow and heavy! (just remember which side of the road to ride on!)

Another tip would be to go exploring! Go and discover different areas. Keep an eye out for events coming up in the city. A great thing about London is as one of the major cities of the world absolutely everything comes to London. Sporting events, concerts, art exhibitions so keep an eye out for those!

A top tip of mine is to get to a football match. I would recommend Chelsea because that is my team and they are one of the best teams in the world today. Chelsea tickets can be expensive but there are smaller clubs like Fulham which are much easier to get low priced tickets for. Even take in a cricket match at Lords or the Oval where the game has been played for 200 years.

4. Describe your best photography experience in London.

Without doubt my best photography experience in London was the 2012 Olympics. Amazing pictures were everywhere. You must understand that normally in London....like in any city really when people are on the underground/subway they just stare blankly at their newspapers and make every effort to ignore the people around them. During the Olympics it was completely different with complete strangers chatting to each other about the games. That summed up the whole event. Never in my life have I seen London so united like it was for those three weeks. I miss that actually. Hopefully I will get to experience that again in my lifetime.

5. Everyone who goes to London has photos of the iconic stuff (Big Ben, The London Eye), but do you have any suggestions to take photographs in London off the beaten path?

Obviously there are the famous tourist sights. Let's face it how many times can you take pictures of Buckingham Palace and Big Ben like the millions of other people that go to London every year before it gets a bit boring! I like the London Eye because you can look all around London and see the sights. A great place to take pictures is from Primrose Hill in Regents Park. From there you can see a great view of London. Richmond Park too for the same reason. The truth is that in London there are great pictures to be had pretty much anywhere! London is a very Instagram friendly city.

In conclusion London is a great city to visit and a great city to live in. It's a city which you can completely immerse yourself in and at 27 years old I still cannot get enough of it. I crave trips back to London and the things I miss range from proper fish and chips from a chip shop, to chocolate, to cycling around the city on a crisp spring day, to people watching in cafes and even...the rain. It doesn't rain THAT much in London. Don't believe all that people tell you! London is an amazing city to fall in love with and it's absolutely worth the trip. You won't want to leave.

To check out some more of Jack's amazing photography visit his site: http://www.jackmegaw.com/

I am now a member of the studyabroad.com family!

As I told you guys, this month I have been taking advantage of some great blogging opportunities!

Today, I started as one of studyabroad.com's spring semester bloggers!!! I am very exciting to be able to write original content for them and share my experience with even more students interested in studying abroad! You can read my first post here (and rate it in the top right-hand corner!) And be sure to keep checking back because I will not only be posting my London adventures here but on studyabroad.com too!

New developments!

Within the next few weeks, I have some exciting features and new blogging opportunities to share with you!!

First up.....

I am a new Lucky Magazine Contributor!

 This opportunity will help me explore my personal style while thinking about modern trends! I think that London is really going to affect how I dress and look at fashion in general! Plus, comparing Rome street style vs. London street style will be very interesting!

Tune in for more exciting news coming this month!!