Hairstyles

Although I lack stylish clothing. Or the ability to wear it, I love different hairstyles. Although I never do anything extremely out of the ordinary, it's a part of me.

Straight bangs

Sweep Side Bangs

Side Dutch Braid into Bun

Curly from a Bun

Braided Bangs

Both Sides Twisted into a French Twist Bun

Braid into Bun

Straightened (what I do the most often cause it's the most simple)

These are just a few of my favorite hairstyles.
It has to be simple for me to actually do it(:

Yearly Changing of Age

Yesterday was my mom's birthday. Sometimes her birthday gets "forgotten" by all of the excitement of school finishing up and my birthday arriving. This year I decided to change that. Drastically.
Balloons and a (handmade) banner:

Bouquet of her favorite flowers (roses and lilies):



And a cake:


It all worked out really well.
Although I wasn't there to harass my friend in NC, I definitely gave my mom a fantastic birthday!
Happy birthday, Mom!(:

"you're a true friend, you're here till the end"

"Who is your best friend?"
The WORST question for me to answer because it implies that I have only 1. I don't. I have 5 best friends. That doesn't mean that I don't love the rest of my friends, trust me I do, it's just I'm closest to these 5. I feel like I could tell them anything. Right now I just wanted to tell them (because they are pretty much the only people that look at this blog, haha) thank you so much for putting up with my and sticking by my side. I know I can complain like crazy, yet y'all put up with me.
Love and miss y'all.


(yes, the title lyrics are Miley Cyrus. It's my jam.)

Craziness!

Sometimes I have to pinch myself to realize how little of this trip remains.
The last time I slept in my own bed was 126 days ago.
Since then I have:
-visited London 5 times
-been to 3 cities in France
-gone to 2 musicals in London
-been to Vienna, Austria
-been to 2 cities in Italy
-visited the Cotswold villages twice
-spent a day with my brother
-spent a week with my best friend
and much more still remains such as my grandmother coming tomorrow, my sister coming in a week, my boyfriend coming in about two weeks, visiting our foreign exchange student from the fall in Germany, visiting my sister in Amsterdam, going to Israel and Greece with my family, and the most daunting thing repacking.
I say it's the most daunting thing, but it's also the most exciting thing. I have had the time of my life travelling all of this exotic and amazing places. I have seen and experience things before the age of 16 that most people don't experience their entire lives. But I really cannot wait to be back in North Carolina. From now on when I have to answer those annoying "favorite place in the world" questions I know what my answer will be: Meadow Run Drive, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

In 2 and a half months I will be back in North Carolina.
I cannot wait to see my amazing friends and my puppy, Mandie and sleep in my own (comfortable) bed.
The countdown begins...

P.S. I am really sorry if any of this sounded like I was bragging. I really did not mean for that to occur.

"We're Gonna Party Like It's Your Birthday"

I like celebrating birthdays. Especially other people's birthday. I love the feeling that you (with others) successfully made someone's day fantastic. This may be why I feel an urge to make cupcakes for my friends' birthdays. Or buy a Dora the Explorer Birthday Princess set and force them to wear it around school. Something about seeing someone SO happy makes me happy. Yesterday was my best friend's birthday. But I couldn't make her cupcakes or annoy the crap out of her. No, I'm 4000 miles away in a foreign country in a different time zone. I wrote on her Facebook wall a bunch of times, made her birthday my Facebook status, emailed her, sent gifts, I tried to record a Happy Birthday video about 9 times failing each time, but still... Being apart made giving her an awesome Sweet 16 quite difficult. She managed it on her own, don't get me wrong -- I heard it was fantastic, but I still feel bad. I know this seems like the silliest thing to be sad about but for some reason it is for me. Sorry to complain on here, I'm sure you don't want to hear.
Anyway, I'm glad you had a great birthday Morgan!

This May Need a Warning Label.

Warning: You may freak out.
I lived in England for four months without drinking tea or eating a scone.
Every American has this perfect picture of every Brit sitting in their "garden" sipping tea from a pretty mug and eating a fruit scone during tea time. Sorry to shatter this perception, but it's really not true. Yes, Brits drink tea. A lot of it. If I had a penny for every time I have heard "a cuppa tea with cream and sugar, please." I would be rich. VERY RICH. But scones are not that popular. At least with my generation. That is how I lasted about four months in England without eating or drinking either. I didn't like the taste either so it wasn't hard. When one of my best friends, Kristin, visited in April she forced me to drink tea and try a scone. I discovered that tea with milk and sugar is not THAT awful. And if you coat the scone with enough clotted cream (thick butter) and jam, heck they aren't bad either. It definitely isn't life-changing, but it's not deadly. There is one place that makes scones that I actually enjoy. Probably because they taste like biscuits and I miss biscuits like crazy BUT that's not important. I can say with confidence that after trying both a Southern Season scone and a true English scone, that A Southern Season's are better.

Napoli, Italia

Naples, Italy does not have a very good reputation. At all. Like the only thing Rick Steves' book says about Naples is beware of pick-pocketers. But the only way to get from Sorrento (southern Italy) to Rome, Italy is through this unfortunate city. So that is how my parents and I ended up in the train station. We had spent out 10 minutes in the station going to Sorrento but today (I'm here as I type) we have spent a total of an hour waiting for our train. The train will take 2 hours to get to Rome but sadly although it was suppose to arrive 3 minutes ago, it is delayed. By 40 minutes. Joy. ):

Disneyworld vs. Disneyland

I have now officially been to Disneyworld or Disneyland in two continents. Snazzy, huh? After going to Disneyland Paris, I have decided I like Disneyworld Orlando (the only other one I've been to) better for three reasons.
1. The smoking in line and throughout the Paris park is absolutely choking. Literally, you think you are dying. Or what to. While waiting in line for Rockin' Roller Coaster about an hour, my mom and I were surrounded by smokers making it entirely unpleasant. Since people are throwing their cigarettes on the ground, the whole park just feels dirtier. It's gross.
2) Orlando has so much more color. Not literally. It just looks more colorful. "It's a Small World" is exactly the same colorfulness (is that a word?), so it isn't ACTUALLY prettier in Florida.



But due to the fact that the weather is generally better in Florida, it just looks so much prettier. This may because it was gray when we went to Euro Disney and I haven't gone to the Florida one in many years. STILL. 
3) Tigger would NOT give me a hug in Paris. Yes, I know I am 15. And yes, I know most Tigger fans are about 5 BUT I am an exception. Is that a reason to reject me?): Although this picture makes it seem like he is right behind me and that I am happy about this rejection, but of those things are a lie.



Actually, he is motioning to another person and I am near tears.

Even though Disneyland Paris wasn't as great as Disneyworld, it was still fantastic(:
See the videos below for the Stunt Car Show, which was better than the Florida one(:

Plane Potty Philippic

I'm typing this as I fly through the atmosphere. Some people hate flying, some people don't care, but I actually enjoy it...until I have to use the bathroom. Like now.
One of my biggest fears: getting trapped in a bathroom. I'm not sure where this fear began, but I have it big time.
That is why I HATE going into stalls where the door is from the ceiling to the floor, which is exactly how plane pottys are. (and also after seeing Date Night I feel really lame going in there to actually GO to the bathroom)
We have been flying for about an hour and 45 minutes and hopefully only have 20 minutes left. *fingers crossed*
 
OOH, the captain just said we'll touch down in 25 minutes. Yay! 
I'm really excited to be in Vienna. Updates soon!

(Thank you www.Thesaurus.com for your intelligent title name.)

Isle of Capri

Unlike American beliefs the Isle of Capri is not pronounced cah-PRI (like the pants) but CAH-pri with emphasis on the "cah". We were corrected many times so I felt I should share this knowledge. The Island of Capri is known its Blue Grotto, which is a cave that you enter in a boat through a small hole. Sadly, whenever the tide is high or the waves are rough, the grotto will suddenly close. This was the case for us when we were staying in Sorrento. Everyday the waves were just way too rough. We kept putting it off after getting the impression from the Rick Steves book that it's not worth the expensive boat trip to the island if the grotto is not open, but our hotel owner convinced us to make the trip anyway. That was a fantastic decision. It was stunning as you can see from the pictures.







Although we couldn't go into the cave, we took a boat around the island where we saw the Green Grotto, which was beautiful. Capri is known the be a serious tourist trap, but after visiting I understand why. The stunning cliffs and the blue water are beautiful. We took a chair lift 1,900 feet up to Monte Solaro for a gorgeous view of the Bay of Naples. When you are that high you would expect the wind to be whipping, but surprisingly it was calm and warm - just the way I like it(: The lift is only one person per chair allowing you 13 minutes of silence (except for Italian screaming at each other and British boys acting like they will fall) something that is extremely difficult to manage. All in all, Capri was worth the expense and time even though the Blue Grotto was closed. Take that Rick Steves (it was his book that told us it wasn't worth it).

How To Judge a Hotel Room

I have spent my fair amount of time staying in hotels. For some people, like my father, is it terrible, but I actually enjoy having people clean up after me and make my bed for me. It makes me feel like a princess(:
Anyways, by spending this amount of time in hotels I have devised a simple hotel judge checklist:
-The 4 'A's (answer the questions that follow to access the room)
1) Accommodation: How big is the room? Do you have the amount of beds you asked for? Did they give you enough towels? 
2) Accessibility: How far are you from town? How many steps do you have to climb?
3) Apple-pie order: Are there bed bugs? Has the room been vacuumed? Is there gross unknown hair in the room?
4) Additional Items: Do they have free wifi? Do they give you bottles of shampoo? Do the towel cover everything it should or is it just a large hand towel? Does it have a pool? Is breakfast included?

This hotel room passed just because of their sweet maid. I'm pretty sure this falls under "Additional Items":



Call me a dork that I have a teddy bear after the age of 5, but I love Sissy. She was given to my sister on August 15, 1987 for her day of birth. Now, 23 years later she has changed owners, color, and proportional. (I am told her head didn't used to be that large but how I used to hold her squeeze her fluff into her head. I don't know if I believe this.)