Meeting up with Dominic!

Last weekend was so much fun! Friday night was not much fun because Lauren and all the girls went out for Kiera's birthday and I had to babysit :( But it was ok to relax after a long week, so I wasn't that upset! Saturday the boys woke me up early as they decided to run through the house screaming and making as much noise as possible which was annoying because its my day to sleep in! But I helped out with the lodge for a bit and did a bit of cleaning before packing my bags for London!
I took the train into the city to meet up with Dominic! I was so excited because I haven't hung out with Dominic in like 7 years and I was so excited that he is living here this semester because I miss seeing familiar faces and I knew that it was going to be a fun time! He lives in South Kensington in a flat with the other people in his program, all from the University of Wisconsin.
It was so fun to see him and we stopped by his flat to drop off my overnight bag and then went on a walk through Hyde Park and went over to Portabello Market for some crepes and catching up! We decided that everyone here is still obsessed with Princess Diana and maybe we would be too if we were British, but its getting a bit excessive with all of the memorials and dedications and on and on and on. But it was fun to talk about people from home and what they are up to and what we have been up to since we last saw each other. After walking back to his flat, we watched the USA/England Rugby game with his 5 flatmates, all really cool guys from Wisconsin. They are all sophomores/juniors and it was strange to be one of the oldest people! When it was time for dinner, one of the girls from the second floor called Nora came with us to a pub down the street. Nora and I clicked really quick and I had a lot of fun talking to her/hanging out with her while I was there.
We headed back to the flat after eating and hung out and got ready to go out that night for Dominic's 22nd birthday! Nora let me borrow some jewelry and I gave her advice on her outfit haha she said that maybe having a sorority friend was useful. It made me miss my girls and wish I was home for soph/senior night with my favorite roommates :)
We went to a pub down the street and just chilled and everyone kinda ended up breaking up and doing their own thing in little groups. Nora, Kate, Dominic, Bill, Dan and I didn't stay out late and ended up going back to the flat and just hanging out there. It was funny to see all of the people that came down to the basement flat throughout the night. It was so random but there was one guy who met one of Dominic's flatmates the night before and he and a girl came and they were from Pepperdine so naturally I asked if he knew Jon C and he did! Jon was his RA at school and Jon was my prom date sophomore year of high school! haha what are the odds :) But we all had fun staying up and talking until around 5am and then I slept on the couch by Nora's room. The next morning we went and woke Dominic up and then he and I went on a walk to find this tree in Green Park where the branches are cool and touch the ground. I forgot to take a pic of it! We also saw elephants made of sticks and went to Buckingham Palace as well as Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery. We must have walked at least 10 miles but it was fun and mostly through parks. On the way back we sat in Kensington Park for a while. I don't think we stopped talking for more than 5 min the entire time I was there :)
It was nearly 7pm by this time so we walked back to the flat where all the guys were getting ready to go out to dinner so I grabbed my overnight bag and we went to a Thai place down the street. It was fun and I really liked my food! I got green vegetable curry with steamed rice and it burned my mouth but it was really good! I really like the guys Dominic lives with and we are going to plan a weekend trip to Ireland for all of us and some of the girls! After dinner Dominic walked me to the tube station and I went back to Waterloo to catch my train. I ran up as the doors were closing and just made my train! I was so glad because I would have had to wait 30 min for the next one (um no thanks!).
I got home and read all my emails (I love checking my IU mail and getting all the chi omega emails so I kinda feel in the loop still) and then I was so tired I had to go to sleep!
It was a fun time and I am glad Dominic is going to be here this semester!! We go pretty far back from T-ball and soccer with my dad coaching and middle school/junior high and the beginning of high school before he moved away. I'm excited to have a friend/familiar face here and I can't wait to go back and see them again!!
Tomorrow is going to be almost as good as Christmas because it is Pernille' birthday AND THE BOYS START SCHOOL TOMORROW!!!! No more 13 hours days and I am excited to get on a schedule of working out instead of just when I can fit it in, as well as read ahead for the classes I will have when I get back to home/school :)
So excited for IU being 2-0, good job Bill! and good job to Grant for his hard work with the IU Mini! And go Danny against Harrison this week and on your 1/2 day and the big Midterm this week! Miss everyone and its so weird that I have only 3 months left here!!
Have a wonderful day!
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