I promised you pictures (going away party, part dos)

I'm attempting to get settled here in Hampstead, which is harder than I thought it would be (I blame all the people in the photos below who've made my life in Dallas so amazing). I have internet which I'm jacking from my neighbor and rarely works, I have no phone and no bank account. My Brits are all on holiday in the States and Molly isn't here yet. So, I'm very wallow-y. But, it's ok. Mostly because after I write this I'm going to Regent Street to say hi to the other man in my life (Ted Baker) and hang out at Anthro. Cures all. 

Anywhoodle, let's discuss the Best Night Ever--other than the nights I met Michael Crawford (I still can't even) or Hugh Jackman. Obviously. 

BFF Ren came over and helped me get ready--I had three dress options. I had the one below custom made but it was a little shorter than I wanted so I was scared to look too Ballerina Barbie rather than Carrie Bradshaw. We were going for the latter. 

But, she told me it was fabulous and that everyone coming knows I an a ballerina princess, so, just wear the damn dress. 

I did.

And we played picture time in the tub. 

Happened. 

It was a night filled with laughter. Belly hurting laughter. And I loved it.

My amazing soul sister, Soleil and I cutting up. She's truly a beautiful, beautiful friend. 

My gal Chelsea came all the way from Fort Worth to celebrate with me. I love her oh so much!

Chels just got hired at pure barre and I'm so excited because when I get back she will take over for me when D and I look into opening another space! 

This picture makes me insanely happy. TPG is my other half. The only person in my life who "gets" it. All of it.

Hamster love. Since 2009. Please note the awesome news caption behind us. Sure.

And then sometimes you look like an idiot. For no particular reason.

I honestly have no no idea. 

My sweet fellow SMU alum and soon to be published author(!) friend Rachel came and I got to introduce her to newbie Dallasite Kristen--I'm super jealous these two are going to hang out without me!

Idiots. Love it. Love them more. 

My folks came--which was only mildly stressful (understatement), but, I'm so glad they did. And look at my sister's super chic bangs!! She's such a grown up!

Me and the mini sis. 

I've already waxed poetic about Amanda more than I ever thought possible, but, man alive. This girl. My heart. My salvation. Literally. 

This is the least flatter ing photo EVER, but, I think it shows how much I adore her. (UGH, MY ARMS)

Leaving her on Wednesday almost broke me. I cried so hard when we repeated this moment at my front door.

True love. 

The party started to wind down and only the truly loyal remained....

T, Hayley, BFF Ren, Amanda, Chels. T's face is all "ummmm I'm stuck with a bunch of girls. FML"

All the ladies!

Then we headed across the street to The Dubliner where more shenanigans ensued.

Like this.

About sums it up. 

I have no idea what was happening here, but, it's hilarious.

Dear god. I should've done some tricep dips!

BFF-ery.

Alright.

So somehow R and T decided sticking a pint of Guinness down my dress was a good idea. And then they took turns holding up my dress (obviously, the pint was bigger than my boobs. I quit) and hysterical laughter ensued. There are several pictures and the one on R's phone is my absolute favorite, but, our faces in this--and of course, my double chin--is kind of awesome.

R showing off a boob, me giving the thumbs up and T being a gentleman and holding up my dress. Or, just attempting to grab a boob. Probably the latter. 

And then we shut The Dubliner down, because it's what we do, so, we headed to The Lake House for the best hotdog ever.

My favorite gals!

Ally sandwich! 

I don't have many from The Lake House because we went there for hot dogs and the kitchen closed at 11am--it was like 1:15 at this point. But, it was a nice quiet way to end the night and have final moments with those I love.

But, this happened. 

And so did this. 

 So, there you have. The night I wish I could relive. The happiness and the sadness is all out there. Despite missing these people--and my pups (don't even) like crazy, I know it's all going to be ok.

After all, God wouldn't give me those moments of happiness, those people who mean so much, who've blessed me in so many ways--I wouldn't finally have that, just to have it ripped out from under me. Right? RIGHT?!

Here's hoping.

Shabbs, out!

(if you need me, I'll be on Regent Street, buying all the things. Throwing money at my feelings always helps!)

Adios, Dallas

This past weekend was my going away party. 

It was perfect. I only cried a few times, which, lesbihonest is a world record. I thought I would just sob the entire time. Thank you to all who made it a perfect night, a perfect time with those that I love and a perfect farewell to Dallas.

I couldn't ask for better people in my life, and I am so blessed to have so many take time out of their lives to see me.

Naturally, we celebrated at The Londoner, a local pub here in town where we had the entire top floor to ourselves and then the night progressed to The Dubliner (I know) and we shut down The Lake House at last call. My abs still hurt from laughing and I'm living in a mac and cheese and bacon hangover--which, is there a better kind? Nope!

Without further ado, here are a few of my selected faves--also, major props to BFF Ren for lending her photography skills to the evening. I wasn't supposed to look at these until I got on the plane, I know she will kill me for this, but, these are some of the happiest pictures of my life, so, I had to look. And honestly, I've never been happier, so I couldn't wait to share them. Thank you, babe!

It's always important to dress like a jackass at your own party....

I wore a giant tutu. I ain't even ashamed. 

Strike a pose 

With my pure barre girls--ignore mosquito bite white trash legs there!

Remember how I said I held it together? Well, when this girl showed up, I lost it. My hamster. 

TPG and The Cyclist came even though she's been super sick. That's true love!

And of course, nothing is complete without my parents acting like goofs!

Me and my pops 

My absolute favorite person on earth. My BFF, Ren. I love you more than anything. She gave me a brilliant party! 

I kind of love this picture. My best guy. 

And then, I sobbed for a good 20 minutes after this was taken:

My heart and soul. My rock, my salvation, my biggest cheerleader. 

I have tons more I could show you, and will. Funny stories that involve bacon and brie, the hot dog that wasn't and of course, Guinness, a straw and my boobs apparently. But, for now, I'm keeping those moments to myself until I am ready to stop crying and start laughing.

Not yet. I'm still too scared to leave these amazing people and memories.

Maybe on Friday when I wake up in my new flat on Abbey Road. Just, maybe....

xoxo

Did ya miss me?!

The last few weeks have been great. Emotional, stressful, exhausting, and great.

I'm really trying to soak in all I can about Dallas and time with friends and things I won't get to do, see or eat for the next 9-12 months.

It's been emotional--I cry a lot more than I expected I would--I mean, I'm a crier in general, but, the reality of leaving my Texas family? Boy howdy. I can't even.

Sorry to have left you hanging--but, I mean, you did get pictures of the puplet so, you can't be too angry with me. I hope.

I've been keeping busy trying to enjoy my last few weeks in Dallas,  and this is what it's looked like:

Breaking down and seeing Book of Mormon when the tour came to town

I liked it--not loved it. I just wanted to see Mark to be entirely honest

Moneypenny learning to stick her tongue out for a laugh

She's already disobeying me like a boss!

Spending an evening chatting with someone about college crew and growing up at the beach--like me!

Pubs in Deep Ellum, a large Diet Coke and lots of laughs about NCAA rules 

Having my very best friend and her girls at my last pure barre class

Looks at these loves!!

Learning to walk three dogs on a leash--London preparations!

Hell, basically 

Being introduced to "southern metal" at a concert in Deep Ellum. Where we discovered I have excellent hair for head banging.

I didn't die! Let's all be proud! And, to everyone's surprise, I had FUN!

Dates with this dude

We laugh. A lot. 

Getting a pitiful puppy unstuck--regular occerance these days

Evidently, she wants to escape. Brat. 

And, basically, not packing any of my clothing because, well, packing is stupid.

So, that's where I've been and probably what I'll be up to until I get on the plane next week (sob, sob, sob!), but, I have my going away party this weekend, and I pinky promise pictures of that! read: my parents are crashing it. Send help!

Doodle pup

I am slammed with visa paperwork and general stress--I am so scared that my application won't get processed in time--I just got my certificate of accepted studies (CAS) number on Thursday and submitted my visa application yesterday (can't apply without the CAS), so, we shall see.... I must be in London by September 11 for orientation. Way to take your sweet time getting my paperwork sorted, King's!

Where was I?

Oh! Yes, I'm crazed and have nothing interesting to write except "I'M SO STRESSED OUT", and that's kind of boring, so, look at pictures of my cute puppy:

Excuse me? Play with me, now! 

I can't drive, you fool!

Aww, this was before her other ear fully popped up! She thinks she's a cat and digs in the litter.

We were posing for our passport pictures. Didn't go so well. 

You're welcome.

Meet Me in St Louis 2013 edition

I can wax poetic about my best friend forever. Like, seriously, I adore her. I will never be able to thank her enough for that weekend 11 months ago when she picked up my broken self at the airport, threw me into the car and took me back to her house for Thai and Hugh Grant movies.

This pretty much sums us up

I will never forget that I slept for the first time in months at her house. That I laughed again--I really laughed--because my nephew is hilarious, of course. She saved me.

The thing about best friends is that you can just sit with them and be happy. You can tell them things you swore you would never tell anyone, things you'd bury deep inside you, and then, you tell them and they understand and they get it and they hold your hand and they want to fight for you. That, that my friends, is Sara. I'd be lost without her. (honestly, I can't talk about being more than an 85 minute plane ride away from her, I just can't).

In July, I took a weekend off work and flew up to see her and the fam. As you know, Les Mis is my favorite thing in life (besides the Matthew McCounahey Reliant Energy commercials, my gawd) and Sara and I have been trying to see the damn show together for 3 freaking years. When I discovered it was showing at the Muny in St. Louis, and our Phantom, Hugh Panaro was the lead, I immediately emailed her and we made plans.

We were so excited! Never mind we'd just seen each other in April for the Renaissance Faire, which, I still owe you pictures of the rest of their trip to Texas... Ooops... Besides, we could see each other like every single day and that would be ok.

St. Louis weekend was a blast!

I got to see a Cardinals game from behind the dugout--I cried when they sang God Bless America. We had way too much fun eating hot dogs, singing Take Me Out To The Ballgame and cheering on the Cards. It was such a perfect "all American" night and I had so.much.fun!

Baseball and the Arch? Hello, Americana. 

On Saturday I got to play puppy wrangler for a bit when we took the pups and kiddo to a puplet fair out in the country. Mally showed off her skills on the agility course. Sage was just bribed with food.

My three favorites in life. Please note Mac's face. 

HOW CUTE ARE THEY?!

I got to hang out with my nephew, who is, seriously, the coolest kid ever. He's freaking hilarious and I am telling you, has the world's best unimpressed face--which, he totally gets from his mom. And I love it.

Seriously. Cutest kid ever. 

Because I'm a really rad aunt, I made up a game: pulling duct tape off my mouth. He loved it!

Later, we had a divine French dinner to celebrate my moving to England (irony?), then trekked off to the barricades together (!) where we cried a lot and even got shushed by a very grumpy gent next to us.

Ryan called this our prom picture. I didn't even realize we were color coordinated! BFF style!

I mean, we shouldn't be surprised that we were shushed. We sang the whole time, laughed, cried and shared those very special moments that you can only have with a best friend. Hell, Sara even snapped a picture of Hugh Panaro and Norm Lewis signing together onstage. If you are a stagey one like me, you KNOW how big of a deal that is. I was literally left speechless my their performances that night.

Don't worry, our seats were much closer--this was just walking to our seats

We laughed a lot, we ate too much, the usual.

On Sunday, we went to Grant's Farm to entertain Mac.

Standard Aunt A being obnoxious and Mac not caring 

But, it was really so I could feed goats.

I GOT TO FEED GOATS! BABY GOATS!

Or, he could feed goats. Whatever.

And, see the horseys. Again, for him or whatever (read: ALLY WANTED TO SEE ALL THE ANIMALS)

Note that Mac and I match and Sara and I are wearing the same shoes. NOT planned. 

It was the perfect weekend.

Especially since I got this gem:

And this little sweet pic:

We were talking about the goats. Duh. Or, I'm clutching him while telling him about the goats and he's trying to escape me. Either or. 

As per usual, I cried when she dropped me at the airport, but, I am so grateful for the times we have together, no matter how short. And, I'm uber super duper excited for her to come visit me in London and we will repeat Broadway Birthday Extravaganza, but, in London, baby!!

Sara, Ryan, Mac and random assortment of pets, thank you for the BEST WEEKEND EVER, I love you guys oh so much and miss you already like crazy. I'm so lucky to have y'all in my life!
xoxo

Come Together

Y'ALL. I hopped to London for 40ish hours and somehow found a place to live!!

And this is my new street:

Yes, I will live on the iconic Abbey Road--just a bit up the way from where The Beatles recorded the album by that name (my Beatles loving mother would be SO PROUD).

I can't believe I found a place I love so much! It's not in Notting Hill, or Shoreditch, or anywhere else I imagined myself living, but, it's perfect. I'm minutes from the train and tube, I'm next to the most beautiful old church, and sandwiched happily between Regent's Park and Hampstead Heath.

It's all, excuse me here--come together (ahem. Song from the Abbey Road album. Y'all.).

I can't wait to move in and make it mine. Now, anyone know where a girl can get bookcases and you know, hardware in South Hampstead? Cause I sure as hell don't.

Things I know...

I may not be the smartest cookie, I'm not attending Cambridge, I never applied to an Ivy; I might not understand chemistry, or, well, math for that matter, but, I have learned some things over these last nearly 30 (gag me) years of mine.

I know that friends become family, and that is what matters.

I know that this life isn't easy, but, it's not meant to be.

I've learned that we can change and grow so much in a short amount of time.

I know that time--and distance--heals almost all. Not all--ALMOST--all. (I'm still struggling)

I know that dreams can come true, you just have to fight for them.

I know that change is scary. Really, really scary.

I know that you are stronger than you ever thought you were.

I know that I wouldn't be alive if it weren't for the amazing friends who've pushed me, held me, loved me this last year.

I know I don't have it all figured out, I don't have the answers, I don't understand a lot of what I've been through, why I've been dealt this or that; I don't know!

But, I do know, that life goes on. We wake up, we drink our Diet Coke, stalk Kate Middleton, and continue along the life we lead. And it leads to great things. Great adventures. Great challenges. Great moments that define us and who we are.

And I know, I know that leaving this life I fought so hard for, this amazing life of musicals, of dance, of sunny poolside days and friendship, I know leaving it will be the hardest thing I've ever had to do, but, the great challenges that await me will be worth it.

And, I also know that finding an apartment in London should be an Olympic sport. Dear God!

But, I know I'll find a place. And the pups, my books, and my ice tray--that I will be bringing--will be impressibly happy. Living the dream.

Wish me luck! I'm London bound tomorrow for 38 hours to find a place to live! Quick and dirty, let's do this thing!