Regency Era and Gender Equality

Hallooooo!

Because last weekend and this week was quite quiet, this is going to be a pretty short weekly update :)

Saturday and Sunday
I had all the food I needed in the house so there was no reason for me to go outdoors. I was so exhausted of the previous weekend that I could use the rest. So that's what I did: sleep in, read my book, clean my room, "wasted" some time browsing on the internet. I even watch an entire season in one afternoon. If you are familiar with the Manor House or the 1900 House, then this will probably sound familiar too: the Regency House Party.

Manor House, 1900 and 1940 house are 3 reality shows by Channel 4. They send a family "back in time". They have to live for 12 weeks by the rules of that era. So I'd seen 1900 house and Manor house back in early 2000, but I hadn't seen the Regency House Party.

5 young ladies escorted by 5 governess' and 5 gentlemen spend 9 weeks in a Regency House and play by the rules of the Regency era (end of 18th Century, beginning of 19th Century, aka Jane Austen's time). The goal is to see if they are capable of finding a match playing by the Regency match making rules.

It is very interesting to hear what their experiences are. Especially from the point of view of the women. It looks like being a man in the Regency Era is one big party.

I am the most familiar with the Regency era via the world of Jane Austen and her romantic novels such as Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Emma, etc. And Jane made it look very romantic. But what you don't see in those stories is how restricted life for a woman was. She wasn't allowed to have an opinion, they couldn't inherit any fortune and their goal in life was to find a most advantageous marriage. To put a modern day woman into such an environment gives an interesting mix.

It is true that women have come a long way. We are able to go to school, to work, be single after the age of 20 and not be considered a spinster, etc. But sadly that doesn't apply to all the women in the world and even in the countries where it might seem that women are equal to men, there is still no gender equality. And what makes me even more sad is the fact that we have to fight so hard for something that should be a norm in the first place.

If you haven't heard Emma Watson's speech about gender equality, I have linked it below for you.

  

It might seem a bit out of the blue that I mention gender equality in one of my blog posts, but whilst I was writing about the Regency House Party, I just had to mention the connection.

By Monday I was more or less rested, thank god :)

Goodbye
As for the week, it went by very quietly. Friday was my last day at Media Circus and my colleagues gave me the most delicious chocolats from Liberty. I say they are the most delicious, but to be honest, I haven't tasted them yet. They look too pretty!

That was that for week 17 update. As for the remaining 3 weeks until Christmas I'll be doing Blogmas x) A blog post every day :) So keep your eyes open for that :)

Thanks for reading!
xo - Sara 

#Hogwartsinthesnow and #RegentStComesToLife

Halloooo there!

I hope everyone had a splendid week :)

This weeks blog post has excitement all over the place. It was truly magical. On Saturday I went to the Harry Potter studio tour (again) with my parents. Not just the regular tour, no, the Hogwarts in the snow- tour. It was the first day it was officially open for the public! Sunday was the Regent Street Christmas Lights Switch On event. So beautiful.

The video is finally here !! :)

The Monument and Warner Bros studio tour
So, Saturday morning, my parents decided to arrive in London St Pancras at 10am in the morning. Which meant I had to set an alarm on a Saturday... Ah well.

After a morning coffee and a danish biscuit from our local bakery (Bosmans!!!) off we went to the hotel to drop of our bags and head to Leadenhall Market. I'd never seen it in Christmas decorations and my mum liked to see the location where they filmed the entrance of the Leaky Cauldron.

Leadenhall Market all Christmassy

The entrance, still there

I've never seen the market open and active, but I guess that's because it is located in the more businessy part of London. Therefor only open during the week...

After Leadenhall Market we went to the Monument to climb the way to many stairs to the top. There you have this 360° view over London.

On the way up

Tower Bridge

The Shard

St Paul's Cathedral

The Gherkin!

Top of Monument

On the way down

The Monument was erected in memory of the Great Fire of London in 1666. I've talked about it in this blog post.

After Monument it was only a short walk to the Tower of London. My parents wanted to see the poppies.

After Tower of London it was lunch time! Well, late lunch time, as it was 2pm when we found somewhere to eat.

Anyway, by 4pm we were in London Euston. Plenty of time to catch a train to Watford Junction you might think. We thought the same, until we noticed every single train was delayed! Eventually we got on a train, which took us about 45min to get to Watford instead of 20min -.- Plus we had to stand and it was really hot. Not the most comfortable way of traveling, but it reminded me of when I had to travel to London from Lee. It was a 30min train ride and I always had to stand. Aaah, memories.

From Watford Junction to Leavesden Studios was a smooth ride and I hardly could contain my excitement when I got there. Of course, when you have an entry ticket for 6pm on a Saturday in November, everything is dark outside. Gives it a different sphere really.

Although our timed tickets were for 6pm entrance, we were lucky and we got to enter with a group earlier :) And I can't tell you how fast my heart was beating when the tour started. 1) for my own expectations and excitement. 2) I was so curious to how my parents were going to react. Especially my dad. He was very sober on the whole tour thing. He had only seen the first 2 movies and it is not really his cup of tea. But even his jaw dropped. That's when you know you get your money's worth :)

It says that the tour takes about 2hours to finish. We entered at 5:45pm and left at 9:15pm. And we hadn't gone through the shop yet! The last shuttle bus to Watford Junction left at 9:45, which, luckily, we made :)

You can compare it to Disneyland, I think. Eventhough I knew what to expect, I was so happy and excited. I think it'll never get boring :)

We were back in London at around 11pm, and the alarm clock went off at 8am because we wanted to go for breakfast at the Breakfast Club.

Some souvenirs

Breakfast Club and Regent Street Christmas Lights Switch On event
So Sunday morning I had the American Pancakes for breakfast.

I couldn't finish my breakfast

On our way to the Museum of London we passed the Gherkin. To touch the gherkin was on my to do list, so that is something I can cross off now :)

So geeky, I know :)

I wasn't really impressed by the Museum of London. Regent Street on the other hand. And no, I don't have to say that because I am an intern with the company who organised the event :) I genuinely had a jaw dropping experience.

We were looking at a full road closure of Regent Street with all kinds of activities on the street. By 4pm the show started with performances of Jersey Boys, Jack Pack, Jessie Ware and Union J. Take That, Emma Bunton and Jamie Theakston were the lucky once to push the button :) The Christmas lights are themed with the Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb characters. The movie will be in cinemas mid December :)

Monday I had lunch at Yo!Sushi with my parents and then it was goodbye because they had to go back home that evening and I had to work.

That was my very exciting weekend :) But I am happy that I can sleep in this weekend. I've been more tired this week than I have been for the last few weeks...

Anyway, thanks for reading!
xo - Sara

Crazy, Stupid, Love

#movietime

Halloooooo there!

A midweek blog post for yah. Another movie I enjoyed watching :)


2011
Directors: Glenn Ficarra, John Requa
Actors: Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Julianne Moore, Steve Carell,...
Length: 118min = 1h 58min
Family proof
Genre: Comedy, romantic

Emily announces that she wants a divorce. Cal, her husband, is devistated, but moves out anyway. One night at a bar, he meets a real ladies men, Jacob. Jacob decised to teach Cal the robes of picking up women in bars. While Cal is working on himself, his teenage son, Robbie, is having his first crush on the babysitter. He is a vast believer in true love. Jacob meets a charming young lady, Hannah. Guess how it’ll turn out. 

Get your girls together and enjoy Ryan Gosling's sixpack. Even if you are a dude, this film is acceptable since the main theme is comedy. The feel good romantic aspect is actually more a side story. 


The perfect movie to see when you don’t have a clue in what kind of mood you are. You want to see something funny, but not American Pie or Harold and Kumar funny. You want to see something romantic, but not Nicolas Sparks intens. You want to see something feel good, but not the main stream feel good. You like something different but you don’t know what. Well, this is it. Crazy Stupid Love.

A lot of my friends were like: “you have to see it! You’re gonna love it!” But when I saw the trailer I was like ‘meh’. I just didn't feel like it. When I rewatched the trailer a couple of weeks ago I decided to give it a go. And it was exactly what I needed. Funny yet romantic, but absolutely NOT the cliché version of the romcom. Steve Carell is hi-la-ri-ous, as usual. Ryan Gosling isn't disappointing either when it comes to the funny side. A lot of plot twists as wel. I was genuinly surprised with the last 15 minutes of the movie. And that doesn’t happen often when you are dealing with a romantic comedy, right?

Quote
"Will you take off your shirt... fuck! Seriously? It's like you're Photoshopped!" - Hannah

Trailer

Source
IMDb and YouTube, of course.

Paddington Trail and the Hunger Games: Mockingjay: part 1 premiere

Halloooo!!

I hope you are all very well.

My week started with a Saturday indoors. It was raining and I just couldn't find the courage to go outside. On Sunday however, I thought to check out Temple Church.

Temple Church. Well, not really...
Well, thinking of being able to just go and have look at Temple Church was wishful thinking. Sunday turned out quite different then I expected.

In the small street leading up to the main road where Temple Church is situated, was a queue. At first I didn't know what for, so I just followed the queue to see where it would lead and how long it was. By the time I turned the corner I had a suspicion that it was a queue for Temple Church. I knew that they work with timed ticketing (or something like it) but that queue just blew me away. Temple Church lies behind some buildings and you have to go through a gate to be able to see the church. Of course, you had to pay at the gate... So I didn't even got to catch a glimps of the temple... Sad.

So instead I bought lunch and sat on a bench in the sun next to St Paul's Cathedral. After my lunch I took the metro to Oxford Circus, as I had to be there anyway. I wanted to take a picture of the Christmas lights to add to my previous blog post :)

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay part 1 premiere on Leicester Square
On Monday 10 November was the premiere of the 3th Hunger Games movie. I've seen a few premieres during my stay here in London and whilst I thought the crowd for The Amazing Spider Man was huge, this crowd was HUGE. And the amount of screaming when Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Natalie Dormer, Sam Claflin, Elizabeth Banks or Jennifer Lawrence got out of their cars, insane.

 

Of course, that morning I decided to leave my camera at home (don't ask me why). So I had to film and take pictures with my smartphone. Not the greatest quality, my apologies.

See here the trailer for Hunger Games: Mocking Jay part 1

Paddington Trail
This week I also started looking for the Paddington statues more actively :) These two are on my way from home to London Victoria. But be sure you'll see more bears on my blog in the next few weeks :)

Golden Paws, Green Park. Designed by David Beckham

Parka Paddington, Carnaby Street

These bears are designed by celebrities and are situated all over London. They are for the promotion for the Paddington film, in cinemas 28th November (UK). But also for a much greater purpose. They have linked their commercial promotion to a charity. Afterwards, the statues will be auctioned and the proceeds will go to NSPCC. It's a charity that helps to rebuild children's lifes after they've experienced abuse. Here's the link to their website.

To name a few designers: Benedict Cumberbatch, Emma Watson, Kate Moss, David Beckham, Nicole Kidman, Sandra Bullock, Bear Grills,...

Enjoy the trailer of Paddington :) I am really excited. This bear was a small part of my childhood :)

So, that is it for this week blog post :)

Thanks for reading!
xo - Sara

Christmas Lights Switch On event Oxford street 2014

Halllooooo!!

This week was exciting becauuuse... On Thursday 6th November it was the Christmas lights switch on event for the lights on Oxford Street. My very first ever switch on event and back stage at that as well!

The weekend started and ended quietly, as like previous weekend. I went to St James's Church on Saturday afternoon, just because I've past that church so often and never set foot inside. On my way home I bought my first hot chocolate of the season and well, it is safe to say I kick started the autumn/winter season officially on Saturday 1st November.

St James's Church Piccadilly

So Thursday evening was the switch on event for the Christmas lights on Oxford Street. Media Circus helped organizing the event, so I had to work a little longer on Thursday evening. I was positioned backstage next to the tents where the interviews and waiting "rooms" were for the artists before they had to go on stage. Neon Jungle, Rixton, cast from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Jess Glynne were the artists to perform and also a girl who won the competition Talent Starts Here. Cheryl (Cole) was the lucky one to push the switch on button.

I was very excited to see my first switch on event so up close. I went to a couple of meetings, so it was cool to see everything in real life what was just a plan 2 weeks ago.

I kept my eyes and ears open at all times, before, during and after the event. And man, I learned a great deal :)

After the switch on, the team went for a drink and dinner. Sort of team building :)

I don't have any pictures of Thursday evening because I was working, but here are two picture of the Christmas Lights on Oxford Street :)

One GIANT VIP ticket

So that was the exciting event this week. Next Sunday 16th November is the Regent Street Christmas Lights Switch On event. Which will be on a whole other level, because we are looking at a traffic free shopping day with activities on Regent Street before the lights get switched on in the evening. Shall be a very exhausting day! But I am looking forward to it. I've also been involved a bit on that event, so it'll be cool to see that come together as well.

Thanks for reading!
xo - Sara

#100happydays, challenge accomplished :)

Hallooooo!

I wrote a weekly blog post about the Chronicles of Narnia, Waterstones, prince Harry and unexpected family visit.

But do you remember that blog post I did about me accepting the #100happydays challenge? Well, today is the 100th day and well, this blog post is my #100happyday ^^  Might look stupid, but I am so glad that I was able to stick to it til the end. 100 days are a lot of days. Here are 27 pictures out of the 99 :)

Thanks for reading!
xo - Sara