Where I'm At With All This London Business

First and foremost, I am happy to report that I received my visa. Since everything was "airmailed" between downtown Chicago and the suburb of Chicago where I live, the process only took a couple of days. (I highly doubt anything was actually airmailed because that would be completely illogical.) The visa looks like a large sticker on the first "visas" page of my passport, and even includes my picture in a fashion that somewhat resembles the image of the Virgin Mary. The funny thing is that when I first reviewed the visa, I got very confused because the dates are written in the British fashion, so my visa is valid from 5/1/09 to 1/5/09.

Also...BIG NEWS...I will be interning at Stella McCartney this spring!!! I'm excited because her brand is a big name in fashion, and also includes perfumes and organic skincare! Since I want to hopefully work in the beauty industry post-graduation, this internship should give me great experience. I just hope that marketing will not be extremely over-my-head challenging, since I need to consider that I will be working at a high-end line in the middle of a financial crisis.

My grandfather saved this article for me to read today about the frugality Brits are turning to. It was quite interesting from a marketing perspective. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-london-austerity_goeringdec21,0,5440042.story

Also, I am now the proud owner of several new travel books to occupy my time! My aunt and uncle bought me Lonely Planet's Europe on a Shoestring for Christmas, which I requested. I feel the book can help me decide what travel destinations I am most interested in, how to get there, where to stay, and where to eat. Also, my uncle let me borrow three Barron's combination phrase books/travel dictionaries in Italian, French, and German.

Finally, I have created a packing list, to-do list, and list of tips to remember that I gathered from myself, my family, the Arcadia website, and the Samantha Brown website on http://www.travelchannel.com/. My packing list is very comprehensive and already includes 117 items. I feel like 117 will be A LOT. I'm not sure how to pair down yet, but I smell a suitcase purge in my future.

I am still having problems with figuring out what luggage to bring and what cell phone service I will need across the pond. My Dad and I did some research today and determined that Virgin Atlantic requires that I only bring two bags, with each weighing no more than 50 pounds and each having combined dimensions of 62 inches (the sum of height, weight, and depth).

Since my last entry it was also determined that I will be taking a Virgin Atlantic flight instead of an American flight. I will be cancelling my American flight reservation tomorrow morning.

A lot has happened in the past week. It is all very exciting. This coming week I am expected to find out where I will be living, which will be interesting. Until next time, cheers!

Eliz