1) That I have three weeks until I move to London.

THREE WEEKS!

Yes, you will be hearing about this every Sunday until I leave.

Which, have I mentioned? Is in THREE WEEKS!


2) My guest post being featured on Marocmama
about taking that first step towards your dreams.
Of course I love this - I wrote it.
Check it out!

3) The Lost Londoner

Right after I get to London, she's leaving London

to travel for a year in SE Asia and Australia.

My broke little travel brain will be living vicariously through her.

4) Ten Little Towns You Need To Visit - from Margo at Gutenblog Ya'll

posting on Living in Another Language.

If you're looking for more of the unknown destinations to add to your travel list,

check this post out.

5) If Tube Lines Were People on Now Here This (Time Out London)

because the District Line would totally be a grandma,

Piccadilly is 100% a London loving tourist,

and the Northern Line? Yes.

6) My new layout!

A few weeks in the works with the absolutely incredible Girl Brooks Design.

I wouldn't have chosen anyone else to work with.

If I guide you to anything on this blog, listen to me here - check her out!

7) Free stuff.

Obviously?

The $50 Etsy giveaway I'm co-hosting is still going on, but only for three more days!

Still Fab Four Friday, just a litttttle different...

Remember that time I met Paul McCartney?

Yea. Pretty much the greatest day of my life.

And when I thought life couldn't get much better,

IT DID.

Yup, that's me.

And Paul.

Almost at arms reach again.

Get ready, this is a bit of a long one,

but believe me, it's a REALLY good one:::

I'll start by letting you know that Heather and I have some weird, freakishly great 

luck/karma when we are together .. mainly having to do with The Beatles & music.

I'm knocking on wood as I type this, but more than one time, really amazing thing have happened.

And this night at Paul McCartney's tour wasn't anything short of it.

I'll give a little background to this;

I was scheduled to see Paul in Jacksonville, FL in June, but due to his illness,

the show got rescheduled to after I'd be gone to London.

And of course, I was absolutely devastated.

But thanks to my neurotic impulsiveness when it comes to the need to do things I love,

I made some quick decisions and bought a plane ticket

along with a single ticket to Paul's show in Kansas City.

Heather lives in Kansas, so I'd get a 2-for-1 seeing her, and going to the show semi-together.
Now that's already a perfect plan, if you ask me..but clearly that wasn't enough for us.

Last year, Heather saw Paul McCartney in Tulsa, OK.

Back then she didn't know they did this, and she got upgraded to the front row with her friend Dave.

It was the greatest night of her life, and she posted hundred of pictures and videos, 

and I hated her with jealous.

Well.

We were very determined to get these seats again this time.

When you put it into facts that it already happened to Heather once,
and the numbers being a 1 in 15,000 chance, it seems slim.

But for some reason, we still had a feeling that it could happen to us.

Heather wore the same exact outfit she wore last year for luck, which I still find hilarious,

but I wore my favorite necklace I wanted to convince myself was lucky too.
And I even wrapped a Liverpool pendant necklace around my wrist 'just in case.'

We were PREPARED.

It was Heather, her mom and dad, and myself going to the show together.

We met up with a group of Heather and her mom's friends,

a big gang of Paul-lovers. Also known as my type of people.

We shared some pre-show drinks, appetizers, and excitement before heading over to the show.

The crowd was WILD - there was a massive line to get into the arena.

Naturally, we merged in as close as we could and managed to get in within about 20 minutes.

Once we got to the entrance, Heather and I split from the rest of the group to walk around ourselves.

We headed straight to the merchandise table to buy shirts before the lines got longer or things sold out.

By the time we were finished there, it was already around 7:50.

The show was scheduled to begin at 8:00, so we were a bit nervous.

We ran up to the top level to get some pictures of the arena, and walk around hoping for some luck.

Well that didn't happen.

And I was beginning to think that they may not be giving out tickets or anything at this show.

I mean, our eyes were peeled for some guys with Paul badges, and no one was around!
I was beginning to seriously plan and be satisfied for my single seat.
I mean I was at Paul McCartney's show - that was enough already!

We headed back down to the first level to walk around and see the arena a little more.

I noticed the line outside was still insanely long full of folks waiting to get in,
and walked over to the side to check it out.

We were staring out the window, when Heather felt a tap on her shoulder.

I turned around, and there he was.

An angel sent from above,
in the form of a tiny man with that purple 'Out There' badge around his neck.

Turning around and seeing this guy smiling at us.

That moment, is one I will never forget.

I took the shortest breath, and remember thinking 'OH MY GOD.'

I basically blacked out after he approached us, but from what I remember,

he asked us how we were, told us he worked for Paul and had noticed our excitement.

He commented on our big smiles and said that was what he was looking for around the arena.

He asked where our seats were, and while I think Heather and I both stuttered the section we were in,

I'm honestly not sure if I was able to talk.

The guy pulled out a mini-stack of tickets and told us he was going to do something better for us.

AND HE HANDED US TWO TICKETS IN THE FRONT ROW.

I'm pretty sure Heather collapsed on the ground,

but I really don't know about this either, because I was too focused on holding onto the railing
in fear of fainting.

We thanked him, hugged him, and ran through the lobby into the arena.

We went up to Heather's original seats where her parents were,

and after they saw our stupid smiles, they just knew.

We held up the tickets and yelled 'WE GOT IT!'

To which their response was something along the lines of,

"No way. You've got to be kidding me."

They hugged us, high-fived us, we got it all.

It was 8:00 by now, so we hurried down to the section that would take us to the floor.

And here's where our luck gets even more freakish.

Heather's mom is a massive Beatles/Paul fan, ever since the Beatles came to America in the 1960s.

She was there in Tulsa last year with Heather and Dave got their upgrade,

but there wasn't a third ticket to give to her,

so she watched from their original seats in the balcony.

This time, as we were walking towards our seats, 

Heather kept repeating how bad she felt that she didn't ask for an extra ticket for her mom.

She was set on going back out to the lobby and at least trying to see
if we could run into the guy who gave us our tickets again.

I was a little nervous for the show to start, but figured we still had time.

We ran around the lobby, eyes peeled for this mysterious Macca-angel, but no luck.

Within about a minute, we ran straight into him.

Heather explained about her mom and asked if he had anything left she could take.

He told us that he had just gave away his last set of tickets, and was very sorry.

As he started to walk away though, 

he turned around and said 'You know what, let me see something real quick..'

He walked up to a group of people who had received the last upgraded tickets,

and asked if they didn't want to split up completely,

if he could have one of their upgraded seats to give to us,

and you know what's weird,

they gave it to us.

THEY GAVE US THEIR FRONT ROW SEAT.

In a sold out arena of 15,000+ people?

How. Does. This Happen. To Us.

Again, we went sprinting through the lobby back to the old seats,

and Heather's mom just went insane.

She hurried down to us, hugged us, and hugged us again.

I gave Heather's dad my single seat because it was a lot closer to the stage than their original ones,

but he didn't mind us leaving because he wasn't a huge Paul McCartney fan.

Heather, her mom, and I ran down the stairs to our seats.

We were given VIP wristbands and led to our seats,

which I just could not seem to grasp, as we were walking closer and closer to the stage.

Soon enough, we were staring straight onto the stage,

and everyone else was behind us.

There's really no way I can describe what I was feeling except for

'This is not real'

BUT WAIT.

It gets even more freakish.

While we were waiting around, Heather left the seats to find a concessions guy on the floor

to get a water bottle for the show.

While she was getting ready to pay, a strange and familiar voice came up behind her saying

'I'll get that for you.'

She turned around, and it was her dad.

WELL,

while he was sitting in the single seat I gave him, he struck up a conversation with a crew member

about how his three girls were up in the front row.

The employee felt bad for him, and pulled out a ticket from his pocket to give him.

He was upgraded to the 9th row!!

All four of us came to the show with our regular tickets,

AND ALL OF US WERE UPGRADED.

I'll say it over and over again,

it's just not real.

But it was - and within a few minutes, the show was starting,

and Paul with his amazing band, Brian, Rusty, Abe, and Wix

were right in front of our eyes.

At the end of the show, at the last encore,

Heather's dad left his seat and came up to join us,

which was an amazing thing - to have all of this happen, 

and end this mind-blowing performance all together up in the front row.

Heather and I have written up plenty of guides and itineraries for friends who are visiting London.

As we've done this, we've been able to map a great way around the city
to see all of the favorite sights in a day.

And if you have more than a day to spend,
you can easily spread this out and take your time wanderin the city too.

Use this as a very basic guide, and make the trip your own.

I know that everyone has their sights and things that are top priorities to see,
but this guide is mainly to give you a convenient way to travel through London where you aren't wasting your time figuring out how to get here and there.

And I'm sure you have those priority sights you're looking for are around,
for example, there are an insane amount of museums in London that have free admission.
They are placed all all around these areas, so if there's one you particularly want to visit (I loved the Imperial War Museum in South London) and you're following this guide, make sure to look where it's located and where it can fit in your schedule.

So let's get right into it!
I've written this out as a hypothetical weekend trip,
as if you're arriving on Friday afternoon and leaving on Sunday evening.

Leave your accommodation and take the tube up to St. John's Wood.
Walking out of the Tube Station, you'll be facing the way you need to go-straight up Grove End Road.
This takes you straight to your first sight:
Abbey Road and Abbey Road Studios
(whatever, you know this was going to be included in my guide ;) )

Once you get your stereotypical pictures walking across the crosswalk,
head back to St. John's Wood Tube Station, and take the Jubilee Line down to Bond Street.
This will put you on your second sight,
Oxford Street
One of the busiest areas in the world - the entire area is lined with hundreds of stores and restaurants.
Spend some time around here doing some shopping,
(Selfridges is right next to the Bond Street Statin, if you're interested in this massively amazing store)

After you're finished here, walk down Regent Street (one of my favorite streets to stroll)
towards your next sight:
Piccadilly Circus & Leicester Square
These are right next to each other, so you'll be walking between the two seeing things.
This is also the hub of the West End, so there are tons of theaters around here with some amazing shows.
I would recommend ending your day here, with a nice dinner and a good show - Les Miserables and Phantom of the Opera are always go-to classics, and both right in the area!


Begin your day arriving at the Green Park Tube Station
Walking out, you'll stroll straight through Green Park,
which will lead you right to your first destination of the day:
Buckingham Palace
Ah, yes, the big stuff that everyone wants to see.
The Changing of The Guards takes place normally at 11AM,
but check here if it may be different (some months have only done it on even numbered dates)

When you're finished here, looking at Buckingham Palace - turn right and walk up Constitution Hill
This takes you to the next big sight:
Hyde Park
Take a nice stroll, ride a Barclays bike through!

Doing so, make your way up the park, and you'll hit your third sight of the day:
Royal Albert Hall
This place is massively famous for it's events held there,
my favorites being the Les Miserables 25th Anniversary, and the first time I saw Paul McCartney.

From the Royal Albert Hall, walk past and turn left on Queen's Gate
You'll get a nice walk through Kensington, and their rows of stunning white flats you may have seen in my cover photo on the series about finding a flat abroad.
(Harrods is also in this area, if you are looking to see that other massively amazing store)

You'll eventually make it to the South Kensington Tube Station
From here, take the Circle & District line to Westminster
Walk out of the Westminster Tube Station and you'll be looking up at probably what you came to London to see:
Big Ben & Parliament
This is that amazing view of London, that you've seen everywhere, so enjoy it in the evening, and wake up Sunday and start again here.

Start back in Westminster at Parliament.
Walk over the bridge towards Southwark for a great view of the Thames River
and your first attraction of the day:
The London Eye
Jump on here and have a ride if you like, it takes about 30 minutes to go around,
and you get an incredible view of the entire city.

After, I recommend turning right (if you're facing the Eye)
and taking your time walking up the Thames, but if you want a quicker route,
you can jump on down the Southwark tube station and take the Jubilee line up to your next place:
The London Bridge

If you don't know that the London Bridge isn't the stunning bridge you always see London advertised with,
well you're in for a dissapointment.
BUT getting off at this stop takes you to both the Tower Bridge,
which is the real name of the bridge you're thinking of,
and the Tower of London, which are both must-sees

From here, you can take head down the Tower Hill tube station and take the District Line up to Aldgate East and see one of London's most vibrant markets -
Brick Lane
The best of Brick Lane is only open on Sundays until 5, so if you get there in the early afternoon, you can grab some delicious lunch and shop around for a few hours.

Once you're finished here, you'll either be running to catch your train home,
or going to visit another area you've always wanted to see.
You've circled around the city pretty well, so you should be relatively familiar with where you want to go!