Its been a very red month.

You wont but you might

Saturday perfection: a picnic in the park. I don't miss everything about Canada, sub zero temperatures are not conducive to an enjoyable outside life in early March...

This just appeared on my iTunes. Final Saturday thought? Emily Haines can do no wrong in my book:

Bloody knew she could do it

I've never been this proud of anyone (probably comparable to motherhood!?). Twas one of the most emotionally fuelled nights ever with far too much sambuca and champagne for everyone involved... Scarlett did it, she is our new VP :-D

By the way Jenna and I are dresses as pirates because we were at a pirate party... we just hadn't decided to adopt an air of Gypsy Rose Lee on a whim.

RACE DAY

I AM STILL ALIVE although only just. My whole body feels like it has been run over by a steam roller; sitting down is difficult, standing up is difficult, breathing is difficult, well you get the picture... 2 hours 13 minutes and 2 seconds of sheer hell later I can officially say I've run my first (and my last?) half marathon. Bliss was only 43 seconds further down the road which was amazing; we were both a bit scared we were going to loose each other during the race but I think the idea of having to run alone (surrounded by 15,000 others) made us keep an eye out for each other the whole way round.

The weather was amazing, apparently England is warmer than Greece right now. The spectators definitely appreciated the bright sunshine however I think the majority of the competitors would have appreciated it a few degrees colder, consequently most of the water I collected from the water stations went over my head rather than into my mouth. Also plenty of fancy dress to spot on the way round, including a man dressed in a rhino costume (it didn't have airconditioning, I asked) and another dude running the 13 odd miles carrying a full size surfboard.

My mum and dad were on camera duty however they missed me the first time round as my dad couldn't figure how to turn the camera on in time. HA perfect! The RNLI gave all our supporters "noise makers" to (well you'd never have guessed it) MAKE NOISE and the banner than Meg and Jess had made us was not only a piece of art but so appreciated. Jenna was nicely positioned outside her local pub and she kindly stated that I looked close to death 1 mile from the finish, her analysis was pretty spot on.

My friend Jess (who also ran) has already said she wants to do it again next year, ermmmmmm MENTAL, right now if i ever see lycra again it will be too soon but hey all I need is a little peer pressure...

P.S. To date we have raised over £300 for the RNLI, thank you so much for all your donations! http://www.justgiving.com/blissyandstokes

Captain Scarlett

One of my favourite people is trying to make our university a better place for students. Captain Scarlett is running for VP Welfare & Diversity and she has some amazing ideas on how to improve our student experience:

- An Accommodation Forum on Bathstudent.com
- Better promotion of STI testing in AWARE
- A Taxi rank on campus
- A handy grocery bus service from campus to your favourite supermarket
- A fancy dress costume shop to help AWARE campaigns and general student events
- More water fountains around campus & better provision of healthy food
- More Postgraduate & International student events
- Greater liaison between AWARE and Learning Support
- Help the environment by reducing paper and using Moodle as much as possible (including coursework submission)

She has the experience, the dedication and the drive to make an amazing VP so please show your support. For more details check out www.bathstudent.com/VoteNow to read her manifesto and register your vote!

http://www.votecaptainscarlett.info/

Excitedness

I am currently sat in bed watching Amelie and eating tinned oranges (tinned fruit is a very new concept to me but nonetheless satisfying). There are a few things I am very excited for this week: firstly my parents are coming to Bath to watch me run the marathon and I haven't seen them both in a while (the real reason I asked them to come is so my mum brings tons of her homemade bread and my dad can piggyback me home post run and then buy me congratulatory sushi but don't think they'll appreciate that reasoning...). THEN Grissom's last two episodes of CSI (Las Vegas) are going to be broadcast this week, I think I might cry when he leaves, I love his gingerness and poor acting ability.... SOB....

Move it! Shake it! Who do you think you are?

Snaps from Jenna's 22nd birthday party at Raw/Delfda's.

Circular week

Cette semains; cocktails, tea, sunshine, walks round the Royal Crescent, birthdays.

Random guest

Nicola has something to say...

"OK so for an update - We ran our longest run yesterday - 11.2 miles and we did it in 1hr 50 mins. This included numerous stops as traffic lights and Stokes forgetting to pick her feet up the kerb, falling over and spraining her ankle... but don't worry people the Blissy magic first aid was on it in no time (despite having the wrong playlist on my iPod and having to listen to Christmas songs all the way round) and we had Stokes up and running again and she's going to be OK!! So we're on track and all is good therefore you should definitely sponsor us either on our justgiving page or by getting in touch! Love and snogs, Bliss and Stokes xxxxxxxxxxx"

http://www.justgiving.com/blissyandstokes

Jenpen

It's Jenna's birthday today so instead of her spending the day driving between Montreal and Florida (like what happened last year) she has shipped Mountain Dew over from America and we're going to have a P.A.R.T.Y. The word "excited" doesn't even begin to cover it. Sexual moustache Jen.

Tourist trippin'

I find it totally ironic that I've been lucky enough to travel all over the world yet never venture far into my own back garden when at home in England. This weekend I had a friend visiting from Denmark (Marie) and we decided to take a trip to see Stonehenge, something that I had guiltily never visited before. Although smaller than I had imagined (the stones are 6 metres above ground and 2 metres below) the place was eerily quiet and had a spooky feeling to it. No one knows why they built Stonehenge 2500 years ago yet the amazing thing is that the rock they used can only be found in Northern Wales which is a massive 160 miles away, meaning that they had to move these rocks (which each weigh more than 8 elephants) 160 miles to this location.... must have been pretty special.... any ideas?

Old lady

It was my birthday on Saturday.... now I'm feeling too old.... We celebrated by eating tradition Danish Christmas dinner with pancakes for pudding and champagne for refreshment. Just because I'm getting older doesn't mean I necessarily have to become less random ;-) The pancakes were a late ode to Lent as I did cook them with my Guides last Tuesday on actual Lent but their general hygiene levels in the kitchen are less than desirable so I didn't actually eat any. 40 days of chocolate deprivation seemed like a good idea at the time but having now totally given up meat, chocolate was the last nail in the food coffin.... oh well I suppose it's all self inflicted discomfort.

P.s. Slumdog Millionaire was totally amazing. You really should go and see it if you get the chance.

I "heart" chocolate

Chocolate fondue and tea night with the girls.... I wonder if consuming a lot of strawberries counteracts the fact we consumed a lot of chocolate.... Meg was being pretty special as per usual but I suppose that someone has to love her ;-) I'm not sure what solves more of life's problems, chocolate or tea, or maybe there is something magical that happens when the two are combined.

Running

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!

MY RACE PACK FOR THE HALF MARATHON ARRIVED TODAY. JUST OVER THREE WEEKS TO GO ARGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH

Sverige

Among many things and so much work this past week I caught up with two friends in Stockholm; Heta and Kim. Heta is a Brit trapped in a Finish body. She is one of the original immigrants who I studied with at HEC in Canadaland. A total gem. The last time I saw her was December 2007 so 14 months ago, but it was like we had never been apart. I met Kim on a bus just outside San Fransisco when Jenna and I were travelling in the USA. He has crazy hair. Enough said. (Its quite hard to write friend biographies.....)

I like Sweden although my waist line doesn't agree with the number of chocolate Daim bars I managed to consume in such a small period of time. However despite how beautiful everything looked covered in snow (including my shoulders when running), Sweden made me feel uncomfortable; I've never really spent time in a country where I don't speak the language and having to guilty admit you don't understand a single thing anyone mutters at you gets kinda embarassing even when you are British and people almost expect linguistical inability.

Depending on the kindness of strangers can be a interesting activity and really tells you a lot about a person. Depending on the kindness of friends is equally as interesting because it tells you if you were right about them or not. Kim has really nice friends.

Sugar rush

I have such terrible cravings for Inca Cola and any Peruvian related food this evening (ceviches yumyumyum). Going to have to settle with carrot soup and crackers, vegetarianism is really sucking right now.

SNOW DAY

Uni was cancelled today after 30 cm of snow brought Bath to a standstill. We built a giant snowcouple and a giant snowdog in the Royal Crescent Gardens and were filmed/photographed by the local news, hopefully going to spot ourselves on the television tonight. Whoop whoop.

I think this cake was bigger than your head

Chocolate cake and vintage 1990's Baywatch (Series 1 sans Pamela but with a lot of Hoff in very short shorts)... what more could a girl ask for on Saturday the 31st of January?

The word "HOT" does not even begin to describe their high-legged swimming costumes, abs and general California fuelled happiness. Very very little is left to the imagination. Seriously making notes for future outfits. Sigh. Ha!