(seventeen :)

But you see! It wasn’t actually 10:40! It was 9:40! So we could have gone and been very much on time, but we only found out that my clock was wrong on High Street at the real 10:40 because of the gargantuan clock tower. Epic fail.

So Sarah and I hung out at Cafe Nero until the real 11:00 when the Covered Market opened, where we both got crepes for free at Michel’s Creperie (brilliant) and also ordered a Chocolate & Orange Ben’s cookie cake! I had never had a Ben’s cookie cake and was highly looking forward to picking it up later that day, at 3:30 when it would be ready.

From the Covered Market we went to some shops on Broad Street and got some Oxford paraphernalia & presents for friends/family back home. Then it was off to the Pitt Rivers/Natural History Museum (my favorite bit of the day)! I got to show Sarah the Tree Cemetery outside, the shrunken heads, the Oxford Dodo, the Zoology section in general, a section about Darwin’s theory of evolution & adaptive radiation, etc. I uploaded lots of pictures to Facebook, so check there.

On the way back from the Pitt Rivers, I stopped by Boot’s to restock the fridge and also stopped by Ben’s Cookies to pick up the most MAGNIFICENT cookie cake. In America, for some reason we call equate cookie cake  to a Crisco-filled substance (I do have partiality for it, mind) that tastes absolutely nothing like a real cookie, so why it is called a cookie cake is beyond me. This cookie cake, though, was legit (Cam recently pointed out “legit” is Sarah’s favorite word) and tasted like a real cookie. Oh– and did I mention it was from Ben’s? BECAUSE IT WAS and all Ben’s Cookies are fantastic. I’ll bring a tin to London on the 31st for Mom & Parker if I have the time on Friday!

Gah– After the Pitt Rivers but before staircase functions, Sarah and I visited Magdalen, a happening that deserves to be described. Magdalen is now my first choice college over Merton because it is GORGEOUS– not a flaw– and it has a DEER PARK and a RIVER running through it’s absolutely awe-inspiring campus. They’re cloisters, lawns and acres of green-space, dark rooms, five libraries… it’s just magnificent.  Again, go to facebook for the pictures.

Sorry, continuing on–

I briefly chatted Mom & Dad via the internetic (not a word– it should be) gerbils and electrons before staircase functions, where I affirmed my train schedule, etc for an admin. Then Sarah and I went to Fire & Stone for a birthday dinner of brilliance (I ate rather a lot today, methinks) on George Street before jetting to the Poetry Slam.

In which massive DVD problems ensued, but we eventually watched a few episodes on someone’s laptop. My teacher was SO nice– I received a delicious tart, as did Sarah because Julie is so lovely, except I haven’t been able to eat it yet because I have eaten SO MUCH today. I’m not sure if I will even fit through American doors. ;)

At 8:00 was Karoke night where I finally chilled with Cam and had a very agreeable time on the whole. I mean, I did Karoke-Epic-Fail in front of loads of people, but it was all in good fun. :)

One word: Fireflies!!!!!!!! (a song by Owl City that one group-a boy and a girl–sung; they were so dreadful that Cam was actually reduced to tears…. of joyful mirth).

And that’s realy all I’ve got! :) We checked in around 10:55 and I took a shower, uploaded pictures, and thanked the bizzilions of people who have written on my wall and wished me a happy birthday.

Cheers! Hope this post was mildly entertaining, and even if it wasn’t smile and nod. I am the birthday girl, after all! :) Time to get some shut eye-

x