the 'real' road highlights

now that i've taken the piss a bit, i thought i would update on what's really been going on of late...

i really did go to scotland for the weekend which was fantastic. katie and i went up to st. andrews on friday- the train was in fact chaotic and long (7.5 hours) and uber-packed- but it was still worth it. we got into st. andrews in time to drop our stuff off and head to dinner. we somehow managed to get dinner with katie's friend ben including 9 cocktails, 3 meals, 2 coffees and 1 dessert for £24 which still blows my mind... so good!

we then went off to a footballer's wives party which was fun (although i didn't really go in costume but there were some very lovely sarongs in tow). from there we headed off to a couple pubs and then to the bop at the union which was amazingly fun. met a few st. andrews students and had a really good night. saturday we recuperated and hung out with katie's cousins. there was also the annual kate kennedy procession where the history of st. andrews is told with a procession of folks in costume- pretty touristey but also really funny...

after exploring for the rest of saturday, sunday we went to church (i've forgotten how uncomfortable i feel in Catholic mass) and then walked the golf course. we then got primed and ready for the annual st. andrews fashion show. wills attended 2 years ago so it's a big deal now. katie and i got dressed as poncey and pretentious and we could (i wore posh-spice-eseque sunglasses) and trotted off to the st. andrews bay hotel. it was such a glam night and our fake pretentiousness was such a laugh. we sipped champagne and watched the amazing fashion show and really enjoyed ourselves...

monday we sadly had to depart but the train ride home was fairly painless...

in other news, i've nearly completed my dissertation which means i've nearly completed my masters. amazing how time flies by. the work has been really challenging and i've really enjoyed it but it's certainly been draining. i start my ph.D in july which is going to be an expansion of current work- looking at the politics of welfare reform more broadly and interviewing federal and provincial policy actors to understand how changes were made, why they were made and the including the piece i'm just about to finish on implementation... should be interesting...

i'm in charge of a ball in a week's time which is scaring my senseless- 1000 people paying £70 a pop... it should be amazing! more updates soon

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