the making of harry potter

I was going to write a ton about my day at the Harry Potter studio tour but honestly, I can't. We'd be here for a month. And I have homework to do.
So let me just say this: yesterday was one of the most magical days of my life. I don't care if that sounds cheesy. My nine-year-old self would have been in absolute heaven, seeing every detail of the books I fell instantly in love with right in front of my eyes. Everything was there, from the tiniest prop to the biggest house (or biggest spider).
The pictures cannot do the studio justice. If you love all things Harry Potter and ever get the chance to go, do it. Without hesitation. I promise you, it's worth it.

an afternoon in brighton

Yesterday my friend Riel and I went to Brighton for the afternoon. We took a train into London, then another train to Brighton. I think it was maybe an hour and a half or two hours to get there. We wandered out of the train station and onto the street that took us directly to the beach. The street was crowded, loads of people around going into all the shops and restaurants that were everywhere. We could see the ocean almost from the top.

Once we got down, we crossed under the road and came out onto the beach! It was a beautiful day, sunny and warm. Riel dipped her toes in the water and then we just sat on the beach for a bit. I'm pretty sure we said "this is amazing" about fifty times at least. After a quick trip to a store to buy Riel a sweater, we went back up the same main road and stopped in a little restaurant and ate falafel in a glassless window seat (prime people watching location). It was delicious.
We went back down to the beach and wandered along all the little shops and bars on the boardwalk. We took a bunch of pictures on a wharf and then decided to head back home. The sun was just starting to go down and the water was green and it was a really good day.