America isn't easy. America is advanced citizenship.

This morning saw my day begin at the ungodly hour of 5:15am. Now, for normal people, that is a horrid time of day. (Well, except for Emily, because she keeps it really at that time of day to get up to the Bronx), but for theatre people, it's hard to believe that that time of day even exists. But alas, it does. I headed up to London this morning to ensure that my final three girls got their visas for our trip to Houston (IN 4 DAYS!). I got into town about 7:45am, but they had totes already entered our hallowed halls of the the US Embassy. So I headed to the OTHER US staple of Starbucks to wait for them to be finished with my latte and my 100 pages I have left of The Other Boleyn Girl. I mean, I obviously know how the books ends, but since it's been a while since 9th grade World History, I'm looking forward to the end of it. After making sure the girls passed their interviews with passing colors, I headed to Regents Street for some shopping, but alas, my bag carrying all my accouterments for work surely weighed in around 20 pounds totally impeded my progress. Also my determination not to buy a shirt from the Gap for like $75. What is wrong with this country?! It's just the Gap for the love. I stopped by the world famous Topshop. Is that only famous because I love Bridget Jones so much? Perhaps. Anyway. They had really cute pjs, which we all know I love to buy, but for real, $70?! Are you kidding me? Yikes. So, needless to say, I headed out of London not having bought anything and settled back in Tonbridge for a petite nap and frantic two hours of emailing.

I'd like to mention two things that are v. important.

*I walked almost 6 miles today! That's impressive! How do I know that? My new pink cell phone counts my miles walked! What! It's amazing. I love it! It makes me feel very athletic.

*I saw "Sam" from Love Actually at the Embassy this morning. This is mainly for my cousin Susan, who might die at this revelation. For those of you who don't spend your lifetimes pining away for British romantic comedies, here's a photo:Seriously, it might be one of my favorite celebrity sightings ever. Everyone needs an American visa to work! I wanted to go up to him and ask him to recreated the "All I Need For Christmas is You" bit from the film, but being the totally cool New Yorker that I am, I just walked by and barely acknowledged his existence. London is fancy!

Royal Tunbridge Wells is a very lovely town, and if it wasn't the fact that everything here costs about 3 times as much as it does back home, I would have spent a lot of money. The exchange rate is serving as my daily budget reminder. What fun is that? All I can say is that I will be spending copious amounts of money in Houston to make up for it. Of course, my luggage already weighs about 900 pounds, so maybe I just should wait until I'm home. For all you New Yorkers reading this (are there any of you out there?), I'll be home from March 24 to April 13. That's a lot of time for you to hang out with me. I'm just saying, adjust your calendars now. Why am I always in the mood to buy new things? I think it's my friends who influence that behavior. I'm just saying...

For those of you wondering, my bday passed without much todo (todo? ado?). I'm waiting until Houston to celebrate properly (read American style). Are you noticing a trend? I've obviously made Houston out to be the end all of touring dates. It will be. I totally know it. Thanks for all your facebook messages and emails. They made me quite happy out here in Tonbridge. I finally booked my flight today, so I can't wait to see my Northwest WorldPerks miles grow. Those of you who understand this obsession (ahem, Bryan) know that moving up to the next level in hotel or air points is about the best thing ever!

There's not much more to type I suppose. Bryan and I are hanging out in the hotel pub which is wonderfully open ever so late. We like to alternate between Family Guy and random British sitcoms. It's a brilliant existence. As long as I have trashy American tv and beer, it looks like I can adjust to British life. Oh wait, as long as I have those things, and the hope of leaving for America in four days, it looks like I can adjust to anything.

Peace out from Tonbridge, Kent, UK. I hope you are all enjoying this first week of March.