Site Seeing and Star Gazing

Where to begin…

Despite a mouse’s visit to our room, this week has been pretty great! My roommate and I wanted to go do something touristy, so we decided to head over to 221B Baker Street. Although the Sherlock Holmes Museum was closed, seeing the outside of this adorable place was enough for us! From there we saw an open, green area and decided to check it out. We wandered into Regent’s Park where we were suddenly transported into a fairytale! The flowers were unbelievably beautiful, and the atmosphere was perfectly ethereal. I wish the pictures could do it justice!

At work, the excitement was almost tangible. We had added Elyar Fox, Hollywood Ending, and Connie Talbot to the lineup of PopShack Live, making this already incredible concert into an event no one would forget. Ollie Sloan came to the office, which gave me the opportunity to ask if he would like to fill in the missing lyrics to a “Let It Go” Vine compilation video I have been working on. So I was able to get Ollie to sing a “Frozen” song for me!

My supervisor, Victoria, invited me to come watch one of PopShack’s favorite artists perform at a theme park on the outskirts of London. We hopped on a train and met Victoria’s friend, Andrew, in Staines before heading over to Thorpe Park. On the way, I discovered that Andrew had been a child actor and had even been in a movie with Morgan Freeman!

Once we arrived, we received exclusive wristbands and were led toward the stage. Victoria introduced Andrew and me to Brad Kavanagh and his bandmate, Steven. Brad was absolutely amazing on stage, especially when he covered Ed Sheeran’s “Sing!” After his performance, Andrew, Victoria, Brad, Steven, and I hung out just talking about different celebrities, KFC and Whataburger, and Tunnock’s Tea Cake among other topics for about three hours.

What’s more British than afternoon tea? The next day, my roommate and I went to enjoy afternoon tea at The Orangery! I had visited The Orangery last summer when I studied abroad and remembered meeting the host, Lukas, who was hilarious company during the wait for a table. I wondered if he still worked there, and although my roommate doubted he could possibly remember me, I still wanted to talk to him. Sure enough, he walked by our table, and I called out his name. He came and sat at our table as I began to tell him how I was here a year ago with a group of girls studying abroad. He stopped me and said, “Wait, from Texas right? And we talked about how you say ‘y’all,’ and you sat at those tables over there!” He actually remembered! Then he gave us some extra scones for free. Thanks, Lukas!

From there, we visited Kensington Palace and toured the different exhibits and rooms. After learning about the different monarchs that lived there and seeing historical items, including dresses worn by Princess Diana and the Queen, we continued our journey around London. We attended church at St. Paul’s Cathedral, visited the Seven Dials (where seven roads converge), and Neal’s Yard.

At my internship, I executed a mini social media campaign for Cimorelli Week, featuring a band of six singing sisters. Named #CimorelliSayWhat, I found quotes from the Cimorelli girls from their videos on YouTube and asked which sister said which quote through Twitter. It went very well, and we accumulated more followers, favorites, and retweets for PopShack’s account!

After enjoying a cinnamon bun from Nordic Bakery and Chipotle in Soho Square Park, a coworker and I traveled to interview the band R5. We had 15 minutes for the interview, and my job was to collect content to share on PopShack’s social media accounts. I wandered around the area for a bit after our short time with R5, in awe of the long line of R5 fans wrapping around the building, when I decided to eat at a restaurant Brad Kavanagh had suggested, Wagamama’s. As I waited for my food, R5 suddenly walked in! They recognized me from the interview earlier, and I joined their table for dinner. We had a nice conversation, and they even took a picture with me to use in this post. Their concert was lively, loud, and awesome overall!

I am so grateful for the opportunities PopShack offers, and I can’t believe that all of this is happening! This week has been a whirlwind, and I can’t wait to see what surprises this next week brings!

Thanks and gig’em!