Ode to a Flatmate [Part 1]

Today is 21 April, 2011.  That means it is a mear 4 days until my birthday!!  Now in Mattie-World, there is a "Birthday MONTH" celebration, a "Birthday WEEK" celebration, a "Birthday EVE" celebration, and to wrap it all up a "BIRTHDAY" celebration.  and sometimes when I can get away with it, a "Birthday Boxing-Day". 


I never said I wasn't over the top about some things in life....
But have no fear!! I do this for many people's birthdays!!  Or I try to anyway. ..


HOWEVER, back to my "Ode to a Flatmate".  I have missed ALL of my flatmates so much, but I only ever had one roommate!!

Ms. Stephanie Biggs

The two of us sitting on the Sphinx
off of Temple before our High Tea  

She was the best roommate I could have ever asked for!!  Steph and I met in our ASL 1 class and realizing we both went to CSUSM , we became quick friends.  Starting ASL 2 semester I had been saving up to go to London for about 2 years at the point [and by saving up, I mean saving buckets of money and then spending most of that money on coats, boots, and gloves. you know... the London Staples!].  So, I told Steph one day that I was moving to London in the Fall & she stopped abruptly [seeing as we were walking out to the parking lot...], and told me she was studying abroad in England for fall as well- but in Lancashire, not London.

It became my mission, from that day on out, to get Steph to make the right choice (;D) and move to London with me!!  After quite some time of reviewing her pro/con lists [a clad-iron piece of evidence in how similar we were], she ended up deciding that moving to the city was the best option for her!! Woot woot!! I now had a travel buddy!!

So, needless to say Steph and I had so many adventures while in England.  But the best part was that there was someone like me on the trip.  For some reason, I am just a different personality type & my idea of what is "fun" and what isn't just usually doesn't line up with what other college kids like and do...  So, Steph was my safe-haven.  While all of our other friends went out and partied all night, Steph and I had our own adventures.  We went out on dinner dates [and got dressed up for one another :D], we did city-walks [getting lost 95% of the time], had movie nights [with ample amounts of laughter provided by British tv], and whatever else suited us [i.e. the random comedy show/play nights].  I loved my other sisters who I lived with- but what [I think... haha] we love most about each other, is our differences.  And although I didn't want to go out drinking every weekend, I loved hanging out with Steph, and then of course taking care of the girls who slowly came home one after the other haha :]

That being said: Steph and I learned a lot about each other!!  For example, Steph doesn't have a "type" when it comes to guys.  However the is a certain "X"-factor which she didn't know what it was.  Usually I have a knack for pointing out other people's "type" so on the tube or overground I'd usually try and find her guy in the crowd of highly unlikelys. I think about HALF walk through our time in London- I didn't find "the guy" sad to say- but I figured out her X-Factor!!  Stephanie Biggs has a thing for gentlemen with elongated faces!! I hope she doesn't mind me outting her on here haha... Sorry Steph, if you do... Oops.

BUT... case & point: Jesse from GLEE

long face: CHECK!!

And... She noticed things about me that I had never noticed...  She noticed that whenever there was a word that I liked, or sounded funny to me- I'd repeat it about 3 or 4 times.  I guess I've always done that because I'm a nerd who gets really excited at fun-to-say vocabulary [...like "poodles" or "irrevocably"- dang you Stephanie Meyer!!].  Anyhow- Steph pointed out that I like the way the word feels in my mouth & rolls off my tongue.  

TOTALLY TRUE!!

[Unfortunately] one of my favorite words is "irrevocably"... seriously Meyer may have disappoint plot-lines with predictable outcomes (plus, hidden- or maybe not so hidden- racism and sexism...), but the woman has a SPECTACULAR vocabulary!!...  And I just remembered that I fell in-love with the word "spectacular" when Marla Singer tells Edward Norton's character in Fight Club that, "There are things about you that I like. You're smart, you're funny, you're... spectacular in bed... But you're intolerable! You have very serious emotional problems. Deep seated problems for which you should seek professional help."  

Anyhow- I accredit this wonderful tid-bit about myself [which I always knew, but could never put my finger on what it was]: to LADY STEPHANIE BIGGS!!

Haha- okay, I thought of writing this down today because in the future I want a way to to remember that STEPH was PHENOMENAL today!!  Being that it is "Birthday WEEK" she met me after my ASL 3 class to bring me a gluten-free goodie she made for me.  First of all: making gluten-free anything requires some serious shopping due to the substitutions that need to be made in the absence of wheat, flour, ect... So to make gluten [baked] anything is so sweet.  But she didn't just make me gluten-free cake [which is good because I don't like cake ha], or gluten-free brownies------- BUT------- wait for it!!!-------- 

MILLIONAIRE BARS!!!

Oh my gosh- I kid you NOT they are the BEST British dessert EVER!!  I mean, really I have two favorite: Millionaire Bars & Treacle Tart... I don't know which I favor more.  But the Sainsbury [mini-market] across the street from our flat sold Millionaire Bars [2 per package] for £1!!!  Needless to say, I think I gained 5 pounds ALONE from eating these deadly things.

mmmMMmmm... treacle tart [the syrup kind NOT fruit]

So: what this WHOLE "Ode to a Flatmate Part 1" journal entry was to say to my sweet, sweet roommate Stephanie:

Thank you my darling girl.  You are