It's our one month anniversary!

My love and I are celebrating 1 month together.

Some would argue that we've gotten serious rather quickly. That we're moving too fast and that it's not sustainable. But when you’re certain that you've met the right one, there's simply no point in holding back. Besides, love is about living in the moment, right? Our days turn into late nights. I stay up fearing that the magic will be lost if I close my eyes for a split second. But our love blazes on, fiery and passionate.

Okay, I’m being a little melodramatic. Besides, I’m not sure what kind of relationship you're thinking of, but I'm talking about my love for London. So get your head out of the gutter!

Without further delay, let me show you how and why I’ve fallen hard and fast for London:

The Parks: There are parks-o-plenty in every part of London. Which is especially essential for me since I hate staying indoors and I’ll soak up any glimpse of sun I can find. They’re excellent for picnics, reading a book, or just taking a breather from the noise of the city streets. FYI- yes, there are also many parks in Washington D.C., but London is a much busier city, so I’ve grown to appreciate them when I need to escape for a moment.

Sunday Roast: Pay attention because this isn’t something you want to miss out on, considering you can only have a Sunday Roast on a Sunday, as it’s name suggests. My friend Charlotte and I wandered into Kings Stores in Spitalfields, hungry verging on hangry one Sunday afternoon. I was on the lookout for a quality sunday roast and it was just far enough down the beaten path that I felt we were safe from most tourist trap pubs. I got the Roast Pork Belly and Char went for the classic Fish and Chips (technically not a Sunday Roast item, but a classic nonetheless). My roast was just what I wanted and more. Way more, seeing as I couldn’t manage to finish it.

My Internship: I’m interning as an Economic and Environmental Health Research Intern with the Thames Estuary Partnership this semester. It’s a non-campaigning organization housed under UCL dedicated to sustainably managing the Thames so as to protect the social, economic, and environmental health of the area and it’s inhabitants. This week I went to the Building Prosperous Cities Conference held at City Hall by the Ecosystems Knowledge Network. It was humbling to be surrounded by so many professionals dedicated Green Infrastructure. It’s interesting to think back to about 30 years ago where the topic of Green Infrastructure and Environmental Urban Planning was simply an afterthought. Now it’s a rapidly growing industry that calls upon professionals from all kinds of fields: Architects, Environmental Engineers, Urban Planners, Environmental Economists...the list goes on.

Weekend Getaways: Last weekend I paid a visit to Cambridge...the rival university. Shhh! Don’t tell Oxford. Although we got stuck in quite a bit of traffic on our way back to London, it was overall a lovely day trip and welcome break from the hustle and bustle of city life. We had a tour of the university, visited the Fitzwilliam Museum, and of course went for a punt down the River Cam. Punting was not the relaxing experience I was expecting it to be. It just so happened to be Alumni weekend and everyone and their mother was out on the river with the same idea. Traffic levels were at an all time high and there was certainly some tense river rage between punters trying to squeeze their way down the river. It may have not been an entirely relaxing experience but it was quite the entertaining experience, as I watched two punters unwillingly pay their respects to the river gods.

There are plenty of other things that I’m loving, and certainly some things I’m not the biggest fan of (like the absence of recycling bins and aggressive taxi drivers).

I could probably go on for days about the many other things I’ve seen and done in the past month but I’ll spare you for now.