Last few days of NYC

In the last days we rushed around making sure we had seen everything we had wanted and bought all the things we had wanted to take home.

We walked the High Line, which is a park built on the elevated train lines that used to cover manhattan.

I spent about an hour picking converse and debating over a Marc Jacobs bag.

We went back to our favourite food places. Sian went to Tiffanys to buy herself a bracelet. We went to the Palace, a hotel used in Gossip Girl. We'd also seen Christina Perri, she was fantastic.

We came home.

I still feel like I've not done everything there I want to and want to go back.

Philly

Sian and I had planned to do two day trips, Philadelphia and Washington, but after losing two days to illness we decided just to do Philly as I've been to Washington once before.

We caught a mega bus which took about 2 hours and was a bargain!

Once there though, we didn't really know what to do, so did their hop on-hop off bus tour.

We learnt so much American history, so felt a bit geeky! Also saw the Liberty Bell.

We inevitably went to a Starbucks, we needed a Philadelphia mug of course (Sian also collects these from places she's been)!

We also spent the day singing the Fresh Prince theme tune. So cool.

Sex and the City

I love SATC as you may have guessed from other posts. I'd dragged my poor boy around the SATC tour when I went before, but knew it was something I had to do with Sian.

The guides running this tour are hilarious, though ours was a comedienne in her other job.
So we saw where Charlotte buys her rabbit from and had about 20 minutes to walk around the shop. We saw the church where Samantha meets Friar Fuck, the shoe shop where Carrie's bank card is declined and her friend's lover buys the shoes!

We stopped at Magnolia bakery where Carrie admits she has 'a little crush' (on Aiden).

Another stop is the restaurant where Carrie and Big have the meal before the wedding and she has her 'last single girl kiss'!

The final and favourite stop is Aiden's bar. Not only because its beautiful, but it is also a chance to have a Cosmo!

It was great fun, though there is pots you don't see, I'd already shown Sian some of the other sites.

Controversially I don't really like the four women in Sex and the City and I'm an Aiden not a Big fan, but that's really for another day!!!

Top of the Rock

Sian, experienced with vomiting in NYC bounced back the next morning, but I couldn't even hold my water. With a boat trip planned around the good weather, I opted to stay in bed. I've done it before and do recommend it.

I stayed in bed until mid afternoon. Feeling a bit better, well I held my water and felt hungry, Sian and I headed to the Top of the Rock. We had to do it in this small window of time as the weather was expected to change the next day.

Top of the Rock is one of my most favourite views. Getting there just before sunset and as NYC lights up is incredible.

New York Foody Delights

Much of our trip to New York was planned around food. There were so many places we wanted to go and eat and NYC has some incredible food.

Over the next few days we discovered a cute place for south american food, they did these fabulous corn on the cobs and great margaritas. We went to Rice to Riches to sample the wide variety of flavours of rice pudding.

We went to Chipotle, a burrito fast food chain, we do have them in London, but much more expensive. We went to Whole Foods Supermarket,  and I love, love, love foreign supermarkets! We also have a few of these in London, I try to go whenever I'm there, the food is yummy.

We went to a bar that was also a salon, you could get your nails done and a cocktail for $10 and sit under an old fashioned hairdryer sipping on a cocktail named after a hairstyle or colour! And we also ate the most amazing crepe, they blow torched the crepe to caramelise the sugar! We went to the Shake Shack, they do scrummy dirty american burgers, crinkled fries and milkshakes made with custard.

 We went to a cowgirl bar (also in SATC) that did margaritas in a slushy machine and served it in a jam jar. And we also went to my favourite restaurant, but Sian vommed again, so we had to leave. I made it back to the hotel before I vommed too.

NYC Sweetness

Cocktails at Dylan's

With my girl back in action, we spent a day heading up 5th Avenue. Our evening was the most fun, we went to Dylan' Candy Bar. Dylan's is the most amazing sweet shop ever and now they do cocktails. There was a Strawberry Nerd Mojito, I had this amazing drink that you drop candy floss into and it dissolves.



We then went to Serendipity for dinner, which is used in several films and the food there is so good, but they don't serve alcohol and the portions were so big there was no room for a sundae which is what you go to Serendipity for. They do a sundae called Golden Opulence, its only $1,000.

We walked past a very stunning Bloomingdales on our way back to the subway.

Bloomingdales at night

Brooklyn Bridge

The following day, things did not go to plan! We walked over Brooklyn Bridge with intentions to go to the Botanical Gardens to see the cherry blossom, but when we got to Brooklyn we were so wet, we abandoned the idea and went back to Manhattan and up to the Natural History Museum, the perfect place to spend a wet afternoon! I'd been before but had not seen the big whale.


After this we went looking for food and drink, on the verge of giving up, we found a street full of bars and restaurants. So we hit a bar in time for happy hour, which was a little too happy, we then had paella and too much sangria. Probably the drunkest we got in NYC.

But instead of heading to bed, we jumped on the subway and decided to go up the Empire State Building. It was about 11pm and really quiet. Though Sian did fall out of hotel and sprain her ankle on the way there.

On the Subway

A trip up the Empire State is a must. Whenever I'm in a foreign city, I love 'going up' something. You're spoilt for choice in New York, I actually prefer Top of the Rock, but because you get the view with the Empire State in it (those photos will follow). But do both, because its great seeing the city at different times of the day (and night). 

Times Square to the left, Rockefeller to the right

Looking Downtown

Times Square

Looking West towards New Jersey

Alone Time in NYC

The next day, Sian was still not feeling good so she stayed at the hotel and being unsure about what she had, was it breakfast, the motion sickness of the bus or sitting in a greenhouse or a bug? We decided she wanted sleep and I didn't want to chance catching anything, so I headed out. I didn't want to do anything touristy that Sian would want to do, so I had little choice but to go shopping. 

 I head downtown to Soho, and straight to Dean and Deluca for breakfast. Dean and Deluca do the best latte I have ever had (yes, reader, more than Starbucks and I'm sure by now you know how much I love Starbucks!), I also had a pistachio and chocolate swirl, it was so so good!

Breakfast

I did some good shopping and then needed food again, at which point Sian decided she was feeling well enough to leave the hotel, so she came and met me.

To cheer her up, I took Sian on a tour of the West Village, which was a little tour of our favourite tv series, we saw the Friends Building, Carrie's Stoop and we stopped at Magnolia Bakery (Another SATC sight), and where Sian was feeling well enough for food!

The Friends Building

Carrie's Stoop

Cupcakes from Magnolia

The first few days in New York

The first day in New York was reasonably uneventful, we did the downtown bus loop to help Sian get her bearings and to see some of the sights, and then we did the uptown one. You can do too many bus tours, but generally they're entertaining. Sian may not agree...stay posted...and we ended the day with a carpet picnic from the deli across the road from our hotel.

The Flat Iron

The Empire State

The Freedom Tower

 The second day was reasonably eventful. I had previously booked to go to Pastis for brunch. I had eggs benedict and it was lovely, I can't remember what Sian had, except I know there was maple syrup in it, more on that later. We wandered around the Meatpacking and Chelsea areas, went to Chelsea Market which was gorgeous, I'd never been before. 

Chelsea Market

Then we caught the bus that did the loop over and around Brooklyn. Now, I should tell you that it was a very warm, sunny day and the bus we were on had a clear, perspex roof, it was like a greenhouse. It was somewhere in Brooklyn where Sian started to feel unwell, it was the longest bus journey ever. When we eventually were returned to Manhattan, Sian vomed in Battery Park. A peruvian doctor took great interest in this and stayed with us until we decided to return to the hotel. 

New York, New York

My Bestie and I went to Belgium together last Christmas and had a great time, which was just as well as it was practice for spending two weeks in New York together. Siân had never been to New York before, this was my fourth time. 

We flew on American Airlines (never again), I've flown Continential before and was more luxurious. I don't mind flying, it is the boredom that I hate, American Airlines showed one film, on one screen for every five rows (crooked neck). But its one of those things you just have to deal with to get there.

Our bus dropped us at Grand Central from here, it's a short walk to our hotel, once checked in and showered we did what was inevitable. We went to Starbucks. We got Iced Caramel Macs and sat in Bryant Park, which I have to say is one of my favourites in New York. 

After this, we went for a little wonder around our local area to help Siân become familiar with it. So the other inevitability was we ended up with a cocktail in our hands! 

With a some food and too many cocktails in our bellies, we went to Times Square. I cannot recommend this enough, if you have never been to New York before, do not rush to Times Square, wait until night fall. At this time the lights are spectacular and the atmosphere will blow you away, it's how it is meant to be seen!

April

Probably the quietest month I had this year with recovering from the wedding and getting excited about New York with my best friend.

I mostly drank cocktails (my buddy ended up wearing one), I was reunited with Jack and Rose (Titanic came out in 3d) and I probably spent the month packing!

Brace yourselves for NYC... I may do a day by day account!!!!

Still catching up

I've still got loads to go to catch up on this years events, but here's a little something...
The skies have been amazing the last two days. Here's a pic from yesterday with sun over the Shropshire Hills, though you can't really see them because the light from the sky was so dominant!

My Sister's Wedding

On Saturday 31st March my sister got married.


I got up early and met her fiancee at the village hall and decorated it with bunting and daffodils. Then I went back to the hotel and we got ready.

The Village Hall

Hugs with my sister

Lizzy and Dave got married at their local registry office, we had some photos taken there and boy was it cold! We went back to the village hall to warm up with a brew and a biccy. Before some good food, including the best cheesecake ever.

Tea and biscuit

There were speeches and dancing. Big dancing.

March 2012

We kept March quiet. Mainly because my sister's wedding was approaching and I had a ton of bunting to make.

The Bunting!

The cockail

The hangover cure

I discovered an amazing cocktail place in Shrewsbury and went for a fab evening with my friend. The next day I went back to Shrewsbury and found a lovely little coffee house where I went for my hangover cure. 

February 2012

February 2012 was a very manic month. The biggest event was my sister's hen do. I was maid of honour for her and had the duty of planning her hen do. As well as making about 100m of bunting. Anyway, it was probably the most stressful thing I've done this year and I planned my own wedding!

We went to Cambridge which was covered in snow and so pretty. We went to Patisserie Valerie, which is a chain (I've had their doughnuts in London, the size of footballs), we had brunch there and tried eggs benedict for the very first time, it was amazing.

After this, my wonderful boy decided to take me away. We stayed in a cute hotel near to Durham, an area of England I'd not been to before. It was just what I needed and we had a lovely time. We managed to see Durham, Newcastle and Lindisfarne, we certainly got a lot done and took a lot of pictures, including a few with the Diana camera

Snow in Durham

The Angel of the North

Big Waves

Lindisfarne

January 2012

It appears that I did very little in January with it being a poor cold month. We made use of our National Trust  passes and visited Attingham Park nearly every weekend for a walk. Attingham Park is gorgeous, there's a lovely walk and a deer park, there's also a house but we've never gone inside.

After these walks we would have a tea and cake date, this was probably one of the last tea and cake dates we've had. The boy decided to start dieting and exercising and can actually resist it. But its been worth it, he's lost an amazing 6 stone plus since January

I also bought myself a Diana F+ Lomography camera so we experimented lots with this, but there is too much to remember with the settings when I'm also trying to just arrange the shot anyway, but here are a couple, one of Ironbridge and another at Attingham Park...

Catch Up

As I've neglected my blog for so long, it's time for a catch up...so I'm going to try a month by month review to tell you all about my year! So much has happened, but getting married has got to be the highlight, but you'll have to wait for November for that!

Rubbishness

I have been as lame as I expected to be writing this blog, I've missed so many lattes and so much loveliness over the last few months, I don't know if I can catch up!

I have an iPhone now and the app should make it a lot easier to blog. But don't hold your breath.

Tonight I had a lovely evening at Starbucks for a grande skinny decaf latte with two of my oldest friends, it was so so lovely!

Belgian Lattes

As is tradition when I go away, I have to find a Starbucks. There are several reasons for this, firstly I collect the Starbucks city mugs, I now have about 20; foreign Starbucks menus are often different, so I want to sample it. This was no exception - a White Chocolate Cranberry Mocha, sickly and
delicious. And finally, if I do not regularly consume Starbucks, I may die and they may go out of business!!!

But who am I kidding, this was probably the only non-alcoholic beverage we had, could not resist the beautiful beer and the amaretto in mulled wine!!!!

Belgian Loveliness

For the last few years, my best friend and I have wanted to go to Belgium. We both love beer, we both love chocolate, we both love Christmas Markets and we finally got our backsides into gear this year and booked it.

We went on the Eurostar, leaving St Pancras, I think I may have mentioned this, but its my most favourite train station, which I enjoyed even more when we arrived early one December morning and enjoyed a champagne breakfast before boarding our train to the continent.

We spent a night in Bruges, I've always wanted to go since seeing the film. It was such a pretty little place. We discovered Rose Hoegaarden, Fajita flavour Doritos, that adding amaretto to anything is amazing (mulled wine, hot chocolate, coffee) and that walking 366 steps up a spiral staircase when other tourists are coming down is tricky, but I'm sure you'll agree from the pic below that it was well worth it!!!

We then boarded a train back to Brussels and spent two nights here. It was much bigger than I had expected and we took it so leisurely that we missed loads of things out, including the iceskating! My friend was desperate to go, but neither of us are the most graceful and I anticipated one of us would be returning home with a broken ankle.

We had a fabulous continental breakfast with the best waiter ever in the cutest cafe. I also ate moules marinare, and I could still taste the garlic from this three days later, it was toxic!!! There was a fabulous light show to music in the Grand Place at night and the top photo is of this, it was spectacular!

Loved Belgium and loved going with my friend, which is just as well as we're off to New York together in April!!!

November Loveliness

Its been forever since I blogged, which is exactly what I'd thought I'd do when I started this, but feels a big lonely blogging when you don't know if anyone is listening...though I did get my first follower recently, thanks Fi.


So to bring you up to speed, here's November's loveliness: The boy and I went to Dunham Massey. Its a National Trust place and an excuse to use our passes. It was wonderful, I had a very yummy sandwich before a walk around the park. There are deer on the land and one seemed to get a bit lost from his friends. Absolutely stunning. I love deer and Bambi was the first film I ever saw at the Cinema.





Talking of which, November saw Breaking Dawn come out. I love Twilight and this was not disappointing, I went two days in a row and loved it! I will be very sad when the last one comes out next year. It may be time to read the books again.

I had a weekend to myself which I spent driving around Shropshire and exploring, it was fabulous and I feel so lucky living in such a beautiful place, Shropshire that is, cannot say the same for Telford!

I also fell in love with BBC's Frozen Planet, especially the penguins. The funniest clip had to be when there was one penguin stealing the rocks from the nest of another...YouTube it! David Attenborough got a lot of stick because they filmed a scene in the zoo, but it was suggested that it was filmed in the natural environment, but regardless of that, the programme was phenomenal, and I really don't know how they do it!

And my final bit of November loveliness was a series of anniversaries. In November 2001, I moved into halls of residence; I'd had a difficult start to university life in September 2001 and was lucky enough to move. It was a bit of a shock, there was 12 of us sharing our floor and one huge kitchen! They were very welcoming and from this large group there was a smaller group that formed and we are still all friends today, we meet when we can and its lovely still being in each others lives 10 years on, and watching the wedding and meeting the babies, celebrating the mortgages, jobs and engagements.

On 25th November it was a year since my OT graduation (I've been to uni twice), it took me some time to get a qualified position after this, which was depressing and demoralising, but I've managed it and loved the challenges I face each day and learning different health conditions and looking for ways to overcome people's everyday difficulties. It was also 11years since the Boy and I met...we spent about 3years apart in this time but came back together. We worked together but never spoke...mainly because I was pissed off that he scuffed my new shoes with a clothing rail. But he rescued me when I was on the most horrific set up date of my life! I knew it was special when he rang me on his mobile the next day and we spoke for 2 hours (that was a big deal 11years ago and his phone bill must have been huge).

That's November in a nutshell!!!