Another day & another crandberry muffin to start it. I really am starting to aquire a taste for coffee. There is hope for me becoming a true new yorker yet !

So we ended up getting of a stop to late to walk to the 'ground zero museum'.... So we ended up walking through Soho to the edge of the Meat packing district which turned out to be an awsome walk.

Started at Prada with the awsome concave arch with the models. We then walked up to Bleaker St which allowed us to find some amazing little boutiques & deli's, it was such a lovely place to live in terms of the area and the lifestyle.

We went into 2 deli's, Amy's Bread which had a vast variety of a bread and pastries and then Murrays appeared. It was like a place where people of come dine with me would go to make themselves look good. or .what i would imagine a french deli to look like. Absolutely full of cheese, salami, pastrami and chirizo...literally any type your could think of. The cheese straws were yummy !

We came across some little boutiques in the cutest little shops in this quaint area on Bleaker, including Ralph Lauren, Baby Marc Jacobs & Mulberry.

So eventually we got to a place where the museum should have been (9th Ave 14th street) and we couldnt see it! so we went into the mac store & he even lookd it up on the net with one of the stores computers & still didnt know what we were on about until he told us that it was down by the site. We had walked for an hour to place that didnt even exist !!

So we walked back along the route of the tour bus which had taken. It wasnt so bad though as i got to have a closer look at the 'impromtue' memorial by the local school children made from tiles which was so touching & beautiful.

We ended up missing two buses as they passed us so we decided to take our time and enjoy more of the sights. The mini arch de triumph with the christmas tree was beautifully lit up by the sun. Rhianna however was more interested in the different coloured colleflowers growing in the base of the trees along 5th Ave. In fairness they were slightly odd !

i introduced rhianna to Urban outfitters & it turned out to be a happy and joyess occasion where im sure a fine friendship will grow !It was here i gave up a life long dream of owning a pair of uggs & instead chose to invest in yet more stylish pieces, including a $ 68 toupe bag, a skirt for $8 and a brown hat for $4.99.

A delpaidated shoe warehouse captured our imaginatin and had it been busy would of made me think of a desiginer sale, however prices were high so we left the forigers to there work.

A mobile cupcake van certainly grabbed our hungry eyes. At $1.50 per mini cupcake & a continued wait for the bus, me having the breaking strain of a kit kat emerged, & i indulged in 2 red velvet & the creamiest butter icing as well as 1 choclate and vanilla. they were absolutely gorgeous !

Hopping onto the bus we had yet another crackers tour guide. VERY health and safety concious. Jumped off at Allen Street 14th street to go to katz Diner. (the process of ordering in pictures)

The grilled cheese sandwich was ok but sickly, chips & a cheescake which was yummy too but again so sickly. managed to finish the tour& then hopped off ready for uptown. Whilst we were waiting for the bus we went to the m&m store which was immense !absolutely filled to the brom with m&ms

Bus around uptown saw amazing, so glad we did it reallu otherwise we wouldnt have seen any of it. The tour guide was brilliant - a minister/ social/ youth worker/ lecturer of history/ a londerner and a keen jazz man !

Saw trump tower, twin towers in terms of the ones where jay z and beyonce live, yoko ownos house, american natural history museum, the guggenheim, harlam, the place where ella fizgerald was discovered and adopted, the public library, churches everywhere, the westside story playground where the fight happened and many more!

The tour guide pointed out a bear which sits in a window along 5th Ave which changes its dress ,according to season holiday or event occuring, it was a nice litle quirk to know something different from what others would know.

Coming to the end of the tour i realise her sounded like Bruce forsyth!

Between the night and uptown tour we went to american eagle which reminded me again of jack wills, we went to our chinese again for the last time :( it was very upsetting !we had a picture taken with the owner to capture the moment of satisfied yummy goodness

Whilst waiting for our bus we had touristy photos taken on times square which along with the ones we took on the night time tour were awsome !

Times square - hudson river - meatpacking district - ground zero - battery park - pier 17 - china town - manhatten bridge - brooklyn - skyline of manhatten ( the view from here was absolutely stunning i couldnt even begin to put into words how beautiful it was)- ladys mile - 5th Ave - 6th ave - macys !

the tour guide was yet another nutter, potentially drunk, throw in a smokers cough and excentricity at its best and you get him ! Finished off the night with the hit show Jersey shore !good old fashioned american trash telly with schnookie, ronnie viny sam and the rest !

8th January 2010

Location: Broadway, and all around the city lol

Company: Rhianna and whole lot of tourists

So i have decided that rather than giving you a massive description of what the different stores i have been into are like, i will merely list them and then talk about the ones i loved or hated the most.....as well as giving you a run down of the site i saw

The best thing we did for this day was definately the bus tour ! $54 for 4 different tours

Downtown

Uptown

Brooklyn

Nighttime view

It really was one of the best decisions we made whilst there as we could use at as transport round the city to hop on and off as we liked for 2 days !Plus each tour guide has something different to offer on each tourso you never really get the same tour twice if you end up doing the same bits again....

SOHO wow this place was not what i had expected, with such a diverse range of stores there really was something for everyone

Crate & Barrel, Hollister (typically what i had expected but didn't really like the darkness !you can barely see the clothes let alone navigate round the store), Forever 21, Yellow Rat bastard, Century 21 (just chaos),

Yellow Rat Bastard was an awsome shop, such a wicked interior decoration however there was very little time taken in the presentation of the actual clothes. The interior walls were covered with images and mock ups of shop fronts all with an individual look to parallell the clothing displayed near it. Just unbelievable it really is worth a look.

I also saw the building which is used as the front for where Grace from the sitcom Will & Grace supposedly works, (Puck building)

Ground Zero was incredibly surreal. I was just in awe of this massive site in the middle of the city that was just open construction space. Buildings still have irreparable damage and are having to be taken down piece by piece as they are just too unsafe. It was horrible to think that there would of been people screaming around it was just horrible, but i was glad i went to see it.

Walking through Battery Park to get to the ferry, bought some sweets to help childrens projects in Jersey and were approached and hit on by a guy called Gerald and all of the helicopter tour team, trying to persuade us to let them take us out "my numbers toll free so you just dial away hun and i will be right there" never laughed so hard in my life !

The Staten Island Ferry was a nice break, shame about the weather, try to go on a day when it isn't cloudy, Lady Lib was a slight disappointment as she was smaller than i had expected. After the run back onto the ferry we enjoyed the amazing view of the new york skyline, although cloudy it was still beautiful !

Tour guide back from Pier 17 was an absolute God he definately needed a mention in this. SO funny and added so many littl quirks to his tour, however had a massive vendetta against the poor and where they lived lol

Rockafella was what i can truely say as amazing and one of the best experiences of my life. Views were immense, i was literally speechless and we had picked just the right time to go up as we got to see the skyline in the light, at sunset and in the dark ! The pictures speak for themselves

So obviously finished the day with chinese, but our customer loyalty is sooo paying off today we got a free water and a packet of tea each as we love it so much haha

The Rodeo the atmosphere was electric possibly better than the knicks if im honest. Made me laugh that in the time we had been there Madison Square Gardens had been an ice rink for the rangers, a court for the knicks and dirt for the rodeo !!!

The rodeo clown was hilarious he could seriously cut some shapes out there !However him gyrating around with fat men.....literally the images of rippling fat rolls will never leave me, and to top things the naked cowboy made an appearance !However i will never forget the half time entertainment....Wolly warriors !!!

Kids literally holding on for dear life to see how far they could get clinging onto a running sheep, naturally the only girl won haha

7th January 2010

Location: FIT (fashion institute of technology)/ mid town/ main noodle house !/ madison square gardens
Company: Rhianna mostly

Time: all day

Night and Day exhibition was the museums own collection of pieces from decades even cenutries ago

American Beauty was based on the construction of garments and how american designs influenced and shaped literally and metaphorically the shapes and styles of garments through innovative construction methods

Notes from the American Beauty exhibition:

100 garments 1930's upwards- affordable ready to wear to luxurious couture

Pieces are ordered by method of creation

Video "simious lines" reminded me of the videos from textiles lessons

Patricia Mears- construction or craft of dress making Geometrics- Kimono

Emilio Pucci "Holsten was a genius"- sensual bodice cut
- nick name for one of his pieces "american beauty rose dress" a layered & billowing evening dress

was known for simplifying plans

- peasant woman inspired, pulling skirt up over head

Some sketches from the museum

Ralph Rucci: self manipulations- hand knotted evening dress (albaster silk jersey s/s 03 NY)

-> the pleats in the skirt add so to the flow &hang of the dress- added elegance, constricted bands of fabric, knotted on top to create a mesh bodice then unfurled to make 117 piece gored skirt

Rodarte: Marbeleized Leather LA dress (leather fall 09)

-> remarkable handling of delicate fabrics, covered in hand dyed silk netting, loved the textures, mix of simple tonal variations

Notes from the Night and Day exhibitions Afteroon Dress (Champagne silk satin & silk fringe circa 1925 France) typical of 20's evening dress -alternating fringe = change in tonal & textual qualities

after the museum got a cappucinno at a deli to plan where we were going, it smelt of nail varnish !

<--- Macy's- a real let down not what i had imagined at all. House of Frazier like almost, it was far less organised had a very european vibe for me. To some they won't know what i'm on about but it reminded me of the German department store Gallaria Kaufhof, particularly the sale section

There were some lovely Christopher Kors boots, almost debenhams like in places

They have quick lifts !! scary quick, they gave me the feeling of the boots library death lift to the 4th floor

The price ranges were mid to high, the service was ok but not as attentive as i had expected

Old Navy i found was good for basics, not really for fashion

the price ranges were mid to high and the service was pretty poor as the staff were unenthusiastic --->

Brightly decorated to match mix in the colour of clothing

The changing rooms were possibly the worst i have ever seen, it looked more like i had stepped into a store room and unfinished Had a GAP feel however a cheaper version or Orsay

Lunch : Deli 7th Avenue 3rd street corner

an interesting experience would never do the buffet box again though !was so expensive which is made more of problem due to price being calculated by the weight

nevertheless the people were very friendly and helpful

Victoria Secret- absolutely packed due to the sale on

Decorated very much like an upmarket american style walk in wardrobe, plush button down panels, shiny patent draws cases displayed around the store very reminscent on LV style displaying things around the store

the sales assistants were very helpful

Something i feel stores in the UK should introduce:

In the changing rooms they offered you a box of your size bras to try on as well as offering for free bra fittings. The box imparticular meant that i didn't have to venture back into the store to get more bras if i wasn't happy with the ones i had taken in myself as well as encouraged me to try things that may not have necessarily picked up on my own

Lord & Taylor the sales assistants were lovely, very friendly and -->

chatty particularly at the NARS counter
me and rhianna got a free makeover & were given advice on skincare, where the good places to shop were (soho and the village, american eagle & topshop)

They talked about the pressure to look good, even with the guys

Its odd for men to not look good or make an effort to look groomed

However the best advice we got from them was on places to eat !

The Main Noodle House was to die for

The wonton soup was delicious as was the plate of noodles

We were sat in the window and everyone who walked past pretty much looked at us, so much so we felt like works of art

A policeman came in and it was almost so like the stereotypical image of an amercian policeman, just with chinese instead of a doughnut as they went and sat in the car to eat it !!!

<--We also met these policemen who were again lovely and invited us to go to the rodeo with them the next day !

we said we might see them there but when we got to the knicks game we just booked the cheapest tickets as we couldn't pass up the opportunity to see the rodeo !! lol

So FINALLY the KNICKS vs BOBCATS game

We even saw the classic proposal on the big screen and all the banter between the mascots etc it was such an amazing experience, however the second half was a lot better !

arrival in new york

Location: New York, the hotel, times square, planet hollywood
Time: Rediculous o'clock !
Company: Rhianna, my fcp group, abi and the girls

Drive into NYC was weird !!
Suburbia- houses are so different but streets & flats exactly how you see in th films & tv reminded me kind of Germany with every house being different








Yellow taxis & buses just everywhere you look....its so strange. the buses remind me exactly of the Baby on the Bus episode on friends !


Going over the bridge we were in the dark, meant we could see all the lights, it was possibly one of the most beautiful things with the sunset dark mix. Unfortunately we just couldn't get a decent photo which really annoyed me !


Empire State building !Oh my goodness, there is nothing like the first sight of the enormity & size of the buildings. And i have never seen such long streets in my life !well avenues are longer than streets here!

We got to the hotel which was sooooo grand, shame about the room very small lol. Dinner with the girls, Jess, Roxie, Abi, Rhianna, Amber, Mimi & Charlie...it was a cold walk and we booked KNICKS tickets !!!! and ate at planet hollywood.

I literally inhaled my food, it was gone soo quickly as i was so hungry!!

My favourite song Natasha Bedingfield Pocket Full of Sunshine others were

• Oasis
• Leni kravtiz
• Britney Spears
• Pussycat Dolls Hate this part right here (awsome song)
• Rhianna Take a bow remix

Got back to the room and flipping shower dampened my spirit ever so slightly as it burnt me even when it was just the cold tap on !! (how does that work)

Times Square absolutely gob smacking amazingly weird ad on a massive tv screen for American Eagle...Weird girl blowing kisses & beign stupidly gawky !

6th Jan 2010

Company:Rhianna, Emily and the rest of the FCP and FMB students on the trip
Time: 4.50 wake up 5.30 caught the bus

Last night watched SATC to keep us amused & get in the NYC mood

Shopping Route around airport:

1. Food !!! we were hungry, bagles shop & EAT (try the mushroom, egg & cheese muffin it's yummy i also had yoghurt blueberry gronola & apple as well as apple juice)
   
2. Duty Free- chanel, tiffany, mulberry, harrods, dixons (we needed to buy an adaptor as neither of us had bought one)
   

Calls to mum: a gizzilion by this point they just wouldn't stop calling us !!

The view of plane when boarding

Films watched on the plane:

1. The Ugly Truth - such a good film very very very funny i recommend it to all


2. 4 Christmas's - it was ok took a while to get into it


3. The Time Travellers Wife - bit of a tip, don't watch it on a plane as if your prone to crying you really have to hold back the tears so you dont look like an idiot !

Arrival at JFK

First thoughts: dissappointment in a word

Not as grand as i had expected it to be, in actual fact it was quite scabby in parts and a lot further out than i had expected from new york city

Looking ravishing after a 6 1/2 hour flight

Getting off the flight on our way to passport control, my bag split = magazines (a lot from the free ones before we got on the plane) and other random freebies went everywhere ! it was sooooo embarrassing

One of the security guys seemed quite friendly until someone slightly challenged him

It was sooo weird hearing major american accents- i majorily mucked up the finger prints bit as i was soooo nervous the woman was suprisingly nice about it though :)