Return to New York

Hey guys!

So Oli and I went back to New York last month and although I hate planes (as I mentioned before), I couldn't wait to plant my feet on to the New York pavement. This time, Oli bought an explorer pass to visit five attractions in New York.

Day One

On the first day - after a good night's sleep - we wandered down to our favourite place. That's right, Dunkin' Donuts for the best hot chocolate in the world.

We had a bit of a lazy day and walked around the Highline. We've walked the Highline before when it had snowed, but it was such a nice day and they always have art displays on the overgrown tracks. They are really interesting to read and the sights over the Highline always puts a smile on my face. Last time, when we went, the Red Arrows were flying over. We were incredibly lucky to see them as they weren't in the US for very long.

We got back to the hotel and then I had a look on Instagram and saw that there was a Taylor Swift Pop Up. So Oli and I rushed on to the subway and queued for two hours to get in to what Oliver called "a shop" (rolls eyes). However, Oli was kind enough to buy me some Taylor Swift pins and I took some photos of the outfits and I even used the same phone that Taylor used in her Look What You Made Me Do music video.

It turned out that Taylor showed up at the Pop Up 20 minutes after we left so obviously I cried like a little baby. However, I did get two Taylor magazines exclusive to Target so I was rather happy. As you can tell, it was the perfect time to visit New York - a day after the release of her album.


Day Two

The second day was slightly more chaotic as we made our way to the Empire State building. It was a bit foggy so we couldn't see a lot but the view was breathtaking - you could see everything. We spent a lot of money on souvenirs this time and even bought some Empire State chocolate. We then went to Taylor's house once again and then to the 9/11 museum. It was very strange and eerie seeing pictures of everyone who tragically died. It's an amazing place to see though and I highly recommend going.

We then made our way to the Statue of Liberty and bought more souvenirs in the gift shop (a Statue of Liberty Panda and Penguin. Yes, we are daft). It's surprisingly smaller than I thought it was but it was still a great sight to behold.

We then got on the boat to Ellis Island and went around the museum but we were so tired we could barely walk. The museum is great if you enjoy reading - but for us, we had walked so much we just wanted to sit down! I highly recommend going if you're interested in the history of Ellis Island. It's phenomenal how many people came through its doors to live in New York.

Day Three

On our last day, we had Dunkin' Donuts again (can you tell we're obsessed?) and made our way to the Intrepid Air, Sea and Space museum where we saw a space shuttle and bought astronaut ice cream. The space shuttle was huge and took us by surprise, It's crazy to think that something that big has gone to space.

With our legs buckling and being too tired to stand, we made our way (long way) to the Natural History museum through Central Park. I was too hungry to enjoy myself and we kept getting lost. One thing they need more of? Sign posts. However, the museum was interesting and the displays were well put together. There's so much rich history. I was mostly interested in the animals/bird displays so we wandered around those for a while. There's a makeshift forest in the middle of the museum and it does feel rather scary! There's also a huge dining hall where you can pay to spend the evening under a ginormous whale statue.

We had to make our way to the airport for our overnight flight and the turbulence on the plane was the worst I've felt - but I did manage to sleep for a while. It was sad to come back to the UK again. We hope we can go back again one day and stay a bit longer. And maybe even live there one day.

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Saying Goodbye to 17

Hey there fellow writers and bookworms! So this blog will be a bit different as I turned 18 a few weeks ago and I will be sharing some of my hopes, dreams and everything in between!


I had been waiting for my 18th for such a long time and here it was, right in front of me. For some reason I'm scared of it - I'm finally an adult and I'm still figuring my life out. Going out there and finding what you want to do is scary. But what's terrifying is never going after your dreams and then regretting it.

In the past year I have overcome anxiety struggles, managed to travel on tubes alone, had several jobs I wasn't happy in and started a blog. This past year has been a roller coaster of tears, fears and hoping and praying.

In the past year I've traveled to Portugal, Ibiza and New York with my partner and see some wonderful sights. I can't wait to travel more in the future.

I have also started this blog and an Instagram to keep me busy and improve my writing. I have been on a writing course, I became a writing intern and I am writing more than ever.

I've lost friends and gained new, better ones. I've made up with people I never thought I would and I've come to realise that these things take time to heal. Wounds are being stitched up and there's better days to come.

Goals for the year ahead

My goals for this year include to be happy and to take care of myself more than I ever have before. I am planning my future without procrastinating and I'm taking care of my mental health by pushing myself to go out and have some me time. I love the freedom that comes with realising you can do anything you put your mind to.

Another goal for this year is to start saving for mine and my boyfriend's future together. I am making sure I treat myself but I'm also saving for rainy days and the future ahead.

I want to see my family happy and healthy and I also want to travel even more if I have the funds.

I'm also thinking of taking driving lessons and I'm really excited about that!


Overall, this year has been hard but rewarding and I can't wait to embark on a new year and a new life as the true me.

Book Review #7: Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist

Hello bookworms, writers and all creative peeps! This week's blog is a book review on Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn.

Overview

David and Rachel's book is about Nick and Norah who meet at a concert and Nick asks Norah to be his girlfriend so that he can make his ex jealous. However, what they both don't know is, is that this 5 minute girlfriend fling will in fact lead them to a night of events that will bring them closer together...

Set in New York, this book is about getting over heartbreak, falling in love again and finding out you can meet the love of your life anywhere...

Review

As much as I love Levithan's writing, I couldn't help but roll my eyes and debate whether to chuck the book into a charity shop.

I wanted to go to David's talk about the book in London so I bought Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist; however I wasn't able to go and therefore was in no rush to read the book until now. I thought it would be an easy read where I could quickly and easily finish it. But unfortunately it took me a while to read because I wasn't enjoying it at all.

Aside from the swearing on every page, I just couldn't warm to Norah's cold, hard exterior nor Nick's personality. He was all over the place.

David's chapters were okay but Rachel's felt like she had tried too hard to see the world from the point of view of a teenager.

The book didn't really have any conflicts in it; David and Rachel tried too hard to make it into one of those life altering, life affirming books about teens finding themselves in New York.

The constant swearing really put me off because it also seemed like the authors thought teens just swear.

The overall theme of finding someone and falling in love is nice, although unrealistic as I don't believe responsible parents would allow their child, let alone someone else's, out all night.

The book was plain and felt rushed, like they had to meet a deadline. Don't get me wrong, I love David's books but this one has put me off reading anything else of Rachel Cohn's.

The thing I find the most absurd is that at the start of the night, Nick and Norah are still hung up on their exes but by the next morning they've fallen for each other. It just seems a bit far fetched. I did watch the movie before reading the book and both are very different and I definitely enjoyed the film more than the book.

However, if you are looking for a short read set in the heart of New York and you're a big punk rock music fan, then this is the book for you. 

I'm going to rate this book 1.5/5☆

Don't forget to tell me what you thought of the book down below ⇣

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New York

For our anniversary, Oliver took us to New York on a big adventure...

For someone who has only been on a two and a half hour plane journey to Portugal, going on an eight hour flight to New York was more than daunting. Turbulence scares the hell out of me and being in a big machine catapulting across the sky obviously brought out my anxiety.

However, our journey there and back with Norwegian was fairly smooth - even though take off is always the worst! For me, I like to grip on to Oli so hard he has to pull my claws off him!

When we landed it took us over an hour to get through the border and we went on the sky train and subway.

Once we got to Hotel Pennsylvania and checked in to our room, our smoke alarm wouldn't stop beeping, there was mold on the walls and plug sockets hanging askew off the wall. We requested a change of rooms, exhausted (it was nearly 4am UK time). We were so happy with our new room - you wouldn't think it was the same hotel!

Day One

On our first proper day we headed to Dunkin' Donuts for the best hot chocolate ever(!!!) and croissants. After that we went on the subway to Tribeca, where Taylor Swift's apartment is located. Being a Swiftie, this moment was precious to me. I had stood where she stood, walked where she walked. I just wish she had been there!

After seeing Taylor's apartment we walked to the Brooklyn Bridge, crossed it and had pizza which was only $7! We came back and walked a very long way to the ferry. We thought it would be cheaper to see the Statue of Liberty from the Staten Island ferry than it would be to go and see it close up! (It's worth it to just go on the ferry unless you're desperate to get a close up for those Insta posts! 😉)

After walking from the ferry, we went to Ground Zero. It is such a surreal place. You don't realise how big and wide the towers were. We went to Times Square to get McDonald's and went back to the hotel.

Once back at the hotel we relaxed, watching Friends in America(!!!), before going out to Times Square for something to eat. We went to Applebee's but we were so stuffed from croissants, pizza and McDonald's that we barely ate. We ended up having giant pretzels afterwards though...

Day 2

On day two we went to the Friends Building and fangirled. Then we walked up to the High Line and along it and saw some good art pieces, including this hilarious piece...

While we were walking across the High Line we saw the Patrouille de France who were doing their first tour of the US. We then walked back to Times Square and saw the Rockefeller Centre. Strolling along at this point, our legs killing us, we went to the Gossip Girl Hotel and Grand Central. I pretty much risked my life to take a photo in the middle of the road of Grand Central.

We then went and saw the Chrysler building and the Empire State building and walked back through 5th Avenue to our hotel. And, of course, like the Instagram oriented person that I am, I decided I wanted a photo of the aesthetic brown Starbucks up several blocks from us. At this point I had already gone past a shop full of puppies in the window (cruel, I know. I wanted to take them all home!) and was eagerly trying to catch a look before Oliver pulled me away.

Once I had taken a photo of Starbucks, I was determined to set foot in Barnes and Noble and to take a picture of it. It is every book worm's dream! It was at least three floors of beautiful bounded books: contemporary, fiction, non-fiction and the classics where I dragged Oli around looking at all the huge books that couldn't possibly fit in my suitcase. We then went to TGI Fridays for the first time ever - I hadn't even eaten anything there in the UK.

Day 3

So, after attempting to go to Ellen's Stardust Dinner for ice cream several times, we decided to wait again on our last day. We waited before and they told us the electric had cut out when we had been waiting half an hour and the queue was stretching further and further down the block. We were told this even though we could clearly see there were people still in the dinner. So on our last day we queued for about forty-five minutes before they told us they were changing the menu from breakfast to lunch and then they told us half an hour later that a group of school children would be taking up the whole dinner - bear in mind the queue was now stretching around the block. We eventually entered after freezing to death for two hours and sat down to order ice cream, just to be told we couldn't order it as it was melting. I would not recommend this place at all.

After wasting two precious hours in the city that never sleeps, we were starved and started walking to Columbus Circle and to the mall which had the most expensive cafes inside. So eventually we went to Starbucks and walked through Central Park with a pretzel in hand. This was the coldest day we had had and we walked to Belvedere Castle and then hobbled to the MET (aka Gossip Girl steps). Oliver found it hard to walk after the past few days' adventures. And then we finally went to another Gossip Girl location - the Museum of the City of New York.

Finally, we took the tube and walked past the New York Public Library to TGI Fridays once again for lunch. This time I had a burger instead of salad and it was honestly the best burger I have ever eaten. After lunch we headed to the Flat Iron building and then made our way back home after grabbing more Dunkin' Donuts!


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