New York City - Day 3

Now our third day in New York was New Years Eve. We got up early and had breakfast in our hotel on the 12th Floor over looking the city. Once we had eaten, all of us (expect for my dad) decided to avoid the caffeine... you will find out later why. We left our hotel and headed for the shops.

The first place we went was this Christmas shop, now something I didn't know about was the amount of Christmas shops in New York... it was slightly insane. However everything in this shop was reduced to half price so I bought the cutest ice skates decoration for the tree I have ever seen and even better as it only cost me $4. Although I am going to have to wait till the end of the year until I am able to put it on the tree but I think it is worth it.

My stunning Christmas decoration. 

Once we had finished in there we headed back down to Macy's, this time it was slightly quieter considering it was only about half 9. As there was eight of us we all went into our little groups for an hour. My cousin Daniella and I headed for the MAC counter in need of some goodies. Anyone that knows me will know that my favourite make up brand is MAC. Although the one thing I found in Macy's compared to at home is that it is a lot harder to get served and so you need to know exactly what you want else you aren't going to get anyone. Daniella picked up the Studio Sculpt foundation in NC15 & two nude lipsticks. I picked up the Studio Fix powder in NC20 which I must say I absolutely love & two matte lipsticks in Russian Red & Heroine. Once we had finished we popped out of Macy's and ran across the road to Victoria Secret and I'm not kidding it was the biggest Victoria Secret I have ever seen. We picked up a few things in there and headed back over to Macy's.

MAC Make up...

All of us went and had a look in Urban Outfitters and I was a little bit disappointed because they didn't have a lot in there for such a massive store. So once we were done we headed back to our hotel to get changed to head out for New Years Eve. Once we got back to the hotel it was 1ish so we went into Subway and had some lunch... yes I know what you're going to say, Subway? really. We were in a rush.

We got changed back in the hotel and put on our hundreds of layers... not even exaggerating I had on  300 denier tights, thermal leggings and my joni jeans. We filled our pockets with chocolate and had a drink each and then we headed over to Times Square. At this time it was only about 2pm however we knew that it was important to get there early and while you may think we were crazy, seeing the ball drop was the main reason for coming to New York for New Years. Earlier in the day we spoke to a couple of New Yorkers who said hardly any of them do it... after a few hours we learnt why.

My New Year attire. 

Once we got to Times Square you could understand why security is so tight as I have never seen so many people nor police officers in my life. We got talking to one police officer who was one of the most friendliest people I have ever met. He was telling us about everything that was happening tonight and what we were going to have to deal with... especially not being able to pee for 10 hours, hence the no caffeine.

Family with the police officer!

While we were talking outside of the pen we got speaking to a couple of New Yorkers; Jacqueline and Aneesa who were from New York and if you ever go to watch the ball drop you will learn so much about the people you speak to because they are literally the only people you speak to while in the pen.

I will skip the boring part of waiting for 6 hours absolutely freezing, I couldn't actually feel my feet.

Our lovely New York friends.

Around 8pm Idina Menzel came on and sung Let It Go; she is seriously incredibly talented and of course over a million people were singing it as well because lets be real who doesn't know Frozen? After that Magic came on a performed a few times and there was a lady presenting throughout until Taylor Swift came on and sung Shake It Off and Welcome to New York. I absolutely love Taylor Swift and she really was incredible and certainly worth the wait.

As by this time it was 10 minutes till midnight the mood changed a little as people were excited to finally ring in the New Year as we saw the ball drop there was balloons thrown out of buildings and confetti everywhere, it really was incredible.

The most incredible evening!

I would say that I really think standing in Times Square for New Years is something that everybody should experience even though it was absolutely freezing it was most certainly worth it.

I really hope you're enjoying reading these! Let me know. 

New York City - Day 2

On our first full day (or day 2) in New York we started it off by going for breakfast at Morning Star which is on 2nd between 50th & 51st. I had the most yummiest pancakes with strawberries and syrup. This American diner is pretty small but has a lovely family friendly atmosphere.

Pancakes at Morning Star

Once we had eaten we were eager to head off and start our day. We decided to hit the city and do a little bit of sight seeing. We started off by going to see the Chrysler Building which is a stunning Art Deco skyscraper which is located on the east side of Manhattan which is on Lexington and 42nd. The inside of this building is absolutely stunning. As you walk in you can see the America flag swaying as people walk past it & everyone having photos with it... including me. While I don't think this is something you necessarily have to visit while in New York I do believe it is a beautiful building that won't let you down. 

Blending in well with the background!

Once we had a good look around at all of the Art Deco, off we went again and we walked over to Grand Central Station. I know to New Yorkers Grand Central might not seem like much but to us it's insane the station is bigger than my local mall. I think it's the perfect place to just people watch because there is so many people! There is a vast number of restaurants and a couple of shops, including a MAC. We had a good look at Grand Central and then we walked over to Times Square.

Times Square - is without a doubt is my favourite place in New York. Times Square was pretty empty but crowded with police officers due to it being the day before New Years Eve. Once we got to Times Square we noticed that one of the big screens was obviously in collaboration with Revlon's and the hashtag #loveison. We had so much fun taking photos of ourselves and trying to get into the little heart. Whilst in Times Square I spotted a Sephora to the left of me. I quickly popped in there looking for one thing and one thing only... Nars Virtual Domination Palette and I found it! Alongside that I also picked up a Tarte mascara. (Will be in a separate blog post a little later.)  

I'm far on the right hand side, with my mouth open... no surprise. 

Our next stop was the Empire State, I must say this was one of the things I was looking forward to the most. The first time I came to New York we didn't go up the Empire State so this time it was a must. After a good hour and half of queuing we finally made our way into the lift and up to the top. Once you get to the top there really is the most incredibly view and a little bit scary. It's insane how much you can see from so high up. I could see pretty much everything in New York and you can really see how tall these skyscrapers are which I really felt like put everything into perspective because it shows how small we actually are. I think the scariest part was definitely looking down, now I'm not scared of heights however this did freak me out a little bit especially when you could only just make out the yellow cabs. 

A small part of the absolutely insane view. 

We spent just over half an hour up there and it even started snowing... incredible! Once we got down we went to get some lunch at Pret, everyones favourite! After that we took a little stroll over to Bryant Park where we actually spotted two people from True Blood (I'm not sure who they were sorry any avid True Blood fans) anyway we took a look at some of the little stalls and there was this one that really caught my eye which was a little Jewellery stall and some of it was really incredible, the lady made things such as leaf and snowflake necklaces and earrings. Her website is http://www.graceoliver.com if anyone is interested in checking it out. I think one of the most stunning things about Bryant Park is the famous ice rink and being an avid figure skater when I was younger I got rather excited when I saw it. Unfortunately it was super rammed so we didn't go on it instead we walked over to Macy's. Going to Macy's at 5pm isn't something I would recommend as it was absolutely manic inside, we only had a quick look around because we decided we would have a better look later on in the week. 

A quick change and we went out again this time it was to this lovely Irish Pub 'Pig N Whistle' which has the most friendliest owner. The food in there was absolutely delicious and just a lovely atmosphere, there was also a bloke playing guitar and singing which was nice to hear for a change instead of music just playing out of a music player. Once we ate we went for a nice little stroll around the shops before heading off to bed before our New Years Eve celebrations the following day.

New York City - Day 1

I have a series of blog posts coming up about my trip to New York City - so keep an eye out. However my first blog post is of my first day in the city.

So we flew out to New York last Monday (29th December) which also happened to be my birthday. We got to Heathrow airport very early in the morning and once we got through security and bag drop we didn't have much time to spare so while we were waiting for our breakfast to arrive I quickly ran off to Duty Free to get my favourite perfume YSL Black Opium which smells absolutely divine. Once we had our breakfast we had to sprint to our boarding gate as we were running pretty late... don't worry this isn't unusual for us.

Nicest smelling perfume, ever! 

Once we got on the plane my mum sneakily told the cabin crew that it was my birthday and at the end of the flight they wished me happy birthday with everyone on the plane clapping... was slightly awkward.

We arrived in New Jersey at about 2'o clock and took the hour drive to New York City. It was lovely to drive around the city before getting to our hotel as our taxi driver was absolutely lovely and pointed everything out to us. Although this was my second time in the city it's nice to be reminded of places. We drove past The New York Times building... dream job! Which was slightly insane for me to see it for real.

Slightly blurry photo of The New York Times. 

We then arrived at out hotel Courtyard Marriott which was on 3rd & 52nd. It was about a 20 minute walk from Times Square. On our first night we went for a walk around the City and for the first time walked through 5th Avenue, which if you aren't familiar it is where all of the designer shops are... heaven.

Always time for a birthday selfie

Although surprisingly we couldn't find anywhere to eat so we went to TGI Fridays... which is hilarious considering we probably walked past hundreds of restaurants... oh well!

That was it for my birthday & first evening in New York I look forward to sharing the rest of the week in the upcoming weeks.