Looking Back At: 2015

I just want to start off with saying that I'm extremely sorry about the extended break that I've taken from this blog. As soon as exam season came around in May I was so busy and I didn't end up getting back into blogging once it was over. But I'm back and hoping that I can stay around for a little while longer again. 
2015 has been an absolutely amazing year for me! It's been one of my best years with so far with so much going on, a lot of good news and new adventures. I can't begin to tell you how much joy this year ended up bringing me and I'm so sad to see the end of it. 
January kicked off the start of this brilliant year since I brought 2015 in with my sister in New York! I still can't believe that I had the chance to do that and it definitely made sure that my year got off on the right foot. With musicals and sight seeing around the city, I couldn't have asked for anything more. 
There were a few exams to sit when I got back home though. However, January also become the month that got offered my very first job! There was a new store opening in the city centre and I applied with the thought that I may not get it but it doesn't hurt to try. I got a call towards the end of January after my interview offering me the job and I'm still working there now. 
May and June were both extremely stressful and emotional. Exams were in full swing and it was just crazy. It was the last hurdle to jump before I was able to completely finish school and I don't know how I managed to get out of it with my sanity. June also meant me saying goodbye to secondary school which was slightly upsetting. Unlike the majority of my year group, I was heading to sixth form with one other person in my year going with me. So, June was a time of goodbyes for me. 
My last day had me in near tears and I was doing everything I could not to cry like a baby. My leavers' assembly left me in fits of laughter though as we sat in the main hall as a year group for the last time. I couldn't believe I had made it through five years of secondary school and was finally saying goodbye. Prom night left me with a huge smile on my face and it was the perfect way to end five years and say goodbye to everyone. I danced and screamed songs at the top of my lungs and knew that I was leaving with a new adventure waiting for me. 
Exams were finished, prom was done and summer started for me a month earlier than everyone and I loved it. Three months off to spend with my family with the looming thought of school in the back of my mind. We did day trips to Liverpool and Chester Zoo, I did workshops in Lush. It was a holiday that I was actually able to enjoy and the weather could have been a lot worse! 

As well as some amazing days spent with my family in August, I knew that it also meant that GCSE results would be coming out and I was anxious to have that brown envelope in my hand. Results day had been far from what I had expected and it was truly memorable. I ended up having to open my results on Welsh radio which I hoped meant that they were okay. The shock I felt that day when I saw that day was astounding and I nearly cried when I saw my maths mark. I walked out of school a few hours later with 3 A*s and 8 As. 

Those results meant that I was able to move on to another exciting part in my life and one that made 2015 even better. I was joining sixth form which was a part of a school that I had never gone to. September was extremely exciting but also nerve wracking for me. Thankfully, I settled into sixth form life pretty well. I adore the subjects that I've taken and found a group of friends that I really get along with. Even though the work is a lot harder. I love the challenge of it all. 

December has been a brilliant month. I've managed to survive my first term in sixth form and also took a trip to Bath with my sister and my mother to have a look around at the Christmas markets which was a present for my results from my sister. Even though it was extremely busy, it was brilliant. The city was so gorgeous and the markets were lovely to have a look around in.  
Overall, 2015 has been a really good year for me. Especially academically. I feel like I've finally found my feet and for the first time in a long time I've looked forward to going to school. I can't wait to see what 2016 will hold for me and my family and I can only hope that it'll be ten times better! 
Happy new year my lovelies and I hope 2015 gave you everything that you hoped for and 2016 will too! 

This Is Halloween?

It's Halloween and in all honesty it isn't a holiday that I really celebrate to the extreme like some people do but I still enjoy the day and the run up to it! There are a few aspects of the holiday that I love. 

Halloween movies are always great to watch. Admittedly I don't watch any super scary movies, okay, I don't watch scary movies at all to be honest. But I love watching 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' and 'Corpse Bride' around Halloween because even though they aren't scary movies they do have a spooky, Halloween sort of feel to them. I also love watching the 'Disney Halloweentown' movies. Some people might think that they're slightly childish but I really do enjoy the movies. It doesn't feel right watching them any other time of the year. So, I have to wait until Halloween comes around. 
Other than that, Halloween is quite a quiet time of the year. When I was younger I did love dressing up for the Halloween disco at my primary school. I loves searching for a costume that I wanted to wear and then see what everyone else was wearing. Enough though I never won best dressed, it never bothered me and I really enjoyed the nights. 
I do love seeing some of the houses and shops around the area get decorate for Halloween though. Some places seem to go all out for the seasonal holiday which always makes me smile because even though some of the decoration can be seen as quite corny I still love seeing them and sometimes Halloween can be the best time of year to find some really snazzy decorations. We went to 'Asda' the other day and when to the Halloween aisle, but I have no idea why, and we came across these really nice white candles that had this black lace around the side of the candle. I don't know what made is specifically Halloween related but it look really lovely. 
So, how do you guys celebrate Halloween? 

Summer: A Love-Hate Relationship

Summer, such a lovely time of the year but one where I battle a love-hate relationship with it. Part of me loves summer time and part of me can't wait to see the back of it sometimes. 
Summer gives me the longest break from school within the school year. A time where I have no lessons to go to and can't spend time the way I want to spend it. I don't have to worry about homework or coursework being due in the next week. 
I get the chance to spend time with my family. The school year always seems to be busy, straight after school come home and do revision or any homework I have and I don't really get the time to sit down and spend time with my family. Not as much as I want to anyway. So, summer gives me the chance to spend as much time with them I want without the nagging thought of work in the back of my mind. 
I live in a city that is surrounded by beaches and they're even more enjoyable when the Sun's out. Going out for drives around the coast and going for the odd picnic is nice in the Sun and although we can still go for the drives in the winter, picnics aren't really as enjoyable in the rain. 
Ice cream is always a great reason to love summer. I sometimes feel strange having it when it's in the middle of winter but in summer I have to qualms with eating it. As well as that, I love hearing the ice cream van going along the roads. Especially in the evening. 
On the other hand though, sometimes it gets a little too sunny. The sort of heat where it's too warn to do anything and all you really want to do is sit in the house with all the windows open and with the fan on. 
Flies! You have no idea how much flies make me hate summer. Especially Blue Bottles. They're such a pain to me. I can't stand them when they fly around my ears and just the annoying buzzing sound. I am really not a huge fan of them at all.
Also, sometimes summer holidays, I find, can be too long for me. I feel like there's only so much you can do, and then it comes to a point where I just want to go back so I'm productive and can see all my friends. 
So, what's your relationship with summer like?

Happy Birthday: J.K. Rowling!

As you may or may not know, today marks J.K. Rowling's 50th birthday! So, to celebrate, I'm doing 5 facts about the creator of Harry Potter!

Book Review: Naomi & Ely's No Kiss List

Title: Naomi & Ely's No Kiss List 
Author: David Levithan & Rachel Cohn 
Publisher: Electric Monkey 
Release Date: 03/07/2013
Pages: 256
Service: Bought 
Format: Paperback 
Buy: Book Depository 

'Any great friendship can be as confusing, treacherous, inspiring and wonderful as any great romance. 

Naomi and Ely have bee best friends forever. Naomi loves and is in love with Ely, and Ely loves Naomi but prefers to be in love with boys. So, they create their 'No Kiss List' of people neither of them is allowed to kiss. 

And this works fine - until Bruce. 

Bruce is Naomi's boyfriend, so there's no reason to put him on the List. But Ely kissed Bruce - and the resulting fallout is going to change the world.'

'Naomi & Ely's No Kiss List' was a book that I was looking forward to read. After reading two of Levithan's and Cohn's co-written books, I had enjoyed one but ended up not finishing the other. For me, this was the decider as to whether or not I would pick up another book from the both of them. The blurb sounded great and I ended up buying it.
My biggest mistake was not flicking through the book whilst I was in Waterstones which is weird because that's what I usually do. The reason why I'm a little annoyed that I didn't is because I don't think I would've picked up the book if I had. As I began to read the book there were emoticons that were replacing words. At first it wasn't too bad, I thought it would be something that would slowly be gone as the book progressed. There were a few pages were there was nothing and then it would start again. To be honest, I found it extremely annoying. Some of them I didn't understand and altogether, it just bugged me. 
I did enjoy where the story was going though. I think it was one that people were able to relate to in terms that there are people out there who like their but their friend has a different sexual orientation. I love the pieces of humour that were thrown into the chapters, it made it a more enjoyable read and it did make me smile. 
The characters, for me, were a little annoying though. Naomi was a character I just really struggled to like. She just seemed to whine a lot and wasn't a likeable character. I just feel as though she overreacted to what was going on in the book and seemed to keep using people. 
In the end I had to DNF this book. I just struggled to enjoy it. I flicked through the pages to see what happened at the end because I was interested in seeing what happened and the plot was something I didn want to follow. However, I just really didn't enjoy the writing so I had to put it down. I was struggling to get through it and it just wasn't something that I was looking forward to read. 
Rating: DNF 

On My Bucketlist... (#1)

I use the website Bucketlistly to keep track of all of the things that are on my bucketlist and when I've done them. It's also made me add a lot more things to my bucketlist because I get the chance to see what other people are adding. I'm going to start taking things from my bucketlist and sharing them with you guys along with the reasons why these things are on there. I'm really excited for this feature, so here goes nothing. 

For today's post I've picked out this one from my list: 

For me donating money to charity and raising money for charity are two different things. I've donated to charity before but I actually want to be able to raise money for it. Charity is quite a big thing in my family and we like to be able to donate as much as we can. Knowing that your money is going towards someone or a cause who needs it always makes me happy because it feels as though I'm helping make a difference. 

I'm really hoping to do the Race For Life next year which will include me having to raise money for Cancer Research. So, hopefully this will be soon crossed off the list. If I don't end up doing the Race For Life there are so many other ways to do so and I will find a way! 

Just Giving is such a good way to raise money as well and it's really easy. So, I'll probably use that to help me raise money as well 

Have you guys got a bucketlist then? And what's on yours? 

My Month on Instagram: June 2015

With school finished this month, I've had a lot more time to be active on instagram. So, here's what I posted on there. My instagram widget is also in my sidebar if anyone wants to follow me. 

I can't believe I've finally gotten here. It's done and over with! I don't think I've smiled so much in my life! #gcse #school #exams #lastexam #year11

A photo posted by Saira Ahmed (@growingxwings) on Jun 10, 2015 at 8:32am PDT

It's been a while since I put a blog post up. So, I decided to post a little one just about the end of exams. Link is in my bio! { #lbloggers #exams #relief #relax #lifestyle #blog #blogpost }

A photo posted by Saira Ahmed (@growingxwings) on Jun 10, 2015 at 2:38pm PDT

This has to be my favourite charm. { #metronome #music #charm #charmbraclet #tingle #tinglelondon }

A photo posted by Saira Ahmed (@growingxwings) on Jun 11, 2015 at 1:33am PDT

Started this ages ago but I haven't read since the Easter holidays because of revision and just a lack of energy in the evening. I'll definitely be finishing this one soon though and starting to pick up a few other books ony TBR pile. { #tkam #books #reading #tbr #summerreading }

A photo posted by Saira Ahmed (@growingxwings) on Jun 11, 2015 at 1:37am PDT

Slightly shattered which I think is exams catching up on me but looking forward to spending the day with my dad. { #selfie #nofilter #summer #tired #dad #relax #happy }

A photo posted by Saira Ahmed (@growingxwings) on Jun 11, 2015 at 2:03am PDT

So, when I was in NY I bought this little metal kit where I have to assemble the Empire State Building. I've been waiting for finish exams to start building this and a few other things that I have in my room. { #metalworld #empirestate #empirestatebuilding #metal #build }

A photo posted by Saira Ahmed (@growingxwings) on Jun 11, 2015 at 11:03am PDT

In @wahaca for food today.

A photo posted by Saira Ahmed (@growingxwings) on Jun 15, 2015 at 4:21am PDT

The food here was absolutely lush! @wahaca

A photo posted by Saira Ahmed (@growingxwings) on Jun 15, 2015 at 4:51am PDT

New post just went live on my blog. I review 'Me, Earl and the Dying Girl'. { #bookblogger #books #bookreview #blogger #ya #teenfiction #meearlandthedyinggirl #newpost }

A photo posted by Saira Ahmed (@growingxwings) on Jun 17, 2015 at 5:23am PDT

Prom was absolutely amazing yesterday. Can't wait to upload all the photos! { #prom #selfie #nofilter #secondaryschool #leavers #year11 #benefit #benefitcosmeticsuk #saree #sari #makeup #traditional }

A photo posted by Saira Ahmed (@growingxwings) on Jun 20, 2015 at 4:55am PDT

Food is all prepped for tonight. { #ramadan #ramadan2015 #iftar #foodporn #chicken #vegetables #healthy }

A photo posted by Saira Ahmed (@growingxwings) on Jun 22, 2015 at 10:43am PDT

It's here! { #eclp #eclifeplanner #erincondren #planner #delivery #eclp2015 #organise #excited }

A photo posted by Saira Ahmed (@growingxwings) on Jun 26, 2015 at 9:14am PDT

Just finished reading 'Say Her Name' by James Dawson and it was an amazing book! Slightly creepy but in a really good way and I'll definitely be picking up some more books of his. @hotkeybooks { #yalit #yabooks #yalovin #ukya #books #reading #sayhername #jamesdawson #booklove }

A photo posted by Saira Ahmed (@growingxwings) on Jun 30, 2015 at 2:57am PDT

Hoping to get through a few more stories from 'Love Hurts' today. It's given me quite a few books that I really want to pick up now. Looks like there's going to be a lot of reading done today. { #books #malorieblackman #yalovib #ya #ukya #love #lovehurts #romance #currentlyreading }

A photo posted by Saira Ahmed (@growingxwings) on Jun 30, 2015 at 3:42am PDT

Cwtched Up With A Classic: Pride and Prejudice.

Jane Austen's books are ones that I've never been 100% sure on whether or not I want to read but when I downloaded I had a tablet for my fifteenth birthday, it ended up being a free book on the 'Kobo' app. So, I finally decided that I may as well see what it was all about and pick my tablet up to read it. 
There was a bit of the slow start in the beginning which did make me a little sceptical about carrying on with the book but since I was with little else to read at the time since I wasn't home I thought that i may as well give it a proper chance and carry on to read it and I'm glad that I did. 
I'm not the type person that is in love with romance novels. It just isn't may favourite genre to read but I don't mind reading the odd one or two if it catches my eye but they never are some of the favourite books that I've read. Pride and Prejudice however was a romance book that I did really enjoy reading. I'm a fan of the while historical fiction genre and the fact that this book was mixed with some of this because of the time period that it was written it made it more enjoyable for me. 
For me, I felt like there could have been a little bit more that could've gone on within the plot since there wasn't a lot there. However, I wasn't particularly expecting a lot of action because it was a romance novel. I didn't feel as though there was any sub-plot to go along with the main plot of the book and what was going on. As much as I did enjoy the book, I think I would have enjoyed it that little but more had there just been another part to the story that would give the whole novel a little more oomph!
I knew what was going to happen at the end of the but even with tat in mind, I still was eager to read on and see how Austen played out the plot. For me, I found her writing quite captivating and it was a classic that I was glad to have picked up. I may not reread this one any time soon. However, it's made me want to read the books and watch the films that have been based on this book to see different ways people have taken it on board. 
Rating: ★★★

Book Review: Wither

Title: Wither
Author: Lauren DeStefano
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Series: Chemical Garden Trilogy #1
Release Date: 22/03/2011
Pages: 358
Service: Bought
Format: Paperback
Buy: Book Depository 
Author Twitter: @LaurenDeStefano

'In the not-too-distant future, genetic engineering has turned every newborn into a ticking time bomb. Males die at the age of twenty-five, and females die at the age of twenty. While scientists seek a miracle antidote, young girls are routinely kidnapped and sold as polygamous brides to bear more children. When sixteen year old Rhine is taken, she enters a world of wealthy an privilege that both entices and terrifies her. She has everything she ever wanted - except freedom. 

Soon it becomes clear that not everyoen at her new husband's home is how they appear. With the help of Gabriel, a servant Rhine is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to escape... before her time runs out.'

I fall in love with this book more and more every single time I read it and I've read this book three times now. Lauren DeStefano had no problem with drawing me into her dystopian world and taking me on a journey with all of her character. The story starts with 16 year old Rhine and we follow her story and how she copes with the short like that she lives with and how those around her try to find a cure so that men and women can live longer than they do. 

I love the way that Rhine is portrayed. She's can be confident and loving and caring. However, we do see these weaknesses in her. I love that DeStefano allowed her character to become this real person who wasn't able to cope with everything that was going on and did breakdown at times.She was a character who could act independently but also needed people to help her and she was okay with that. I felt like I was able to see a lot of things through Rhine's eyes with very little difficulty and you could understand her predicaments. 
Characters like Linden, Cecily, Gabriel and Jenna were well written and constantly made me want to know more about them. I was in a battle about whether I liked them or not and whether I could trust them. 
The plot was just perfectly executed. It was one of those books that I went through really quickly but when I reread, took more time to take it all in all over again. I just can't find anything to fault with this book. The characters, the description of the settings and the plot were all brilliantly knitted together to create this breathtaking book that I would recommend any fan of dystopia to read. The ending leaves you hanging on for so much more so I would definitely make sure that you have the next two books on hand so you can dive straight into them.
Rating: ★★★★★

8 Facts About Ramadan

Book Review: Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

Title: Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
Author: Jesse Andrews 
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Release Date: 01/04/2012
Pages: 295
Service: Bought
Format: Paperback
Buy: Book Depository 
Author Twitter: @_jesse_andrews

'Greg Gaines is the master of high school espionage, able to disappear at will into any school environment. He only has one friend, Earl, and together they spend their time making movies, their own incomprehensible versions of Coppola and Herzog cult classics. 

Until Greg's mother forces him to rekindle his childhood friendship with Rachel. 

Rachel has been diagnosed with leukaemia - cue extreme adolescent awkwardness - but a parental mandate has been issued and must be obeyed. When Rachel stops treatment, Greg and Earl decide the thing to do is to make a film for her, which turn into the Worst Film Ever Made and become a turning point in each of their lives. 

And all at once Greg must abandon invisibility and stand in the spotlight.'

This was a book I really did have high expectations for before I had started reading it and I was really looking forward to. I finally found it tucked away in a cupboard downstairs a few months after I had bought it. Like most books it had some good points and some bad. However, for me the bad did outweigh the good.

I did like the fact though, that illness wasn't at all romanticised in this book. It didn't make it seem like something that was great and would be a story that you could tell your children. It didn't make an illness seem like something that it wasn't and that was really refreshing. Andrews just said it like it is when it came to Rachel and her leukaemia.

There were some points in the book where I felt as tough Jesse Andrews really got to grips with what high school is like for a teenager. That not everyone falls into a certain 'group' and that a lot of the time teachers will think something is a brilliant idea and everyone else won't. 

The main character, Greg, had a lot of faults. He wasn't your generic nerd, bad boy or high school jock/heart throb. He had a lot of differences to all of these generic characters and Andrews was more than happy to embrace that and show that side of Greg off. However. this was all one of the downfalls in the book for me. I felt like sometimes Andrews tried a little too hard to be different with Greg's personality. It wasn't that he didn't seem like a believable character but it was just that it felt like it was something that was constantly being thrown into my face and it just made reading the book slightly annoying for me.

There was a huge contrast then when it came to Greg's best friend, Earl. For me he just seemed to be so stereotypical due to who he was.  The way he spoke, the classes he was in and the way that his family was. It ended up being something that really made me dislike reading the book and it had to be the top thing that just hasn't made me like reading it. I just felt as though he was put in a negative light.It did end up angering me slightly in the way that Earl was portrayed when compared to Greg. 

I felt like there was a lot of unnecessary swearing used throughout the book. A lot of the time there wasn't a real need for it. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind reading a book where profanity is used but it was just such an excessive use in the book. I'm not a fan of people swearing excessively when their speaking so I don't really like reading it either. 

For me, I felt as though there could have been a little something more to the book because I did find that it was dragged a little at some points. It wasn't one that I particularly enjoyed. 

Rating: ★★1/2 

A Very Relieving Feeling

After what has felt like a very short two years, I sat my last GCSE exam this afternoon and I'm completely done with exams for the year. 
The immense feeling of relief and peace I feel right now is so unbelievable. Finishing exams in year ten was a pretty nice feeling but once I was finished with them, we started classes back up again for the exams we were going to sit in year ten. Then, throughout summer, I started to work on my revision notes ready for the next year so I didn't fully enjoy my summer. Not as much as I could have anyway. So, this period between finishing exams and starting A-Levels next year is such a welcome break. 
If I'm completely honest, I'm already starting to feel a little lost. Revision has basically ruled my life for a good few months and I'm not even sure what to do with myself any more but I know that some sleep, eating properly again and spending time with the family is definitely on the cards.
With only prom left to say goodbye, I'm so near to closing this chapter in my life which is slightly scary but there'll be another post on that. Now that I'm all done with exams, it's time to say goodbye to revision notes and a nice hello to my books and the blogging world. 
I hope exams have gone well for all of you and good luck for when your results come out!  

Book Review: Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda

Title: Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda
Author: Becky Albertelli 
Publisher: Penguin Random House UK Children's
Release Date: 07/04/2015
Pages: 313
Service: Netgalley
Format: Kindle Ebook
Buy: Book Depository 
Author Twitter: @beckyalbertelli

This has been a book that has interested me ever since I read the name of it and even more when I saw the cover and read the blurb. I just about managed to infer what the book was about when I heard about the title and I wasn't far off. 
From beginning to end I was in love with this book. There's no other way to put it. Simon Spier is a sixteen year old boy who is in high school and is gay but he's not yet ready to tell people of his sexual orientation. So, he decides to keep it a secret with only one person knowing. A person that he emails but does not know the name of. 
The plot to this book, I felt, was executed brilliantly. Told from Simon's point of view, you could really feel the emotions that were running through him. His personality was one that I fell in love with. He tries to be nice and the good person, which sometimes doesn't go to plan. But he's also ready to try his best to stand up for himself which doesn't always go to plan. 
The Spier family was just fantastic to read about. Simon and his siblings had what can often be a natural teenage reaction to parents. They were a little embarrassed by them and what the way they would act but still loved them. It just felt realistic, even though his family were a little bit more on the eccentric side. 
The relationships, of all kinds, in this book were so realistic that it felt as though I could connect with the majority of them. One thing I really liked about the friendships in this book was that Albertalli managed to show that there are all kinds of friendships which I think is always portrayed in other books. Simon wasn't best friends with every single person that he knew. There were people that he knew for longer periods of times and how that ended up affecting the decisions that he made. 
Even though the whole plot of this book is based around LGBT matters, it didn't feel like something that was constantly thrown into my face and made a huge deal of even though that was also part of the plot. I didn't think that the plot was over done at all. Although I've never been through what Simon went through in the book, I felt that Albertelli wrote an accurate portrayal of the situation and about how a lot of young people would react if they had been blackmailed about something that was quite personal to them. 
I loved the fact that I was able to really tell who Simon was emailing the whole way throughout the book. My mind kept changing up to a certain point when I thought it definitely had to be one person. When they were finally revealed it was a surprise and one that I wasn't disappointed to read as I would have been if I had guessed who it was. 
The only problem that I had with this book was that I struggled to wrap my head around all of the time jumps. It felt a little choppy to me and I had to read back sometimes to remember catch what was going on before it clicked that it was the next day or later on in the day. 
Overall, this whole book had me in happily turning each page from beginning to end which is probably why I finished it in one day. It was completely worth the read and I'd recommend it to anyone who is looking at something to laugh along with and get their teeth into an issue that people in the LGBT community may just face. 
Rating: ★★★★1/2

Dropping Off At: New York (Part Two)

On the 31st we decided that maybe seeing the Ball Drop in Times Square was the best idea for a few reasons. The first and most prominent one being that we still had so much to do and we didn't think we'd be able to fit it anyway let alone if we lost a day. We also knew that lines would be shorter in certain places because most people would either be in Times Square or getting their own NYE parties ready.  So, we decided to make an early stop off to the Empire State Building. Compared to the queues we had seen before when we walked past this was nothing. Especially since the queue at least ended outside of the building when we has seen them wrapping around the block. It was a short wait but the view at the top was beautiful and still very cold. It was New York in a completely different light and height! I was amazing to see all the tops of the building and look out on the city as people were getting ready to enter a whole new year in. 

After making our way out of the Empire State Building it was time for a trip to Madame Tussauds and I was so excited for this one. Being in photos is something that I'm really slowly growing used to and I don't hate it as much as I used to. Taking photos next to wax figures of stars and characters was something I was so excited to do though! It took us a wile to get around everyone but I didn't mind that too much since we got some amazing photos with the likes of Katniss Everdeen and Robert Pattinson!

After we headed over to Discovery Times Square where we decided that we wanted to see the Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N exhibit which was just fantastic. There was so much going on in there and the majority of it was interactive which just made it even more enjoyable. However, we weren't allowed to take any photos in there so I don't have an pictures to add to the post from that part. 

The afternoon was then spent wandering around Macy's which is HUGE! We looked around and had a bit of a wander around some of the counter before deciding that we were done for the day. After that we ended up heading back to the hotel and got comfortable as we watched on TV the way NYC bring the New Year and it was long after it struck midnight that I ended up falling to sleep. 

We decided to head out a little later the next day since were wanted to get some proper sleep before getting ready to get around to a few other things on the list of things that we wanted to see and go to. Grand Central Terminal made the top of the list that day as we headed over to see one of the most iconic train stations in movies. And wow! It was absolutely gorgeous. I couldn't get over the sheer size and beauty of it and the fact that there was an Apple shop in there as well! 

After taking a look there we went over to The Cathedral of St. John the Divine and the garden that it was attached to and then went to Central Park. We managed to walk over half of the park and I didn't quite realise how big it actually was. Then we decided that we would head back on to the streets and get to The American Museum of Natural History. 

I couldn't get over everything that was in the museum from the moment we had gotten in there. It had pretty much everything you could think of from the dinosaurs that you always hear about to the biodiversity exhibits. Sadly, I couldn't get a proper picture of the massive whale since it was too dark for me to get a photo where I could actually see it. The dinosaur bones were just amazing and I couldn't believe the size of them. It was great just being able to stand and read the information that you couldn't get away from. 

A stop at Tiffany's was calling us after that and I was so excited to go it since I wanted to get a small something from there. It was beautiful inside an I didn't realise that my coat actually matched the Tiffany blue. I ended up getting a gorgeous ring from there with a small debate with myself and my sister before deciding that it was time that we got going. 
After a stop at the hotel and a meal we decided we headed to the Top of the Rock and if I thought the view and the Empire State Building was something then this was completely and utterly breath taking! I couldn't get over how New York looked from there. It really is the city that never sleeps when you see everything lit up in a pitch black sky. Even though it was freezing cold I really didn't care because the view was entirely worth it and I would happily go back again just to see that view. 
A trip to Central Park was where we were going the next day but this time it wasn't a walk around, we decided to take a carriage ride. It was genuinely probably one of the most amazing experiences I had out there. Given the fact that it started snowing during our carriage ride as well! I really couldn't believe our luck with it! It just made the whole experience ten times better! 

During the evening we went to the Imperial Theatre to go and watch Les Miserables. Having never watched the film or the musical in theatre before I was so excited to see what it was going to be like and it was just fantastic to sit and watch and I felt like I was almost a part of the play! 
Our last day was spent in IHOP and The Strand. Both of which were amazing. The Strand was a place I could have spent hours and hours in if we didn't have to catch our flight back home the same day but get a few little bits from there and a few bookmarks from Barnes and Noble.
A flight back home was more than welcome since between me and my sister, we were both missing our parents. But New York City is definitely a place that I miss and I would love to go back there so badly!