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! 

Looking Back At: February 2015

Waaaap! The thought of being in yet another month is slightly scary and didn't at all remind me that I had a wrap up that I needed to write. I don't think I took that long to remember though. However, the thought normally strikes me in the last few days of the month. 

What's Been Going On?

February for me wasn't a particularly busy month. However, there were a few important dates on the calendar that I was sure I wasn't going to forget. Both my mam and sister's birthday were this month and were only three days apart. Both were really great days and they both seemed to be happy by the end of them. So, I couldn't really complain. 
I also had yet another Duke of Edinburgh walk this month. A good chunk of our walk made up walk opposite some waterfalls which were absolutely stunning and it made the walk that little bit nicer to walk alongside. It was nice to actually have a walk for once where I didn't need to be bundled up in four layers. About twenty minutes into the walk, I had to take my scarf, coat and hoodie off and was left in my t-shirt. The walks just become a little bit more enjoyable when you aren't trying to keep warm at the same time. 
This was literally my month though since not much else happened. I was just plodding along with the days and getting my school work done.

Books?

I think I managed to get through a good chunk of books this month. Especially since one of them was quite thick and it did take me a little while to get through. This month, I read:

• When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak 
• Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli 

I started reading a few other books which I'm still getting through and hopefully I'll finish them this month. They are:

• Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews 
• Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Four Valentine's Day Reads

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! I was thinking of a post ot relate to the occasion and I thought what better way than to share with you guys, some of my favourite romantic books. So,. are my top four Valentine's Day Reads.

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Anna and the French Kiss By Stephanie Perkins This is a perfect book to read on Valentine's Day as you follow Anna and Etienne's journey on the streets of Paris. The perfect contemporary-romance book that you can just lose yourself into. I fell in love with this book and can still not get over it. 

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Wither by Lauren DeStefano  Although this book is a dystopian novel, romance a theme that heavily runs throughout the book. The kind of book that you would want to read if you were looking for romance but wanted it to come along with a something else. 

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The Fault In Our Stars by John Green  The movie is out, the book has been published for a while now. This is a contemporary book that is based very heavily on romance but it has a lot of moments that can be upsetting. This is the type of book that you would read if you wanted a book that would make you cry and feel so many feels along the way. 

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Twlight by Stephanie Meyer  What a lot of people would call the ultimate supernatural love story. I put this one on the list because I do love reading it. Edward and Bella's story was one that I did enjoy following and I wouldn't really mind rereading the book. It's the perfect book to curl up with and fall in love with characters again and again. 

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Dropping Off At: New York City (Part One)

I don't know how long my sister and I have been talking about going to New York for. It's been at least five years and in January 2014 we finally booked our flights and hotel to New York and even then it didn't really hit me that we were going. 
Finally at three in the morning on the 28th of December my mam woke both me and my sister us telling us to get changed and ready because we were leaving in half an hour. So, half asleep I managed to make it into the car and get to the airport.
The flight was about seven hours and 45 minutes long but it felt like it lasted an age. Even between the food that we were served and the movies that I ended up watching, I couldn't wait to just land in America, get our luggage and into the hotel. Not much happened that first day we were there. We didn't get to the hotel until quite late in the afternoon and after an early morning start, the travelling and the time difference change we didn't have a lot of energy left it us. So, we rested up to get ready for the second day. 
Now the second day held a little bit more for the both of us. The first thing that we needed to do was to pick up out city passes which gave us entry to a lot of the sights in New York and fast track some of the lines and our Broadway tickets to watch 'Les Mis' so we didn't have to worry about that. To do those, we had to walk through Times Square. This is one place that I can genuinely say looks like all of the photos that you see. It was amazing and it didn't exactly hit me that we were walking through Times Square until a little later on. 
After that we headed down to Bryant Park which was holding the most beautiful Christmas market that I've ever seen. There were some amazing stalls there that held the most gorgeous pieces of jewellery and Christmas ornaments, amongst other things. It could've spent ages walking around the market place and seeing everything. There was so much going on it was hard to tear your eyes away from everything. We spent a lot of time in there and it was starting to become dark when we knew that we had to get going out of there. After that we got some food and decided to head back to the hotel and get some rest since the next day meant that it was going to be an early start. 






An early start was for the fact that we had already booked tickets to go to the Crown of the Statue of Liberty. Since it was a fair bit of a trek from where our hotel was we tried to get out on time. However, that never goes to plan and we were almost late especially since the subway decided that that would be the day that the line we needed to take wouldn't work. There was absolutely no need to panic though since we made it there in more than enough time. 

After waiting in line for a little and then going through security, we got on a ferry that took us to Liberty Island. It was freezing on that boat and I regretted not taking a few more layers. Once we finally got to the island though it wasn't as bad and we wasted no time getting into the statue. We showed our tickets and then put our bags in a locker since we weren't allowed to take any backpacks with us and went through security again and then made in into the actual statue. 
We went around the museum first which was more interesting than I initially thought that it would be. It gave me the chance to take photos next to a life sized replica of the face of Lady Liberty and learn a lot more about the history of the statue and how it came to be. Having a huge interest, I was so excited to see how the people managed to get the whole statue from France to New York and it was some of the most interesting things I've ever read. 

Our trip the the Crown then started. The steps didn't take as long as I thought it would at first. Well, not to the pedestal anyway. I was in pretty high spirits at that point and it was nice to know that we conquered one part of the statue. However, we then had to go up a narrower flight of stairs to get to the Crown and it was only then I realised how far away it was from the pedestal. As well as the stairs being a lot narrower they also were in a spiral, with another spiral set winding in it for people who were going back down. I've never been too good with stairs so I was extremely shaky when we were going up them. It was worth it when we got to the top though even though it felt like the statue was swaying a lot of the time. The trip on the way down wasn't any smoother as much as I would've liked it to be but it was a great experience and I was really glad I got the chance to go there. 

 After that we headed back to the hotel to get ready for another day.

My Month on Instagram: January 2015

Instagram has been pretty busy for me in January. 

Chocolate coconut cupcake at half ten from Gerorgetown Cupcakes!

Madame Tussauds, shopping and Mama Mia were all done today. Absolutely shattered now but settling for some revision.

I can't get the whole dinosaur... #smallpeopleproblems#nyc2014

#nyc2014 

Not complicated at all #nyc2014 

Stegosaurus #nyc2014 

Grand Central Terminal yesterday. #nyc2014 

Currently reading: Pride and Predjudice.

Writing time.

We're getting somewhere

Currently reading: Wither by Lauren DeStefano

Ready for another revision session. 

Looking Back At: January 2015

The first month of 2015 as gone by in a blink of an eye It's crazy and I can't believe it. Though I'll be honest, it's been a month that has been packed full of different things. Both enjoyable and stressful.

What's Been Going On?

The beginning of this year was spent in New York City which was an amazing adventure and such a great way to kick start the year. I've posted about the trip on here for anyone who wants to know what I got up to while I was out there. 
After landing back in the UK I had that day to rest before going back into school the next day. And that day, which was a Tuesday, was spent doing revision for my January exams that were going to kick off on the Wednesday of that week. I had six exams that would start on that Wednesday and would finish on the following Thursday. I ended up sitting: 

• Biology - Additional Science 
• English Literature 
• English Language Unit 1 (resit) 
• ICT Unit 1 
• English Language Unit 2 (resit) 
• Physics - Additional Science

And they were sat in that order. I don't think there was a day that we were in school during that week of exams that we didn't have some kind of revision going on. The exams that I was most worried about were ICT and physics but I got through them. Results come on on March 5th and I'm happily going to be pushing that date out of my mind. 

The weekend I finished exams, I was out on a Duke of Edinburgh walk on the Sunday.It was freezing cold and we almost got lost quite a few times but yet again, I am always in awe of the beauty that Wales holds and this was yet again one of those things. A mountain centre may not sound like the most beautiful of places to some people but I loved it there even though I did end up slipping on a log. My one accomplishment that day was the fact I was able to cross a river on a few stones with no help and I didn't even slip. I'm probably never going to be able to do that again though...

I had some extremely good news this month that ended up being the highlight of my month.

Source

Towards the beginning of the month I knew that there was a new Saltrock opening up where I live and I was pretty interested in it. One of my friends ended up applying and sent me the email for a job there. So, that evening I sent them my CV and a cover note and I didn't really expect to hear anything back. Instead, I got a phone call from the store manager asking for an interview with them. So, five days later, I went to 'Costa' to have my interview with the area manager and store manager and they told me I would either find out that evening or tomorrow if I had a job there or not since the store was opening that Saturday. Whilst watching 'Hollyoaks' with my sister and mam I had a phone call which I was pretty nervous to pick up and as the manager spoke to me I heard the words "I just rang to tell you that you've got the job." I think he heard how excited I was down the phone since he asked me if I was happy. 

I was in that Wednesday and Thursday to help set the shop up and I got along with the whole team really quickly and really well. Everyone is so nice there and laid back. Saturday was then opening day and it was absolutely hectic in there! I wasn't entirely sure what to do for the first fifteen minutes since I was just on the shop floor for general customer service but after that I found my feet and I got into the swing of things. So, I now have my very first job and it's in such a great place!

Books? 

I decided to put my reading goal a little lower this year to 35 books since I know I'm in for a lot of exams and revision in the spring and summer term and hopefully I'll be starting my A-Levels in September.

I was pretty surprised at the amount of books that I managed to finish in January but I'm really happy with it. I've pretty much enjoyed all of the books that I've read. I've finished: 

• Pride an Prejudice by Jane Austen 
• Wither by Lauren DeStefano 
• Fever by Lauren DeStefano 
• Sever by Lauren DeStefano 
• Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare
• Breaking Nova by Jessica Sorensen 

I'm three books ahead of schedule which I was more than happy with. I haven't got a clue what I'll be reading this month. 

A Quote? 

I hope everyone had a great start to the year!