The Black Keys

Here's a band my brother has really got me into recently. Their called the Black Keys and their pretty damn awesum! I'd say their a mix of blues and good ole rock n roll. The singer's voice is just pure blues with such soul. Huge fan. Check em out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKXlgISd3iA

Last morning and heading home

The last morning in NYC :(

We finished up our souvenir shopping and went for a last look around. We headed back to a place we'd found on the first day shopping called Dylans Candy Bar which was like a giant pick n mix shop! And you could have kids parties there and they could run round choosing which sweets they wanted...so jealous!!

We also went back to Cinema Cafe for our last meal in the city. I had mini burgers this time which were delicious if not big enough! hehe As you can tell I am a bit obsessed with food! We left NYC getting to see the cityscape at night again. Gorgeous! That will be a memory that will last forever.

Last full day in NYC

We started our last full day in NYC shopping close to our hotel. We found Forever 21 which we loved. I bought a couple of pieces of knitwear that kept me warm on our last day! The other girls found some good bargains too. We then headed to American Eagle Outfitters and Victoria's Secret to get the American high street experience.

We then decided to go down town to catch the Staten Island Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty. We caught the ferry which took us past the Statue of Liberty and then came straight back.It was a lot smaller than I thought it would be, I've only ever seen it in pictures and in movies and it always looks so much bigger!

We then went to Ground Zero which was quite emotional to see.

While in down town we went to Century 21 which was like TK-Maxx but a million times worse! We didn't end up spending too much time there as it was very claustrophobic and not a nice atmosphere to shop in. A world away from the shops on 5th Avenue like the lovely smelling Abercrombie and Fitch shop.

For dinner we headed back to Times Square again and ended up going to Planet Hollywood which was like a film version of the Hard Rock Cafe. Good food though and the most amazing chocolate cake!! Makes my mouth water just thinking about it.

Second Day in the Big Apple

On our second day in NYC we headed down through Chelsea to the Meat Packing District to find Comme de Garcons. It looked just like a graffitied warehouse until you find the door into the shop which is really modern and expensive inside.

We then headed further downtown and came across Chelsea market which had loads of lovely bakeries and deli's. The cupcakes looked amazing! After looking around we continued to Soho where we went to Anthropologie. I love that shop, the window displays are beautiful and they had decorated the shop with paper animals and a bed decorated with fake snow.

After checking out Soho we headed into China town which was so busy! It was really bright and colourful and there was so much to look at.

We then went to West Broadway to look at Yellow Rat Bastard (I got some great souvenirs there for my boyfriend, a bag, and my brother, a t-shirt). We also looked at the Topshop there which was pretty much the same as ours.

After looking round some more stores we went to Little Italy to Lombardi's, a really great Italian restaurant where we had the nicest calzones! YUM!

Then to finish the evening we went to the Top of the Rock at the Rockafella Centre to look at the beautiful night skyline! It was very windy up there but it was so pretty and we had a great few of the Empire State Building and the Brooklyn bridge at night.

FOOD!

For lunch we were walking around 5th Avenue and went off down a street and found a lovely restaurant called Cinema Cafe. We loved it so much we went back on the last day too. I had chicken in a black bean wrap which was delicious. Theres a pic of it and also one of me and Hannah at the cafe.

For dinner we went to Times Square and had a meal at the Hard Rock Cafe which was awesum! They had loads of really cool memorabilia and were playing some of my favourite music while we ate! Perfect! And the burger was immense!

Examples: Visual Merchandising found on Fifth Avenue

F.I.T and shopping on 5th Avenue

In the morning of our first full day in NYC we went to visit the F.I.T's museum to look at their American Beauty and Night and Day exhibitions. Heres a pic of our course gathered round waiting to go into the exhibits. We are all very wrapped up in MANY layers as it was soooooo cold in NY it was unbelievable!

We weren't allowed to take pictures in the galleries, they were very strict, we weren't even meant to use pens to write notes, only pencils. I did manage to note down a few of the outfits I liked, one was a red silk organza Halston dress from fall 1984. It was 8 two layered pattern pieces cut along the radii which were then paired and joined at four points on the body, equidistant from each other. This created a beautiful flowing gown. This was featured in the American Beauty exhibition which I really enjoyed looking around. The Night and Day exhibit featured fashion from the past 250 years and gave me a real insight into the changes in fashion, especially due to the World Wars which revolutionised women's clothing.

After looking round the F.I.T we headed to 5th Avenue to check out some shops. As well as doing some shopping, we were also looking out for interesting and unusual visual merchandising in store and in their window displays. In the next few posts our put up some of my favourite finds.

First Day in New York!!!

We landed in New York's JFK airport in the evening and headed into Manhattan by bus. We got a great view of the skyline for the first time and it amazed me how huge the buildings were. The hotel was quite an old building and was really nicely decorated. Check out the lobby and it's beautiful chandeliers.
Me, Hannah (who I was sharing a room with), Ashlee and Lauren went for a walk around Broadway to get our bearings and found Macys. We were all really jet lagged so we went for our first American McDonalds and headed back to the hotel to get some sleep.

NEW YORK!!!

hey everyone off to NEW YORK tomorrow with my course wooooo!!! SO EXCITED!! early start in the morning getting the coach at 5:30 not the time of the morning I normally see! I've been reading Fairytale of New York by Miranda Dickinson to get me in the mood for the big apple probably finish that off on the flight!! never been on a long haul one before so a bit nervous about that!! Now off to watch Devil Wears Prada with my coursemate. I'll post some pics when I get back!! eeee!!