I am truly sad to have left it. New York is the kind of place that I absolutely adore. I love being busy all the time, I love either being out and doing something, even if it's just walking, or sleeping. That's the kind of thing I really love, and the kind of thing that I never get to do at my house, because there's really nothing to be done at my house.
Anyhow.
I'll recap my trip to New York for you, because you're one of the few people who reads this journal, which means that I've probably told you to come here to see the pictures. :P
Day One.Our first day, we awoke bright and early and ran around making last-minute decisions and worrying that everything was packed, and obsessing over dumb little things until it was time to haul off to the Airport. Our time spent in the airport was surprisingly painless; we checked ourselves and our luggage in, though we, most unfortunately, had to pay to check our luggage. But we didn't have any problems in getting our little baggies of liquids or mints (for me to suck on during the flight, so that my ears would pop) through.
After more than an hour of just waiting (I brought a book, The Witching Hour by Anne Rice, which I read during this time, and which is, quite possibly, the heaviest book ever, and therefore a bad choice to put in your carry-on), we were finally allowed to board the plane. We had a seat right over the wing, which was pretty awesome.
Also titled "We're Going to Die". :P
The view out the plane window while we were still sitting in the Toronto Airport.
And then some pictures from the air.
The plane flaps descending as we ready for a landing.
The flight was fairly turbulent, but we survived. I didn't even really know that it was turbulent, because I can't remember the last time I was on a plane; all I knew was that my ears popped. A lot. And kind of painfully.
But, finally, we landed. In one piece.
We made it to the hotel, after a harrowing Taxi Ride (during which I also thought that I would die, because Taxi drivers are freaking insane in New York), at about 11:30 AM. Since our checkin time wasn't until 3 PM, we left our bags with the hotel staff, and left the hotel. At which point it started to rain. Torrentially. It was terrible, but we still managed to get around at least marginally well. There was a wicked Street Show with all sorts of vendors on the Avenue of the Americas, where we bought a couple of T-shirts (even I admitted that we needed souvenir T-shirts), and I bought an imitation Chanel necklace, because I don't ever entertain the delusion of ever being able to afford a real one. After perusing there, and searching desperately for a coffee shop where we could get a decent Iced Capuccino -- also known as the elixir of life -- we gave up battling the rain, since our umbrella was leaking like a sieve. We arrived at the hotel at about 1:30, completely soaked, and pretty frustrated. Thankfully, we were taken pity on by one of the men at the desk (who just couldn't stop complimenting me; he was awesome), and he got us a room early.
Some pictures of our room ...
My Mom's bed, which was closer to the window (and the air-conditioning; I get cold ridiculously easily).
My bed. Littered with stuff we were unpacking, none of which, amusingly enough, is actually mine. xP
The Do Not Disturb sign, which amused me. As far as I could see, most of the rooms had different things written on them as reasons.
And our itty-bitty bathroom. It's actually not much smaller than my bathroom at home (we only have one in the house, it's difficult), but there was pretty well no counter-space, and almost no shelf. Doing my makeup was difficult.
We waited until it stopped raining, and went out for Dinner at the Olive Garden in Times Square, which is pretty much our (my Mother's and mine's) favourite restaurant ever. Dinner was, of course, absolutely fantastic -- I had the Chicken Crostada. Did not disappoint.
After that, we got back to our apartment, watched a little TV (we don't get TNT at home, and TLC is always a winner) and then pretty well died. It had been a long day.
Day Two.Actually started without me.
When my Mom decided to get up early and photograph not only the view from our window, now that it wasn't raining terribly, but also the view of me, sleeping, completely unaware that I was being so violated.
Though I suppose it is kind of cute.
Here are some of the pictures that she took of our view from room 1708 of the Roosevelt. (By the bye, I highly recommend going on the Roosevelt's website to look at their pictures, it's a stunning, stunning place.)
Unfortunately, we couldn't see down, because the 16th floor extended further than our floor. So the only thing we really had a view of was a beer bottle, laying abandoned on the roof.
We headed out early to grab breakfast (which was a muffin and an Iced Cap from Tim Hortons, breakfast of champions) and then to run down to the Fashion District, where we were set to meet our tour guide for a tour of local Designer Showrooms, which are closed to the public. It's called Elegant Tightwad tours, if anyone's interested, just google it. The point of the tour is that the woman takes you around to showrooms which are closed, and you can try on and purchase Designer clothing at wholesale or lower prices. Which is pretty sweet.
We were supposed to meet at 10 AM sharp next to the statue of the man at the sewing machine. This is the statue.
And then this is me standing at the statue, waiting for the tour guide (we were there with maybe fifteen minutes to spare).
This is, actually, probably my favourite picture of me from New York. I look so unimpressed, to be doing the tourist thing! (My Mom loves the tourist thing, she thinks it's adorable. I humour her, occasionally, and get my pictures taken in all the places that you're supposed to.)
We went to five or so showrooms, the majority of them really having nothing that I was really interested in; I was pretty much the only one on the tour with a really funky sense of style. I spent a lot of time pulling things and insisting that my Mom try them on, since she is a self-professed What Not to Wear candidate. I was really excited to see her buying some things that she would, otherwise, never look at twice, because of the price point.
We did visit one designer, however, that was more on the really funky side. All of the clothing was imported from Paris, which is definitely up my alley. She took an instant liking to me, asked if I'd let her pull things for me, which I, of course, adored, and told her to go ahead. I fell in love with a great many things, including a beautiful teal gown, but ended up with an edgy all-in-one, in a cream silk. I expect that I'll be having a photoshoot with it soon.
After the shopping trip, which was a whopping 4 hours long, with no breaks, so we were glad we consumed some caffeine beforehand, we hiked the short distance to Macys, which was, of course, one of the places we were told we absolutely needed to see. Macys was, of course, incredible -- but absolutely freezing cold!! I couldn't stay there and try anything on, because I was SO freezing! The thought of taking anything off at all to try things on was actually horrifying.
We did eat at the Ben & Jerry's for lunch, though; my Mom had something vanilla made with splenda, and I had a cherry Garcia cone. Though part of me REALLY wanted to try the coffee ice cream, I figured I'd had enough of it already, given the Iced Cap I'd downed at like 9 AM.
We left after a little while and hit up Victoria's Secret. We don't have Victoria's Secret stores in Canada, so it was a ridiculous amount of fun. And now I have to unload $50 to buy a bra I fell in love with, but they didn't have in the colour/size combination I needed. Sigh. Always happens to me.
Me, slightly blurry, and back at the hotel, after shopping, thoroughly exhausted.
(I'd changed out of my jumpsuit; I was trying on things that I'd bought. Just in case you're paying a lot of attention to my clothing, for some strange reason. The Jeans are from H&M, which we'd stopped at briefly.)
We decided to hit up the Olive Garden again for dinner, because both my Mom and I agreed that we just wanted something light. We just ate the salad and breadsticks, and were completely stuffed after just one bowl. I ordered a raspberry lemonade, which I really miss right now. It was really, really nice.
I also ate one of the hot peppers out of the salad, just to see what it was like, and, hours later, at the hotel, found my mouth burning and itching so terribly that I just wanted to stick a fork in there and gouge the parts that were burning out. I ended up taking about a bajillion Benadryll and sucking on ice cubes until the medication finally put me to sleep, in order to keep the allergic reaction at bay.
Which was all very strange, because I've never had a reaction to any sort of pepper before. I love spicy food.
Day Three.Was the day we had set aside to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, something which we'd been planning to do ever since we'd decided to go to New York in the first place. There was one thing in particular that we wanted to see there; a temporary exhibit called The Model As Muse, which is all about famous models through history, and the designs they modeled for. Exactly up my ally.
We ended up going to the Concierge at the Hotel and inquiring as to the best way to get to the Met, since our Hotel was at 45th Street, and the Metropolitan is much closer to 85th. We weren't walking that far, especially since the day was forecast as being really, really hot and humid. We were told to take the subway from Grand Central, and given very specific instructions ("Take the 6 Train, uptown, and get off at either 77th and walk uptown further, or to 87th and walk downtown") to get to the Met. We then purchased our tickets directly from the Concierge (note: this is a very, VERY good idea, as otherwise you will wait for ever in line at the Met, even at 10 AM), and were on our way.
We actually navigated the subway with no major problem. We bought our card, swiped it, got through the barrier, survived getting on the train, and got off at the right stop. We were disoriented, but eventually found the side of Central Park, and from there it was a short jaunt (thankfully in the Shade) to the Museum.
The front of the museum, already crowded at about 10 AM. You can just barely see the big sign for the Model As Muse exhibit. (It's the big pink thing.)
And me, on the steps to the Met.
The exhibit was, of course, absolutely fabulous. If you ask me, it was far, FAR too short; I could have spent so much longer in there! On the walls were pictures of models in designer dresses, and then on dummies nearby were the actual garments! Yves St. Laurent, Dior, Chanel -- and all close enough to almost touch. I could see how all the work was done on them! It was amazing!
We bought the book that showcased all of the photos from the exhibit because we'd enjoyed it so much, and I bought a little pen, that looks like a lipstick, and has the Marc Jacobs logo on it. It's pretty well the only Marc Jacobs thing that I can afford.
The Metropolitan Museum is huge. I cannot emphasize how huge it is. And even once you have the map, it is impossible to navigate. It took us some time, after spending forever in the exhibit, of wandering through other galleries and searching for the stairs that would, apparently, take us down two levels to the cafeteria.
My Mom and I ate a cupcake and a chocolate chip cookie, split between us, for quick sugar, and a little bit of fruit. I also had a Snapple, but it really holds nothing to Nestea. I give you the finger, Snapple!
Unfortunately, the other gallery which we had really wanted to see, which was all Costuming, was closed. So we spent a little longer in the Met, before we left, and made our way back to the subway.
We got off on 57th this time, so that we could do some exploring. We went to the Apple Store -- which was busy as sin, you could barely get near anything! -- and then to FAO Schwartz, which I'd actually really been looking forward to. It was wonderful, of course, and I had ridiculous amounts of fun playing dress-up.
By the way, I've decided that this is pretty much my new favourite picture of me. Ever.
And now you all know that Harry Potter is a secret love of mine. I kind of wanted to buy some of the HP Merch -- they had Slytherin House Pins, and Tom Riddle's Horecrux Ring, and Lucius Malfoy's cane, to name a few -- but I managed to talk myself out of it.
Also, I need to confess something: Draco Malfoy is drop dead sexy. Call me.
Ahem.
After FAO Schwartz, we walked back downtown towards the hotel, and took a small break, cooling down in the air conditioning before heading back out again. We had Dinner at a Deli called Maxie's, which we'd been told about before. Thankfully, we were forewarned to only order one meal, as it would be more than enough food for both of us. We ordered the Maxie Cobb; bacon, turkey, tomato, lettuce, and guacamole on fococcia bread, with fries and coleslaw. Good thing we only ordered one meal, because when we opened it up back at the hotel, this is what we had.
Seriously. The sandwich alone was nearly 6" thick! And the 'slaw is seriously the best I've EVER had.
My Mom and I ate, and then set out to walk off some of our full-ness, since I was feeling restless, by going to Saks Fifth Avenue. Wow, talk about an oppressive atmosphere. All of the people just looked down their noses at us, and scowled.
Except for in the makeup section -- I went to look at the Dior counter, and you couldn't walk two steps before someone was asking if they could help, or direct you, or if you wanted to see their newest product! It was like being surrounded by a pack of ravenous wolves!
We didn't stay too long. It wasn't very welcoming at all.
Day Four.
This was the day where we didn't really have anything concrete planned. We'd been reading down on all of the Broadway shows that were around, and had narrowed what we wanted to see down -- the list was Phantom of the Opera, the Lion King, and Wicked, listed in order of my want. My Mom and I had been to see Phantom already, when it was on its run in Toronto, but it is undisputedly one of my favourite musicals of all time, one of the only things that can make me cry, without fail, every time, and I really, really wanted to see the differences between Broadway and Toronto.
We decided that we would be visiting the discount tickets booth in Time's Square, which sells remaining tickets on the day of, and see what was on sale. Whichever tickets we could get for the cheapest, we'd buy. It just wasn't in our budget to be spending the full price, which is basically anywhere from $130-$160.
In the end, it was Phantom. Each ticket was about $79.
I could have cried, I was so happy.
We sat near the ticket booth after purchasing, bathing in the warm glow of success, and eating awesome muffins from Tim Hortons. (Have I mentioned how Tim Hortons is essentially my lifeblood? I feel unhealthy.)
Me, glowing with satisfaction. And the Tickets board, displaying all the prices, in the background.
And then Time's Square, which my Mom seemed to be much more interested in than me. Thanks, Mom. Love you too.
We had some time before the Matinee showing -- which wasn't until 2 PM -- so we went exploring again. Just walking around, seeing what we could see, window shopping, and going into another Victoria's Secret (which also didn't have the bra I want in the proper size/colour combination. Grr.).
It was pretty hot out too. We had to take a picture, because we're lame like that.
And if it was 93 thirty stories up, imagine what it was like on the pavement, and in direct sunlight. Thank God for SPF 80 sunscreen, that's all I can say.
We stopped at Maxie's again for lunch, but instead of ordering a full meal, we just ordered slices of cheesecake -- my Mom had Strawberry, and I had Chocolate Capuccino. They were amazing, and rich, and delicious, and HUGE. Half a piece, and I was absolutely stuffed.
We went back to the hotel, changed, and rested for a little while.
Here's me sleeping off some cheesecake before getting all prettied up to see Phantom.
Eventually, we fixed our makeup, agonized briefly over what to wear, put on some heels, and then trouped out to see Phantom. Which was, of course, effing incredible. I don't even think I need to elaborate on that. Fucking. Incredible. Holy shit.
This time, I insisted on doing the tourist thing, and posed with the huge poster, because I really needed this picture.
This time around, I also actually bought a Phantom Pin, which I'm, of course, going to pin to pretty much everything I'm wearing, from now until the end of time.
We stopped at a place called Cafe Metro and got some Sandwiches for dinner, which were really nice, and which came in fun little boxes, which almost reminded me of Chinese Food boxes. Shortly after dinner, which we ate at the Hotel, I became restless again, and we ended up wandering to Sephora, where I bought the Diorshow Waterproof Mascara that I've been secretly lusting over for quite some time.
Eventually, we went to bed. Though I stayed up to watch Toddlers & Tiaras, because that show makes me laugh a ridiculous amount. People are idiots.
Day Five.
Unfortunately, our last day in New York, and our Plane was set to leave from LaGuardia sometime around 3 PM. So we only had about a half-day to get what we wanted done.
So we took our last walk through Time's Square, revisited all of the places we really wanted to see again (except for Macy's, which was too far away), and bought our last few souvenirs. The day wound down all too quickly -- almost before we knew it, it was time to go back to the hotel, get our luggage, and survive another insane ride to the airport.
We checked in, had our luggage checked, passed through security, and once again sat reading (and eating; we hadn't really had lunch, and wouldn't even have landed until 5 PM, so we bought some expensive airport food) until it was finally time to board the plane.
We had an hour wait to take off, and then the flight, which was also an hour, but which was much, much smoother this time. My ears did, briefly, stop popping.
Of course, we took more pictures from the plane, especially since it wasn't completely cloudy this time!
Looking out over New York Suburbs, shortly after takeoff.
Looking out over the Hudson River.
At this point, I think we were over Canada again.
Me being a moron on the plane.
We were thrilled to see Niagara Falls from the Plane. Though we were also confused, because we had no idea why we were doing a loop towards Niagara.
We also saw the CN Tower.
And a section of the 401 series Highway that amused me because I used it in art class for a project which I thought was really, really dumb. (And which I never did finish.)
Eventually, we collected our bags, and were picked up, starting the long, slow drive home, unfortunately at rush hour down the 401. Around 6:30 PM or so, we were finally home, and could start unpacking. Huzzah.
I miss you, New York. Your people made me feel pretty and appreciated, and I wish you'd adopt me as one of your own.
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