Today was Memorial Day and so America had a long weekend which meant so did I, horray!! Friday night I packed my bags to go to Alissa's and didn't get home until a few hours ago (its now Monday night). We were suppose to stay the weekend in the Hamptons however our free accomodation/party thrower fell thru so we decided just to go in on the Saturday for the day. Alissa, Alice, Frannie and I woke up at 5am (I forgot there was a 5am) to take the 2ish hour trip to the Hamptons. Unfortunately the weather was awful - slightly chilly but ridiculously windy with chances of rain. We got to the beach and had planned on spending all day in the surf sand and sun but instead only spent a very windswept hour walking along the sand. I'm not just saying this because I'm Aussie, but our beaches back home are so much more beautiful and easily accessable. We were lucky we went in May because as of June you can only park in the Hamptons if you have a very expensive summer long parking pass - the people and area are very snobby and exclusive. The beach itself was virtually secluded and had a very different feel from an Australian beach - more somewhere to walk, read, relax as opposed to have fun, play sport, sun bathe and hang out like on the GC. It was definitly a lovely experience though to see what everyone always raves about! We went through a quick walk and bite for eat in a small Hampton town, before heading back home.
We then picked up Sarah and Steph and all had dinner at the delicious CheeseCake factory! Sunday and Monday were fun, lazy, save money, shopping, movies, chatting days but always lots of fun when I'm with my New York girls!!
Monday, May 25, 2009
Death by Chocolate...and Rollercoasters...
So unfortunately even though I've only missed one weekends entry it makes me feel like I am ridiculously behind in the blogging! This entry is from last weekend (16th/17th May)...
Friday night was the first time I've got dressed up in a costume since me and Krystle's fantabulous (and untoppable) Disney party in December. The girls and I played a Murder Mystery Dinner Party entitled 'Death by Chocolate' in which we had to figure out who killed famous chocolateuir Billy Bonka. I played classy yet eccentric archeologist Dr Doris Johnson and we also had Chocolat Bertrand (Alice), Dame Barbara Carthorse (Sarah), Dr Sigmund Fraud (Steph), Marchioness Duchamp (Alissa), Maria Von Schnapp (Frannie) and the murderer Mike Bison (Lou). We had so much fun listening to t he crazy french investigator on the game's dvd, and reading our booklets with dialogues and clues and asking crazy questions! Lots of photos which you've probably seen on myspace, and something we can hopefully do again if we find another cheap murder mystery kit (I got the one we played for $5)!
Sunday was the big day we had planned for a while - going to Six Flags Great Adventure!! Six Flags is a theme park that they have all over America and the one we went to was in New Jersey about 1 1/2 away. Its sort of like movie world because it has the superheroes and looney tunes characters. Its more of a thrill park then Disney, because so many rollercoasters and not as much aimed at kids/families. It was the first time we had ALL the girls together - Me, Sarah, Frannie, Steph, Lou, Alissa, Alice and Emma. We all piled into Alissa's family's car and got there in about 2 hours because we got a little lost (stupid GPS!!). The rollercoasters were absolutely INSANE!! I went on a wooden rollercoaster that had a drop that was almost vertical, and only had the lap bar not the one that goes over ur head...it was so bloody scary I seriously thought I was going to fall out!! I then chickened out on another rollercoaster that had a similar drop because it only had a lap bar too and that just scared me too much. We went on a log ride, and the first time we didn't get wet at all, so we decided to go again and got SATURATED! It was such a cold and windy day that we had to use this huge dryer that they had next to the ride!! We stayed all day so about 10 hours of theme park fun haha. We also got old time photos which was so much fun, dressing up as barmaids and can can girls!
Friday night was the first time I've got dressed up in a costume since me and Krystle's fantabulous (and untoppable) Disney party in December. The girls and I played a Murder Mystery Dinner Party entitled 'Death by Chocolate' in which we had to figure out who killed famous chocolateuir Billy Bonka. I played classy yet eccentric archeologist Dr Doris Johnson and we also had Chocolat Bertrand (Alice), Dame Barbara Carthorse (Sarah), Dr Sigmund Fraud (Steph), Marchioness Duchamp (Alissa), Maria Von Schnapp (Frannie) and the murderer Mike Bison (Lou). We had so much fun listening to t he crazy french investigator on the game's dvd, and reading our booklets with dialogues and clues and asking crazy questions! Lots of photos which you've probably seen on myspace, and something we can hopefully do again if we find another cheap murder mystery kit (I got the one we played for $5)!
Sunday was the big day we had planned for a while - going to Six Flags Great Adventure!! Six Flags is a theme park that they have all over America and the one we went to was in New Jersey about 1 1/2 away. Its sort of like movie world because it has the superheroes and looney tunes characters. Its more of a thrill park then Disney, because so many rollercoasters and not as much aimed at kids/families. It was the first time we had ALL the girls together - Me, Sarah, Frannie, Steph, Lou, Alissa, Alice and Emma. We all piled into Alissa's family's car and got there in about 2 hours because we got a little lost (stupid GPS!!). The rollercoasters were absolutely INSANE!! I went on a wooden rollercoaster that had a drop that was almost vertical, and only had the lap bar not the one that goes over ur head...it was so bloody scary I seriously thought I was going to fall out!! I then chickened out on another rollercoaster that had a similar drop because it only had a lap bar too and that just scared me too much. We went on a log ride, and the first time we didn't get wet at all, so we decided to go again and got SATURATED! It was such a cold and windy day that we had to use this huge dryer that they had next to the ride!! We stayed all day so about 10 hours of theme park fun haha. We also got old time photos which was so much fun, dressing up as barmaids and can can girls!
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Aussie Aussie Aussie...
In an effort to save some money (didn't work so well though...) this past weekend was spent with the girls milling about town.
Friday night was suppose to be a movie night, watching 'Twilight' in Alice's big home theatre but we all ended up talking and giggling, and didn't end up seeing any of the movie! But we did have alot of fun, shown by our 3am bed time!!
The next morning Alice, Sarah and I joined Steph who was working looking after her host kid's at their school fete. It was a pretty poor effort for a fair, but we made our own fun. I had the best cotton candy on a stick, yum so good, and we also found an international food stall that was selling green fizzers - which are one of my absolute favourite lollies!! They are apparently from South Africa, but the lady that served us was Australian, and knows one of the girl's host parents so she is going to let her know of the address of a place where we can get aussie food - yay! They were $1 each, so expensive but so worth it for a taste of back home!
In the afternoon we got some coffee, then went shopping. I had to buy some cheap summer dresses/skirts because its starting to get hot - and i got some really cheap things at a place called Burlington Coat Factory (which has cheap coats and all other clothes, all year round).
Sunday was another lazy day, we bought some cheap foam yellow visors from a craft store and decorated them so we can all wear them at silverbay (where I am going for my study component of my visa). They say aussie on the front, then when we flip them up they say oi...they are really lame but we love them and are going to wear them alllll weekend. We even made on that says honourary Aussie for our German friend, Frannie!
We went to a diner for dinner and while at the shops we bought a $5 murder mystery board game which we are going to play on friday night, instead of our usual ten dollar each trip to the cinemas!! Then saturday another fete (this one is behind my house, and suppose to be better with actual rides and games) then sunday is SIX FLAGS! I am SO excited...but will tell you allll about that, next week
XXX
Friday night was suppose to be a movie night, watching 'Twilight' in Alice's big home theatre but we all ended up talking and giggling, and didn't end up seeing any of the movie! But we did have alot of fun, shown by our 3am bed time!!
The next morning Alice, Sarah and I joined Steph who was working looking after her host kid's at their school fete. It was a pretty poor effort for a fair, but we made our own fun. I had the best cotton candy on a stick, yum so good, and we also found an international food stall that was selling green fizzers - which are one of my absolute favourite lollies!! They are apparently from South Africa, but the lady that served us was Australian, and knows one of the girl's host parents so she is going to let her know of the address of a place where we can get aussie food - yay! They were $1 each, so expensive but so worth it for a taste of back home!
In the afternoon we got some coffee, then went shopping. I had to buy some cheap summer dresses/skirts because its starting to get hot - and i got some really cheap things at a place called Burlington Coat Factory (which has cheap coats and all other clothes, all year round).
Sunday was another lazy day, we bought some cheap foam yellow visors from a craft store and decorated them so we can all wear them at silverbay (where I am going for my study component of my visa). They say aussie on the front, then when we flip them up they say oi...they are really lame but we love them and are going to wear them alllll weekend. We even made on that says honourary Aussie for our German friend, Frannie!
We went to a diner for dinner and while at the shops we bought a $5 murder mystery board game which we are going to play on friday night, instead of our usual ten dollar each trip to the cinemas!! Then saturday another fete (this one is behind my house, and suppose to be better with actual rides and games) then sunday is SIX FLAGS! I am SO excited...but will tell you allll about that, next week
XXX
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Living the dream...
I just had one of those moments where you stop and think, "I can't believe I am doing this!" I can't believe I am living in New York and shleping all over the East Coast living a traveller's dream! I've only been here four months and already I have
♥ Seen all of Philadelphia
♥ Been to Washington D.C and seen the White House, Capitol Building, Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial
♥ Explored Boston with a side trip to Cambridge and Harvard
♥ Gone to the top of the Empire State Building
♥ Looked into the eyes of the Statue of Liberty
♥ Seen 2 amazing seasons of Central Park
♥ Made life long friends
♥ Done tourist-NY - Times Square, indoor ferris wheels, Planet Hollywood, Hard Rock
♥ Strutted down 5th ave, Carrie Bradshaw style (ok maybe not quite like her but channeling her)
♥ Seen a Broadway Show
♥ Walked the halls of many famous museums and art galleries - Museums of Art, Natural History and American History
and so much more....
the next few weeks and months are booking up fast and sometimes I can hardly believe that I am actually here and actually doing all of this....
its nice to live the dream!
♥ Seen all of Philadelphia
♥ Been to Washington D.C and seen the White House, Capitol Building, Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial
♥ Explored Boston with a side trip to Cambridge and Harvard
♥ Gone to the top of the Empire State Building
♥ Looked into the eyes of the Statue of Liberty
♥ Seen 2 amazing seasons of Central Park
♥ Made life long friends
♥ Done tourist-NY - Times Square, indoor ferris wheels, Planet Hollywood, Hard Rock
♥ Strutted down 5th ave, Carrie Bradshaw style (ok maybe not quite like her but channeling her)
♥ Seen a Broadway Show
♥ Walked the halls of many famous museums and art galleries - Museums of Art, Natural History and American History
and so much more....
the next few weeks and months are booking up fast and sometimes I can hardly believe that I am actually here and actually doing all of this....
its nice to live the dream!
Monday, May 4, 2009
D.C with A.J & K.C...
This past weekend was the much anticipated trip to Washington D.C (capital of America) to see AJ & Casey (KC) before AJ flies home to Australia in a few weeks (and of course to get some sights in)! Would you believe it was raining! Last time when the 3 of us (and Allysha) were in Boston rained, I think we are jinxed! So after a painful 4am wake up call, I got a 5.23am train to the city to catch a subway to the bus to take me to D.C! 5 hour tedious bus ride later and I was meeting Casey at the bus stop and we were on our way to 'the mall' the stretch of grass going from Capitol Building to Lincoln Memorial, with all museums and things in between. We first walked to the Washington Monument (the pencil) and then to the WW2 monument and Lincoln Memorial. The washington monument was better to see from far away, the ww2 was really pretty with lovely fountains, quotes and a block of stone with each state's named engraved on it. The lincoln memorial was surprisingly powerful. It was quite a big building and all it housed was his statue, which itself was quite huge. But everyone was really silent inside and he just looked down on you with such power.
We met AJ at lunch time, which we had in 'The Old Post Office Building' before making our way to the American Museum of History. We only had a quick blitz through but saw Dorothy's red shoes, Kermit the frog, Oscar the Grouch and a room with American History items. The shoes were definitly the best!!
Then another hike to the other side of the the mall to see the Capitol Building. We didn't go inside but did see the outside obviously!! The White House was next and the back was closed but we did see the front! It was definitly NOT as big as I thought it would be but it was still great to see Mr Obama's house!
After all the walking and lugging my bag around, we finally stopped at Ruby Tuesday's for dinner (I had nachos yummmmmy). Then the girls took me back to their places (45 minutes away) in Maryland (different state...American's pronounce it Merry-lend).
Whilst Saturday only drizzled in the morning, Sunday POURED all day long! Most of the things I wanted to do were outside or we had to walk too :( So instead we went to the amazingly awesome so much fun waaaay cool INTERNATIONAL SPY MUSEUM! WOOH! It was so cool (except that u couldnt take photos that was ridiculous) they had all kinds of gadgets that spies use, and information about spies and games and interactive components. You could crawl through air ducts,and tunnels and listen to bugged rooms! It was fantastic! The gift shop was good too with lots of merchandise from spy shows/movies like Pink Panther, Spy vs Spy, 24, James Bond...unfortunately they only had Get Smart dvds no merch :( I did get a Spy vs Spy shirt though which I love!!
So the rest of the day was just spent chillaxing at the cinemas and starbucks because it was just waay to wet to do the rest of my plans! But thats ok, even though AJ is going home soon, Casey will still be there and her family was nice enough to have me this (and I'm sure any other) weekend!!
Overall was a fun fun trip, D.C was not as great as I expected but was still good!
We met AJ at lunch time, which we had in 'The Old Post Office Building' before making our way to the American Museum of History. We only had a quick blitz through but saw Dorothy's red shoes, Kermit the frog, Oscar the Grouch and a room with American History items. The shoes were definitly the best!!
Then another hike to the other side of the the mall to see the Capitol Building. We didn't go inside but did see the outside obviously!! The White House was next and the back was closed but we did see the front! It was definitly NOT as big as I thought it would be but it was still great to see Mr Obama's house!
After all the walking and lugging my bag around, we finally stopped at Ruby Tuesday's for dinner (I had nachos yummmmmy). Then the girls took me back to their places (45 minutes away) in Maryland (different state...American's pronounce it Merry-lend).
Whilst Saturday only drizzled in the morning, Sunday POURED all day long! Most of the things I wanted to do were outside or we had to walk too :( So instead we went to the amazingly awesome so much fun waaaay cool INTERNATIONAL SPY MUSEUM! WOOH! It was so cool (except that u couldnt take photos that was ridiculous) they had all kinds of gadgets that spies use, and information about spies and games and interactive components. You could crawl through air ducts,and tunnels and listen to bugged rooms! It was fantastic! The gift shop was good too with lots of merchandise from spy shows/movies like Pink Panther, Spy vs Spy, 24, James Bond...unfortunately they only had Get Smart dvds no merch :( I did get a Spy vs Spy shirt though which I love!!
So the rest of the day was just spent chillaxing at the cinemas and starbucks because it was just waay to wet to do the rest of my plans! But thats ok, even though AJ is going home soon, Casey will still be there and her family was nice enough to have me this (and I'm sure any other) weekend!!
Overall was a fun fun trip, D.C was not as great as I expected but was still good!
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Hot Child in the City...
It was incredibly hot on the weekend! About 90 degrees farenheight which is like 32 celcius. But after having such a cold snowy winter, and we also had a bit of rain last week, the heat surprised me! One of the aussie girls that flew over with me, Laura, flew in from Seattle for the weekend. I was a bit worried I would have to do some of the things I'd already done once or twice before, but we ended up doing all new things which was great! Saturday, after breakfast in Central Park, we headed downtown, to Battery Park at the very tip of the island, and boarded a very rocky ferry to Liberty Island (home of the Statue of Liberty, duh! :P). The ferry ride was awful because everyone was all squashed in and I felt sea sick. But, as with the Staten Island ferry last weekend, the view was magnificent. I would ride the ferry all the time just to see the view of downtown and the New York skyline. There wasn't really anything to do on Liberty Island but see the statue, haha, but it was good to see it up close and it was relatively cheap to get across on the ferry ($12). When we went, you weren't allowed to walk up inside of her, but we got close enough.
After we got back, we went to 5th avenue, because Laura was thinking of going up the top of Rockerfeller Centre (is about same height as Empire State Building) but she decided she didn't have enough money once we go there. Rockerfeller is the building with the famous gold statue out front, and all the flags. Theyhave ice skating in the winter. We couldn't find the Aussie flag, but at a store nearby they were flying the Australian and New Zealand flags for ANZAC day, whch was nice because it wasn't even an Aussie store (maybe NZ, but I dont know...it was called Cole Haan).
Then we had dinner and lined up at TKTS which is where you get cheap Broadway tickets. Most are about 50% off, so we got tickets for Chicago which still ended up being $70!! But I was so excited to see a show! It was a beautiful old theatre, and the show was great but not what I expected. It was very minimalistic so they only had one costume each, only props were chairs, no backgrounds, little dancing. Great show but if I'd known it was like that I wouldn't have paid so much! Next I want to see Lion King and Wicked - something with more pizzaz, bigger better costumes and backgrounds and dancing.
Sunday was just as hot and sweaty! I went into the city with the girls from my area (while Laura visited a museum) as we were planning on having a picnic in central park. We walked about 30 blocks from Grand Central up to the Great Lawn which is a part of the park that has a huge area for playing sports/sunbathing/picnicing etc. There was so many people it was unbelievable! We had been to an organic food market and gotten fresh fruit and yummy salads to eat - plus some famous yummy cupcakes. It was lovely just laying in the sun, catching up and being relaxed.
That night we had a surprise party for Alissa, as her birthday was on the tuesday. We had a BBQ and all the aussies were there, so it was a nice catch up, and we had dinner and played a boardgame.
Another wonderful week in the city and with my friends - off to D.C this weekend! xxx
After we got back, we went to 5th avenue, because Laura was thinking of going up the top of Rockerfeller Centre (is about same height as Empire State Building) but she decided she didn't have enough money once we go there. Rockerfeller is the building with the famous gold statue out front, and all the flags. Theyhave ice skating in the winter. We couldn't find the Aussie flag, but at a store nearby they were flying the Australian and New Zealand flags for ANZAC day, whch was nice because it wasn't even an Aussie store (maybe NZ, but I dont know...it was called Cole Haan).
Then we had dinner and lined up at TKTS which is where you get cheap Broadway tickets. Most are about 50% off, so we got tickets for Chicago which still ended up being $70!! But I was so excited to see a show! It was a beautiful old theatre, and the show was great but not what I expected. It was very minimalistic so they only had one costume each, only props were chairs, no backgrounds, little dancing. Great show but if I'd known it was like that I wouldn't have paid so much! Next I want to see Lion King and Wicked - something with more pizzaz, bigger better costumes and backgrounds and dancing.
Sunday was just as hot and sweaty! I went into the city with the girls from my area (while Laura visited a museum) as we were planning on having a picnic in central park. We walked about 30 blocks from Grand Central up to the Great Lawn which is a part of the park that has a huge area for playing sports/sunbathing/picnicing etc. There was so many people it was unbelievable! We had been to an organic food market and gotten fresh fruit and yummy salads to eat - plus some famous yummy cupcakes. It was lovely just laying in the sun, catching up and being relaxed.
That night we had a surprise party for Alissa, as her birthday was on the tuesday. We had a BBQ and all the aussies were there, so it was a nice catch up, and we had dinner and played a boardgame.
Another wonderful week in the city and with my friends - off to D.C this weekend! xxx
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Gigglefest 2009
Sunday (after Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday) was spent talking to Krystle and Jessica back home on msn/skype - which was fantastic! Always good to talk to the people I miss so much! Jessica 'Chut Chut' Grogan and I made a pact to talk once a week, and alternate who gets up early/who stays up late so YAY more talk time with my sister!
Then I went out with the girls for a day of shopping. The 'girls' refers to the Aussie girls in my area
Alissa and Alice: Who are both from Lismore, and are leaving in November. They extended so are now half way through their second year. In America they live about 10mins away from me, on the same street and are best best friends! There host families are very close friends too.
Emma: Who is from Tasmania, and flew over with me in January. She lives about ten minutes away and has twins that are boy and girl, one year older then my twins!
Lou: Who is from Sydney and flew over the week AFTER I did. Her host family is moving to Boston in the summer, so she is spending the first half of her year here, and her second half there which is an interesting change! Lou also lives...you guessed it, about 10 mins from me
Sarah: From Central Coast NSW, was in California for 2 weeks but then transition, and has now been in New York for 2 weeks. We only met her on Wednesday but she is awesome!
Stephanie: From Central Coast NSW, arrived Saturday!! She is braaannnd new and we met her on Sunday.
Frannie: Who is from Germany but spends so much time with us, we think she may have turned Aussie! Frannie is also in her 2nd year.
So there you have it! 'The girls' who are soon to be joined by an Aussie boy in May! We were ALL in the craziest, giggliest, hyped up mood on Sunday as we shopped and then went to dinner at California Pizza King.
At the moment we are trying to organise going to a Yankees game, a picnic in Central Park and a weekend in the Hamptons (which I had to pass on because too expensive)...but its good to have so many like-minded friends in one area!
Then I went out with the girls for a day of shopping. The 'girls' refers to the Aussie girls in my area
Alissa and Alice: Who are both from Lismore, and are leaving in November. They extended so are now half way through their second year. In America they live about 10mins away from me, on the same street and are best best friends! There host families are very close friends too.
Emma: Who is from Tasmania, and flew over with me in January. She lives about ten minutes away and has twins that are boy and girl, one year older then my twins!
Lou: Who is from Sydney and flew over the week AFTER I did. Her host family is moving to Boston in the summer, so she is spending the first half of her year here, and her second half there which is an interesting change! Lou also lives...you guessed it, about 10 mins from me
Sarah: From Central Coast NSW, was in California for 2 weeks but then transition, and has now been in New York for 2 weeks. We only met her on Wednesday but she is awesome!
Stephanie: From Central Coast NSW, arrived Saturday!! She is braaannnd new and we met her on Sunday.
Frannie: Who is from Germany but spends so much time with us, we think she may have turned Aussie! Frannie is also in her 2nd year.
So there you have it! 'The girls' who are soon to be joined by an Aussie boy in May! We were ALL in the craziest, giggliest, hyped up mood on Sunday as we shopped and then went to dinner at California Pizza King.
At the moment we are trying to organise going to a Yankees game, a picnic in Central Park and a weekend in the Hamptons (which I had to pass on because too expensive)...but its good to have so many like-minded friends in one area!
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