Well I like to get out and about as you know. So here I am on location in the Big Apple!
I'm up early, really very early, I cannot cope with time differences. I rise early and go to bed early (fat lotta good that does me in the city that never sleeps!) In bed, fast asleep before the party even gets started! Never underestimate the beauty of daybreak in a city though hahahahahah ).
First things first, the flight over was amazingly good. I prepped well for this one as is longer than my usual European destinations.
I have a few conditions on the list that makes me at higher risk of DVT, let's face it I could do without any added issues, so I bought flight socks and aspirin and moved around on the plane at regular intervals.
Knowing I'd be wearing flight socks I brought a pair of hotel slippers for toilet visits to save me putting my shoes back on. I collect them from hotel stays when ever I can (I save them for when we have parties at home so the ladies or gents come to that have something comfy to change into, but they come in handy for a multitude of reasons.
I think you can see it's a strong look but I think I can rock it!! Hahahahahahahah...
We arrived at JFK in good time - future note to self - expect to be in passport control for a couple of hours (bring water and snacks and visit the loo before you leave the plane).
Once in Manhattan we hit the ground running, we visited all the main attractions NYC has to offer, Tiffany, Saks, Cartier hahahahahahahah.
We LOVE this city, We're staying very close to The Empire State Building, so we had a good wander around. I've had a malted Vanilla milkshake that I've been craving since I came to New York Six years ago.
I love this city!
Dress from The White Company, Shoes from Valentino.
This Dress is an old favourite now. Perfect for travelling and sight seeing.
If you've ever thought British weather to be unpredictable you should try NY, last time we came it was October and it snowed!
We arrived this time to glorious sunshine and heat and then ended up having to buy umbrella's from a very nice chap near Times Square (and for a reasonable price too!) .
As Brits though a bit of rain can't dampen our spirits. :)
Today is a new day on our adventure, we're off to hit the shops amongst other rather lovely places.
Today's outfit is brought to you by Tommy Hilfiger. I love this Trench Coat style dress. Wear it as it is with the belt tied in front or over a top and jeans.
Many happy moments today but finding the Diner we went to last time we came was a big one. Gorging on my faves today pancakes and maple syrup followed cupcakes at Grand Central Station.
Road trip to Boston:
We decided to make this trip a little more fun, if you can make a holiday to New York any better - we tacked on a trip to Massachusetts, a visit to Harvard and then on to Boston.
Having never been before we didn't know what to expect but oh my - we loved it!!
We'll definitely be going back for longer at some stage.
Loved it all but especially loved the Clam chowder and Lobster Rolls. Absolute heaven on a plate (and I don't actually like lobster, I never eat it in the UK).
We also learnt about American/British history too, which funnily enough they don't cover in the UK, I'd heard of the Tea Party of course but didn't know what the catalyst was etc.
We bought some tea (of course) one of the 5 blends that were thrown into the sea. We'll give that a try once we get home, bit of a trek to get some more but I'm sure we'll manage. ;)
Back in the Big Apple and hitting the sight seeing hard.
Utterly exhausted, struggling to keep up my hydration in the heat and the humidity but so far I have managed to prevent to stomach pains, so all is good.
Dress from Oliver Bonas, Shoes from Ferragamo, Bag from Valentino.
I chose to wear a dress today to help prevent the gut ache that wearing tight trousers can often cause. I'm alternating every other day with dresses and jeans.
Oculus is the new station at The Trade Center it's absolutely stunning!
We walked our feet off. My advice start early in NY. We visited the World Trade Center memorial before the crowds turned up. It's so peaceful and beautiful, it's the most breath taking and moving memorial I have ever seen.
It is afterall the final resting place of many so it's far nicer to be there before people arrive and start taking selfies. Maybe it's just me but I wouldn't take a selfie in a cemetery and for me here is no different.
From here we went to the One world Observatory. Incredibly well put together for visitors. I cried at the big reveal. It's amazing, I mean I cry at adverts so it's not an actual gauge of how good it is but it is spectacular.
Having been a huge Friends fan from the beginning some 20 odd years ago Chris brought me here as a surprise. This is Little Owl or you may know it as The Central Perk. The food was amazing, I would thoroughly recommend brunch!
From there we had a short walk ( I say short, in NYC you can pretty much expect to walk between 20 and 25 thousand steps a day, we did and we took cabs for a lot of it) to another part of Greenwich to Carrie Bradshaw's apartment. Chris pulled out all the stops for this magical mystery tour date day!
The date was then fully complete with Mocktails at The Boat Hous in Central Park. This husband of mine is a keeper that's for sure. One of the best days out I've ever had.
Hard to believe but this holiday just keeps getting better by the day. We're certainly packing a lot in.
This morning was spent wandering Chinatown and Little Italy. Followed by a very retro, iconic movie location, brunch at Katz Deli of When Harry met Sally fame...this one was for Chris (I've never actually seen When Harry met Sally, but I guess I need to now!), then a real treat for us - we attended our first ever American sporting event...
The New York Yankees. We know nothing of any American sports but it was a really good experience. Loved it. Very social, extremely friendly and cordial.
The only down side was the intense heat and humidity. We're now burnt to a crisp and rather amusingly I had ripped jeans on (not the funny bit, I happen to loved my ripped jeans) and now I have a very weird tan mark's on my legs, how I'm going to get rid of them now summers over I have no idea. :)
Never thought the weather would be so hot this time of year...I brought jumpers with me! Hahahahahah, and people listen to my advice??
Amazing time at Katz Deli, now all I have to do is see the movie. ;)
I think this is not only my first time at the baseball but my first time in a baseball cap! Hahahahahah
Today is our last day in America, I'm truly going to miss everything but the humidity.
This has been such an amazing trip. I can't quite believe how much we've packed in to the last 6 days. It's been an absolute blast!
Today I've had to innovate. My bag has been quite heavy to carry round stuck to me. Not surprising bearing in mind how much we've eaten this holiday. So yesterday I bought myself some support undies...well I couldn't find anything I liked in the women's section so I bought a pair of men's Calvin trunk underwear and they are perfect! I usually wear thongs so to go from that to these is from the sublime to the ridiculous but they were so comfy. Supportive enough to gently hold my bag but not too tight over the stoma opening and super comfy! God men have an easy life, really very easy!! ;)
And the added bonus is if the wind blows my skirt up I can save my blushes and the turned stomachs of those around me! :)
We're now home from this amazing holiday, we had an absolute blast! NYC was as glorious as ever and Boston is on our radar for a return visit, I'm still salivating over the Clam Chowder and Lobster rolls!
The only surprising thing is the shopping, or the lack there of, I bought a few things of course but on the whole the prices are either pretty much the same as here or in some cases like the Tod's shoes I was after were far more expensive there.
But all in all and fantastic trip. I'm so grateful to my husband for making it truly memorable...well it will be once the jet lag wears off, right now I'm struggling to remember my name let alone the holiday hahahahahah.
So enthused and excited for our West coast, family road trip next year now! Bring it on!