#jcinnyc

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Life is art, art is life. #themet #jcinnyc https://www.instagram.com/p/Bz3ThzgAI9MZaRCPGVqxz3Jn5SL_tUM12_-XR00/?igshid=75x8aeoxl9ye

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I got a new axe. #playitloud #jcinnyc (at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bz1csvTgPvLP_wBhQAJFvPz2W-1081hQj0WR5o0/?igshid=npg0bt5e6z2r

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Peak 6 train. #jcinnyc #subwaysurfer https://www.instagram.com/p/Bz0fQN1AD0TJVhNUWM1m4mTV0Busr-PXIf6vXI0/?igshid=13zxvghvtbgph

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15. Harlem, Halloween and Gentrification

The weekend after all the rebel bingo, gigs and basketball Loz, Rachael and I stayed in the flat with wine. The boys were in Boston so we did a good old traditional girls night in. I don’t know what your tradition is, but mine is wine and food. And now, Laura attempting to do handstands. Saturday we chilled, went to the mall (dammit we’re so American) and then stayed in and watched scary movies. Well, we watched one scary movie (the conjuring, GO AND WATCH IT NOW IT’S GREAT) and then a film called ‘The Frighteners’, which is really very funny and again, I recommend it, and then some desperate housewives. An eclectic mix to be sure to be sure. 

Sunday was culture day. We went up to Harlem and were given a tour of the history of Harlem, the first people to live there, the architecture and the streets and what they all meant. That place is FULL of history and is actually really lovely.

There are still some more distressing blocks, like in any neighbourhood, but the atmosphere was really friendly and much more community based than other areas of manhattan. The tour guide joked that they’d know up there when the place had been completely gentrified when there are starbucks and wholefoods. Well, there are already starbucks, and there’s a wholefoods being built. There are clearly mixed feelings in the area about this gentrification, and I happen to agree with some of it. The council (or american equivalent) are putting in place stores which are infamously expensive (buying two coffees in starbucks can easily cost you more than 10 dollars), and wholefoods? well. If you want to buy a cucumber for 2 dollars feel free to go forth and prosper, but I like mine below the dollar mark. Many thank yous and bye. And the tour guide had the point that, they’re putting these expensive shops throughout the district, renting apartments at market value (instead of the rent being a direct percentage of what each tenant earns) but peoples wages are not going up. So it is almost inevitable that those earning less will be pushed out of their area as rent rises and food becomes more expensive. There are already $1 million plus apartments and town houses in the area. It’s not going to take long. Food for thought. 

And while we’re on food, after the tour we went for a sober brunch at Syvlia’s, which is a really famous soul food place. There was live jazz (we went to two places, both of which had live music which was GREAT. I didn’t want to leave the first place) and chicken and mac and cheese. A legit meal here apparently (all carbs, just, all carbs). We rolled ourselves home. Watched a film and called it a night as the working week returned. 

This week really, in all honesty was a week of halloween build up. Pumpkins and candy EVERYWHERE.

Halloween arrived, and as usual I didn’t have a costume, so went for the staple all black with a spider’s web on my face. Before dressing up we grabbed some food and then headed to the Village parade. It was SO BUSY. Holy smokes. But it was great, I love a good parade and the atmosphere was really fun. There was a building that had a turret on it and they’d made it look as if there were octopus tentacles consuming the building. The floats were class and apparently Whoopi Goldberg was on one but I must have missed that :( 

We then fought our way back to newport to get ready to head out in Hoboken for the night.

(so.darn.busy)

Had a great time dressing up …. we both went as some very well planned difficult characters …. headed downstairs, saw it was raining profusely (Hoboken is a wee walk away and heels had been involved in our costumes) so we decided against going out and instead watched scary films. All round success really. 

After halloween the weekend was pretty chilled to be honest. Made some fancy food and went for some drinks with Rachael, Laura and her parents (who are hilarious). 

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13. Columbus weekend, 20 dollar brunches and gigs galore

On Thursday and Friday I chilled out, stayed in, got pizza, Laura was given the wrong pizza and a small tantrum occurred which was hilarious for me, not hilarious for her  (it was very very funny and I make no apology for chuckling a lot at the whole situation). Laura went out Friday night and they returned incredibly sober looking…. 

The weekend arrived, as it does weekly, and I went for brunch with many a Mountbatten to a place that did 20 dollar brunch (absolutely unheard of and it was solid too). 

We went of hair of the dog – I have got to stop going to hair of the dog, then moved our way to Brooklyn to a place called Berry Park, which provided a fabulous fabulous view of the Manhattan skyline (it never gets old).

We then moved onto another bar, which turned out to be a gay bar, and there was a show. The guy/gal in the show had absolutely amazing legs, we were all in awe. I then headed home as I quite wanted to go back to DUMBO on Sunday to see a colleague’s show and also the photography display and the art festival going on there.

Which is exactly what Laura and I did. Some of the art was a little wacky for us, although a lot of it was incredibly meaningful.

I love dumbo and I love art and it was sunny so the whole day was great. 

We also booked tickets to go see pretty much Laura’s all time favourite band, You Me at Six. I am yet to be persuaded they’re fabulous, but wouldn’t be one to turn down live music so bought a pity ticket ;) Nothing much happened during that week. Loz and I went for a Mexican on Thursday. We both ate a LOT. The hunger came quickly and we ordered a shared starter, and then we ordered mains. I got nachos and didn’t even nearly finish them. But have decided the place was amazing and will definitely take people there when they come to visit … the sangria was really really tasty. quaffable, as mum would say. On friday night Loz and I just picked up a HUGE bottle (or two) of wine and played music loudly in our flat, had a listen along. We were gonna make fajitas but got distracted by chips and guacamole. Yet still drank wine. There was a house party upstairs which we went to for a while. Called it a night pretty early cos the next day we were returning to the 20 dollar brunch place before doing a rather epic pub crawl…

Turns out, unsurprisingly, we were quite hungover on saturday morning. But the God known as Eddie the housemate went out on a bagel run and got everyone (we were all suffering) bagels from down the road. Flat out the best bagel i’ve ever had (except when I came to NYC for the first time, mum will know the ones). 

Issues was it was HUGE. And we were going to brunch. And I was hungover. Took me a while to get into brunch, and I wasn’t in any way hungry. However, I took one for the team and powered through. We moved onto the pub crawl. There are a chain of pubs in manhattan who’s titles are along the lines of ‘Hair of the Dog’, ‘Down the Hatch’, ‘Three Sheets Saloon’ and another one…and some others as well. Regardless, this required us to go to four of them (the three i mentioned and the one whose name i’ve forgotten). It was not messy until it was messy. And then it was messy. Loz, Rachael and Dan were not tired. At all. The people on the PATH train found it hilarious (as did I). 

The following day we pretty much just wondered around the mall, watched the film Gone Girl (IT IS AMAZING. Does the book justice I think, films always miss things out but it did bloomin’ well) and then made fajitas and sat at a table. It was almost like a Sunday roast, minus the roast. We then bought tickets to watch BASTILLE. WHUUUUUUUUUUT. YES. YES. YES. YES. YES. I REPEAT. YES. The week then moved bloody slowly until Bastille arrived on thursday. They.Were.Amazing. Bah. I love Bastille as it is, but they are phenomenal live.

The only thing that brought it down was the venue. It was at Radio City, usually the venue for the dancing group The Rockettes, so it was seated. To be honest, Laura and I just wanted to get up and have a dance, felt a bit awkward sitting down. Safe to say we got up at the end when Flaws, Get Home, Of The Night and Pompeii in a row at the end….So.Good. Friday was a quiet one for us, welcoming in the long weekend in style. Saturday was a catch up on sleep, skype, and me time, with a trip to the mall. We did partake in something called a ‘Pot Dinner’ where we all bring a pot of something.

Turns out we’re not known for our prowess in the kitchen. Loz and Rachael made cookies and sweet potato fries…We put them to cook on foil because we had no grease proof paper. Safe to say the majority of them burnt on the bottom. The majority of the gluten free ones were okay…the double chocolate chip were a) incredibly burnt on the bottom and b) SOLID. ROCK HARD SOLID. I died. RIP ME. I died (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGVg6gjBJ2w for this reference). 

We didn’t realise this until we got to the party and had one before everyone else. Swiftly attempted to hide them but they eventually became the mockery of the night (it was very funny). It was BYOB. And we all know how that ends. Sunday was a casual day, I made stir fry and skyped a lot of people. Monday, Laura and I had the day off, for Columbus day (hmmmm, just grateful for the day off). We were FABULOUS New Yorkers. Went to the Natural History Museum. Which was AWESOME.

Saw a blue wale (stuffed…) and it was huge. I still cannot grasp how large it was. I don’t understand how it fits in the ocean (no one comment, I know the ocean is a large large place. BUT IT WAS HUGE).

We then wandered around central park and found a waffle van. Mmmmmmmm. They were really healthy waffles….ahem. um. hmmmmm. I’ve never properly been in Central Park (I’ve been to the zoo and been on a horse and carriage ride), it’s lovely. We went up Belvedere Castle, which gave a beautiful view of the park and made me feel like Rapunzel. Let down your hair!!!

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12. Brooklyn, Brooklyn and more Brooklyn

Salut! Sorry, I have just realised how long it has been since I’ve done a blog post. 18th of September. Whoops. No shame. 

So after fajita and chicken wings fun the weekend descended. On the Saturday I ventured into Brooklyn to take some photos and generally do some exploring. We went round DUMBO (Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass, apparently), had a hot dog, I took a TONNE of photos and it was fabulous.

It was also really warm. I thought it was going to be cool; it wasn’t cool in any way shape or form. A jumper was a bad choice. MILK WAS A BAD CHOICE (10 points if you get the reference, good luck mum). We then walked back over Brooklyn bridge, have to say it was a tad crowded….A bicycle nearly killed me once or twice (okay, I’m being melodramatic, calm down), but some of the views were fabulous. I really loved how you could look through modern steel girders and out onto the calm(ish) water. Was well pretty innit. 

  Once I’d returned to Manhattan madness I made my way uptown to midtown, lololol, to meet Anna, Sara and Dan for drinks (and eventually food) on a rooftop bar. It was great fun and in no way at all did we rack up a massive tab (which once split was manageable, but still, WHUT). We had beergaritas, where they plonked a corona in your drink (don’t knock it till you’ve tried it kids), and jugs of normal margaritas. It was fabulous.

(sara's photo)

After the bar and passing out at the bill, I ummmm….it all got a bit hazy just then. But we went to Hair of the Dog and then back up to Brass Monkey. I still had my big camera in my bag wrapped up in socks, so called it a night around 1am, aww yeah I’m pretty sure I did well.

The following day Dan and I went to Central Park Zoo because Dan had a corporate pass, so we got in for free. We saw sea lions, Red Pandas (GOOGLE THEM NOW).

The back of a Red Panda, they weren't very sociable when we went....

We also saw many a snake and penguin and then a snow leopard. It was nice to go but made me sad because they all had such small enclosures, and Mr. Snow Leopard looked so grumpy.

Dan then got dragged into a street dance show ‘we need a white guy’ and then pulled him from the audience. Yes it was as funny (and borderline racist) as it sounds.

We then grabbed some food and then headed back to NJ. 

ALAS. NO. It turned out we had got the LAST train going into Manhattan from NJ. So despite that fact that it was probably a mile or two at most from where we were in NYC to home, we had an absolute nightmare getting back home. We went up to Penn station, out to Newark, changed at Newark for another train, changed again and FINALLY got home three hours later….safe to say I needed to pee. 

The PATH train being down led to havoc the next day when we all wanted to commute into NYC. Anyone who wanted to go to 33rd street had to go via the World Trade Centre train and then get the subway up to wherever you wanted to go. This got expensive fast, and annoying even faster. It was down for a total of three days and BOY the complaining was worse than when it rains for more than a solid two weeks in Manchester. There was one point where they said it would be down ‘indefinitely’ and I nearly lost my shit. Pardon my French. But I did. It is the ONLY logistically sensible way to get from Jersey to NYC. I am not taking a 9 dollar per trip ferry from miles away. No. Sorry Mountbatten that is not going to happen. Ah, all dem feels.

Wednesday evening I met up with Anna in Brooklyn (DUMBO again, cos it’s amazing) and we planned to go to this amazing photography show. Alas, we turned up and it was closed on Wednesdays…whoops. However, there was some incredible street art around, there was a suspicious Banksy which we decided wasn't a Banksy because it was pealing off the wall...

There was also some more legit street art too. 

We also enjoy an absolutely stunning sunset within the streets of Brooklyn Heights and down by Pier 5, where we found a rooftop bar (as usual) and enjoyed a truly splendid view of the sunset over Manhattan.

Eventually made our way very slowly back from DUMBO to home. It was a stunning evening, and do not worry. We returned later that week for the photography show. Over and out for now.

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11. Birthday, BBQ chicken wings, Bouquets and extras

Birthday bouquets. 

So Monday was my birthday!! I woke up early and opened the collection of cards I’d received over the week. 

Just want to say a massive thank you to the pals at home who sent out cards. It meant so much and they all made me incredibly happy. First birthday away from home in a different country. THESE, made it so much more festive. Y'all know who you are. (Obviously, my parents...duh). Love n hugs. 

Then I went to work, where my parents had delivered some flowers. This made me ‘well up’ a bit  (read - became an emotional wreck and hid it behind the fact I had a cold).

Eva sent round a fabulous work email saying happy birthday, pointing out I shared a birthday with Prince Harry and I should sit down and have a ‘cuppa and a slice’, I found the whole email rather hilarious. One colleague bought me some mini cupcakes from Melissa’s which were REALLY GOOD, and another bought me a huge american cookie which was consumed slowly throughout the day. Much food and happiness.

(mini cupcakes, red velvet, mint chocolate chip, cookie dough)

I bought the office loads of cookies, which went in the 15 minutes I went outside to FaceTime my parents. Dad set party poppers off at one point during the FaceTime call and scared Hadley off into another room - not that I could see this from my end. I ended up carrying my flowers (which came in a glass vase) and the balloon that accompanied it on the rush out PATH train (imagine, someone taking a huge bouquet of flowers with a glass vase and a foil balloon on a rush hour tube….), I don’t think I made many friends then.

I came home from work and there was ANOTHER bouquet of flowers waiting for me from Vicki. Hurrah. Friendship is an amazing thing and I love it dearly. 

  My flat mates got me a card and cake. Cake in America is weird, they don’t have icing they just put cream on top. Weird….but good. No comment. Help.

We then all went out to Mills Tavern and got ‘Unlimited Chicken Wings’. I thought they just would dump a load of chicken wings in front of me and that would be that. BUT NO. YOU WOULD BE MISTAKEN. You’d finish your wings, they’d take your plate away AND REPLACE IT WITH MORE. AND MORE. UNTIL YOU ASKED THEM TO STOP. I was a tad crafty and said stop after one too many and saved those wings for dinner the next night #budgeting. It was 10 bucks for as many as you want. So we did utilise. I think Henry holds the record of 35 wings…

Moving on from birthday festivities 

Tuesday I had class and instead of getting the tube up I decided to walk the 26 blocks to 42nd street. I walked up Park avenue. It is lovely once you get off Park Avenue South (which is just like every other ave. in NYC. I know it seems like I'm now taking it for granted. I'm not. I promise.)

  Wednesday night I went over to a friends flat and we made fajitas. Originally he was going to make me fajitas. But as many know, I’m a bit of a control freak so it very quickly became a group effort… 

  (and yes, that is a college style red cup you see in the corner. WHUTWHUT.)

And that brings us up to date!! I’d quite like to do a post a week…I wrote the first part of this post last saturday I was doing well…until I failed to post it! So we’ll see how it goes. Until next time, check out the ‘americanisms’ tab for everyday comments. 

Love n hugs. xxx

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9. Baseball, Bars, Boogying, Mexican and Music

On thursday we went to Yankees vs Red Sox. It was great, personally I loved it. The atmosphere was fabulous, the food was good (if not a little over-priced) and the YANKEES WON. After losing for the entire game in the last inning they got two home runs and one. Absolutely ridiculous.

The crowd went crazy, music blared really loudly. Amazing. Was a bit of a trek back to Newport from the stadium though, ooft. Dan basically fell asleep on the subway. It was SO FULL. Packed of thrilled yankees fans. Not gonna complain there. 

  Then thursday we met up at 1st avenue again for drinks and went to a loooovely restaurant near by which had great decor.

  Laura and I headed back to Newport where we went out to a club called ‘Reign’, loads of Mountbattens were supposed to be there, but they got kicked out before we arrived. Needless to say we had a great night bopping along to the music. We got back at ridiculous o’clock and watched vampire diaries while eating popcorn. Safe to say I joined the gym on monday. 

(view from my gym, whutwhut)

Saturday was mental. We went to a party at MOMA PS1. Basically a massive rave. Skrillex were confirmed as headliners about an hour before we arrived, so that was siiiiiick. So much fun. It ended at 9pm (lol, I know, it started at 3pm and by 9 everyone was absolutely trashed). I went home as I didn’t want to spend any more money (eeek) but some people went out and that sounded hi.la.ri.ous. 

  The next day was 100% recovery day. We went to this Mexican restaurant where they cut the guacamole in front of us. It was so tasty and not too expensive!! I want to go back, luckily, it’s really close haha.

Some people went out to ‘Mr Sunday’, but hell noooooo I had work the next day (there are still some people who haven’t started their placements yet because their background checks haven’t come through. Yet they still get paid. Don’t, just don’t).

(monday, tuesday, wednesday, work, gym, food shopping, class...blah)

Thursday I went to a free art show at the Brooklyn Museum, I love Brooklyn. It’s calmer, and really arty, I am missing having music in my life as much as I am used to from uni, and Brooklyn brings that back. 

  This art show was interactive - sort of. It was set in a museum and then in between the art work there were musicians and dancers. All different types of dance, modern, street, ballroom, and then there were bands, with incredible singers, instrumentalists.

(sorry for the blurriness, my iPhone has a stella camera...)

It was fantastic Anna (referred to from now on as little Anna, sup gurl) and I loved it. We then went to this retro little bar near the museum. Got ‘small plates’ (starters) and they turned up and we were like, this is basically a main meal. I might bear that in mind in the future, because starters are always cheaper but here they’re also big enough to be a main … money saving magic. We were joined by Laura and tall Anna, they headed back after a wee while and little Anna and I headed into Manhattan to a place that was doing free drinks for women, yay, FEMINISM. We arrived in time for 2 free drinks…lol. So we headed home, and walked passed a bar who’s happy hour was from 12am to 2am…well why not. We went in, sat at the bar, got the 2 for 1 offer and loved life. We were two females, sitting at the bar, with very english accents, so we ended up getting all our other drinks free. The bar man just kept putting fireball whiskeys in front of us….yay for feminism…HA! hilarious.

(Just a cool photo. I live in Newport. Proof the view is awesome).

Safe to say on friday I was a tad tired. Headed home after work instead of going straight out for drinks, and made some dinner, took some time and then headed to a huge flat party in one of the other buildings. I am genuinely surprised it was not shut down….genuinely. It was so loud and messy but it was great fun to socialise with loads of people all at once, be a social bee. We headed out to Hoboken afterwards, I lost everyone so headed back to the flat where I found Laura watching vampire diaries. Perfect.