New York City

This time last week I was 30000 feet up in the air, stretched out in Business class on a flight to Newark airport. Yes, I have finally visited the Big Apple, the City that Never Sleeps, NYC. The holiday started brilliantly with us being upgraded to business class with full access to the posh lounge at the airport. It was like the coolest thing ever! There was all these posh fruit juices and coffees and other breakfasty things on offer and these bottles of champagne on ice (It was like 7am). My only complaint was that they had all of these free papers and magazines and they didn't have the Sun or Vogue. Maybe I'm not quite cut out for the business world lol.

When we got on the plane, we found we had these like booths with chairs that turned into beds. Oh Em Geeeeee!!! To top it off the air hostess came round with glasses of champagne before we took off. I totally could get used to travelling like that!

Mum, Laws and I

When we had checked in and all the jazz, we went straight out to start sight seeing. To do this we jumped on one of those open top buses. My auntie had told  us this is the way to see New York and she was so right.

Dad and Laws

Times Square

Central Park

Mum and I

After we went for a spot of dinner in a Steak House called Gallaghers. It weren't bad but I'm not really a steak kinda girl. We then jumped on the open top buses again for a night tour. The lights were amazing and gave the place a real romantic feel. Even the tour guide kept going 'come here with your sweetheart' or 'this is a perfect place for a date' and there I was sitting with my family- result.

Times Square by night.

We went to bed super early, well about 10 but considering it's the city that never sleeps that was really poor. We had been up ages though, like considering we had been up since 5, or midnight NY time and my dad had been up well over 24 hours seeing as he went to work before we left, it is kind of acceptable. 

The next morning my mum and dad were up ridiculously early, like 6 am and  because we had one room, Laws and I were rudely awoke. NOT IMPRESSED. We ended up leaving the room super early and got on the Staten Island ferry at like 8 o clock. We had no idea what is on Staten Island and to be honest we still don't. We literally got there, walked up the road and got back on the ferry back to Manhattan. It was cool to see the city from a distance and obviously we had a good view of the Statue of Liberty. We were going to go to the Statue but we didn't really have time. We got close enough. Laura and I wanted to have photos near it pulling the same pose but we never got the opportunity cos we didn't want to offend anyone. When we got back to Manhattan a man started talking to my dad about helicopter rides so my Dad and I went in one. It was super cool, a tad scary before hand as I had visions of having my head cut off by the propellers or being blown off my feet into the river. The journey only lasted 15 minutes but it was deffo an experience. After that we walked up to Ground Zero. There is a load of building work going on so we couldn't get to the memorials but we had just seen them from the air. It was super moving and it was ridiculous to think what it would have been like there on 9/11. We then walked up to the Empire State Building. We queued for two hours to get up there and although the views were wicked, I really wouldn't bother again. It was 86 floors up I think and it made your ears pop it was that high. When we were up there we saw this pigeon sitting on the ledge which we thought was pretty awesome, so we had a picture with it. After that we went for pizza in this little pizza place. It was one of those places that serve by the slice- so cool- and I must say it was really yummy. Plus you got refillable cokes which is always a win in my opinion :) In the evening we went to see Rock of Ages on Broadway. It has always been my dream to see a Broadway show and I must say I wasn't disappointed. I saw Rock of Ages in the West End in January and thought it was bloody amazing. On Broadway? It was even better. I think it was mostly due to the crowd because there was waiter service during the entire show which meant most of the audience were pretty drunk so the atmosphere was out of this world. 

Staten Island

HELICOPTER!

PIGEON!!!!!

On Saturday we went to Grand Central station and went in this wicked little cafe for brunch. It had THE most amazing cheesecake in the world! I'm not even joking. If you ever find yourself lost in New York, get this cheesecake. I think the place was called Juniors- maybe? Just ask someone for the best cheesecake and I'm sure you'll find it :) Laura and I then hit the streets of NYC on our own. We wanted to go shopping and our parents aren't the shopping type. We went to Macy's. We literally walked in and walked out again. it was far too busy and we really didn't have the patience for it. We only had a  few things we wanted; I wanted Taylor Swift's perfume and some new converse and Laws just wanted some converse. After a day of hitting the shops we came home with everything we wanted. I also got some Covergirl makeup which was totally awesome. I think I probably annoyed Laws though cos I kept going 'New from easy, breezy, beautiful, Covergirl' just because I could. In the evening we were originally going to go up the Rockafella building but the queue was again ridiculously long so we went to see Jersey Boys on Broadway. Another wicked show and it is just as good as it is in the West End, although the Frankie in London is better the Broadway version in my opinion. 

♥

On the Sunday we went for a walk around Central Park. It was so unbelievably beautiful and when you are there you had no idea that you were in New York cos it was so natural. It was a really beautiful day too which made it even more magical. We stopped by the lake where they filmed the boat scenes in Stuart Little and had a drink and enjoyed our last few hours in the city. I had like the best Cream Soda also which made it more awesome. When we finally got to the airport, we were over the moon to find we had been upgraded to business class again- RESULT! The trip was out of this world and I'm definitely going back when I'm 21 so I can experience the night life which New York is so famous for. 

Stuart Little

Central Park

Road Trip

Sorry it has been sooo long since I posted but I've been waiting for my Fay to upload some photos for me to use in the post. On Saturday I went to a party and drunkly I decided that the following day we should go on a road trip seeing as I can drive. So, on Sunday afternoon I picked Fay up from her house and off we went. My friend Ryan lives about 15 minutes away from me so we went to pick him and Fay's boyfriend John up from there. I had only ever been Ryan's once and came from a completely different direction so I am sure you can guess what happened- we got lost. I took the exit off the roundabout too soon and ended up going in the completely wrong direction. It was all good fun though as we sang along to some cheesy CD I've had since I was about 7 and we eventually picked the boys up.

I can not park to save my life. I thought I was getting the hang of it but oh no, when we finally got to Southend and I attempted to park, I couldn't do it. CRINGE!!! There was this massive queue of people behind me and the bloke in the car behind me gave me a clap when I finally got in the space. I could've died!

We walked down the seafront and sat on the beach for ages. I can't really remember what we did, just sat on the pebbles and listened to some music. It was such a lovely day and the sun was so bright, Ryan ended up wearing my sunglasses- bless. Later on, Fay and I went for a paddle in the sea. The boys were too silly to come in too and stood on the beach like lemons waiting for us.

We went in the amusements along the front too. We didn't win anything, only played on the little two pence games. Fay and I did relive our childhood playing on the dance mat though. We finished the day laying on a grassy hill thing overlooking the sea and just sat there for ages soaking up the last of the rays. We showed Ryan 'The Duck Song' as, shock horror, he hadn't seen it. For all those who haven't seen it, here it is:

Em xox

Jenson Button eat your heart out :)

I am very pleased to announce that I passed my driving test yesterday. The feeling is overwhelming when they say 'Congratulations you have passed'. I actually thought I had failed because I was like five minutes from the end of my test when a lorry almost pulled out on me and I swerved out the way and I thought 'crap that's cost me the test' but thankfully I only got a minor for it. I cried when I found out- not like balling my eyes out but just  a few stray tears. I was so unbelievably happy. Then the examiner went through her report and I really weren't properly listening. My other two minors were for my pulling in- I'm really rubbish at it and I was thinking I really don't mind that I can't do it cos in reality when am I going to have to pull over on the side of a main road? 

I rang my mum and dad and my mum screamed and my dad cried. My dad is like this burly 6foot 3, 21 stone stone man and I've never seen him cry before so I was super surprised when I came home and he had blood shot eyes. Insuring my car was absolutely ridiculous! My little Poppy is only a KA and she isn't worth much more than 600 quid but the cheapest insurance was £2500. What. A. Rip. Off! I did it anyway and since I've been driving all over the place singing at the top of my lungs. I must look like a right weirdo because I get well into it and proper belt out James Blunt. I feel well like Uncle Bryn from Gavin and Stacey lol :) 

Em xox

I'll be there for you...

Since I am always chatting about my friends on my blog, I thought I'd do a whole post dedicated to pictures of  them so you all know what they look like :)
Em xox

Me and Laura in Tenerife 2011 

Fay and I with our mums on my 18th birthday

Fay, Me, Char, Alice, Anna and Jazz in 2011

Rachel, Vicki and I in Kavos 2011

Me, Jazz, Stu and Fay in 2012

Fay, Me, Stu, Rachel and Alice 2012

Me and Tom 2012

Bus Crew

The Wombats

Rach, Alice, Emma, Vicki, Char and I on my 18th

The Tilbury Lot; Max, Charlie, Jem, Rosie, Hannah, Me, John, Fay, Maria and Em

Jack the Ripper

Yesterday I met my cousin Kayleigh in London. She lives in North Yorkshire but was down visiting for a few days. Anyway by the time we got into London it was like 4. We were walking to Tower Hill station from Fenchurch Street and Kayles was attracted to these Jack the Ripper walk posters so we decided we'd go on one. Considering I've lived in London my whole life, I was surprised to find a tourist attraction I hadn't done yet. We booked our tickets and made our way to Kentish Town, another part of London I hadn't been to. We were only going there because Kayles was meeting a friend to sell her Black Stone Cherry ticket to. Kentish Town is certainly not a nice part of London, with potential squatters wondering around and pervy men honking their horn at us. I've never understood why people do that. It's not like it's in the slightest way attractive and I'm hardly going to marry him as a result. It does give you a nice ego boost though.
Anyway at 6 we left Tower Hill station to go on our walk. It was really interesting actually and I found a few nice bars to go to in the future. It was also cool to see new bits of London that I would have otherwise not known about. It lasted an hour and a half and after we went to Brick Lane for a curry and my god it was amazing! We were absolutely starving so it tasted that extra bit special.
Em xox

Sassy Sundays

I am fully aware that it is now Thursday and I haven't blogged in a while so I thought I'd fill you in. On Sunday, I went to Romford with Jazz and Rachel for Sassy Sundays. Basically Sassy Sundays is just a cheap night so seeing as we are students, it's perfect. We started the night in Yates and managed to consume 2 pitchers of some cocktail fairly quickly. It was peng, I must admit. During this time I let slip when my driving test was. It was completely accidental- they were prying into why I wasn't going out on Thursday night and I had to admit it was because my test was on Friday. FRIDAY. AS IN TOMORROW. OMG!! Anyway, we then went on to our usual bar- Missoula. We had literally just walked to the bar and out of nowhere this bloke slaps my bum. I had never met him in my life and when I turned to look who it was, he just smiled like some perv. His mate later went on to slap Rach's arse too. Rachel and I started on a bottle of white wine and a round of sambucca shots. We made it some sort of thing to buy shots with every round- bad idea. We left about 1 (I think) and Rachel's mum picked us up. I was last to be dropped off and it was THE hardest thing ever to try and converse with Sharron after I had drunk lots of alcohol. She was nice to me though bless her, she was probably thinking what a piss head.
The next morning I must admit I felt a tad sensitive and considering I never get hangovers, this was a very weird feeling.
Em xox

Girl Racer- almost.

So yesterday I had a mock driving test. I had a relatively good drive although I did get four minors in the same box which equals a fail :( however on a happier note, my instructor says I can still take my test next week. SCARY!! In the evening I went to a birthday party and I've come to the conclusion that I'm always left overs. For example about 2 guys chatted me up after being turned down my friend earlier. Jazz and I then went on to a club in Romford where she got chatted up and I just ended up with the friend. I actually believe that I'm destined to be the friend that ends up with the wingman who doesn't want to be there- you know like Smithy is when he first sees Nessa in Gavin and Stacey. Anyway I'm back out tonight with Jazz and Rachel, let's see what happens. Em xox