It is weird to spend so much time wishing it was even closer to 30 degrees because the cold made it so I pretty much buried my head in my coat and rushed from place to place.


The second day was almost completely devoted to traveling to Brooklyn to see one of my favorite bands, Trust, perform. Seeing Trust was actually the reason I went to New York, I found out about the show only a month prior and was scrambling to get money together for it. Trust was awesome and did not disappoint at all, I only wish my pictures had turned out better, this was the best one. The funny thing too is that now that I've been home for a few days, they've announced more dates for their upcoming tour and will be in my area in April. Yes, I am going to that too.

I decided to take an earlier bus home on Saturday but had enough time to stop at a few places, including The Strand bookstore and Forbidden Planet! I highly recommend a visit if you find yourself in the area. Another few places I recommend are Books of Wonder, Amy's Bread, Generation Records, Rebel Rebel Records, and probably others I am forgetting.



I didn't take as many pictures as I had hoped I would and I didn't get to see all the places I wanted to see... can you believe I've still never set foot inside a New York museum or Central Park?! I might potentially go back for FFFWeek in June but time shall tell.

How did you make out this Christmas season?

That was a longer absence than I had planned, my apologies. I felt like I was catching a cold for a few days but it never quite progressed to a full on cold so I'm not sure if it is just allergies or what. On top of that I have what feels like a kidney infection, so yeah it has been a rough week and half.

Last Monday my roommate Dawn, her step-sister Amanda, and I had my Monkey drive us to the D.C bus terminal. As always with D.C. we got lost at first and ended up at a creepy place (vacant parking lot). Luckily the actual terminal was only down the street and around the corner but you know the GPS wanted us to panic first. We were all a bit surprised by the long line for the 12:25AM bus. We were some of the last few people in line to board but luckily Dawn and I got seats next to each other and Amanda sat a few seats in front us next to a guy. Once we stopped in Baltimore, Amanda turned around with a huge smile on her face and exclaimed "Hi guys, This is Eddie. He's from Australia" and proceeded to have him wave. It was the cutest thing.

I made the huge mistake of only sleeping an hour the day before our trip (I had so many errands I had to run and I was too excited and nervous to sleep) but I somehow thought I'd be able to get quality sleep on the bus, yes you might be thinking "not likely" and you'd be pretty much right. I attempted to sleep the entire rest of the way to New York City and I definitely snoozed but kept waking up in the oddest positions - head against chair in front of me, dangled over the arm rest in the aisle, etc. I also noticed that I kept waking up and everything looked like New Jersey for what felt like 3 years. Felt like we were in a time warp - don't start singing.

We finally arrived in New York City at 5ish AM. We had no idea what to do so we quickly decided we would take the subway as far South as we could go and then work our way up. While we were waiting for the subway we started talking to a dude who just moved to NYC from Texas. He asked if he could join us for awhile and we agreed.


We started off in the Financial District where many people were in a hurry to start their day of work. Many important people breezed by us with briefcases and what seemed like hundreds of construction workers surrounded us in every direction were there to work on the new World Trade Center buildings. I had not been to this part of Manhattan since my very first trip to NYC in 2004, it looks a lot different now, then the WTC area was just a massive concrete hole. I didn't take many pictures of the buildings in progress because I didn't want to hold up the foot traffic.




We walked along the Hudson River with the Statue of Liberty in the distance and tried to keep out of the way of the joggers. It was so beautiful there and because we were there so early in the morning there weren't many people just tons of over-friendly squirrels whom we fed graham crackers. We spent time at a schmacy market called Battery Place Market where I made mistake number 2 of not getting breakfast, I was still too nervous to eat.




 They all wanted to take the ferry over to the Statue of Liberty but I really didn't want to because you wait forever and also you can't get that close to the Statue, you can just walk around it but I went along anyway. We waited for like 2 hours and then after all that, I stepped one foot on the boat and remembered "I get really sea sick" so I opted to get off and meet up with them later. I'm really glad I did that because I was only on the boat for maybe 5 minutes and was already feeling nauseous and if I get nauseous the whole day is shot. I just wish I had remembered that fact earlier instead of waiting 2 hours and paying $13.00 but oh well.



I sat on a bench surrounded by flowers (and huge bees) sucking in the cool air to help the bout of sea sickness I was feeling. I love the way the top picture turned out with the dude looking out at the Statue, it almost looks like a picture from the past.


After I started to feel better I decided to take the subway to Brooklyn to visit Re/Dress. I was so excited that I waited outside for about 45 minutes because the store didn't open till noon. I meant to take more pictures but because I was the first person to go inside I felt silly taking any. I did however try on a heap of clothes and shoes, I made sure to look through almost everything twice and spent a good two hours in there.

I saw 2-3 things there that I actually own already, isn't that weird? My, what good taste you have Re/Dress =P. There was this one dress I tried on, it was a leopard print halter dress with a black band and gold accents at the waist, but it was a size too big so I put it back. I'm kicking myself now because the more I think about the more I like the dress despite it being too big and having a few accents falling off. I had very limited money so I guess it was for the best.

I wasn't going to share this but it is too funny not to, while I was waiting for Re/Dress to open I sat on the sidewalk (yes I know, you shouldn't sit on city streets) because my feet were already very achy. It wasn't until I had been sitting for a good ten minutes that I realized "Oh there is glass everywhere around me" so I got up and moved. While I was in Re/Dress I kept panicking thinking "what if I sat on glass? what if I don't notice till later that a shard of glass has found its way onto my clothing?" So I'm shopping and fooling with my clothes trying to shake out any glass that I'm now convinced is there. While I'm checking out at the register the lady ringing me up gives me a confused look and I explain to her I think I might have sat on glass. She is like "Well you weren't sitting on the streets or anything were you?" and I was like ... "No, that would be stupid..." *shifts eyes* because I felt so silly lol. This is how great the girls were, she even offered to check for me, I politely thanked her and then scurried off to the dressing room to check - turns out it was all in my head. It was such a great shop and the ladies working there were so fabulous.



After Re/Dress, Dawn texted me and said they were waiting for the boat back and that we should meet up to get lunch. I agreed lunch sounded good and she said it was my pick so I decided to go to Katz Deli. I could not find the right subway anywhere, I kept walking around in circles and getting further away, so I caught a pricey cab. I was just dying to sit down and I knew I couldn't walk it although I would have loved to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge for the views.



My attempts to get good pictures in the cab were rather unsuccessful, especially considering my phone was already almost completely dead. Stupid short lived battery, I have to stop using my phone as my camera but my phone takes better pictures than my actual camera does (usually). The cab driver was really great though, he even turned off the meter and drove me right in front of the restaurant after missing the turn. It was crazy busy in Katz, when I walked in I was handed a ticket and then I went up to the stations to order. It was so packed in there and I was so relieved to turn around with my food and see an empty table.


I was about four tables away from the infamous scene where 'When Harry met Sally' was filmed. I got a plain pastrami sandwich for $15.75 (expensive and I feel bad for snapping a picture of this woman in mid-sentence).



It was so yum, the meat just melts in your mouth and has fantastic flavor. I was so relieved to see Dawn and Amanda and even admittedly a little more relieved that the dude from Texas wasn't with them because he was a bit much to handle. I had no idea Amanda was a vegetarian until after she ordered a cheese sandwich and felt so bad for dragging her to essentially a meat market. But we all sat and enjoyed our lunches and shared some of Amanda's fries. It's about this time when I stopped taking pictures, I'm not sure why, I think it's because I was so sleepy.

Afterwards we decided to head over to Canal Street in Chinatown to do some shopping. We walked past some skeevy men having disturbing conversations and making crude comments about us. I felt a little uncomfortable in Chinatown, I must say, there were some shady characters and I did my best to look angry and walk past them, Amanda is from Wisconsin so she was a lot friendlier than Dawn and I. It was around this point that I toyed with the idea of taking an earlier bus home, I was so exhausted and afraid I'd keep the two of them from having all the fun they wanted to have. Words to the wise, don't take an almost 24-hour all walking trip on 1 hour of sleep haha. When I told Dawn and Amanda I was thinking of taking an earlier bus home they both were so kind about it and convinced me to stay. While we were standing there having this conversation about me potentially going home early, I spotted these great scarves behind us. I ended up buying one that was white with black skulls and I haggled! The woman at the shop said $18 at first and we settled on $13.00. Look at my haggle skills. After that we decided to head over to Starbucks where I found a table to charge my phone and chill out for awhile and they decided to go check out a tattoo shop.

Found this on Ami James blog.

They came back after stopping by the Wooster Street Social Club and were thinking of going back but had to sign releases if they did because they were filming (Wooster Street Social Club is where they film NY Ink with Ami James). I decided to hang back at Starbucks while they went because I didn't want even the faint possibility of being on TV. They said they would come back after they were done. About 2 hours went by and I was falling asleep in my book at Starbucks so I texted Dawn to see how it was going. She said they should be done filming soon and that I should head over. I really didn't want to be kicked out of Starbucks for sleeping so I decided to head over.


When I got there they were still filming so I had to sign a release, all I could think about at this point was "maybe they have a comfy leather couch?!" seriously that was my big desire at that point lol. So I sign the release and walk inside, it was so quiet in there you could have heard a pin drop, I sheepishly walked down the hallway to where I saw Amanda leaning on the receptionist desk with a look of complete boredom. They were filming one of the guys (Billy I believe) asking him questions and everyone else was just kind of standing around. Dawn came out from a changing room and said she was going to have her tattoo retouched by Tommy.

I don't know if you watch the show, I've only seen a few episodes myself but Tim, Tommy (obviously), Jessica, and Billy were there. Jessica walked past me and I was taken back by how gorgeous and tiny she was. I guess Megan had been there earlier and both Dawn and Amanda said she was delightful, I was bummed I didn't get to see her. Tim smiled at Amanda and I when I walked in. Tim seemed like a silly guy, at one point he was laying on one of the tattoo tables with his leg pulled up to his face. It wasn't very comfortable in there and we weren't allowed to move from our little corner so Amanda and I went outside and talked on the stairs in front of the shop. We were talking about what else had gone on while she was there, guys, and possibly getting a drink somewhere near by. There were some crew outside who overheard our conversation and suggested a bar around the corner and I talked to them about D.C. briefly. As Jessica was leaving she smiled at us and said "Good Night" which I thought was sweet.

So then we are sitting there and who approaches us but Eddie the Australian from the bus. I was like "Oooh Amanda, you sly fox" and she played it off like "Oh, what is he doing here?"

Then the three of us decided to check out this bar that was suggested to us but when we stepped inside it was packed so we decided to go a few doors down to a different bar (of which I have tried to search out on yelp for a good 30 minutes now and still can't find, its like it has picked itself up and moved just to stop me from figuring out what it was calllled). I found it, yay! I had to find it, it was driving me nuts.


It was called Papatzul. I had one margarita, chatted a little bit with Eddie and Amanda, and slept on my book bag the rest of the time. Dawn joined us a little while after, they charged her $400.00 for a touch up which seemed a bit steep.

I was so tired and kinda in heaven to be sitting down for a few hours, I would sit up for awhile and chat and then put my head back down. I got yelled at for sleeping in the bar by the bartender but I couldn't help myself, even with all the loud chatting and music I was falling asleep. After we left the bar (several hours and several drinks for everyone but sleeping beauty later) Eddie took the subway with us back to Port Authority, the three of them walked over to Times Square and I planted myself in line waiting for the bus. The bus came about 30 (our bus wasn't until 1:30AM) minutes early and I was frantically texting them making sure they didn't miss it. It was so cute when Amanda boarded the bus she had this big grin on her face and I was like "Looks like someone had fun" and she was like "Oh yeah I did."

It was a super long day and I had a really good time despite the fact that I fell asleep anywhere I sat longer then 30 minutes (I felt like a grandpa). I was really glad I hit it off so well with Amanda, that neither of them got annoyed with my sleepiness, and I was really glad we met some nice people like Eddie, who was a joy to talk to. I have to say, I can't tell you how happy I was to come home to shower and lay in bed with my fiance and kitties. Next time I go back I will make sure to get plenty of sleep and actually eat more than once to keep my energy up!

This is one long-winded entry, I appreciate anyone who actually takes the time to read all of this (and ignore how poorly written it is). I'm going to leave you with pictures of my tiny amount of loot from Re/Dress and a store in Chinatown.

I meant to make this post two days ago but in the rush to get packed and run errands before my day trip I didn't have the time to do so. I spent my entire Monday (yesterday) in New York City with my roommate Dawn and her absolutely adorable step-sister Amanda. It was a super long day and I'm really beat.


Full post and pictures coming soon. I'm still trying to spend today resting, relaxing, and doing laundry so I'll be back soon with more tales of the NYC.





I wanted to share these vintage pictures/drawings/postcards of New York I found from Christian Montone's Flickr. They are too amazing not to share.

I wanted to start off this entry with my NYC loot since it has been almost a full week since I last posted and I have yet to do so, as you may be able to tell, we spent many a New York moment in Forever 21. They had a pretty epic sized one in Times Square (4 levels) and I was mighty fond of their extensive plus size section - especially since we (by we, I mean the plus sized ladies) usually only get a tiny isolated corner, if any. I heard some girl walk by and exclaim "Oh, this is the heavy women's section." We went into two Forever 21's and total visits to Forever 21: 3.  Yep, it just kept popping up where we happened to be and also my little sisters/mother aren't really ones to shop at unknown places. I was all for hitting up the vintage shops in the East Village but what can you do.


This loot includes 2 short sleeve shirts (one white and sparkly peach, one aquamarine), two tank tops (one leopard print - one of my first leopard print pieces in a long time, and a fabulous black/white/purple/orange tunic that I looove), one long sleeve lace black top, and one grey striped cardigan. Two pair of earrings modeled against my Halo's fur, he missed me (he isn't on the desk honey... *eye shift*), and one black layered necklace. A pair of black rain boots with ribbon laced in the back (not pictured), and some purple eyeliner complete the loot. I'm happy to report I have worn everything with exception of the leopard tank which I'm saving for a sexy day, I haven't really had any sexy days in awhile (by sexy days I just mean days where I feel fabulous, I haven't been feeling too fabulous )= 

Also, the black lace top has a rip in it already, *pout*

As I said in my previous entry, my trip to New York was good and bad, the first day was spent in Times Square and it was raining goats and monkeys most of the day. My extremely large umbrella was making me super nervous so I kept either crouching under it or putting it way above me to ensure I wouldn't poke any eyes out. My outfit really did not work with my adidas shoes and I looked dumpy although to be honest I wasn't trying to be appealing just comfortable. We spent a lot of time getting lost on the second day and I spent a lot of it in agony because my feet, legs, and back were really achy. Traveling can be hard, trying to navigate an unfamiliar place can be hard and my Mom and I had a few arguments along the way. My mom and I have had a rocky relationship the past year or so and that reared it's ugly head this trip. Overall it was a good time and I feel bad for mentioned arguments but she was driving me a little crazy.


On the good side we had a lot of good food including some yummy Macaroni and Cheese from S'Mac, some absolutely incredible fudge from Dylans Candy Bar, some milkshakes and lunch from Serendipity 3, and some delicious french food from Le Parisien. My ideal vacation is full of shopping, going out to eat, people watching, and exploring so we did do a lot of that.

Posted this in previous post but it is new and improved this time, with back story!

We came across two protests, one in Union Square and one near us on the way to S'Mac, I really wanted to join in but my family kept pulling me away. I'm a bit passionate and love to see other people going to the streets to stand up for what they believe in, especially in the U.S where it does not happen very often (even when it should). I saw lots of cops and a little too much unwarranted aggression but I wasn't really sure what was going on since I only witnessed it for about 10 minutes.

Pretty doll in FAO Schwartz, has no relevancy to what I'm saying lol just wanted to share.

I had several really kind people talk to me on the streets, in stores, and at restaurants. There were a couple of really cute girls in S'Mac who struck up a conversation with me about the macaroni I chose and we talked about earrings briefly. A really nice (and kind of hunky, although I wasn't looking at him like that, just stating an observation hehe) walk up to us and give us directions for the subway, and a dude strike up conversation with me while I was standing watching the protest and chaos in the streets. That is part of what I love about big cities, striking up conversations with strangers and having a little tête-à-tête (I'm misusing that word a little bit but I love that word). 

On another note it took us only 3 hours to get from my mom's home in Eastern Maryland to New Jersey (only 5 miles or so outside Manhattan). I found that nutso, that was one quick drive! 

There was so much I didn't get to see but understandably so, it is a big city with tons to see. I didn't get any macaroons or cupcakes which was a bit of a bummer, I didn't get to stop by Re/Dress in Brooklyn (I am very saddened to hear it will be closing in November), and I didn't find me some vintage pieces. I'm really hoping I'll be able to talk my boyfriend into driving up for a day trip one of these days. I have yet to party/see a show/dance in the Big Apple and I mean, that is just a must!


Since then I have visited with my friend Row where we made many inappropriate jokes, I got some ridiculously sparkly eyeshadow, and we got stared at by young and old alike. Visited our friends D & Z where we played Assassins Creed Revelations (I think it was Revelations? Our dude was assassinating his way around Tuscany and Venice and having some "private time" on his gondola) and the four of us had some root beer floats with whipped vodka (you must try this combination, it is really delicious), and Jason and I went to a local restaurant for the first time where we ate excessive amounts of cheese. Oh and I got some local cupcakes!

Lastly, I'm going to share with you my new favorite band called Johnny Hollow! I love, love, love this band and have decided to go full groupie for them, I'm kidding, don't run away or anything. Give them a listen. I'll return in a jiffy, till then stay safe and uh, wear your goggles. I just felt like saying something silly like "wear your goggles."



P.S - How awesome is Autumn! Eeeek, me loves me some Autumn!