New York//Part 1

     

     New York City, a dream I finally got to turn into a reality recently. The twenty hour plane ride there was definitely worth it. After failing as a tourist and getting up late on my first day of travels, I went to the one place you are expected to see as a tourist in New York City- Times Square. Although it is a claustrophobes worst nightmare, it was extremely surreal to be somewhere i've heard and read so much about.

     After hitting up the Disney store and Toys"R"Us (those aren't JUST for children), I headed to The View- a revolving restaurant. I'd recommend going there if you are ever in New York- you get a great 360 degree view of the city AND they have the most delicious smelling chocolate fountain!

     Channelling my inner Blair Waldorf, I ended the night with a trip to Bergdorf Goodman- a luxury goods department store based on Fifth Avenue (description taken from Wikipedia!). I managed to pick up a classic grey jumper and the perfect pair of jeans for a great price (more on those later).
     The next morning was spent at Central Park. It such a refreshing change to walk into the park after being surrounded by buildings all day in the concrete jungle that is New York City.

     The highlight of my trip to New York was definitely boating on the Lake in Central Park. Surprisingly, I was actually quite good at rowing!

        Also, for all you Gossip Girl fans, down below is a shot of the place where Chuck and Blair got married!!

     From Central Park, I headed downtown to see the World Trade Center Memorial and the One World Trade Center. The new building is massive yet eerily beautiful!

     From there I went to Battery Park to see the Statue of Liberty (from a distance!). On the way there, I had the best (and biggest) slice of pizza i've ever had. I think the name of the place was Pronto or Presto pizza- definitely go there if you are in the area!

     New York was not what I imagined it to be like-I was pleasantly surprised. The people are all so helpful, I only saw ONE rat, I did not see any crazy people on the subway and I was able to hail more than one cab by myself!!!

          Stay tuned for part two of my New York adventures! 

Till next time...

Hello sunshine, come into my life.

Cardigan//Charity shop

Shirt//Asos

Shorts//American Eagle Outfitters

Shoes//Sketchers

Glasses//Portmans

Sunshine+Tree climbing+Piggy back races+Being silly with the best friend= A great day

Life Update.

   

  So, a couple of things have happened since we've last talked:

* I've finished my second year of University.

* I took my brother to get a haircut at a little barbers shop on one of the prettiest streets in Melbourne (Sadly it was the worst haircut he's every had!)

*I turned 21!

*I'm in New York and Montreal for a holiday!

     That's about it so far! Be ready for some great posts on my travels- so far i've failed as a tourist, I got up at 2 30 in the afternoon on my first day!

Let's go to the beach.

     

        After exams I always go through a period of restlessness- I don't have any urgent work to complete, I don't have anywhere to really be at a particular time and i've lost my usual sense of  routine. One downside is that I tend to feel a bit uninspired. Last night I watched The Fault in our Stars-so many feels. It was a well made movie and an excellent representation of John Green's book. The movie got me inspired to not sit around and broke my post-exam void.
       Today, I went to the beach just because I could. It was beautiful as usual-although a bit chilly. I love the beach, definitely one of my favourite places to go to anywhere in the world. Here are a few photos that I took.

       Where do you like going to get inspired or to just relax? 

Procrastibaking.

   
       Exams. That dreaded biannual period when procrastination levels peak. Some engage in cleaning, others binge watch television shows or Youtube videos or the World Cup. I choose to bake- what's better than a procrastination activity with a built in reward mechanism? Something i've been procrastibaking these past few weeks ( I've already made these twice in the span of two and a half weeks) are MnM cookies.

MnM Cookies

Ingredients:

*125 gm softened butter

*60 gm castor sugar

*60 gm brown sugar

*1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

*1 pinch salt

*1 egg

*200 gm plain flour

*1/2 teaspoon baking powder

*100 gm MnMs (I used the crunchy kind)

*1/2 teaspoon salt

*1 song to dance around to when you are performing your mixing dance (I chose this song)

Procedure:

Beat the sugar and butter until its nice and creamy and then mix in the egg, salt and vanilla extract until smooth. Mix in the rest of the ingredients and perform the mixing dance ritual. Combine until it forms a dough.

Shape into a ball or sausage and wrap with cling wrap. Refrigerate for about two hours. After two hours, preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Either cut the dough sausage into round slices or roll into small balls and place on a baking tray lined with baking paper.

Bake for around 5- 10 minutes depending on how big or small they are. They should be golden but still soft when you take them out. Let them cool for at least 10 minutes before eating them.

   

      Thankfully tomorrow is my last exam, after that I'll be a free bird for a month and a half-YAY! I have a few exciting things planned for these holidays, so I cannot wait to start doing them!

Till next time..

Coffee & Cake.

       
        Exam period is always a stressful one. Doesn't help that i'm also watching The O.C. instead of studying- currently Ryan is planning to drop out of school to work on a boat, ooh what will happen next! When it gets a bit too much, I like to bake to de-stress. I've been loving the blog, a little opulent, and found a recipe for vegan chocolate cake-with a dash of coffee. Chocolate cake that saves the world ( I mean it is more sustainable to not eat eggs and drink milk), i'm in! This cake was so simple to make, it took under an hour to find the ingredients, mix it all up, bake and shovel into my mouth!
         Although I'm not much of a coffee drinker, I do love the smell of freshly brewed coffee, plus it's only apt to have the smell of coffee wafting around with all the open books strewn all over the house! Thankfully, in another two weeks i'll be done with exams and I can watch the O.C. without feeling guilty!

Till next time..

Touch that butt.

          I stumbled upon this gem on Pinterest, and it had to be shared. For those you who are a little confused, in one of my favourite Disney movies, Finding Nemo, Nemo the fish- you know what, just watch this and it'll make more sense.
         Fear is an important part of life, but where we draw the line about how far it controls our actions is what matters. Fear can close doors even before we have a chance to see what is on the other side. Have the sense to know when something is downright dangerous or irresponsible but have the courage to know when to push yourself to 'touch the butt'!

     Now get off your butts and touch that butt!!