New York, New York

So, here is the rest of my American adventure, with the latter part being in New York City, the city that never sleeps (it really is true).

On the 19th August, early on in the morning, we set off to New York City. Our hotel was right by Times Square and easy walking distance to loads of lovely places. We got settled in and ate in Times Square and then walked around various places and had a nap.
Then at 7ish, I got ready to go to BROADWAY to see WICKED at the Gershwin Theatre! And let me tell you, that night was one for the history books. Honestly, one of the best nights of my life, Wicked was everything I wanted it to be and more. (Apologies for the clichés, but I honestly don't care because it was amazing!) Anyway, the storyline was amazing and our seats were great as they were really near the front and they were 'partial view', but I didn't miss a thing! I literally got goosebumps during Defying Gravity, the song before the interval. It was such an amazing feeling at the end when the cast received a standing ovation from everyone. I will definitely be making my way back to Broadway to watch Wicked again!
On the 20th August, we set off with breakfast and then walked around Times Square. We went past Madame Tussaud's and Ripley's. We went to the Rockefeller Centre and walked around that area before making our way to Central Park. We stayed there for a good hour or so soaking in the sun and listening to a Japanese singer in training. There were ducks and terrapins in the pond and we sat on the boulders. Then we got hungry and went towards China Town where we found a restaurant to eat at. We went for bubble tea afterwards and then ended the day by walking around New York and chilling at the hotel afterwards.

On the 21st August, we had breakfast yet again and headed out to the tube station in Times Square to get the train to the harbour where we'd be able to get to Liberty Island. We waited around 2 hours to get onto the ferry and then we arrived on Liberty Island where we could see the Statue of Liberty. Afterwards, we took another trip to China Town for food and bubble tea. Then, it was time for more sight seeing with Brooklyn Bridge, The Financial District (Wall Street, NY Stock Exchange, etc.) and Ground Zero. Whilst the others made their way back to the hotel, a few of us went on to go to Times Square at night time to take pictures and eat ice cream. Then we returned back to our hotel and at around 2 am, we all gathered in one hotel room and had a sort of leaving party. My aunty and her boyf went to buy pizza, chips and drinks whilst we all chatted and reminisced.

And finally, on our last day, we had a few hours to spare so us kids went to Ripley's Odditorium in Times Square. It was a really interesting place and we did a laser race which was really fun too! Then we went to a BBQ restaurant where I had this amazing steak and tried this steak burger (Americans really know how to do burgers, I'll give them that). After lunch, we got all our things from the hotel and made our way to the Subway, but it started raining so hard, it was ridiculous. We got soaked and our tubes were cancelled so we had to walk and get loads of other trains to try to get to the Air Train to JFK. After lots of stress, we got changed at the airport and then boarded our plane.





WICKED!






NYC, Central Park, Rockefeller, Times Square










NYC, Liberty Island, Brooklyn Bridge, Ground Zero

Hope you like the photos! Enough writing for me now, I'm off to a sleepover at my friend's house.
Happy blogging!
Chloe xxx

Back to reality!

Hi all! I got back from holiday on the 23rd in true British style with torrential weather bestowed upon my arrival. I had such an amazing time in America and it was honestly such a great two and a bit weeks with my family. I already miss everyone and truly cherish family.

So from where I left off on my last post, we set off on our journey to the ranch in rural Chicago on the 13th August. It was really hot there and we started with some fishing and I caught my first ever fish! It was a very proud moment and it was actually really exciting :-) Later on, we ate loads of food and gathered to listen to some of the group sing and play guitar. After that, we all piled out into the garden to get a camp fire going. We toasted beef franks and marshmallows, which were delicious. Overall, a fantastic day. On the 14th, we did some more fishing and also went out on the pedalo into the water which was great fun! We left later that day and it was such a lovely experience.

Over the duration of our last few days in Chicago, we went to Michigan Avenue for some shopping as well as trips to Target and Jewel Osco. We also went to the cinemas twice in two consecutive days. We saw Inception (which didn't really live up to all the hype, for me) and also Eat Pray Love (which, again, was disappointing, although it's Julia Roberts so hey). The weather was amazing and breezy for the last few days and I am definitely making my way back to Chicago at some point in my life.

I'll be back to look back on the latter part of my trip in New York City! For now, here are some photos from my trip!


At the outlets: Gap t-shirt, Portobello Market skirt and Doc Marten's.

















So that's all for now! Like I said, the New York part of my holiday will be coming shortly. Hope you all like the photos, they're only a small selection from the 600+ that were taken! I will also be talking about my results for 4 GCSE's that I took this year (I'm in Year 9) and yeah! Other than that, it's been a great summer and I'll be looking forward to a week of doing nothing before school starts!

Happy blogging!
Chloe xxx

Chicagooooo

Hi, all! So, basically got here on Saturday 7th and I've been having a great time. The weather is stunning and there are so many great sights to explore. On Sunday, we went to the Chicago outlets and I got two amazing buys from Ralph Lauren: A pair of beige cropped trousers for an amazing $15 and then a cable knit jumper for $60!

On Monday, we went to the Field Museum and then went for dinner at a restaurant in Korea Town. On Tuesday, we went to Lincoln Park Zoo and then had steaks at home. Yesterday, we went for a 10 mile walk and went to the beach by Lake Michigan and then ate tacos later on (I've developed a newfound love for tacos, seriously). Today, we went for food in China Town and then some of us went to Michigan Avenue for a couple of hours to shop a little bit. My holiday in Chicago has been amazing so far and I love it here, even though the heat is something that I'm not used to at all. Tomorrow, we're going to a proper rural ranch in Chicago and we're gonna be fishing, toasting marshmallows and stuff.. I'm so excited!

Here's just a quick picture of me by the beautiful Lake Michigan!

Hope everyone's summers are going brilliantly. Happy blogging!

Chloe xxx

A tale of two cities...

Hi all! I'm currently blogging from Chicago (first city!) and I'm loving every second of it. Yesterday, we went to outlets and I got some amazing buys, which I will share with you really soon! Also, I woke up an hour ago to Oreo ice cream for breakfast and now I'm going to get tacos for lunch!

And as promised, here is the second part of my London (second city!) adventures.
On Monday 2nd August, we did some more sight-seeing, mostly around Waterloo, the South bank and Blackfriars, along the embankment the pier and the bridges and then the Tate Modern. We also walked around pretty much the entirety of Central London and sat in Victoria Embankment Gardens to eat lunch, bought from an eatery called Wasabi. By the end, my feet were hurting like hell, but it was a lot of fun too!

So yeah, just keeping it short and sweet for now, I'll try and post again soon. And now I have to go! Hope everyone is having an amazing summer! Happy blogging!

Chloe xxx

London Part 1

So I got back from London on Tuesday night, but I've mostly just been recuperating and catching up on missed television so haven't really had much chance to blog. And it looks like I won't be blogging too much in the next two weeks as I'm going to America on Saturday morning (our flight is at 6 am, as a matter of fact) so blogging may become very sparse or just fizzle out all together.

Anyway, back to the subject in hand, I had a really great time in London with my sister, my aunt and her boyfriend. We arrived on Friday 30th July, after a 2-3 car journey, and being too exhausted to do much else, we drove out for a family bucket at KFC. This was exceedingly delicious as I do have a rather embarrassing penchant for deep-fried chicken. Then we chilled out for a bit before checking out recipes of what to cook and then going on a massive shop at Sainsbury's. After some trouble with the self-service check outs, we were on our way home to chill out and play scrabble!

On Saturday, we went to Portobello Market for some shopping! I got a really lovely dress, my sister got a dress and suede shoes and my aunty got a top, shorts and a pair of shoes! We bought two rounds of Gregg's and sat on a street in Portobello to eat it all. Then we got back and ate out at a French restaurant where I had a really lovely Gressingham's duck leg with dauphinoise potatoes and vegetables. Amazing day!

On Sunday 1st August, we went to play badminton at a rented court which was really fun! We were all about equally matched which made it really entertaining. Afterwards, we were just way too tired to do anything so we stayed in and played loads of Guitar Hero and Singstar, which was good. Then we watched television and went into the garden for a sing song as my aunty's boyfriend can play the guitar. Here are some photos!


In West Hampstead

Sitting in the streets of Portobello

Portobello art

Portobello

Portobello

Sing-song in the garden

West Hampstead

Before dinner!

I saw my dream car in Portobello!


Chloe xxx

P.S. Part 2 will be coming up soon! I'm now off to do a few things and contemplate starting packing since I shall be leaving tomorrow night and I still haven't done anything! Also, just a heads up that I cut my hair again recently and got a full fringe, feeling quite happy with myself at the moment ;-)