Excuses, excuses, excuses!!

Okay, okay I know I’ve been a TERRIBLE blogger lately BUT I’d like to give you the following three excuses, ahem I mean reasons… J

Firstly look at this face.

You can’t possibly be disappointed that I haven’t been blogging when my first reason is because of this gorgeous little fluff ball. Her name is Pip and we puppy-sat her for almost three weeks. She was only 6 weeks old when we started looking after her and it was a full time job so when I wasn’t running around after her and getting cute little puppy cuddles I was being quite the hermit. Adrian and I did go to the movies once to see Snow White (it was great by the way) and we also went to a wine and cheese night with his colleagues. It was a fun night and I loved the cheese, still haven’t acquired the taste for wine. One day I’m sure my tastebuds will grow up!

 My second excuse is because straight after we gave Pip back to Ian and Sarah I finally started working. Just from home on my laptop for the same company I was working for back in Australia. I work between 20-30 hours a week and I love it because it helps me feel like I’m doing something worthwhile over here, not just spending my days socialising. So between working, going for ladies coffee on Wednesdays and doing the groceries etc I put blogging on the back burner. After staring at the computer for work the last thing I felt like doing was sitting in front of it again to write the blog. Sorry!

Thirdly my final (and best) reason is because of NEW YORK, NEW YOooorrrk!!! (And yes I do sing that every time I say it). As soon as we found out New York was a possibility I was singing Frankie Baby as soon as I woke and usually a line or two before falling asleep at night. Tip: downside to having that song in your head when you’re going to bed is that is makes you WAY too excited to sleep and you find that you just sing it over, and over, and over again in your head…or at least that’s what happened to me. Poor Adrian had to put up with my tone-deaf singing and my extreme excitedness (yes I just made that word up) for a whole week. Every time I sang I would tell him I was serenading him but really it was an involuntary outburst brought on by thoughts of all we could do in New York (New Yoooorkkk). Ahem. And yes there were sometimes the occasional dances that went along with the song. And before you judge, I’m sure you’d do the same thing if you were in my situation and had dreamed about going to New York ever since you watched the first episode of SATC.

We ended up going to NY for three days and then Houston for another three. It was a whirlwind trip but oh so worth it.

Our first day in NY was action packed. We started out doing the Statue of Liberty cruise. It was amazing and because we were on the first cruise we had the boat to ourselves on the return leg. It seems not many people are awake and seeing the sights at 9am on a Saturday. Afterwards we walked to Wall Street and then Ground Zero, and then we caught the subway to Carries steps. Adrian was a great sport and took photos of me on the steps. I was so happy my cheeks hurt from smiling so much. Around the corner is Magnolia Bakery which is also featured in SATC, we just took a quick photo there and hopped back on the subway to go to Times Square.

We had lunch at Hard Rock and each had their signature cocktail – it was SO strong I felt tipsy after the first sip!! J We walked around times square and did a bit of shopping and then walked to the shopping district and our first stop was Manolo Blahnik! No need to go on and on (I could easily but I’ll spare you). Let’s just say I think I was in my own little heaven, surrounded by Manolo’s and then actually being able to buy a pair. Swoon! There was another lady in the shop who bought 9, yes nine, pairs and said she’d have her concierge come back to pick them up. Wow!!

I can only imagine what her closet must look like!

We walked around a few other shops and stopped by Tiffany & Co. I wish I could say I bought something but honestly the piece I had in mind wasn’t as spectacular as what it looked on the website, and considering a had just bought a pair on Manolo’s I figured I could pass on the T&C. We did however have a quick look at wedding bands (hey while in rome) and the sales assistant kindly cleaned my ring.

We walked back to the hotel and put our feet up for a while then went to an amazing restaurant at the bottom of Rockefellers centre. The food was delicious but after spending the whole day walking around in 37 degree heat we were knackered and went home to bed.

Sunday we were up early again for another action packed day. We started off by visiting the rockerfellers centre – the views were spectacular. Next time we’re going to go back at night, the city literally sparkles at night and paired with the breathtaking views from the top of the rock, I think it’d be great to see. It was well worth going during the day too though.

We walked up to central park afterwards and took a horse and carriage ride through the park. It was really nice and a really relaxing way to break up the day. Afterwards we strolled through the park and then stopped for a drink at the Boathouse. It’s the restaurant in the middle of the park that’s been featured in a few movies. It’s really pretty there.

We then hit the shops which was great fun for me, not so much fun for Adrian though but he was a pretty good sport about it. We also stopped by New York Public Library but it was closed so we could only get a picture of the front. I’d love to go back next time but we’ll just have to make sure not to do it on a Sunday.

New York was honestly such a blast and I hated leaving. I had that same thought when we left Houston too. We only spent three days in each city but I really loved the time I spent in both places. I found myself thinking ‘why couldn’t we have been posted here!’. It would’ve been so great to live in the states for 18 months, which was what we originally thought was going to happen. BUT I can’t dwell on it and there are worse places then South Korea to be posted and really we are so fortunate to be in this situation at all, regardless of where we are. I think I’m just suffering from post-holiday blues! I think no matter where we live we’ll always see the bad things about a place when we’re in that frame of mind.

Write soon xx