wake up in the city that never sleeps

mcmuffin, our breakfast every day


on the way into the city!

broadway




super crowded

there was an elmo too

my favourite ad

radio city music hall


rockefeller

fountain at rockefeller

not sure what this was for, but loved it anyways

apple!

the plaza hotel

looking at the city from inside central park

easily my favourite place in ny







subway station

they look kinda tired don't they?
this motif ran all the way through the station

bite sized cupcakes from this tiny shop window in soho
they were filled too!
i secretly wanted all 9 flavors for myself (forget sharing)

(not where the bite sized cupcakes came from)
ny at night

restaurant row, near broadway

adorable little pizza place

<3

and to finish off the trip, a candy apple!
they actually do cut it for you to make it easier to eat =D

i recently took a short weekend trip to new york city with him and a friend (and her parents, whom i have a parent crush on LOL)
sufficient to say that the time i spent there was definitely not enough
i'm really looking forward to the (hopefully near) future trip where i can get a chance to explore more of the city
for the amount of time we spent there though, we accomplished quite a lot:

- went for a nice walk up broadway. i know most people hate the touristy things, but to be honest, i'm pretty damn excited by them. Im easily amused

- enjoyed central park a bit. this was my first time there, and it definitely won me over. I loved that there was this vast green space in the middle of such a busy city. it seemed like the perfect way to just spend an afternoon

- took the subway to soho. the subway system in new york was crazy complicated, and i was definitely not responsible for the task of navigation. for such a huge system, their fare was only $2.50 ish a ride i think, and even cheaper with a pass. umm, ttc fail much?

- did some light shopping in soho. im still regretting not getting these uggs on sale. we also came across this tiny window selling bite sized cupcakes. they came in 9 flavors, and were decorated with icing and filled. the cake itself was nice and moist, and the small portion size was just perfect. wish i could've brought some back

- wandered around the city at night. came across this small sidestreet filled with restaurants. wish we had enough time to check them out!

- took the train back to the hotel. came across a scary fight at the station, but that probably just enhanced our experience (its ny after all). we were super scared that we were gonna miss our stops, as the train announcer system was really muffled. this however, gave me the chance to discover that all the train stations were charmingly old, with the original style much retained.

we also had a chance to visit the famous woodbury outlet mall. some things were amazingly priced, but others less so. i thought i'd bought a lot at the time, but when i got home i realized it wasnt anything near enough.

as fun as the trip was, it was definitely way too short. hopefully i'd get the chance to take another trip by the end of summer!

<3

Manila Pages: May Book Review

the idea to do a book review has been in my head for a little while now

i love books,
the way they fold in your hand
the weight of the pages as they flip
and i used to be a ferocious reader,
until uni whacked my butt into submission with all those tomes of textbooks
i still have the 'book diary' recording all the books i read for a few years of my childhood

so, in the interest of sticking with things we love
here's my book review for the month of May





This Charming Man - Marian Keys ($10)
Believe it or not, this dog ear-ed copy was brand new when i brought it home from chapters. It's quite a thick little book, very compact.
Set in modern day Ireland, the book tells the story of four women, all connected to a famous Irish politician. The story starts with his recent engagement, and begins with the tale of his girlfriend (who is actually not his fiance). It then moves to an ambitious journalist, a well off housewife (also the journalist's twin sister), and his actual fiance. The book starts off a bit frivolous, but eventually gets pretty heartbreaking, and finishes off nice and hopeful. I personally love books with intertwining story lines, and this one was pretty easy to follow. About half way through I started having trouble putting it down. Some parts are hilarious, others ridiculous, with a good dose of emotions, and is an overall good time.

I would recommend this as a perfect summer read.




Lullibies for Little Criminals - Heather O'Neill ($6.99 @ BMV books, $15 regular price)
I purchased this new at the BMV in the annex. Its got a wider surface, but its not very thick and very flexible.
Set in a grimy Montreal of maybe twenty year ago, this book is probably not what they would call a "feel good" read. However, its very engaging and really catches you off guard. Its told through the point of view of a twelve year old girl (named Baby) living with her drug addict single dad. As is often the case, Baby never realizes that she's living in poverty, and to her money have very little meaning. This book captures the moment in time when you begin to both reject and crave your parent's attention, and your parents start to have absolutely no idea what to do with you. Some parts will break your heart over the injustice of the system. Mostly, it made me realize that circumstances and choices aren't always black and white.

I would definitely recommend this book if you're looking for something with a bit more emotional weight. If you're just looking to escape for an afternoon, you might want to save this for later.



Shopaholic & Baby - Sophie Kinsella ($5.99 @ BMV books, $17 regular price)

Another purchase from BMV books in the annex. I gave this to my mom as part of her mothers day present, but, obviously, sharing is caring =D.
I'd read all the shopaholic books a while back, (in fact i think i have most of them), but besides the main story line, i'd gotten a little fuzzy on the details. Set in present day central London, the book revolves around Becky, a certified shopaholic, and her husband Luke, a successful financial PR entrepreneur. In this book, Becky is pregnant with her first child, and suddenly discover that her famous trendy obstetrician is actually her husbands old girlfriend. It is a typical Shopaholic book, with lots of fun, laughs, and obviously shopping.

I wouldn't consider this her finest work, and I think to really enjoy the book you need to have read the other books in the series first (but don't read them all in a row, Becky gets a bit annoying if you don't take a little break). To me, the book kinda felt like visiting old friends, but I get a feeling that without knowing all the background story, this one wouldn't be very entertaining. And no, watching the movie doesn't count, cause it was nothing like the books. Overall another great quick summer read.



After getting back from school, I re-read the only four Harry Potters I have in my possession ( for whoever has my harry potter and the order of pheonix, I WANT IT BACK!) I'm not going to review them, as mostly everyone has read it (and I think the movies are almost done?), but rest assured; even the second/third/fourth/or fifth time around, they were just as amazing as ever.

I owe this blog many many posts, and hopefully i'll get around to them soon. Sorry for the wait, but hope this one was enjoyable!

<3

froth

i am desperately in love with this dress

 about $170

should i get it?

ahh!

gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous!

being right takes too long

trying something new with the outfit posting (since i've now got all this free time on my hands)
not a particularly interesting one
threw it on for desert with a friend
really wanted to show you this adorable bag from zara (thanks bee!)

(dress - guess, bag - zara, necklace - tiffanys & gift, bracelet - h&m)

the zara bag
im also absolutely in love with the h&m bracelet in the prev picture, and will def take a detailed picture soon

go for tea with a friend, tankard much?
chug, chug, chug!


the famed sushi island finally 
at the most random location, a tiny store front in little italy 
but omfg, amazing ayce sushi 
i usually dont like shirmp tempura too much, but this place was the best, freshest with the least excess batter
too bad we ordered so much that i can barely remeber how everything tasted 



such a good way of doing yam tempura!

we always tend to order way to much. this is prob half of it 








after spending hours looking at books

sat lunch with him at a vegetarian place in the annex 

loved this idea of putting water in retro milk bottles with a slice of lemon 

i kinda wanna just do this all the time now 

sweet potato fries




his wrap of some sort 
i committed the ultimate faux-pas by ordering just a smoothie 
the waitress looked at me like i was anorexic 
truth is, i actually just ate lunch at home 


cupcakes from the cupcake shoppe from him
not as good as for the love of cake 
but quite cute 
thanks =)


my funny mom woke me up at 8am for her present
so while she looked through everything, i promptly fell back asleep 
flowers and cake for mothers day
happy mothers day! - love you mom

//

idle-ness doenst particularily suit me
i've pretty much been extremely bored whenever at home this week
esp since day time tv sucks
neverthe less, it was amazing to spend the week doing absolutely nothing
except of course, shopping and seeing my favourite girls - wish i have pictures!
(and to the rest of you.. please see me soon!)

on the list

- white boyfriend blazer
- classic trench coat
- thick brown strappy sandal pumps
http://www.aldoshoes.com/ca-eng/women/sandals/platform/78259303-monnin/12 - if only it came in brown
- a bird necklace
- wallet with a gazillion pockets
- sunglasses
- a belt for romper, or else return romper
- mustard coloured skirt
- embellished sandals

still, i am passing through

lately our dates have been kinda aimless
so on saturday we pretty much just walked around downtown to enjoy the nice weather
even though the sky looked like it was gonna rain soon
the temperature was still good, and it felt a lot like summer

we ended up in liberty village,
a little west of bathrust and king area

balzac's cafe

(the only reason i remembered the name is cause i .. googled)

its in the building of an old toy factory that's been converted into lofts

i cant say how good the coffee was because my knowledge in the area is largely from tim hortons 

but the cafe was absolutely gorgeous 

walking through liberty village
wish i could've taken pictures of the pretty little townhouses 
except.. residents prob would've called crime stoppers on me 






i loved that this old bank was now a restaurant 
i also loved the chandeliers


a dog park (stanley park i think?)
everyone around there seemed to have a dog 


this cheese shop on queen


know that show hoarders?
this was hoarders, turned into a store
except everything packed in here was actually really interesting
from chandelier beads to old school recording microphones to paintings
it really had it all



my original plan was to embark on a cupcake tour
but due to my shopping addiction (thanks bee!), things were a bit delayed 
and only one bakery was visited
it was called "for the love of cake"
and i was kinda disappointed with how small it was, and expected more variety 
it was definitely more of a order place 



the two cupcakes we had were still very good
this is an almond one with a blackberry and blackberry filling



a guinness chocolate cupcake 
not sure if there was a filling 
hopefully there's lots more cupcakes to come 


being home has been sorta.. underwhelming
it seems that all i do is eat and sleep
and im feeling very lethargic

im also feeling a bit displaced
is it weird for a long distance relationship to suddenly become.. not long distance?


on the to do list:
- see my fav girls, pronto
- try out sushi island
- put up my clothes for sale. any $ would be lovely
- shop shop shop and put some color in my wardrobe. no more blacks!