♥♥♥

001: I love this photo. It was taken on our last night in New York. We'd been to Brooklyn to look at the beautiful skyline, had pizza and wine at Grimaldi's and then decided to venture back to Top of the Rock for a night time view of the city. I was messing around with the settings on my camera (yep, still learning how to use it after eight months) and somehow I managed to make all the twinkling lights heart shaped. Love.

002: I'm tired. Really, really tired. I can't actually remember the last time I felt rested and I just never seem to get enough sleep. House stress plus work stress plus house stress plus work stress. I shouldn't grumble though, life is really rather wonderful.

003: I've spent approximately ten hours watching the rescue of the Chilean miners today. I've shed more tears than a woman should ever shed at her desk. Humanity really is fantastic sometimes though, isn't it?

004: I lost four pounds at weigh in this week, bringing the grand total to 65 pounds! That number just looks so ridiculous that I can't really believe it. The size 12 clothes hanging in my wardrobe insist otherwise though.

005: What's better than a little bit of Hurts on a Wednesday? Not much, that's what. This song reminds me of New York and makes my heart ache just a little. In a good way.

Outfit Post: Power-up

I look forward to Friday all week, every week. Why? Because it's dress down day! I work in an industry where I need to look smart, presentable and professional the other four working days so Friday is my day to actually wear what I want. I'm used to wry smiles by now as Warrington isn't exactly the most sartorially advanced town. No offence to any Warringtonians (are there any of you reading this?) of course. It's just more of a trackies and ugg boots kinda place.

I'm a bit of a gaming geek at heart and Nintendo has always had a special place in my heart. I found my very first Gameboy the other day and a little wave of nostalgia hit me. Memories of happy days spent playing Super Mario and Kirby's Dream Land. Ah, childhood! Mario was always my favourite though and I think I may have had a little crush on him. This necklace, from Junksucker on ebay a while ago, is a little nod to Nintendo and the moustachio'd hero himself.

This heart top was one of those items of clothing that I covet for ages but never get around to getting. When I decided to finally buy it, it was sold out on the New Look website! Disaster. Thankfully I found it in the sale in my local store for a measly £5! Bargain. The cardigan was another New Look sale bargain, reduced to about £10 I think.

In short, coloured tights + sale bargains + computer game themed jewellery = a happy Helen.


Top and cardigan - New Look
Skirt - Asos
Tights - Dorothy Perkins
Necklace - ebay
Boots - Miss KG

The Week In Pictures #7

Ok, this is a bit of a cheat as these clearly aren't all pictures from the last week. But due to the rubbish internet situation that's been going on around here, I'm still playing catch up.

1) The majestic A380 that we flew on to New York. Seriously, best plane ever
2) That skyline. As viewed from DUMBO
3) Manchego macaroni cheese and chicken sausage at Essex (where I saw Bee, what a small world!)
4) Best view ever. Top of the Rock I love you
5) The Empire State Building peeping through the trees. Taken in Madison Square Park
6) That skyline again. Sigh
7) The wallpaper in the toilets in Trof. Love
8) Roxaaaannnneee. Taken while I was having a wee drink with my friend Sammy
9) Cookies & cream Pop Tarts? YES PLEASE
10) The diet resumes

The Big (fatty) Apple

Psst! Wanna hear something funny?

I put on twelve pounds in New York. TWELVE. In eight days. Hahaha. After the initial 'ohmygodIwanttodiebutonlyaftereatingatuboficecreamtonumbthepain' horror, I actually laughed. At myself and my stupid body's ability to put on huge amounts of weight in short spaces of time. Eight pounds in five days in Barcelona, anyone? Nine pounds in six days at Glastonbury? See, my body wants to be fat!

I'm happy to report that I have now lost all bar two of those pesky pounds. But let's have a little look at why I put on ALMOST A STONE in a week, shall we?

That plane food up there was just the beginning. Let me just say this, Air France's plane food is monstrously good. That crusty baguette topped with a wedge of camembert set the tone for the whole holiday. Plus, you get champagne. Nuff said.

Then there was Shake Shack. Double cheeseburger with cheese fries. Our first meal in New York and our last. With a couple thrown in for good measure inbetween. Yes, that's right, we went to Shake Shack four times. And I am PROUD of that.

Then, of course, there was the daily coffee plus croissant/brownie/amazing peanut buttery cakey thing from Cafe 28 and various other establishments...

Then french toast with syrup, sugar and strawberries. And, ahem, sour cherry pie with cream at Bubby's in DUMBO. Can you see those pounds racking up? Yum.

Now, the next one is pretty special... PRETZEL FLIPZ! OMG! White fudge covered pretzels, come to mama! These came to England for about a minute years and years ago but clearly the British public have no taste and they disappeared from view. Also, white cheddar popcorn and Cheetos? Yum. And that chocolate bar poking in the side? Hershey's Symphony. All I need in life.

What trip to New York would be completed without a few cupcakes? The top ones are from Magnolia Bakery and the bottom ones are from Crumbs. Verdict? Crumbs every single time. Sorry Mag, your sponge is just too dry. Plus the ones from Crumbs are humungous. Size = everything. Snigger.

Now, let's talk pizza. The top one is from Ray's and the bottom is from the legendary Grimaldi's. Verdict? Grimaldi's, of course! Ray's was the perfect grease before a Saturday night on the town but Grimaldi's was just wonderful. Our last dinner in New York and it was perfect.

It seems fitting that the last picture from my food odyssey through New York is of my all time favourite meal... buffalo wings! Messy, spicy and perfect in every single way. These were from the Manchester Pub and they were utterly glorious. I once spent four days in Washington DC with my parents and I ate buffalo wings for 90% of my meals. Pretty proud of that to be honest.

So, there you go. Food, NYC style. Not pictured: the other three Shake Shack meals, the burger and brownie from the Burger Joint at Le Parker Meridien Hotel, fillet steak with onion rings and duck fat potatoes followed by dobosch layer cake and raspberry beignets at Butter, chicken enchiladas and frozen pomegranate margaritas at Rocking Horse Cafe and numerous other culinary delights. In fact, this post reads like a giant edition of This Is Why You're Fat.


Twelve pounds. It was bloody well worth it.

Since I've been gone...

 

So, that was a bit of a hiatus wasn't it? Forced and entirely unintentional. AOL decided to completely mess up the transfer of my parents' phone line and we've been without internet for a week. That coupled with the fact that the data network by my house is non existent, and the fact that internet has been banned at work, resulted in no access to anything. Anywhere. Cold turkey doesn't even cover it.

Things that have happened during the last week?

I worked 55 hours. Ugh
Mortgage application trauma. Double ugh.
A rave up at Warehouse Project watching Kelis. No ugh required.
Getting Glastonbury tickets thanks to the gorgeous and eternally wonderful Lisa. Definitely no ugh.

Apologies for the pictureless post but Blogger is being a little bitch and won't let me upload anything. Woe.

It's good to be back!

EDIT: Photobucket saved my life and now you can enjoy some pictures of a) Times Square and b) my manic tired face in Times Square. Lucky you.