New York I love you but you're freaking me out...
ok this is going to be long and boring but seeing as i havent been able to write i need someway to record the last two weeks of my life so yeah, i apologise in advance for taking up your livejournal space!
saturday (22/9)
i got into new york at about 5pm, the plane ride was long but i had good inflight entertainment. i decided to get the subway to my hostel which i guess was a bad idea after flying for 25 hours and having a broken arm and a very heavy suitcase... but my first taste of america was good, cute boys helped me with my suitcase at every set of stairs, some nice ladies gave me tips about riding the subway and which ones to catch! it was great!! i got to my hostel at about 8 and yeah, i had to take my suitcase up 5 flights of stairs and noone helped me, the people in my room were rude and i was tired and sad and felt really uncomfortable so yeah, my first night sucked. i sulked on the internet for a while then decided to snap myself out of it, plan my next day and have an early night so i was ready for adventure!
sunday (23/9)
so my first real day in new york, i spent the morning walking around some markets that adriane had recommended me which were great! lots of vintage jewellery and antiques... then i walked through central park, went up to belvedere castle, its all so beautiful i pretty much went to central park every day... ummm i walked down madison avenue and a bit of 5th and saw all the high end designer stores like chanel and dior and prada etc, it was pretty awesome! i got back to my hostel at about 4 and started talking to danielle, a girl from england who was in my room and in new york to be a singer. yeah she introduced me to some of the people she had met at the hostel and we had drinks on the roof top that night.
monday (24/9)
monday was my first museum day. i went to the guggenheim which was a pretty amazing building even though its half in construction, i didnt like the art so much but every second i was there i was like fuck im at the guggenheim... it was bizzare! next i went to the national design museum which was absolutely amazing. it wasnt as big or anything as any of the other museums i went to but i loved everything in it! then i went to the jewish museum which was really cool, there was an exhibition of the only jewish impressionist and a photography exhibit with all these pictures of jewish new yorkers. it was pretty great. they had bagel greeting cards in the gift shop which i thought was really funny. that night i got horribly drunk and went to williamsburg with danielle, kate (another english girl) and these four australian guys. um yeah it was a bit of a crazy night... long story short, turns out im a player in new york...
tuesday (25/9)
i was quite hungover after my crazy night... but i went to times square, did a bit of shopping, bought my first american apparel goods, then i was really tired so i decided to go to the movies. now that sounds lame but while staying at this hostel, there was nowhere i could sit and not be bothered by someone. so i went to the movies so i could sit in a comfy chair and noone would talk to me. i went to see into the wild which was good, all the previews for all the movies looked so good!!! i think after that i walked back to the hostel and bought some $2 beers from the deli...
wednesday (26/9)
ummm i went to the natural history museum on wednesday, it is possibly the biggest building i have ever been in... i walked around for about 2 and a half hours and got through about half of what was there so i was like im going to see some dinosaurs and then im leaving!!! so i did. it was good though, i think you just need more stamina than i have... i ate some lunch in central park then made my way down broadway trying to find where letterman is filmed. whilst doing that i was stopped by some guy who offered me a ticket to a taping of the colbert report which was starting in about 15 minutes. so yeah, i went to the colbert report which was so great, steven colbert is so charming and wonderful! and tony bennett was a guest which was pretty bizzare. the whole night was so crazy!!
thursday (27/9)
i had my first real shopping day on thursday, i walked around the east village a bit, did a lot of window shopping but it was nice. i loved just walking around new york because everywhere was just so great! that night i went to see jose gonzalez which was pretty great. i talked to a cute boy who had broken his elbow, we were both in casts so yeah... when i got back to my hostel everyone was really interested in hearing about the show, this was the only time this happened because noone had heard of any of the other bands i saw...
friday (28/9)
heather came to town on friday! i was a bit hungover after more $2 beers the previous night... we went out for breakfast at a diner which was fun! all the food in america is as big as my face... burger = big as my face, pizza = big as my face, omelette = bigger than my face... we spent most of the day in soho looking around and stuff before heading back to the hostel, getting a little drunk and running off to see okkervil river, which was awesome! again, so many cute boys... we were going to hang around afterwards to party a bit but we were so so tired so we retired early.
saturday (29/9)
we awoke a little early and headed off on a market trek across new york. we went to 3 or 4 different markets, all pretty good, i bought a dress, heather bought some things, it was fun! i think we went to magnolia bakery that day as well, there was a pretty big line but it was totally worth it, best cupcakes ever! i went back to the hostel early to relax, this is where my exhaustion kicked in... that night we got realll drunk and went out on the town with some cute boys from the hostel. from what i remember it was lots of fun...
sunday (30/9)
woke up a bit hungover but still able to venture out into big new york. we headed down to the financial district and went to ground zero where the twin towers used to be. it was really eerie and very depressing. i wasnt really that effected by all that stuff when it happened but being there was really sad... um we then walked down to battery park which was really nice, saw the statue of liberty but couldnt be bothered going on the ferry. heather left a bit after that and later on i went to see the new wes anderson film, the darjeeling limited. it was freakin sweet. i want to marry adrian brody...
monday (1/10/07)
ummmm i cant remember what i did this day... loser natalie!! but monday night i went to see animal collective which was fucking amazing. they played for like 2 hours and everyone went so crazy. i got home soooooooo late after the show and i had to pack my bags because i was off to philly the next day!!
tuesday (2/10/07)
after a few hours sleep, i awoke at 7 to get my bus to philadelphia. the bus was leaving from chinatown, chinatown is weird... one subway stop and every shop in chinesse... its crazy. anyway i took the bus to philly, didnt really know where i was going when i got there... got picked up by my friend alicia from high school and her philadelphian, adam. umm we went out for cheesesteaks which was a let down, did a bit of shopping, went back to adam's house in fishtown for a while... i went out for dinner with klint and craig which was really nice, i missed those boys which is weird because i only knew them for like a week... ummm that night me and alicia braved the streets of fishtown and went to see matthew dear who was realllll good and attractive, like most of the patrons at the bar... spent the rest of the night bitching about people from school which was fun!!
wednesday (3/10/07)
i awoke from a wonderful sleep where i slept in a real bed with only one other person in the room, it was pretty amazing. alicia and i caught a train into town, saw the liberty bell and a few historical sites then did a bit of shopping before i had to head back on my bus to new york! when i got back to new york i had about an hour to get to the patrick wolf show downtown... i was so worn out that i didnt really enjoy the show, plus patrick wolf is such a diva, during one of his songs he was like omg i hate having drums in this song, stop playing the drums... and his encore was so bad, he stopped one of the songs because he decided he didnt like it anymore. whatever! the subway stopped for like half an hour on the way back to the hostel... sucks.
thursday (4/10/07)
i did a bit of sight seeing and a bit of shopping, i went up the empire state building, it was pretty av but at least i didnt have to wait in a long line... i hung out in central park for a long while, did a bit of relaxing, btw the weather was so nice the entire time i was in new york, every day was like 25degrees plus, so sunny and pretty and yeah! thursday night i went to see the good life, omg i was a few metres away from tim kasher omg. he was suprisingly upbeat and happy, i expected a shy, brooding artist... but they put on a good show and thats the main thing!
friday (5/10/07)
i had been told to go to brooklyn by a thousand people so i finally did it on friday. to my dismay, most shops in brooklyn dont open until 12pm so my eagerness of getting in there at 11 was all wasted and i had to hang out in a diner for an hour... then i went to some shops and was unlucky again... if you are planning on going to new york, dont let my brooklyn experience stop you from going there because it is pretty cool and theres lots of hotties walking around. i went back to manhattan and did some more shopping... i didnt buy things everytime i went shopping so im not entirely broke. friday night i went to see the blow which omg was so great. so many great dance moves, such a good performance, it was like seeing a normal band plus a dance recital plus a comedy act all in one.
saturday (6/10/07)
this was my checkout day. i didnt really have a lot planned for this day, just walk around for a while, hang out in central park one last time, rejuvenate myself before the arcade fire that afternoon. i went to see a movie, 2 days in paris, it was pretty good, very funny... i headed off to harlem at about 3ish to get the bus to randall's island.. the line for the bus to randall's island literally went around an entire block. it took about an hour to get to the front... but i met a cute french boy in the line who made the time go faster. just so you have an idea of this show, there was about 30,000 people there which i guess makes it the size of like a rock-it or maybe a small big day out? the difference was that everyone was there for the same reason so it was 30,000 really excited, really attractive, really well dressed arcade fire fans. yeah, it was awesome. les savvy fav, awesome. blonde redhead, awesome. lcd soundsystem, omg awesome. they finished with new york, i love you, which is my favourite song and everyone was real excited because we were in new york!!
the arcade fire, i'll try to keep it short. they played for a little over an hour and a half, there were times where i was like what are they going to play next and it really didnt matter because i love every one of their songs! their stage set up was soooooooo good, they had these 6 circular television type things which had different things playing on them all the time, lots of neon bibles on them and projected on the curtain behind them, they had some extra violins and horns and it was one of their birthdays, plus the last show on their tour, so they really put on a great show. omg they played rebellion just before they went off for their encore and to get them back on stage everyone started singing the last little bit of rebellion, it was like a choir!! it might sound lame but it was so magical. they finished off with wake up which is my favourite song so i went a bit nutso... it was seriously one of the best shows of my life and the fact that i had to wait for over an hour to get back to harlem, then catch 3 subways to get back to my hostel to pick up my bags and sleep at the airport, all that doesnt matter because that show was worth it!!!
so overall, it was a fabulous two weeks. i got home sick a lot but i tried to snap myself out of it so i could enjoy my time... yeah! it was great!! ill update on my canadian life so far soon... im tired now...
saturday (22/9)
i got into new york at about 5pm, the plane ride was long but i had good inflight entertainment. i decided to get the subway to my hostel which i guess was a bad idea after flying for 25 hours and having a broken arm and a very heavy suitcase... but my first taste of america was good, cute boys helped me with my suitcase at every set of stairs, some nice ladies gave me tips about riding the subway and which ones to catch! it was great!! i got to my hostel at about 8 and yeah, i had to take my suitcase up 5 flights of stairs and noone helped me, the people in my room were rude and i was tired and sad and felt really uncomfortable so yeah, my first night sucked. i sulked on the internet for a while then decided to snap myself out of it, plan my next day and have an early night so i was ready for adventure!
sunday (23/9)
so my first real day in new york, i spent the morning walking around some markets that adriane had recommended me which were great! lots of vintage jewellery and antiques... then i walked through central park, went up to belvedere castle, its all so beautiful i pretty much went to central park every day... ummm i walked down madison avenue and a bit of 5th and saw all the high end designer stores like chanel and dior and prada etc, it was pretty awesome! i got back to my hostel at about 4 and started talking to danielle, a girl from england who was in my room and in new york to be a singer. yeah she introduced me to some of the people she had met at the hostel and we had drinks on the roof top that night.
monday (24/9)
monday was my first museum day. i went to the guggenheim which was a pretty amazing building even though its half in construction, i didnt like the art so much but every second i was there i was like fuck im at the guggenheim... it was bizzare! next i went to the national design museum which was absolutely amazing. it wasnt as big or anything as any of the other museums i went to but i loved everything in it! then i went to the jewish museum which was really cool, there was an exhibition of the only jewish impressionist and a photography exhibit with all these pictures of jewish new yorkers. it was pretty great. they had bagel greeting cards in the gift shop which i thought was really funny. that night i got horribly drunk and went to williamsburg with danielle, kate (another english girl) and these four australian guys. um yeah it was a bit of a crazy night... long story short, turns out im a player in new york...
tuesday (25/9)
i was quite hungover after my crazy night... but i went to times square, did a bit of shopping, bought my first american apparel goods, then i was really tired so i decided to go to the movies. now that sounds lame but while staying at this hostel, there was nowhere i could sit and not be bothered by someone. so i went to the movies so i could sit in a comfy chair and noone would talk to me. i went to see into the wild which was good, all the previews for all the movies looked so good!!! i think after that i walked back to the hostel and bought some $2 beers from the deli...
wednesday (26/9)
ummm i went to the natural history museum on wednesday, it is possibly the biggest building i have ever been in... i walked around for about 2 and a half hours and got through about half of what was there so i was like im going to see some dinosaurs and then im leaving!!! so i did. it was good though, i think you just need more stamina than i have... i ate some lunch in central park then made my way down broadway trying to find where letterman is filmed. whilst doing that i was stopped by some guy who offered me a ticket to a taping of the colbert report which was starting in about 15 minutes. so yeah, i went to the colbert report which was so great, steven colbert is so charming and wonderful! and tony bennett was a guest which was pretty bizzare. the whole night was so crazy!!
thursday (27/9)
i had my first real shopping day on thursday, i walked around the east village a bit, did a lot of window shopping but it was nice. i loved just walking around new york because everywhere was just so great! that night i went to see jose gonzalez which was pretty great. i talked to a cute boy who had broken his elbow, we were both in casts so yeah... when i got back to my hostel everyone was really interested in hearing about the show, this was the only time this happened because noone had heard of any of the other bands i saw...
friday (28/9)
heather came to town on friday! i was a bit hungover after more $2 beers the previous night... we went out for breakfast at a diner which was fun! all the food in america is as big as my face... burger = big as my face, pizza = big as my face, omelette = bigger than my face... we spent most of the day in soho looking around and stuff before heading back to the hostel, getting a little drunk and running off to see okkervil river, which was awesome! again, so many cute boys... we were going to hang around afterwards to party a bit but we were so so tired so we retired early.
saturday (29/9)
we awoke a little early and headed off on a market trek across new york. we went to 3 or 4 different markets, all pretty good, i bought a dress, heather bought some things, it was fun! i think we went to magnolia bakery that day as well, there was a pretty big line but it was totally worth it, best cupcakes ever! i went back to the hostel early to relax, this is where my exhaustion kicked in... that night we got realll drunk and went out on the town with some cute boys from the hostel. from what i remember it was lots of fun...
sunday (30/9)
woke up a bit hungover but still able to venture out into big new york. we headed down to the financial district and went to ground zero where the twin towers used to be. it was really eerie and very depressing. i wasnt really that effected by all that stuff when it happened but being there was really sad... um we then walked down to battery park which was really nice, saw the statue of liberty but couldnt be bothered going on the ferry. heather left a bit after that and later on i went to see the new wes anderson film, the darjeeling limited. it was freakin sweet. i want to marry adrian brody...
monday (1/10/07)
ummmm i cant remember what i did this day... loser natalie!! but monday night i went to see animal collective which was fucking amazing. they played for like 2 hours and everyone went so crazy. i got home soooooooo late after the show and i had to pack my bags because i was off to philly the next day!!
tuesday (2/10/07)
after a few hours sleep, i awoke at 7 to get my bus to philadelphia. the bus was leaving from chinatown, chinatown is weird... one subway stop and every shop in chinesse... its crazy. anyway i took the bus to philly, didnt really know where i was going when i got there... got picked up by my friend alicia from high school and her philadelphian, adam. umm we went out for cheesesteaks which was a let down, did a bit of shopping, went back to adam's house in fishtown for a while... i went out for dinner with klint and craig which was really nice, i missed those boys which is weird because i only knew them for like a week... ummm that night me and alicia braved the streets of fishtown and went to see matthew dear who was realllll good and attractive, like most of the patrons at the bar... spent the rest of the night bitching about people from school which was fun!!
wednesday (3/10/07)
i awoke from a wonderful sleep where i slept in a real bed with only one other person in the room, it was pretty amazing. alicia and i caught a train into town, saw the liberty bell and a few historical sites then did a bit of shopping before i had to head back on my bus to new york! when i got back to new york i had about an hour to get to the patrick wolf show downtown... i was so worn out that i didnt really enjoy the show, plus patrick wolf is such a diva, during one of his songs he was like omg i hate having drums in this song, stop playing the drums... and his encore was so bad, he stopped one of the songs because he decided he didnt like it anymore. whatever! the subway stopped for like half an hour on the way back to the hostel... sucks.
thursday (4/10/07)
i did a bit of sight seeing and a bit of shopping, i went up the empire state building, it was pretty av but at least i didnt have to wait in a long line... i hung out in central park for a long while, did a bit of relaxing, btw the weather was so nice the entire time i was in new york, every day was like 25degrees plus, so sunny and pretty and yeah! thursday night i went to see the good life, omg i was a few metres away from tim kasher omg. he was suprisingly upbeat and happy, i expected a shy, brooding artist... but they put on a good show and thats the main thing!
friday (5/10/07)
i had been told to go to brooklyn by a thousand people so i finally did it on friday. to my dismay, most shops in brooklyn dont open until 12pm so my eagerness of getting in there at 11 was all wasted and i had to hang out in a diner for an hour... then i went to some shops and was unlucky again... if you are planning on going to new york, dont let my brooklyn experience stop you from going there because it is pretty cool and theres lots of hotties walking around. i went back to manhattan and did some more shopping... i didnt buy things everytime i went shopping so im not entirely broke. friday night i went to see the blow which omg was so great. so many great dance moves, such a good performance, it was like seeing a normal band plus a dance recital plus a comedy act all in one.
saturday (6/10/07)
this was my checkout day. i didnt really have a lot planned for this day, just walk around for a while, hang out in central park one last time, rejuvenate myself before the arcade fire that afternoon. i went to see a movie, 2 days in paris, it was pretty good, very funny... i headed off to harlem at about 3ish to get the bus to randall's island.. the line for the bus to randall's island literally went around an entire block. it took about an hour to get to the front... but i met a cute french boy in the line who made the time go faster. just so you have an idea of this show, there was about 30,000 people there which i guess makes it the size of like a rock-it or maybe a small big day out? the difference was that everyone was there for the same reason so it was 30,000 really excited, really attractive, really well dressed arcade fire fans. yeah, it was awesome. les savvy fav, awesome. blonde redhead, awesome. lcd soundsystem, omg awesome. they finished with new york, i love you, which is my favourite song and everyone was real excited because we were in new york!!
the arcade fire, i'll try to keep it short. they played for a little over an hour and a half, there were times where i was like what are they going to play next and it really didnt matter because i love every one of their songs! their stage set up was soooooooo good, they had these 6 circular television type things which had different things playing on them all the time, lots of neon bibles on them and projected on the curtain behind them, they had some extra violins and horns and it was one of their birthdays, plus the last show on their tour, so they really put on a great show. omg they played rebellion just before they went off for their encore and to get them back on stage everyone started singing the last little bit of rebellion, it was like a choir!! it might sound lame but it was so magical. they finished off with wake up which is my favourite song so i went a bit nutso... it was seriously one of the best shows of my life and the fact that i had to wait for over an hour to get back to harlem, then catch 3 subways to get back to my hostel to pick up my bags and sleep at the airport, all that doesnt matter because that show was worth it!!!
so overall, it was a fabulous two weeks. i got home sick a lot but i tried to snap myself out of it so i could enjoy my time... yeah! it was great!! ill update on my canadian life so far soon... im tired now...