○ schoop schoop schoop ○

Hello internet chums!

So as some of you more keen readers might have noticed I haven't posted in a while, this is because I was busy being on the top of a mountain in Vermont. That's right for the past week I have been looking for Bigfoot, just kidding (such a joker) but really I was skiing with my school and then had an overnight stay in NYC!!! It goes without saying that I had a truly amazing time and throughout the whole trip I was thinking this is perf blogging material so obviously I had take some piccy's and show them to all you lovely lot.

An early start led to a late arrival meaning zero time was spent at the duty free *sigh* however I was prepared enough to bring both my Company magazine and trail mix so I was all set. I proceeded to watch "The American Hustle" which was brilliantly 70s big hair, big flares what more could you want. We landed at JFK airport and then gathered onto a coach for the next a billion years (or so it seemed). But, the journey was interesting as we drove past the iconic yellow text cabs and past the New York Skyline which was so friggen cool.

Ain't it purdy

We then proceeded to Mcdonald's so that we would become fully submerged within american culture which was all nicely paid for by our ski guide person thingy (I had no idea who he was but he bought us food so of course he was welcomed with open arms). We then spent another two hours on the coach and finally arrived at our hotel. By this point we had all been awake for over 24 hours and were in much need of a good night sleep so after a quick shower I jumped into bed and was fast asleep

Day 2 and we were officially hitting the slopes, but not before we laid our hands on the 'Make Your Own Waffle' station to which our eyes lit up with childish delight at the prospect of all the chocolate drops and whipped cream we could handle. 

So after a delicious breaky we got into our various colours of ski wear (I went monochrome obviously ;D) and then we got on board ...

A YELLOW SCHOOL BUS!!! After watching countless American TV shows and movies I had never considered that they were real but there I am about to board one and I have to say cool on the outside but very dishevelled on the inside so maybe not the best mode of transport when going over bumpy roads as you do seem to fly about 10 miles in the air when the bus drove over them, but yeah super cool it has to be said.  

 And as far as the skiing went on the first day, it was a bit scary but I soon got the hang of things, although it had t be said a large majority of the time was spent on my bum after sliding backwards from being stationary... yeah...

The gorgeous view of the slopes

Then we journeyed back to our hotel tired and a bit worse for wear, showered and had tea then we were off again, this time in the direction of Walmart, which for those of you don't know is huge superstore that sells everything and anything, however I stuck solely to the make up but managed to restrain myself to two items on I already had but wanted more of, the fave "eos summer fruits lip balm" which literally smells of peach ice tea. and then a new "maybelline lip whisper" in the colour 'berry ready'.

After the Walmart excursion we had another well-deserved nights rest and we proceeded forth to DAY 2 of skiing fun, in which I fell on my bum probably the most out of all the days we skied. Afterwards we went back to the hotel to which we got ready, with somewhat wet hair due to a lack of hair dryer in our room which I had to suffer through for the majority of the trip, and then headed out to an all-you-can-eat buffet under the name "Ponderosa". I ate my body wait in pulled pork and ice cream before we ventured towards the nearby bowling alley "Bowlerama" where I played the worst game of my life, even when we decided 'for fun' to change the rules to be the person with the lowest score wins I still lost. That day was just not my day for sports.

  

in all my monochrome glory

DAY 3 otherwise known as the day where I finally hit my stride and became a boss a$$ b*tch at skiing! Well almost I was very much confident with taking to the snow and we were finally far far away from the pesky nursery slope. We had finally experienced the excitement that is chairlifts and it was truly beautiful, some of the views were utterly breath taking.

       

Of course when within Vermont, one simply must visit the Ben & Jerry's store to which I had probably the best Ice cream of my life: Large cone with "Candy Bar Pie" and "Americone Dream". Amazingly delicious, and the size of my head I ate the whole thing #noregrets. Filled with Ice cream and self-content we headed off back to the hotel where we all fell into an Ice-cream induced coma.

DAY 4 now and we were fully fledged in skiing knowledge and were taking to the slopes like we were pros. So after an awesome day of skiing it was time to go out again but this time in the direction of Dennys ... for dinner? Now I have been to Denny's and now of its superior breakfasts so to me the idea of dinner there was a bit of a foreign concept. However I was absolutely ravenous by the time we arrived and was willing to eat anything so I chowed down on my Cheeseburger and it wasn't half-bad, then we ate another portion of ice cream before we headed off to the cinema where I bought $20 worth of snacks (as I said before, I was truly ravenous) and then sat down to watch "Captain America - The Winter Soldier" which was alright but nothing particularly special. Then I was cruelly taunted as our bus stopped outside Walgreens yet I was unable to enter as it was just a 'quick stop' so I was not amused. 

 

DAY 5 and our last day of skiing. I was sad in the knowledge that we would be leaving Vermont but overjoyed at the fact that I wasn't going to be lugging my skis every morning and New York was that extra smidge closer. The snow was beginning to melt away and it was apparent that the ski season was drawing to an end but It was a beautifully sunny day so the skiing portion ended on a high. Certificates were handed out and praises were given to both our instructors and us and we all said our goodbyes.

what a happy bunch

us saying a goodbye to both Vermont and our awesome school bus, despite the bumpiness it provided, we did grow to love it.

The day culminated in dinner and a quiz at the hotel, where OUR ROOM WON THE QUIZ!!! asdkjdapifakdsakjd???? I dont even know how it happened because usually my teams always lose but somehow we pulled through and won these fancy Vermont key chains. Then we packed up our suitcases and enjoyed our last night in the hotels room by eating sweets and watching Comedy Central.

  

DAY 6 and we were heading to NYC, The Big Apple, The city so nice they named it Twice... But first we stopped off at "Woodbury Outlet" where I proceeded to officially begin my shopping splurge, some gifts and some very much gifts to myself.

New York. Wow. I mean I knew I'd enjoy myself but.. I think I'm in love. It was amazing, I mean the sheer height of it all is enough to give you permanent whiplash. The only thing that disappointed me was the fact that we were only there for two days. When we first arrived we unloaded our bags into our hotel (which had a chandelier in the breakfast bar?!) and rested for a bit, then we were out again walking through the streets of Manhattan feeling like Carrie Bradshaw and speaking of SATC we did walk past a sex museum, classic New York, always finding new ways to surprise you. We walked past iconic places such as Rockefeller Centre, Empire State, 5th Avenue, all amazing... but then we hit Times Square... and oh my... It was like a whole new world I mean the lights the crowds it was like every movie about New York that you've ever seen and then they dropped a bombshell on me, we only had 2 hours to shop at which point I grabbed my gal pals and dragged them towards MAC. Now I've been to my fair share of MAC stores but this was something else, there was a DJ and a bell and everyone was dancing, but this was no time for distractions. I had to be stealthy like a ninja, smooth like a fox, and not be distracted *spongebob voice* "12 hours later" and I was forcefully having my lipstick done and as my friends grew impatient I had to peel myself away, but not before I did some major damage. Then we were off again this time Sephora which I wished I'd had more time for but I did leave with all the essentials I had come looking for. Then I got to finally hit up Walgreens I place I had so desperately been seeking and finally I had arrived but at this point we had about 20 minutes so I needed to be quick and I was but boy was I thirsty I needed to hydrate immediately so after purchasing some water I was taken to a tacky T shirt place where we bought souvenirs galore and at this point we had 5mins to get back, which we did with time to spare. Then we headed to Planet Hollywood where we ate and drank and had a gay old time singing to songs of our youth and recounting tales of our New York adventures as well as giving each other mini hauls as to what we spent the majority of our dollars on. We then walked back to our hotel, and by this point my feet were absolutely killing me, bad choice wearing heels, but they went with my outfit so what ya gunna do ;D.

 

me and the gals at planet hollywood

DAY 7 and our last day, there was a general feeling of melancholy and relief at the idea of leaving America but reuniting with our own beds. After eating breakfast and packing our suitcases, we boarded our coach and waved goodbye to our hotel. We then had a tour guide give us a tour on the coach and we took a short walk around Central Park where we saw the John Lennon memorial and just had a general nosey about the area. It was a beautifully sunny day and everything just looked so surreal, compared to the hustle and bustle of Times Square, Central Park looked so out of place with the rest of New York. We went to Battersea Pier where we grabbed a quick lunch and saw a tiny little dot (The Statue of Liberty). Afterwards we attended the 911 memorial, which was such a quiet tranquil place, beautiful and moving. 

Then it was time to go, we'd seen the sights and bought the T shirts and it was time to call it a day and fly back to England, home of Roast Dinners and proper Tea. I was rather pleased with myself in the fact that I had actually managed to keep a lot of dollars left over, but then... duty free happened.. there was a MAC... things got messy. I finally grabbed my Starbucks Berry Hibiscus and was content, and decided to end the trip the way it had begun, with a McDonalds. And that was it Goodbye America, you were a wonderful host and to you in particular NYC, I have a feeling I'll be seeing a lot more of you in the future...

Tah Tah For Now, elizabethgraced xxx