The Carry on Challenge - What I Wore

What does 8 weeks of carry on luggage look like? This! These outfits took me from New York City to the lake side Luzern, Switzerland, to beaches of the Cinque Terre, Italy and home again.
(I didn't take these exact items/brands but very similar)

Tips:
- Find what style suit and stick to it. I know shift dresses suit my shape so I packed a variety of them with a few variations on the style.

- Choose pieces you can dress up or down in fabrics that travel well. 

- Don't overpack. Think about the outfits you wear on a daily basis - you have your favourites that are worn over and over and items that are hardly worn and are very event specific. If you're having trouble deciding, try this for a month: Turn your coat hangers to face the same way. Each time you wear an item, hang it back facing the other way. This will create a short list for the items to choose form when you pack to travel.

- Accessorise! Keep the outfits basic and mix it up with small accessories - a scarf, a bold necklace or a bright lip. 

Have you travelled carry on only before? What are your top tips?

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To dance and to do in NYC

Beautiful Bryant Park (one of my favourite spots in NYC)

The motivation behind my coming to New York (apart from just being in New York!) was to take lots of dance, acting, singing classes. So, I finally jumped on the subway and headed uptown to Broadway Dance Centre for a Broadway Jazz class with Sue Samuels.
I stayed around after class to watch some of the other classes going on... it blew my mind! It's crazy the amount of talent crammed into one building! There are Broadway professionals brushing up on Advanced classes, all the way to absolute beginners, old and young, who attend the Basic and Beginner classes as well. Classes begin at 9am daily (7 days a week through most of the year) and run all the way through to midnight some nights!
The genres/styles of dance are also so varied and different to the styles I've experienced before (which makes sense because each class is essentially a reflection of the teachers training, preferences, style, etc.)

After class, I met with two of the other girls staying at the Residence and we wandered through Bryant Park, past Korea Town and back to Broadway. They were talking about the places they've been in New York since arriving and tips on the best places to go... I definitely need to add another page to my New York City 'to do' list!




What's on your New York City 'to do' list?!

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New York Nuns

After the first weekend in New York, I left our Airbnb studio and took a taxi across town to check into the Sacred Heart Residence, my home for the duration of my New York trip.

Sacred Heart is a women's residence. Women of all ages and nationalities can stay here for various lengths of time for work and study while they find their feet in the big city. The Sisters who operate the residence are very sweet although are women of few words. (Also, most of the Sister speak only Spanish and I sadly do not. So although we tried, the lines of communication were not terribly strong)

The building is a beautiful Brownstone in the heart of Chelsea, with cafes, shops and beautiful tree lined streets in the surrounding blocks. It's also right near the Highline, around the corner from the Upright Citizens Brigade (home to many SNL actors), the Joyce Theatre and just a few blocks from the Chelsea Markets.

Most of the women staying at the residence were in New York for creative persuits - many were studying dance, some were artists, and a few were undertaking internships in their fields of study. I made quite a few really lovely friends in the few short weeks that I was at the residence.

The residence didn't quite look like the beautiful pictures on their website, but it was a great location (and very safe), a great opportunity to meet some awesome people from around the world and the perfect place to base myself for this adventure. (The only thing I would change is to bring a kettle with me. Too many nights sneaking cups of tea past the Sisters, up to my room!)

  

Street level entrance to the Sacred Heart residence (the most beautiful old doors 

and decorative screens at the entrance.

The main entrance from the first floor landing. A little run down but I can just

imagine its former life. (I had a quick peek and there were beautiful marble

slabs under the red carpet. Can you imagine how beautiful it was in its day!) 

The first level lounge room.

The street level dining room. This was a great meeting place for the residence

(I thoroughly enjoyed catching up with everyone on the days I could drag myself

out of bed early enough)

The basement level entrance to the laundry (fun to explore the hallways 

and rooms down here but not my favourite place to be at night - daytime 

laundry sessions only!)

Beautiful signage and reminders of the history of the building and the many

lifetimes lived out within these walls. If these walls could talk!

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Hello New York!

My childhood friend (who now lives in Canada) decided to visit for my first weekend in NYC. Yay! We went with airbnb (have you tried it?) and managed to rent a great little walk up apartment in the East Village for the weekend. Cafes, cute restaurants and little shops on every block (there was even a fire escape to sit out on and drink wine in the evenings, which we didn't even notice until we were leaving!) We loved it! 

Some of our favourite things...

EAT

My favourite spot in the area was a little place called Freemans restaurant. 

A little gem at the end of an alley way. Aged mirrors, cosy rooms full of books and taxidermy (it works, trust me) sweet staff and amazing food. It's Alice in wonderland meets hipster NYC.  

- Freeman Alley off 191 Chrystie St, New York

Tip: Try the artichoke dip, it's amazing!

DO

Biking around Central Park. So fun! We hired a bike for an hour and cycled the whole way around the park. Whew! Great way to see the park, get your bearings and soak up the beautiful Summer weather. The traffic is a little hectic to negotiate at first (cyclists, rollerbladers, walkers, runners, dogs, etc etc) but it's totally worth it.

TRY

A Hershey's Kiss! Drop into Hersey World on Broadway and be welcomed into the store with a (free) Hershey's Kiss, yum! (You can also do this at the Lindt store on 5th Ave) There's nothing like chocolate to sweeten your visit to New York!

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(Thank you to Holly.H for the lovely image of Freemans)