Thanks to Cancelled classes!!

Due to the freedom of our ISVP program we can decide when and who to take classes from, so when we went to sign in to a particular class that we both like to take each week and found out that it was a cover, we both decided to take advantage of the lovely weather (15 degrees C) and go and chill on a bench somewhere....and somewhere being the East River Park which is totally the opposite side to where we were in Manhattan ( Midtown and slightly to the West). First stop was Amy's Bread Bakery and Cafe where Rosina met me after her class at Steps and  treated me to a huge Hot Chocolate made from REAL chocolate with a slab of marshmallow and a Red Velvet Cupcake with mouth watering vanilla icing...(oooh i can taste it now) Rosina had the same beverage and a chocolate Brownie.

We then headed over to the east side of lower manhattan, to East River Park, walking along the East River with a view of Brooklyn and Queens and topically... the Domino Sugar Factory!

Then we headed back to BDC for two classes, the weathers meant to continue to be warm for a couple of days...NY looks amazing in the sunlight!

Harō Kiti

''Hello Kitty, her real name is Kitty White and she was born in the suburbs of London, England on November 1. Her height is described as five apples and her weight as three apples. She is portrayed as a bright and kind-hearted girl, very close to her twin sister Mimmy. She is good at baking cookies and loves Mama's homemade apple pie. She likes to collect cute things and her favorite subjects in school are English, music and art.

Hello Kitty is portrayed surrounded by a large family who all go by the last name White. Her twin sister Mimmy is described as "shy and very girly," interested in sewing and dreaming of marriage. While Hello Kitty wears a bow on her left ear, Mimmy wears hers on the right. Their Papa, George, is described as dependable, humorous but also absent-minded. Mama, Mary, is portrayed as a good cook who loves doing housework. Grandpa Anthony likes to tell stories and Grandma Margaret likes sewing. Dear Daniel is Hello Kitty's childhood friend. His character profile describes him as born in London on May 3 with the real name Daniel Starr. He travelled with his parents and was away from Hello Kitty for a long time. He is portrayed as fashionable and sensitive, good at dancing and playing the piano, with an interest in photography and dreams of being a celebrity.Charmmy Kitty is Hello Kitty's pet. She is described as docile, obedient and fond of shiny things. Her necklace holds the key to Hello Kitty's jewellery box.''

 ( and no...I did not make this up, this is legit!)

Hello Kitty is iconic...to the British more as a brand, however in Japan she's as big as Beauty and the Beast! She has her own TV show, aeroplanes, hotels...etc etc. Rosina is now obsessed...

The Tshirt came first...

then came the back pack...

Then the notepads and keyrings...

Then the Onesie...

Then the Tea Biscuits..

and now the colouring book...!

The obsession is not helped by the store thats dedicated completely to Hello Kitty (on Times Square, right on our route to BDC!), theres clothing, and shoes, toys, school and office...i could go on, and each season she brings out a new range!  (Although its cheaper to get it of amazon or in China Town!) Forever 21 the equivalent of Primark is also packed with her goodies!

Theres also a makeup range in Sephora...

and of course she was in the Thanks Giving Parade!

I'm not sure whats next...but there is, unfortunately,  a Hello Kitty Hotel, Hello Kitty blog and Hello Kitty stars in her own musicals in Japan, shes currently playing Dorothy in Wizard of Oz...!

Stepped into the ....East side!

We have a bucket list of things to do whilst we are still in NY and today we thought we'd fulfill one of them....Taking the Roosevelt Island Tram to Roosevelt Island! We incorporated numerous other neighbour hoods we haven't been too yet too, by walking the east side of manhattan from 96th st and 2nd ave, all the way to Canal street...which is beyond the numbered streets...about 100 blocks!

Our day;

1. Got the cross town bus to 96th and 2nd Ave. Found the Jack Russell Pub!

2.Walked down 2nd Ave, grabbed some lunch in a coffee shop.

3. Boarded the Roosevelt Aerial Tram to visit Roosevelt Island....
It lies between the island of Manhattan to its west and the borough of Queens to its east. Running from Manhattan's East 46th to East 85th streets, it is about two miles (3 km) long.

4. Got off the Tram in the strangest environment ever. R Island felt like something out of a horror movie, 1 supermarket, 1 drug store, 1 coffee shop, soviet-style housing...we got on the Island tour bus costing a total of 25cents...and then re boarded the aerial tram, and saw the 'alternative view' of Manhattans Skyline!


5. Continued to walk down 2nd Ave.


6. Popped into Starbucks


7. Continued to walk down 2nd Ave, Passing the UN, Empire state and Chrysler.

8. Arrived in the East Village, explored St Marc's place and Avenue A...boutique shops galore! Bought some postcards to frame (another thing on the list!)

9. Walked down Bowery St leading into China Town...

10. Watched some Chinese Dragons do their New Year Celebrations

11. Got $3 chinese food. Which was really good!

12. Went in Chinese McDonalds to get a drink...and toilet break!

13. Went in Asian Supermarket ...bought some very strange treats! Kiwi Gums , Hello Kitty biscuits and a Hello Kitty Colouring book.. she was wearing a tutu!!!

14. Headed to Times Sq.


15. Popped into Sephora to freshen up with the makeup and fragrance testers. (Hello Kitty has its own range of course!)

16. Said Hello to Kitty again!

17. Bought the New Yorker (another thing on the list!)


18. Headed to our friends leaving gathering and ate some Swedish Chocolate cake!

19. Travelled home...got a cab as it was late.


20. Blogged.

21. ZzzZzZzzzzzZzzz

Hair Cuts!

My hair grows really fast...and each time I go to the barbers I think Rosina could do that...so today I bought some hair clippers, cheaper than a hair cut...and Rosina did it!

Et Voila...

She needs a little more practise...but it was freeeeeee and anyhow it'll grow back by next week!

Rosina also had her hair cut this week by her lovely london/chinese Tony and Guy trained Max at the random hair salon down the road...we're going out tomorrow night so i'm sure there will be a picture of it all glammed up soon!

Our top 5 FREE things to do in NYC!

New York ain't cheap.

We're not trying to kid anyone. However there are some little things that you can do in the city for free which we love!

1. High Line Park...great views, excellent art...just to keep it free, don't go in Chelsea Market!
2. Staten Island Ferry... The free way to see the Statue of Liberty and Manhattan skyline, just stay on the ferry though as theres nothing on Staten Island and choose a nice day!
3. MoMa Free Friday Nights...get there early on a Friday to queue up to get normally $25 dollar tickets for free...the museum gets crowded but its bearable.
4. Free Wifi in Starbucks and loads of other public places ...unlike the UK you don't need a starbucks card or a tmobile hot spot subscription to log on!
5. Be audience of  a TV show... log on to any tv station website and there are applications for every show that you would want to watch out here...make sure you put some amazing story under why you want to go and there sure to get you a seat! Loads of freebies too!

5 and a half...its not free but cheaper...Rush Tickets...each theatre has a rush ticket option, arrive at 8am on the day you want to watch the show, line up outside and get $25 dollar (normal $70+) tickets. Each show is different and some of them are only for students but its worth looking at!

Long weekend mmmmm!

Chose to have a long weekend, this week, finishing our classes by Thursday eve to have three days off, exploring even more of the city! (not that we haven't done enough, just don't want to miss anything!) We're pretty knackered at the moment taking 12 full on classes (no yoga, pilates, voice for us at the moment!!) a week plus other classes at different studios, rehearsals and running, 14hour days, starting from 8am, finishing at 10.30pm...first thing we did....was sleep in...and it was pouring with rain anyway this morning!

Then Sam went running  ,6.25miles (all the way to 42nd st), I did some emailing, then we decided to have some sushi for lunch, we have so far failed to find any good and affordable Sushi! There is no equivalent of the London chain of Wasabi which was my recluse after a ballet class at Danceworks!! So we headed to somewhere called Ruby Foo's, a pan-asian resturant in Times Sq. Still wasn't the best, but then we were spoilt for choice with Akari right on our doorstep in Islington. We had some gyoza, some chicken teriaki things and tuna/salmon rolls... it was ok, until they fobbed us off for some kind of pork dumping and pretended it was chicken teriaki! Anyway moving on we heading to the MoMa (Museum of Modern Art) as it's free from 4pm on a Friday!

The MoMa is in midtown Manhattan and houses a lot of modern art, The museum's collection offers an unparalleled overview of modern and contemporary art,including works of architecture and design, drawings, painting, sculpture, photography, prints, illustrated books and artist's books,film, and electronic media.


It was great to see paintings that I studied at school and Sam was pretty interested to! Some of our faves and some classics are below....

Water Lilies- Monet

Starry Night- Van Gogh

Andy Warholl

Jasper John - American Flag

The sun was beginning to set as we wandered the many floors of the museum, all with windows that looked out upon Manhattan, which had finally stopped raining!

Sam then suggested we went on got IceCream...well something called Tasty D- lite...a slightly healthier option to ice cream similar to Mr Whippy! Something Charlotte loves in Sex and the City, so today instead of being Carrie, I became Charlotte!

Stop, be still and look up!

One of our advisors said right at the beginning, a tip for our time here, just stop, be still and look up. With all the hustle and bustle of the city, the rush of the commute, seeing the insides of a studio all day, other peoples sweaty backs...we forget where we are...in New York.

Still hasn't sunk in that this is home at the moment, and it probably never will, but we stopped and looked up today...a beautiful day it was too!

Tremaine Dance Convention and Competition

If you are a dancer, your Facebook will be littered with Youtube videos of amazing routines from young american kids...if you're not a dancer these videos definitely won't be popping up on your news feed!

Routines, such as this...

or this...

And most amazingly this...

cause uproar and applause between dancers worldwide. This is the talent, this is the drive, this is normal for dance training kids in the U.S. 

A program called Dance Moms (controversially following one of the best dance schools in America and there gruelling schedule yet allowing us to watch the supreme talent of the kids that win national titles, aged 8 with multiple turns every time) has really made me and Sam step up our game with teaching when we get back home. So yesterday we went to the Tremaine Dance Competition and Convention at the Grand Hyatt Hotel New York thanks you our friend Josh who works for them and got us free unlimited access wristbands. 

There was so much razzle dazzle and glitz&glam at this convention. Classes all day (registration 7am) with renowned teachers and them from 4.30pm their competition, solos, duets, trios and groups, all competing for the coveted Highest Overall Score 4ft trophy!! Parents teachers and pupils turn up the night before complete with costume rails and make up trunks, and take over the hotel for the whole weekend.

The kids from 6years, look a million dollars, even when there in class, impressing the teachers for the Scholarships to future conventions, who has the most impressive booty short and crop top combo, who's hair is the best, all make those kids look like they mean business even if they're technique is not up to scratch. There are three groups, Junior 6-9years, Teen 10-13years, Senior 13+, and they then compete in these age groups later in the competition.

The competition, Wow, so yes not every kid is the Britanny Hine and not every group is the Dance Presicions...but each kid, whether they can do 20turns or they cant looked immaculate and every kid...even the ones at the back of the group...was performing 200%... never have I seen so many smiling (not fake) performance faces. They look OTT in the videos but wait till you see them up close! Intense performance from every kid involved.

A very entertaining, eyeopening day, (although to be honest my eyes weren't exactly shut)!

Winter Arrived!

We woke up to 6-8inches of snow and still falling, headed to Central Park for some of those MUST HAVE photographs! Snow has now stopped and no more is forecast.