Jersey Shore

Taken from MTV.com:
MTV has focused its lens on various subcultures and rites of passage, uncovering a host of memorable characters in the process. With its newest series, Jersey Shore, MTV peels back yet a different curtain to follow eight young adults as they move into a summer share to indulge in everything Seaside Heights, New Jersey, one of the most popular summer hot spots, has to offer. Jersey Shore uncovers sometimes surprising, often hilarious and usually over-the-top personalities as they juggle work, love, nightlife, friendship and the drama that ensues. In the end, viewers see that there is more to these tan and buff individuals than hair gel.


I had read too much about this cast on Perezhilton.com and decided to download it to watch in my bubs nap time... I wasn't sure what to expect, I couldn't get into the Hills and there were many comparisons... Well unlike the Hills, I was addicted to this from the first episode... Sure I can see why its controversial, but it is also HILARIOUS! Once you eventually remember who they all are (I keep getting confused with Sammi and JWow thinking ShamWow), you will be addicted too...

Avatar

I'm not going to tell you anything you haven't already heard... Yes, we all know the story of Pocahontas, but this is so lush, and beautiful to look at, especially in 3d, I think you need to catch it at the cinema before its too late! The whole length of the film, and was it looong, I didn't check my watch once! But I didn't move enough, legs seized up when I tried to stand at the end...

Crown Promenade Hotel

Crown Promenade Hotel
8 Whiteman Street,
Southbank 3006
Melbourne
Victoria
Reservations +61 3 9292 6688
Facsimile +61 3 9292 6600
Toll free (within Australia): 1800 776 612

Mark won this nights accommodation in a raffle (dude has amazing luck)... It included a breakfast and valet parking... Everything about the experience was wonderful... The staff, from valet, to room service to breakfast, were exceptional... The location was brilliant for a night at the casino, room was beautiful and clean... The bathroom was a tiny bit mouldy which I'm not a fan of, but otherwise it was lovely and big... Breakfast was divine, eggs to order, every pastry, cereal, fruit, bread you could think of... Got a couple drinks room service, really good cocktail!!! Overall I would highly recommend this as a place to stay with your lover, it ticks all the boxes!

The view...

The White Queen

The White Queen
A 15th Century Plantagenet Novel of Suspense
Philippa Gregory

I am a big Philippa Gregory fan, and this book does not disappoint... Sticking to a subject and style that she excels in, with great characters, beautifully described scenery and a plot that keeps you wanting more... All I can really say is if you are into this period, or any of her previous books you should read it... Looking forward to her next installment...

Synopsis (from the publisher): Brother turns on brother to win the ultimate prize, the throne of England, in this dazzling account of the wars of the Plantagenets. They are the claimants and kings who ruled England before the Tudors, and now Philippa Gregory brings them to life through the dramatic and intimate stories of the secret players: the indomitable women, starting with Elizabeth Woodville, the White Queen.The White Queen tells the story of a woman of extraordinary beauty and ambition who, catching the eye of the newly crowned boy king, marries him in secret and ascends to royalty. While Elizabeth rises to the demands of her exalted position and fights for the success of her family, her two sons become central figures in a mystery that has confounded historians for centuries: the missing princes in the Tower of London whose fate is still unknown. From her uniquely qualified perspective, Philippa Gregory explores this most famous unsolved mystery of English history, informed by impeccable research and framed by her inimitable storytelling skills.

Britney Spears - The Circus

After one extremely bad review of this show, Australia was up in arms about lip synching... I was honestly surprised that anyone who had a ticket to this show wouldn't know that Britney doesn't sing live... I bought my Mum a ticket for her birthday and in part to say thanks for looking after Marley all of the time... Not a big fan, but have enjoyed her latest album...

Rod Laver arena was full of young women, I felt old at the ripe old age of 31... Seating around the three ring circus was great, no matter where you were you could see the stage... The show started with side acts, circus side acts, complete with clowns, little people and an amputee... It was definitely amazing, and this was before we were graced with her presence... She came out and did what she was supposed to do, she danced around, her dancers were amazing, the costumes and choreography were great, the pyrotechnics were brilliant... We heard all of her songs worth hearing... I loved the 'everybodys looking for something' segueway, hotness!!! The few things that didn't impress me 100% was that she was cold, I imagine she didn't want to go on stage after that review, but she had to, and it felt like that... The lack of talk to the audience, we got something like 'Its great to be in Melbourne' she had more to say about Melbourne on her twitter that day... And lastly I think her heels were too high to pull off her moves convincingly... I had seen rehearsals in the studio for this and her fluidity when she was dancing was much better... Otherwise I truly feel like we got our moneys worth...


The setlist:
CIRCUS
Parade Intro
Circus (Funky Remix)
Piece of Me
Thunderstorm Segue
Radar
HOUSE OF FUN (Anything Goes)
Martial Arts Segue
Ooh Ooh Baby/Hot as Ice
Boys
If U Seek Amy
Me Against the Music (Bollywood)
FREAKSHOW/PEEPSHOW
Everybody’s Looking for Something Segue
Freakshow
Get Naked
Britney’s Hotline
Breathe on Me/Touch of My Hand
ELECTRO CIRC
Break the Ice Segue
Do Something
Slave
Dancer Solo Segue/Heartbeat Segue
Toxic
Baby One More Time (Remix)
ENCORE
Womanizer (Extended Remix)
Circus Reprise: The Bow

Friday 18th September

Friday 18th September
RCA booked our cab, which turned out to be a limo (for the same price!) to go to the airport early in the morning, a great end to a great stay!

Serendipity 3

Serendipity 3
225 East 60th St
http://www.serendipity3.com/
We came for the frozen hot chocolate, and some lunch as we were ravenous by the time we arrived, went to enter there was a sign that there weren’t any strollers allowed… The man that worked there suggested leaving the stroller out the front or tipping a fellow across the road to mind it, which we didn’t feel comfortable with… I asked if I could just get one frozen hot chocolate take away and he said they didn’t do take away but would make an exception in this case… So glad he did it was HEAVEN! I honestly though that there was no way it could live it to the hype or expectations, but it blew me away! The only regret is that I didn’t buy some take away sachets for when we got home! I have since checked Amazon and they are very very expensive, even before adding international shipping!

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Metropolitan Museum of Art
www.metmuseum.org
5th Avenue & 82,
New York -
+1 212-879-5500

The wonderful museums of NYC have always been on my to do list, but we have always been so caught up with being out and about they have always fallen by the wayside… On this trip it wasnt just about being out in the street, so we thought Marley might enjoy a rich art experience...

The Roman/Greek exhibit was awe inspiring… The modern section had loads of famous pieces and eventually making our way through the massive mazelike space we found the shark, it was very impressive, if not looking a little bit knackered… Out through the Egyptian space, there is one room which has one wall of windows, a water feature and some great pieces of Egyptian art, the through the other bits, the mummies, hieroglyphs etc, just fantastic!

We probably need another day or two there to get full scope, but we got to see the main points of interest to me and that was the main thing!

Thursday 17 September

Thursday 17 September

A family morning as we walked through central park to the Metropolitan Museum of Art… Thought Marley would enjoy the art and have been stinging to see Damien Hirsts Shark, and Mark as an artist always appreciates some good art! The Met was brilliant, spent hours there, was really really happy that we finally made it…

Walked around and over towards Serendipity 3 for their Frozen Hot Chocolate, finally arrived, starving ready to eat and they don’t allow strollers… We were asked to leave it out the front of the shop or tip some guy across the road to mind it… I was devastated, and explained to the man that I was desperate to try the frozen hot chocolate so could I just grab one take away, he said they didn’t do take away, but he would make an exception because of the circumstances… I am so glad he did, it was AMAZING!!! I drank as we walked back to 5th Ave, in heaven!

5th Ave again, Nike town again, just walking around, stumbled across the sex and the city 2 filming, checked that out a bit… Didn’t see very much though, the girls were in Bergdorf Goodman’s... And we walked and walked till we arrived home by night to pack…

Flight Club Downtown

Flight Club Downtown
www.flightclubny.com
124 Nassau St # 3
New York,
NY 10038-2726,
United States
+1 212-505-2330

Nothing for me at this spot this time, but Mark got some caps… Always nice to look at their items in the glass cabinet… Staff really worked for their sales when the sizes Mark wanted were hard to find, but eventually they were found…

Champs Sports

Champs Sports
Times Square
www.champssports.com
Wandering past we thought we would check for these Blazers Mark wanted… Again no sizes for Mark, but they did have a great selection of Nike shirts… Mark got a few, while I got all jealous that they didn’t have ANY in small or women’s sizes… Fairly unimpressive! Service was extremely lax, but you expect that in Times Square…

Toys r us

Toys r us
http://www.toysrustimessquare.com/
1514 Broadway,
New York -
+1 646-366-8800

We were passing by Toys R Us so in we went… Managed to spend a long time in here and bought more toys and t-shirts for Marley… One very cute SpongeBob cushion left and we missed it, found another one on the ground floor and Mark grabbed it the minute someone else decided they didn’t want it… Awesome!

Wednesday 16 September

Wednesday 16 September

We had done more then expected even with Marley so I was surprised to find a day without anything scheduled… Mark really wanted to go back downtown to look at Flight Club so we walked to Times Square to get the subway, got distracted by Toys R Us and spent hours looking around, bought more toys and t shirts for Marley… Stumbled upon Champs and Mark got some wicked t-shirts, I was so jealous that Nike just don’t do their best shirts in women’s sizes… Grabbed a couple things from GAP and finally got the train…
Flight club was good, unfortunately nothing for me but Mark got 2 caps (he got a LOT of caps on this trip!) and by the time we got back we thought we would just sit in and watch a film…

SoHo Park

SoHo Park
www.sohoparknyc.com
62 Prince St
New York,
NY 10012-3306,
United States
+1 212-219-2129

Awesome space, made up as a park, very cute! Just got drinks here as an opportunity to feed Marley, my shake was good though... The queue was long which put a bit of a downer on it, but overall I would definitely go back there…

Nike NSW

Nike NSW
21 Mercer

Ever get the feeling you are being watched? That’s a definite feeling in this store… Crazy prices… Out the back is the proper women’s section and I made a few purchases here… Staff were really helpful and nice enough, but the vibe isnt so great…

Premium laces

Premium laces
www.premiumlacesny.com
68 Spring Street
New York,
NY 10012,
United States
+1 212-334-4939

Some great stuff on sale, not sure why they are selling Ugg boots though? Staff were friendly, smooth transaction…

Cowgirl

Cowgirl
www.cowgirlnyc.com
519 Hudson St
New York,
NY 10014-2601,
United States
+1 212-633-1133

We LOVED it here on our last trip, and LOVED it again on this trip... Still a cute spot, great staff, great food and super kid friendly, so there were no cons to visiting again... I can see many brunches here in our future, just maybe not for a while!

Tuesday 15 September

Tuesday 15 September

Got the subway to the Village to have brunch at Cowgirl, we loved it here last time and it was just as good the second time round except that they didn’t have the fresh apple juice… It was baby friendly which added to the experience… zigzagged through the Village and then SoHo, browsing a lot but not much to purchase… Got a few bits from NSW (Nike) and Mark got a shirt at Premium Laces, but otherwise it was quiet shopping wise… It was nice to walk though, just soaking up the atmosphere… Stopped for a drink at SoHo Park and continued home…

Goliath

Goliath
www.goliathny.com
175 E 105th St
New York,
NY 10029-4972,
United States
+1 212-360-7683

This is the gem of Harlem… Some great tees, caps and kicks with super friendly staff… Found myself chatting with the staff the whole time Mark shopped, which was really interesting, while the other staff were extremely helpful... If you are in the area check it, if not find it!!!

Bronx zoo

Bronx zoo
http://www.bronxzoo.com/

We got the subway to the zoo, and the stop that you exit has a LOT of very steep stairs… I found this confusing being known as the zoo stop I thought it would have pram and disability options…
The zoo has a normal charge and added options for extra money, we chose the ‘total experience’ for $27 which includes entry plus
Congo Gorilla
Children's
Butterfly Garden
Monorail
Zucker Bug Carousel

Unfortunately these were all stroller free options, and we didn’t bring the baby harness or feel comfortable leaving the stroller randomly so it was a bit of a waste… At the Congo Gorilla entry we decided to tag team entry so we could see them, and that alone was worth the $27, I could have spent aaages there! The rest of the zoo was pretty average, hardly anywhere open to eat lunch, we were ravenous by the time we found somewhere… Marley had a good time and that was the point… She was much more interested in the little animals closer to her, the big animals she didn’t seem to recognise as animals, just looking at everything about the enclosure…

Monday 14 September

Monday 14 September

Walk through times square to get to subway we saw the filming of beautiful life, which was cancelled after being shown twice, oh well… Jumped on the subway to the Bronx Zoo, another Marley morning... Zoo was inconsistent, with some parts truly sucking but others making the whole experience worthwhile!

Jumped off the subway in Harlem and walked through Spanish Harlem on our way to Goliath, well worth the journey… Goliath has some great stuff for sale and the staff were very friendly and helpful… Also stumbled across the Hall of Fame, which has changed completely since our last visit… Back to central park, walking around then grabbed a cab back to our room…

Tiffany & Co

Tiffany & Co
www.tiffany.com
Fifth Ave

I have visited this magnificent 5 level flagship store a few times now, so I wasn't intimidated entering and making my way to exactly what I wanted... The service was surprisingly quick, I pointed out my new earrings and Mark bought them for me... Great, easy, beautiful... Even if you aren't in the mood for jewellery you should definitely still check out this store...

HBO store

HBO store
www.hbo.com
Front 31100 Avenue of the Americas,
New York,
NY 10036-6712,
United States
+1 212-512-7467

We are big fans of a few HBO shows and have spent hundreds of dollars in the HBO store before, but this time it just seemed to be overflowing with True Blood merchandise and only had bits and pieces of their other shows… Resulting in us moving on without purchases…

Ellen’s Stardust Diner

Ellen’s Stardust Diner
www.ellensstardustdiner.com
1650 Broadway,

Corner of 51st Street NY,

NY 10019,

212-956-5151

I had read mixed reviews on this place, but I was looking for something my baby would enjoy and she did enjoy it, which was the main point… The service sucked, the waiter just didn’t seem interested in doing his job… The food was average, but that’s cool because the singers were awesome, Marley loved it, they came over to her and serenaded her and she smiled the whole time we were in there…