Interesting pit stops I have

Alrighty then, so I'm in Detroittttt. I had to googlemaps it when I got here coz I had no idea where it is, other than west of Boston. The flight was good, I had complimentary cookies (the best kind) for breakfast. And then Taco Bell for lunch. YAY TACO BELL! Another item crossed off my To Do/To Eat lists.

I still have like an hour and a half until I start boarding but so far my gate hasn't changed so I am thankful for that. I'm sitting here at the gate next to the charger stand with my devices all charging around me like an electric octopus, and I'm about to crack open the kindle.

The reason I am here and not in Seattle where I am supposed to be, despite my swearing that I will never ever again catch a connecting flight here in America - because the airports are RIDICULOUS - is that Alaska Airways cancelled my flight and then had no one at their check in, so I went to Delta to ask what's going on and they booked me on a flight I was not supposed to be able to get a seat on. Yes, some sneakiness went on but only because I am so charming. Also I may have been trembling a bit because let's face it, no one wants to get stuck at the airport during a Hurricane. They spent about 30 minutes getting me my ticket and then I had about 10 to run all the way to my gate before it took off without me. I got to bypass most of the security line and everything. YAY VIP!


But still. Damn you, Sandy. Ruining my plans.

HURRICANE SANDY, GET AWAY FROM ME. YOU EVIL WITCH

Are you a good witch?

Or a bad witch?

That's right, I spent my Saturday in Salem! Witch-town! It was really fun, although I wish somewhere in the brochures/guide books/websites they would mention that 90% of the place accepts cash only. I only brought $70 with me because I usually use my card for most things and I ended up SAVING MONEY because I couldn't BUY THINGS. What rubbish. I tell you, I rewarded those market stalls/shops that accepted Visa.


CRAZY AWESOME DOUBLE RAINBOW I SAW IN SALEM

Yes, so I bought some sailor necklaces, had a psychic reading, ate some Ben and Jerry's, went to the Witch Cottage show as well as the Witch Hysteria Museum and whatnot. Heaps of stuff! I really wanted to try the Haunted House, but Americans take Halloween so seriously and I can't even play Snap! properly without hyperventilating so I had to give that a miss. But I absolutely loved the whole hysteria thing (aka the history). It was so crazy and awesome and slightly spooky but just wicked cool. Makes me want to write something around it.

OHOHOH OH and I met this guy who looks IDENTICAL to Johnny Depp's Captain Jack from POTC. LOOK AT THE PHOTO! Although photos never truly capture what reality displays. But trust me, in person, you could not even tell the difference. He even had the voice! "'ello love" he said to me, which caused severe internal giggles.

And as for personal growth lesson of the day, I caught 6 trains (3 each way). SIX! That's more than I catch in Sydney in a year. I got the red line to the green line, the green line to the purple which is a commuter rail and incredibly scary, and then stampeded with the crowd to get myself a good seat. Thank goodness for years of St Andrews, where one of the qualifications you recieve is how to cram yourself into a tiny space such as a lift or a train carriage. Although this one guy took that as an opportunity to stare at my boobs, so I had to level him a really pissed off look. My sunglasses came off for it and everything.

Got excited thinking I'd found a Poker machine at the train station but alas :(

SO MUCH PRETTY ALL IN ONE DAY

Today had it's ups and downs. It started with a 7 AM ALARM. WUT? This week I hadn't left the house till 11ish... But I needed to send my package home and had to do it during quiet hours of the post office... Anyway, so I caught a bus up the street so I'd only have to walk a few minutes with the 11kg box. I caught the wrong bus however and ended up having to carry it further than I would have, had I just walked from the house.

Spent the morning in Downtown Boston again because yesterday's shopping was so much fun. I discovered some fantabulous products and Bath and Body Works that I intend to go back for, found a skirt I was practically drooling over at Macy's (if I find it again in L.A., it's mine), and bought two reeaaally pretty dresses at H&M. WITH TULLE!

Then I wandered over to Boston Common and walked through and around that for a while. I also went on the historical carousel! Only thing is, there was about 10 people on it when I bought my ticket and then when it was my go, it was just me.... So for like 2 minutes, I just sat sidesaddle smiling awkwardly at people who walked past and noticed I was the only one on the ride. When I finished the Common I wound up at Boston's Public Garden. AND OH MAN OH MAN OH MAN OH MAN OH MAN. If I've ever called any place in the world 'beautiful' before, I was young and naive. Boston's Public Garden is the single most beautiful place on Earth. I sat on a bench facing the lake and went through a whole playlist before I got up and started walking around. It may not be very large but it's just so amaaaaaazing.

 

If you're ever homeless, use the last of your money to get to Boston's Public Gardens and live your life out there.

And then I bought a pint of ice cream on my way home and came home to a GORGEOUS LITTLE BUBBA JUJU PUPPY DOG! HER NAME IS MAGGIE AND SHE IS SO CUUUUUUUUTEEEE

 

Oh yeah, and then I watched The Little Vampire, which is a movie I've been dying to rewatch for a couple of months now. YAY HALLOWEEN MARATHONS, ALL OCTOBER LONG!

Boston - Emma's next home

Today I caught the T to Boston where I had a tour guide take me the first 1/3 of the Freedom Trail. I loved my guide, so for once I tipped becaue I wanted to, rather than because it's what you have to do here. Anyway, I plan to walk the entire Freedom Trail sometime before I leave, but if I run out of time, I'll just catch the T to Bunker Hill (the end) so I can walk up the monument. 294 steps, bro. I can do it. America has made me fit. Also, I eat carbs like, every day.

Old City Hall.... Now a Steak House

Then at the end, while I was feeling pretty rad about having only spent $12 today, I wandered into a market. Watched a street performer. Had broccoli and penne for lunch, after discovering PEACH ICED TEA (what I thought was fruit juice is actually iced tea here. SNAPPLE). Bought three beautiful necklaces that I'm so stoked about. One is a silver prism that reminded me of Sailor Moon, one is all red roses that reminded me of Belle from Beauty and the Beast, and one is just this hectic statement necklace that I want to wear everyday for the rest of my life. Because I myself am just one big statement.

Then I found my first Claire's, which I've been in love with since the wee days of Hannah Montana (I discovered them since they were the only store to sell HM-esque wigs that weren't a trillion $). They had a buy 2, get a 3rd pair free! deal on earrings, so I bought all the below. Can't wait to wear them all (but saving that for when I get home).

I'm obsessed with teeny tiny studs, which I have yet to find in Aus

Then I lounged around in the late arvo sun in Boston Common which was so pretty and peaceful and when the bells started tolling.... Dude, I was in heaven.


JETTED OFF TO ROME FOR THE ARVO, DID I?

Just your everyday, portable (and FREE!) library in the park

 Such a fantastic day.

ATTN

Can Beth, Valesca, Claire B and Lily F please facebook PM me their addresses? Ta

Education can be fun!

Today I visited MIT and Harvard. They are SO big and SO smart looking. Like, geez. Intimidating, much?

Kidding. Maybe.

No, they were so beautiful. There were trees everywhere and they were all green/green-yellow/yellow/orange/burnt orange/brown and even in one case HOT PINK WTF? I took a photo, naturally. I took many, actually. It was just so picturesque! If it weren't for the fact that it was a place of learning, I'd go there every day just to chill. But you know how I feel about learning.

Oh! I did spend about $150 on MIT and Harvard clothes though. I'm going to be the classiest tshirt collector in Sydney. Dude.

MORE EMERICA GAMES! You will be given multiple choice answers and must choose the answer you think I have made up.




a) MIT students played a prank on the MIT police by putting an MIT police car on top of the Great Dome

 

b) MIT students made a giant tetris game out of this building

c) this library was bought for Harvard by a guy's mum after he died in the Titanic



Emerica Game!

Today we're going to play a game called 'Where's Emma?' It's like 'Where's Wally?', only better. It's all the rage these days - all the kids are playing it.

 

 

Cambridgeport

So, I can't remember if I wrote about this last night but AHHHHHHH my bed is SO COMFY! And I have DISNEY CHANNEL IN MY ROOM! and WIFI ACCESS. I'm in heaven right now. In fact, it took me til about 11.30am this morning just to get up!

Did some walking around Cambridgeport. This place is SO BEAUTIFUL! I've always wanted to live here and this week is only going to make me want to move over within months. Just gotta get Titan and Jas warmed to the idea of moving away from their friends first! Anyway, so I did some walking around today on my way to the Post Office, which is like part CASTLE or something coz they're all colossal and white pillared and stuff over here. Bought the biggest box that was allowed internationally and took it back to the apartment so I could pack as much stuff as I could to send home. Amazingly, absolutely everything I want to send home fits perfectly! Not an inch to spare, even.

Spent the rest of the afternoon watching tv on my COOOOOOOOOOOMFY BED. Had meatballs and ziti (basically penne) pasta, garlic bread, salad and mozzarella sticks so that I would have enough dinner for tonight and tomorrow. INSTEAD, I reckon I'll have enough for dinner until Thursday night! Possibly even Friday, since it doesn't take me long to get full here.

After dinner, I used the MAGIC SHOWER which is just the coolest thing you've ever seen. You can choose to have the steam just go nuts and at one point, I couldn't see a thing in front of me. It was fantastic.

Watched Full House and the Nanny while emailing mum and now it's time for bed. What an excellent day.

SOMETHING SPOOKY IS GOING ON HERE

So the day I left Sydney, I noticed I had a new mole/freckle growing on my palm. And it irritated me to no end because my hands were no longer identical (yeah, I know). It drove me crazy and for a week or two, I kept trying to get rid of it with tweezers by pinching the skin until eventually it would just be yanked out. But that didn't work and it really hurt to be honest, so I gave up, thinking maybe I'd just try a brightening cream or get my GP to cut it out when I got home.

It was there yesterday, still mocking me. TODAY IT WAS GONE. WHAT?

Then, later that day, I'm washing my hands in the bathroom and I noticed my face is a little red on one side but not the other. I wasn't remotely hot so I was like ???? and turned my head a bit only to find a NEW mole/freckle (srsly, what is the diff?) on my lower left jaw. And it is the darkest one on my face. And I'm 89% it was not there yesterday because dude, I would have noticed.


DID THE MAGIC MOLE MOVE? AM I LIKE THAT WEIRD PRINCE JOHN GUY IN ROBIN HOOD'S MEN IN TIGHTS?

Dude, we're on the verge of Halloween. I'm thinking paranormal activity.

No linear structure at all to this post. Does it even make sense?

Well, I am here in Boston/Cambridge now and it is soooo pretty!! There are trees everywhere and they are all different colours coz of the season. Wish I'd marathoned my Sabrina collection again before I left. But anyway, I digress.

Met the people I am staying with and they are soooooo nice! I had plans to go to Salem on the weekend, but now that I know that they're bringing home a PUPPY on Friday night... Well let's just say I'm not planning on going anywhere now.

Today was okay, for a travelling day. I met a really nice lady on my shuttle to the airport (the shuttle was really late, I was starting to freak I'd miss my plane AGAIN) whose step-daughter lives here in Cambridge (where I'm actually staying)! I have passed on my info :) The plane ride itself was quite good, my seat was 15E (10p if you can guess why I liked this) so I felt lucky - like that Gweneth Paltrow movie about 5s, but opposite - not to mention it was a super short flight.

Since I didn't eat breakfast or lunch at all, by the time my plane landed, I went to Dunkin Donuts and bought half a dozen jelly filled and a hot chocolate. But by the time I was halfway through my 3rd doughnut, all the sugar got to me and I had to save the rest for dinner.

So excited for tomorrow, but first stop'll have to be grocery shopping and post office-ing. Which means I'll probably have to get up early :( Lame. BUT DUDES, YOU SHOULD SEE HOW COMFY MY BED IS AHHHHHHH

Hopping off now, got me some OUAT and Revenge to catch up on before vid chatting with le parents.

*ALSO: DON'T THINK I DIDN'T NOTICE THE CORRELATION BETWEEN THE AIRPORT'S NAME AND THE FACT I'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO MOVE TO THIS CITY. BECAUSE I DID.

Best day in NY yet

Caught a cab to the Minskoff theatre today where I saw THE LION KING ON BROADWAY. AHHHHH! After I swapped my reservation for the actual ticket, I had an hour to kill before coming back so I'd planned on looking around and then going to Bubba Gump next door for lunch (a reccomendation from a family friend. I WILL EAT THERE SOME TIME, JULIE!) only when I came back out onto the street, I realised I was directly opposite the giant Disney and Toys R Us stores. And near Sephora. And the MnM store. So I visited all them. It was very hard not buying anything, but my resolve stuck only because I'd packed my suitcase yesterday and holy apples, I will be lucky if I can get everything to Boston tomorrow (UPSing stuff home Tuesday morning).

Played a game in Times Square on a giant screen. CAN YOU
FIND ME IN THE PICTURE? (hint: I am in black and white)

Then I found half of Broadway had been closed off for a flea market. YAAAAY! I bought a GIANT smoothie made on the spot for $6 (strawberry, mango and pineapple. YUM) and that ended up being my lunch. Along with Reeses Pieces. Bought another pair of pj pants because you know I have an addiction, and I got them for $4 less than I should have because the shopkeeper and I got talking and turns out he has family in Sydney. ANOTHER POINT SCORED FOR BARGAIN-BASHER EM. Few shops later I bought an NYPD tshirt and then figured 'okay, I've spent enough today. Let's get back to the theatre now'. Only, I had forgotten about Broadway show merchandise. Oh man, that lady sure made a lotta money off me today!

The show was freaking amazing, and I made friends with the family next to me coz they asked if I was Aussie. I tell you, this accent is like a verbal VIP pass. People love Australians! Mate. ALSO ALSO ALSO HOLY BLANKETS I HAD PROBABLY THE SINGLE BEST SEAT IN ALL THE SHOW, AND FOR ABOUT $100 LESS THAN THE CRAPPIEST SEAT, THANKS TO MY INTERNATIONAL YOUTH CARD DISCOUNT. AHHHHH IT WAS JUST THE BEST VIEW EVER.

Caught another cab, this time to the other end of Broadway for the NYU bookstore where I bought a "sweatshirt" (jumper) and t-shirt. This is so I can feel smugly superior when I wear them back home, since American universities seems to be all the rage at Kmart and Target and stuff, and I'll be wearing the genuine stuff. Also because I'd looooooooooove to actually go to NYU to study writing - only I'd hate to actually live in NY so I guess that ain't gonna happen :\

Caught a cab home, had another (if you saw last night's fb status) chicken burrito for dinner with some greek yoghurt that made my face insanely attractive at our in-hostel cafe. And now here I am, reliving it all for you benefit. No need to thank me.

Best shopping yet!

Today I met up with my friend Aimee with the original plan of touring some of NYU, only coz it was pretty much raining the whole day, that plan had to be vetoed, sadly :(

Instead, we did the giant Disney and Toys R Us stores! AND IT WAS SO MUCH BETTER THAN 5TH AVENUE!

My Macy's paper bag got shredded in the rain so I had to hold the bulky bundle to my chest as we walked a few blocks to the Disney store, and since my hands were full, I couldn't carry my umbrella and I got drenched! By the time I got to Disney, I looked like a drowned rat and staff told me where I could get a bag big enough for my Macy's purchases and so I got that all under wraps and good and done. FINALLY bought myself a soft toy, which I'd been meaning to do since Orlando! It's a 12" tall Donald Duck and he's very huggable! Also bought some EPIC Disney villain mugs - 2 for $16! And let me tell you, they are freaking huge. SO BIG. Spied a few other things I wanted, but didn't buy them coz I still have Downtown Disney in L.A to spend any extra Emerica money on. OMG SO PYSCHED.

Bought the Evil Queen (SW) and Maleficent (SB), may buy
Ursula and Cruella in L.A if I see them again

And the Toys R Us was fantastic! Not as me as the Disney store but still incredible. There was a giant ferris wheel that now, back in my hostel, I wish I'd ridden (Barbie's pink convertible, Scooby Doo's Mystery Van and the cart with Tommy Pickles and Jimmy Neutron were the 3 I really wanted to ride!). Perhaps I shall go back. Next year! But oh wow, found my new residence in there as well. Who needs an apartment overlooking Central Park when you can live here?

It was too large to fit in one photo. Believe me, there's more

Bought myself a wonderful Barbie book that details her history and then documents (photos) how her look changed over the years until present day. I'm dying to read it but keeping it wrapped up in its plastic for better shipping, so I can send it home and read it then. Also bought these fantastic little worms x squirrel things but won't go too into them atm coz I want to show them off when I get home. YAY FOR MORE PETS!

Made a quick stop to Best Buys (which is basically our JB Hi Fi - with the exact same shade of yellow! Also, pretty much same logo....) to get the soundtrack of instrumental Disney music I heard playing in the Disney store. Seeing as the CDs were so cheap, I didn't buy one. Or two. Or even three! I bought 5. Not bad, Bargain Basher Em.

All in all, a pretty wonderful day! I loved meeting Aimee for the first time, but am sorry we didn't get to do NYU and that the rain was so against us today :( Bad weather! Bad!

EVERYONE, LOOK AT THE BEAUTIFUL DRAWING AIMEE DREW FOR MEEEEE

Sailor Moon meets Harry Potter meets EMMA

AND THE GOODIES SHE BROUGHT ME! I CAN START DELVING INTO MY 'MUST TRY' CANDY LIST NOW! POW POW POW! KNOCKING THEM DOWN THIS WEEK.

More walking

Today I had a ticket to see the 9/11 memorial but needed an extra hour of sleep so I decided I'd see it on the weekend instead. So instead, I started with the Empire State Building (don't bother with the 102nd floor, aside from the fun elevator ride, it's the 86th that is really impressive), where I walked 6 flights of stairs to skip an elevator line and severely regretted it. But the views were very impressive and I loved the Percy Jackson feel of it all. Inside my head, I mean.



86th floor

102nd floor

Then did Macy's and 5th Ave and lots and lots of shopping. On 5th, I pulled my hat down and wore my sunnies and strutted a bit, pretending to be a famous person trying to be inconspicous. Ha! It was funny until my playlist changed. On 7th, I found these AMAZING jackets but didn't get them, of which I now really regret. I also bought 3 triplets (the equiv. of pairs) of socks at Little Miss Matched and got 5 TRIPLETS FOR FREE. Booyah. That's 24 single socks mwahahaha.

OH OH OH OH OH but the best part of the day! I was coming up to 50th st and saw a huuuuge crowd and thought 'oh awesome! A protest or parade or something' coz there were heaps of police cars and stuff. But no! Here is how it all smacked down:

Me: Excuse me, do you know what's going on here?
Lady #1: *speaks in Italian* *stares*
Me: Uh huh. K, thanks.
Lady #2 from out of nowhere: Obama's in town. He'll be driving through here.
Me: OMG YAY!
Lady #2. I know! Romney too.
Me: *wrinkles nose* Oh.
Lady #2: Yeah, I know.

And then like 20 cars all went through and had Obama not been waving out his window, I wouldn't have known which car he was in! Which I think is the point... So why he did it...?

 

Today's playlist of choice was the Lizzie McGuire movie soundtrack because I felt her trip to Rome was very similar to mine. And Supermodel inspired the 5th Ave mockup haha. And I will add that it got a bit weird listening to On an Evening in Roma on the Empire's 86th floor...

OH OH OH OH and here's a fun fact! You know your jeans look good when you're walking down the street, drop something, and 5 or 6 guys offer assistance. Hahahah. That has never happened to me in Sydney. Boys, where you at?

Time to go grab some dinner before heading to the comedy show. FISH FILLET AND VEGGIES. YEAH!

The day I took 512 photos like a total tourist

What a day. What a day! I FLAGGED DOWN A NEW YORK TAXI TODAY. That was on my To Do lists. I wanted it to be like this epic flinging of the arm to the road and a cab squeals as it brakes right in front of me like it does in the movies, but I was more like a polite Jenna Rink from Suddenly 30... Anyway. I didn't realise they LOCK YOU IN until you pay. Dude. I'm 19, do I look like I'd do a runner? Especially since I don't even look remotely fit enough to pull it off.

Anyway, so I spent the morning at Madam Tussaud's, which was fantastic! I loved it. Unfortunately I can't pick just one or even three photos, so none are going up :( FEEL FREE TO ASK TO SEE MY SCRAPBOOK IN DECEMBER WHEN IT HAS BEEN MADE!

Then caught the Hop on/off bus around downtown. Got off at Ground Zero on impulse, but it turns out you need tickets (despite being free) so I'll have to go back tomorrow. It was a bit eerie/chilling to be honest. Like, being in a Haunted House but much weirder coz you're outside in the middle of this thriving financial district, surrounded by people.

Had lunch at Burger King, which despite being Hungry Jacks with a different name is SO DIFFERENT. I said I was eating in, so they gave me a number, told me to walk upstairs and I was SEATED AT A TABLE BY A SERVER AND WAS BROUGHT MY MEAL. WHAT? IT'S ONLY A WHOPPER MEAL. CALM DOWN.

Nah, it felt pretty fancy, in that 'hehehe I'm so cool' kind of way.  Also, the guy in charge was pretty cool, talked to him for a while. He called me Boston coz of my jumper haha.

Then I just bussed around the entire city getting my feel of everything and came home exhausted but with a plan for Thurs-Sunday. So everything is all set. My week is going to be so busybusybusybusybusy (especially tomorrow) but it wouldn't be NY if it wasn't, would it?*



A magnet I liked because it sums up me pretty perfectly

All right, HAD to put this one up

Oh and I made friends with a guy in the kitchen tonight who works at a restaurant across the road. Scored myself a croissant for breakky, baguette and banana for lunch, and he'll be bringing me NY meatball sub for dinner. ALL FOR FREE! YAY!

*Mind you, NY is not as busy as they lead me to believe. However, this may be due to having lived in Sydney my whole life, which has me used to large crowds. But still, I was picturing this city to be like ants around an anthill :S WRONG

PICSPAM: DAY AT THE MUSEUM (get it?)

 Today I crossed off one of my Emerica To Do's.

HAVE A BAGEL WITH CREAM CHEESE AND BACON FOR BREAKFAST

See? Heather Wells would be so proud.

Also, it was freaking delicious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11 Like omg. No wonder everyone in America is obsessed with bacon. If it's like this morning's, okay, okay, I approve. I also had some fruit coz I was thirsty but wasn't going to shell out money when I had an empty drink bottle in my bag.

Meant to take a pic of the whole bagel but it was too good to stop,
so here's half

Then I met up with my friend Leaa and we went to the Museum of Natural History. It was great! Very big and very diverse in exhibits. My favourite part was the show Journey to the Stars which was narrated by WHOOPI GOLDBERG OMG. Had a geek out moment when a line she said was almost word for word what Puumba's definition of a star is. You know, since TLK is my favourite Disney movie. Tied with Tarzan.

Bizarrely small head for such a giant dinosaur

I saw many things, most of which I decided (outloud) that they reminded me of Titan and Jasmine. I also saw a giant wheel - jokes, it was the Aztec stone of the sun. Yeah, that one that predicts life as we know it ending this December.

I can take on 21/12/12

 

References to my babies cropping up everywhere

Almost identical to my screensaver of them



 

Weight on the Moon



Weight on a Neutron Star



 

My weight on the Sun (I realise you can read the picture regardless)



My weight on a Red Giant Star - and my favourite. LOOK AT
WHAT ALL THIS WALKING HAS DONE TO ME



 

Worst tattoo job ever (blue lips symbolise
eligibility for marriage)

Lots of tourist photos

HELLO, HEATHER AND COOPER! HELLO, F.R.I.E.N.D.S! HELLO EMPIRE STATE BUILDING THAT HAS CONNECTIONS WITH MY FUTURE HUSBAND, LOGAN LERMAN! HELLO NEW YORK!

Gonna sum up my day real quick:
- stood in the rain while waiting for my shuttle
- searched half the Washington Dulles International airport looking for International stamps. Which they didn't have. I know.
- sat on the CUTEST SMALLEST BABY PLANE EVER tarmac for 20 minutes without wifi to let my friend Leaa on the NY end know I'd be delayed
- arrived in NY where there was no wifi at the airport so I couldn't check where Leaa was
- found Leaa by catching her eye, narrowing mine, was narrow-eyed in return and thus we realised we were both there!
- went and had some yummy Japanese for dinner. I tried to eat rice with chopsticks but mainly scooped them out with a soup spoon. But it was delicious. AND THE COKE WAS SO CUTE
- went grocery shopping where I acted like a total tourist taking pictures of the most random things like supersized, Costco-esque products
- arrived at my hostel, which is very GIANT and intimidating
- was scared to shower but really gross from the rain and hot, so went to shower and discovered the bathroom is 100x better than I had been anticipating. Score one for Emerica character building!
- called Mum to tell her exactly the above
- sat on bunk bed (I AM ON THE TOP THIS TIME AHHHH), charging everything like an evil genius in an evil genius hideout
- sleeptime

SO FAR, THIS HAS BEEN THE BEST MONDAY IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Giant banana is giant?

Giant marg is giant!

IF DISNEY IS ON IT, I'LL HAVE IT

CANDLES THAT LOOK LIKE CRAYONS OMG

Fun fact. We were driving over a bridge that looked like the ANZAC so I started talking about the Harbour Bridge; turn my head and HOLY FARK, THERE IT IS. I'M BACK IN SYDNEY

Kindle love!

Today is the day I had originally dedicated for the National Mall, with intentions of hitting up some serious shopping.

But. You know. It's not an actual mall or anything. As I found out the other day, to my roommates' amusement. IT IS A GIANT PATCH OF GREEN SPACE. WUT? WHY WOULD YOU CALL IT A MALL THEN? Way to confuse the tourists.

So I haven't done any real shopping yet, which is sad :( But there is always New York!

So instead, I spent today reading. Finished a book I've been reading since I left, and then started a new Meg Cabot I'd bought especially for Emerica. Had to hide up in my room about halfway through the book because MC books do things to me. I just sit there, grinning, like I'm related to Norman Bates or something.

Because, depending on how well you know me, you'll know that my two favourite authors have remained so since I discovered them literally half my life ago. I've been a Meg Cabot fan since year 3, and an Alicia Blade fan since year 6. And when I read both, I get a very sore face and usually have to retreat from public.

So today was a happy and to-me-productive kind of day. My feet and legs feel like they've recovered from the walking that I've made them to, alá Journey to the Centre of the Earth and back. And we're only two weeks in. SIX TO GO

Excellent day was excellent

Today started out with this for breakfast

I am skeptical

I was surprised that it didn't taste like crap, however. I had it on half-toast-half-bread (someone set the toaster to 'frozen bagel' and I didn't notice until the end) and it was quite good. Minus the meatballs. I had one and it tasted like math equation body parts of meat - like a hotdog! - so I skipped the rest.

Then I went back to my room, read some, fell asleep mid-reading, woke up to some loud Germans in the hall, continued reading. Caught up on postcards, did some more reading, edited my budget spreadsheet where I realised I am spending heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaps less than I had planned for which means YAY MONEY FOR WHEN I GET HOME!, did some shopping on the Disney website and ordered a pizza for dinner. My feet and legs are so sore from walking that I am having it delivered coz I just can't trek it all one street over. I ordered a medium half and half (one side because I need some iron/red meat, the other because I like cheese and it has like 5 different kinds), mozzarella stix and a can of coke. And it's all so cheap!! But mind you, this is tonight's dinner and tomorrow's lunch.

Either way, Emma's partying tonight. *BREAKS OUT LE KINDLE AND YOUTUBE*

The day I had the most delicious lunch!



 

My very expensive ticket



The Lincoln booth hahaha get it?

Started the day at Ford's Theatre which was really interesting. Abraham Lincoln is just the coolest. Or was, before John Booth offed him thinking he was doing the world a favour. But I did a walkabout of the museum in the basement before sitting on the balcony near where Lincoln was assassinated, while listening to a talk about it, before crossing the road to Peterson House where he actually died 9 hours later, and having a look in there.

SO MANY BOOKS (all on Lincoln)

Took myself to Cosi after that and man, if you are ever in DC, have as many meals as you can from Cosi (they're all over the place). They do salads, pizzas, melts, sandwiches, you name it. I was torn in my decision-making but finally settled for the chicken parmasan melt. Yuuuum. And a raspberry iced tea which tasted more like pink lemonade. Not so yum.
 
Kept walking until I got the Newseum on Penn. Ave., and spent the rest of the day there. It is probably supposed to take 2 days, hence the 2 day ticket but I skimmed some stuff and fit it all in several hours. I reckon it'd be 10/10 excellence if you were actually American. My favourite parts were the FBI exhibit, the First Dogs, the Pulitzer Prize photographs, New Media exhibit and the terrace that overlooked the entire Pennsylvania Avenue. So cool.
 
Oh yeah, and then we had a Curry Party at the hostel, so I had dinner for only $2. Bargain!


 

"White House #1"if you'll remember

 


Tried to do a panorama but got bored coz it took so long

 

 
 



My favourite picture at the Newseum