The one where I go to New York

14th of August is my birthday. 13th-16th August me and my sister (Hi :)) went to New York. To sum it up as neatly as possible:

• Saw the Statue of Liberty


• Went to Central Park


• Saw lots of dogs


• “Oh, I’m sorry.”


• Brief visit to Chinatown


• Times Square


• Rockefella


• Empire State


• V Day Kiss


• Staten Island Ferry


• Macys


• Forever 21 do some very comfortable not quite denim leggings/jeggings


• Walked miles


• Achy feet


• Didn’t get a chance to eat  a pretzel


• Did eat a cupcake (yummy)


• Did eat cheesecake


• Why doesn’t England have a Victoria’s Secret already?


• Carrie’s Stoop


• Still don’t really understand the subway system (give me the underground any day)


• No, I’ll have them as well as chips


• 36th floor


• Made a special friend in the lift

P.S. Ingenious title no?

[caption id="attachment_235" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="66 Perry Street, anyone recognise it?"][/caption]

Katy Perry- Teenage Dream album Review

I got hold of Katy Perry’s latest album, Teenage Dream, recently and it must admit it’s become a guilty pleasure!

Her first single to come from it, California Gurls, was an instant hit due to its feel good, Summer feel and it soon got to the top of the charts, helped by a provocative video,  with sales exceeding 6 million worldwide. And if that’s anything to go by, Teenage Dream will be just as big.

The second single and the title track, Teenage Dream, (officially out tomorrow, 29^th August 2010) represents the general sound of the second album and of what we know about Katy, an album which compensates with well crafted tabloid liaisons what it lacks in substance.

Katy Perry never has shied away from promoting her product, her singles and albums, with other below the line tactics which take as much attention as possible off how simple and non-magnificent the product is.

Think back, for example, to Katy’s first venture onto the pop scene. Was it a well crafted piece of musical excellence, set for the music hall of fame? No, it was a title which alluded to lesbianism, I Kissed a Girl, with a gorgeous black-haired, red lipped stunner fluttering her eye lashes and giving long, intense stares down the camera. Add to that a high profile relationship with Russell Brand, an innate sexiness, and never failing to appear in public without a tight dress with a low neck line, and Katy Perry has proved that she most definitely knows how this pop game works.

And if it ain’t broke, why fix it? Songs on her sophomore album are just as full of innuendos paired with unoriginal catchy pop, perhaps the most unsubtle being Peacock in which she sings, and I quote, “Are you brave enough to let me see your peacock?/ What you're waiting for, it's time for you to show it off/ Don't be a shy kinda guy I'll bet it's beautiful/ Come on baby let me see/ Whatchu hidin' underneath”

Katy Perry sits on the same bench as many female pop stars before her, Britney Spears, Beyonce Knowles, Rhianna, all able to perfect the art of remaining accessible to teenagers, producing catchy pop songs and being etched into the imaginations of the older gentlemen.

However, don’t get me wrong, I do like Katy Perry’s album. I like it ALOT. The songs are well produced, very listenable and catchier than Chlamydia. Particular highlights are FireWork, Hummingbird Heartbeat and Last Friday Night, any of which could easily top the charts and add to Perry’s continuing chart success. In fact, it’s hard to find a reason not to like her. She’s got the whole package, and unless you’re one of those people who have a snobby dislike of manufactured pop music, you’ll like it too. And if you are one of those aforementioned snobs, I wouldn’t bother; this album probably isn’t for you.

Leopard Print Nails

Hello,

There is no real purpose to this post, other than to show you my leopard print nails



There they are. I used some nails inc. nail varnish which was part of the Diet Coke promotion, this one is the London one and it's a beige colour. There was also Paris, New York and Milan which were purple, pink and red. I used some black Konad special polish for the leopard print bit which was on plate number m57, and it took me a few goes to not mess it up! I think I'll try zebra print next. :)

Toy Story 3- My Review

[caption id="attachment_213" align="aligncenter" width="420" caption="Lotso Huggin' Bear shows Buzz around"][/caption]

One of the movie releases of the year I’ve been most anticipating is Toy Story 3. Anyone around the age of 20 will have grown up watching, and most likely, loving the Toy Story franchise.

We first met Woody and the gang in 1995, then again in 1999. But by 2010 those initial fans are likely to be a lot older and college or University students like me. This was something Pixar certainly did not ignore. In the US free screenings of 60 minutes of the film where shown to college students which they signed up for via the dedicated Facebook page. They were left with a cliff hanger ending in the hope that they’d return and pay for a ticket to see the remainder.

In addition, this age of viewer is also likely to blog or talk about their viewing on social networking sites, which would then create an online buzz about the film and get people talking, creating yet more anticipation for the release.

Alongside this, they also released three teaser trailers as well as gradually releasing character profiles of the latest additions online. My favourite trailer was an IM chat between Woody and Buzz but all are pretty funny and clever, and again likely to get people talking and excited about the film.

Having pre-booked my tickets for the first day of release (yeah a bit sad I know), 3D glasses in hand I sat down to watch the third instalment, and it certainly didn’t disappoint.

This time around Andy is leaving for college and the toys are facing their inevitable expiration, much like the franchise itself. They end up in Sunnyside play school where they encounter a host of new toys, Barbie meets her Ken, and a strawberry scented fuzzy bear called Lotso Huggin’ sets a cruel agenda for them to live by.

Unusually for an animated sequel, or even a third instalment, this one actually bucks the trend and is really good! The new characters as well as the old are as good as ever (I particularly like a new dinosaur called Trixie) but there is a sense of sadness and finality which runs throughout.

A lot of high hopes were placed on Toy Story 3 but ultimately I think it not only lived up to them, up also surpassed them. Entertaining from start to finish, without a dull “nothing’s happened for a while, I’m bored” moment in sight and just enough twists and turns to keep you interested without losing you, Toy Story 3 is definitely one of the best films I’ve seen so far this year- although admittedly I never got round to seeing either Avatar or Slumdog Millionaire)

A stand out sequence has to be the gang’s ultimate escape from Sunnyside, as well as the inspired character of Mr. Pricklepants (a thespian hedgehog) and the adorably cute Bonnie.

The ultimate message is that although you may be attached to something, sometimes you have to accept that it’s come to the end and it’s time to move on. However, as we learn in the open ending of the film as one door closes, another opens. It’s a tear jerker but ultimately delivers all we expected and more.