Dilemma Central!

Hi Everyone!

Today is my last day of the summer holidays and I could really do with 4 more lots of 3 months off tbh! I will be going into my Second year of college and this is the year where I need to make some pretty important decisions and have some of the most important auditions that I will probably ever do. I will be applying for drama schools (basically uni but for actors) but I am in such a dilemma with where to apply for! 

I can't decide between New York and London! I love both of these cities and until this summer I was set on moving to London and only applying for London schools but due to my recent trip to New York, I really want to get into a New York school! 

There are pros and cons for both cities, for example, I love London and as its the same country I don't have to deal with visas etc. It also means that moving is so much easier! I have always loved London and its a dream of mine to be on the West End one day. Its been a dream of mine since I can remember! 

However, I want a fresh start and felt London was far away enough but the older I get and the more people I meet, the closer London actually feels. I need to move away from the north east especially. There are people that I hope to never see again and want to get away from as they are a waste of space. I also need to explore more as I have spent 17 years in the same small crap city and need to get out as I cannot spend another year here without properly losing my shit!

Now though I know quite a few people in London and feel like theres a chance of bumping into someone who I never want to see again! I mean not everyone I know in London is an idiot, it is just a small minority but still! If I have the chance for a fresh start then Imma jump on it!

This is why I want to move to New York. Moving far away means that there is no chance of bumping into arseholes and I can have a fresh start. I can also meet new people and be closer to Broadway! I love New York and its hussle and bussle, and I feel like theres ore for me over there! The thought of attending a New York school would be truly amazing and I feel like I would have more of a shot than living in London. I also want to see the world as theres a whole world I want to see and explore! I also love America and there seem to be more opportunities over there, especially on Broadway! But it means that I am far away from my true pals (granted there isn't many) and I really would miss them!

I honestly don't know what I want and where to go because I love London but want a complete fresh start! All I know for a fact is that once I've moved away from the North East, I am NEVER EVER coming back! I can't wait to leave this shit hole and all the horrendous people I have had the misfortune to meet.

We will see what happens this year! God knows where I will end up but hopefully its where I want to be! So watch this space y'all!

Charlotte x

NEW YORK DAY 4- Travelling Back to England

Hi Everyone!

Well it's here, the last day of my trip to New York and what an adventure it has been!

As this was our last day it was really a day for us to do some last minute shopping and to wander around the streets of New York, one last time before a 7 hour flight back to 'fun' England!

We got up kinda late and I decided to skip breakfast so I could start packing. But there was a slight problem. I may or may not have bought too much and needed another suitcase because if we packed everything into the one case then we would have been well over the weight limit! I packed as much as I could and left most of the new stuff out as me and Kathy went on a trip to this small store to buy a small suitcase. It only cost $15! Like seriously, America is a winner! So we head back and packed everything else and left the suitcases at the hotel and headed off one last time! I really wanted to go to Bath and Body Works because over priced toiletries are my thing! So we headed up towards the one by the Chrysler Building and I of course spent too much dollar on candles etc! Afterwards we went for a coffee then headed back through Grand Central Station. We decided to go to Chipotle for lunch and I was hyped because I love Mexican Food and have always wanted to try Chipotle! It was so so good!

After food we headed towards outside Macy's because there was like a seating area in the sun and we had some time to chill and we wanted to make the most of the amazing New York weather. We spent about 45 minutes just sitting taking it all in then went back to the hotel to get our bags and to get in the taxi to Newark Airport. 

We got in the taxi around 3.10pm and it took an hour to get to airport but of course the traffic was slow and it took us well over an hour to get to the airport. The taxi ride was certainly one to remember with Emilio the taxi driver making sure we knew where we were and how long we were from the airport!

Arriving at Newark airport was like an indoor Times Square. BEDLAM. We were dropped off in the wrong are and had to head to another place to check in and I have never ben so stressed out in my existence. Basically you had to check your own bags in on these self service machines then head to this massive conveyer belt and gave it to a guy who put it on the belt. I mean this was after the entirety of THE AIRPORT jumped the queue. At this point I was about to lose my shit but had to keep calm as we were about the head through security and I didn't want to get pulled in for having a right meltdown!

We got through security and headed to the gate. By this point I was frazzled beyond recognition and really sad that I was leaving New York. I ended up crying over pizza and nearly causing a shit storm at the gate when they changed our seats around. But it was for the better because we ended up in Economy Plus with extra leg room. Well I would have had extra leg room if I didn't have a complete TWAT sat next to me! This woman practically sat on me the ENTIRE journey and then had the NERVE to take her shoes off and have her stinking bare feet on show. I literally was so close to flinging myself out the door while we were in the air! I swear, some people just want to watch the world burn. And we were delayed by about an hour because of the air con not working but hey it meant I was in America an hour longer.

The flight was an over night flight which meant I slept for most of the journey, even with the award winning twat sat next to me. We left Newark at 8.45pm ish and landed at 7.30 am in Newcastle. It was official. My New York dream was over and I was back in the most boring place ever.

New York was literally a drama come true an to see both of my all time favourite shows on Broadway still hasn't sunk in! I have fallen in love with New York completely and have decided that I will be applying New York drama schools. I just can't believe how much I love New York. I adore Broadway even more now. I have no more words to say about this truly amazing trip!

I hope you all enjoyed this series of blog posts! Its been really nice to write down in detail about my trip and I can't wait for the next time I go to New York (which is hopefully soon)

Charlotte x

NEW YORK DAY 3- Central Park and Phantom

Hi Everyone!

I deserve high praise indeed! I have actually blogged two days in a row! We are now onto day 3 of New York and this was our final full day in Manhattan! *internal cries*

We started the day off with a slight lie in because we were still a bit messed up with our sleeping and I awoke still in shock after seeing Fun Home the previous night! But today was a really exciting day, we were heading to Central Park! I was so hyped!

So we had breakfast, got ready and hopped in a taxi to the south end of Central Park where we decided to be proper tourists and go on a horse and carriage ride. Because why the hell not?!? 

We arrived to where the horses were and picked one at random which was Cooper, and his owner, Tommy! Still quite amused that their combined name was Tommy Cooper. Tommy was an Irishman from Tipperary and was so lovely! He took us around part of the south end and told us some very interesting facts. He also answered all our 'blonde' questions with hilarity! I have no words for the beauty of Central Park. Its a slice of green beauty in a super busy city! The sun was shining and literally I couldn't have been more happy with life at that moment in time! After the horse ride we decided to walk around central park in the beautiful weather and admire the surroundings.

We decided to walk as far as the bottom of the lake and visited strawberry fields (John Lennon's Memorial garden place) and Cherry Hill (where they filmed the opening title of Friends). The whole experience was just breathtaking and beautiful! I think its now my favourite place because of its serenity, even though its in the middle of loud and busy New York!

 By this point, Kathy was sweating like a Nun in a Brothel and we both were getting peckish as it was about 2pm and we didn't have loads of breakfast! We headed back up to the Times Square area to grab a bite to eat but we decided to have a big ish meal so we wouldn't have to find a restaurant after the theatre again! We ended up in a burger restaurant called The Counter which was so amazing! After lunch we headed towards Victorias Secret to finish off the rest of our shopping and other shops. I may have done some damage in VS but its so so much cheaper over there and I did need to stock up on pants, bras etc! The best deal was TWO body sprays FOR $10! Thats like £7.00 ish wheras in the UK and online you pay around £14 FOR ONE! I also needed some new notebooks for me second year at college and so we popped into Staples. Oh. My. Sweet. Barbra.  It was stationary heaven! This is the store where I nearly died because of the prices. I paid 50 cents for ONE COMPOSITION BOOK! That is around 35p. I didn't know what to do except bulk buy some to last me the year. I'm still in shock at the price! Miracles do happen! I also bought a mega pack of crayons for my candle making for a whopping $3.00!

After our shop we headed back to the hotel to chill and sort out our purchases for easy packing the next day!

It was nice to just be in the air con for a change, I mean I LOVE the hot weather so much but it is nice to sit in the air con and watch other people walking by sweating their arses off!

It was around 6.45pm and we had to be at the theatre for 8pm so we headed off to the theatre but beforehand, we may have taken yet another trip to the theatre store as I wanted to by the Vocal score for Fun Home as I was going to buy it back home but I couldn't find it anywhere online so yeah, more dollar spent! But so so worth it!

We arrived at the Majestic Theatre in loads of time and I was getting increasingly excited for this! However, the theatre had a really weird set up and felt really unorganised but hey ho! We got to our seats and what a view! We could see the stage very clearly, the chandelier also and to top it off I had no one sat in front of me which has never happened to me in the theatre before! Again, I have no words for the show I had just seen! The cast were incredibly talented and it was by far the best version of Phantom I had ever seen (no shade West End)! Its shows like this that remind me why I am doing Musical Theatre and how hard I work! I love Phantom so much!

After the show had finished we had to go through Times Square to get back to the hotel and dear lord! It was so busy as most theatres were coming out at this point and so many people were walking so slow! Then some random numpty would just stop dead in the middle of the path. LIKE ARE YOU FO REAL? Theres a special place in hell for people like that! Cars were honking, music playing, people shouting. It sounds like Bedlam; but to me, I felt like I fitted into place!

That night I literally fell asleep as I fell through the hotel door! I even slept through the rave going on across the landing!

Well I only have one day left of blogging and I hope you are enjoying reading these!

Charlotte x