Although February is the shortest month of the year, it was a very jam-packed and busy one. The end of February also marked my six month anniversary of living in New York! Can you believe I’ve been here half a year already?! It feels like just yesterday I was writing about my first three days in the city.
Anyhow, February consisted of a lot of eating (what’s new), a trip to Nashville (yeehaw) and a lot of social activities. Here’s all that I got up to.
Tourist hat firmly on
I ticked a few more sights off my New York Bucket List during the month of February. There were cultured visits to the Guggenheim Museum, Natural History Museum, a stroll through Central Park and a visit to the Dakota building where John Lennon once lived the spot where he was assassinated.
The majority of the floors at the Guggenheim were closed when we went to visit, but from what we did see, I wouldn’t be rushing back to see what they re-open with. There were a lot of blank canvases on display and a lot of looking at nothing, really.
I would very much recommend going to the Natural History Museum instead. Even though it’s mostly full of taxidermy, it’s a huge place to get lost in for a few hours and they have everything from mammals to the ocean, to space and evolution.
Superbowl Sunday took place during February and for me, ended as a bit of an anticlimax. I was rooting for the Chiefs and great news, they won. But our day started at around 1pm with bottomless beers and wings yet the game wasn’t due to start until after 6pm. So by the time 9pm rolled around and the half-time show was over, my day of fun was also over.
One of my Bucket List highlights for the month of February was my visit to The Empire Hotel to have a Gossip Girl cocktail. I’ve spoken a lot before about my obsession with the TV show Gossip Girl and during the summer before moving to New York, re-watching it made me crave living there so much that I guess I manifested it to happen.
As we were taking a wander through Central Park one Sunday afternoon, we ended up near The Empire and I thought well, no time like the present. The views from the rooftop bar are very nice, as would be expected and although it is a little on the pricey side, it’s one thing ticked off and a visit to Chuck Bass’s home all in one.
A weekend in Nashville,
My favourite three days of February and my favourite place that I’ve visited in America so far. How I can’t wait to get back to Nashville, Tennessee. Even though we had an absolute mare getting there, it was well worth it in the end.
Nashville is everything you would imagine it to be. Beers, live music, cowboys and a bloody great time. I documented all that I got up to in my “48 Hours in Nashville” blog post, but let me just tell you, you’re going to want to add it to your list of places you need to see before you die.
Once I spot some cheap flights back down to the South, I’ll have my debit card at the ready.
The Theater
I’ve come into a fair bit of luck recently with the Broadway Lottery. I managed to see three shows during February – only one was through the lottery but I had won tickets to see both Frozen and Mean Girls on nights that I unfortunately couldn’t go.
But, as my luck would have it, I’ve just won tickets again for Mean Girls today which I am going to see tomorrow! But that will be included in next month’s round-up of course. I recently wrote a blog post about the five Broadway shows I’ve recently seen.
In February, I went to see Wicked, The Book of Mormon and Moulin Rouge on Broadway. I also went to a production of Drunken Mrs Doubtfire but we’ll get into that in a minute.
I had seen both Wicked and The Book of Mormon before on the West End (blog post about West End shows still pending) and loved them. The Book of Mormon is just brilliantly funny and Wicked has some of my favourite musical songs. We had great seats for both performances and the shows were excellent.
I had been dying to see Moulin Rouge ever since I came to New York. I had seen pictures of the set and knew that the show must be amazing as the inside of the theater is on another level – like nothing I’d ever seen before. I luckily won tickets through the Lucky Seat lottery which meant tickets were only $36 each.
We had incredible seats and honestly, Moulin Rouge is one of the best shows I’ve ever seen. My number one for Broadway has to be Harry Potter and I very much doubt anything will beat that, but I think Moulin Rouge has to hold the number two spot for now. If you can, go and see it!
And now we shall discuss Drunken Mrs Doubtfire. This concept is run by a drama group in Brooklyn who take different movies, act out the scripts, but all with a drink in hand.
Usually, the actors will only run through the script once or twice before the performance and improvise a lot on the night. There are also buzzwords in which the audience must join in and drink. As it was Mrs Doubtfire, our buzzwords were ‘Dear/Deary’ and ‘Dad/Father/Daddy’. It’s something very different and very Brookly, and just great for a night out with friends.
Another show that I caught during February was a Rhys Lewis gig. I’m a little guilty that I only knew about two or three of Rhys’s songs, but came away with a lot more downloaded to my music library. My review for the gig should be up tomorrow!
Familiar Faces
February was an extra lovely month as I was able to see some familiar faces for the first time since moving to New York six months ago. My cousin was in town for a week holiday so I was able to catch up and hear about everything I was missing back home.
It was just also good to hear a familiar accent, talk about things like family, things going on in town, what our friends were doing and just life back home.
During February I was also able to catch up with my manager from my placement year at Coty. If you’ve read all of my placement diaries then you’ll know how much I loved my job and my team.
I had such a great afternoon in Dumbo talking all things influencers, brands, Coty, London and ex-colleagues. I miss the beauty PR world terribly and it was so good to finally speak to someone about influencer marketing who also has the same passion for it as I do.
Speaking of the working world, I also attended a talk a few weeks ago with the CEO of Fever Tree USA, Charles Gibb. He told us all about his career in the drinks industry, how he has ended up in New York and what it takes to be successful in business.
And so, that was February and now we’re into March. I’ve just surpassed my six month anniversary and can’t believe that the end is edging ever closer. Stay tuned for more items to be ticked off the Bucket List, more trips and more trips to the theater.
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