10 ways to survive a long haul flight.

1: Pack comfy socks in your hand luggage, I read somewhere to pack slippers, don’t. They waste far too much space in your bag, I learnt that the hard way.

2: If you can, don’t fly economy. If that’s your only option, try and get one of the seats behind the galley. Its murphy’s law that you’ll be stuck behind the one dick that has their seat all the way back for the entire flight.

3: Pack a portable charger. Most airlines allow the use of all electronic devices as long as they are in flight mode. I’m writing this half way across the Atlantic.

4: Pack ear plugs/ earphones. Even though that one guy pissing himself at the TV is hilarious, it’s quite distracting.

5: If you don’t need it on the flight, don’t pack it. (Or put it in your checked bag).

6: Pack or buy a neck pillow. I was a non-believer in the neck pillow until now, if you want to sleep during the flight it makes a huge difference. They tend to come with snappers and most airlines will allow it attached to the handles of your carry on.

7: If your travelling alone and leg room isn’t a necessity try to get a window seat. At least that way you can use the wall as a pillow and you get a view.

8: If you don’t mind a lack of protein, order a vegan meal. They are usually served first.

9: Hopefully your flight has a seat back TV, if not make sure you have entertainment. Even if it does make sure you have something else, watching three films back to back can get surprisingly boring.

10: Always take a jumper or hoodie. I don’t care if your flying to the equator, they always turn the air conditioning on when your already a little chilly.

Until next time.
R x

Merry christmas.

So I missed my usual Wednesday post, but considering its Christmas I hope y'all will let me off.

I just wanted to wish everyone, everywhere a very happy Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanza! No matter what holiday you are celebrating today, I hope you all have an amazing day and enjoy the company of your family, friends... cats.

I'm so grateful to be surrounded by everyone I love and the invention of FaceTime for those who are a million miles away. It's easy to forget what matters at this time of year, it's different for everyone. For me the most important part of Christmas is being with people that mean a lot to you. Even if it brings the worst out in them, today is the one day that you just need to get over it and enjoy the fact that you can be together.

Hope you all have a wonderful holiday!

Until next time.
R x

Adventures in: NYC Day Six.

In less than 12 hours we will be flying over the Atlantic back to normality.

Within 24 hours New York felt like home, I would do pretty much anything to not have to leave today. I didn't want to waste the few hours we had left but packing took way longer than I thought. By the time we had checked out it was already midday! Mum and dad kindly waited in the long queue to store our baggage, so that I could run around and try and fit all the things we'd missed in the two hours we had spare.

First, I took the subway down to the World Trade Centre. We have been putting it off all week only because by the time we had done all the other things we wanted to do we had lost the sunlight. As I walked up the stairs out of the subway I noticed something had changed... It was snowing!! For the entire walk down to the World Trade Centre I had the biggest grin on my face, all I really wanted this holiday was for it to snow.

The World Trade Centre is not a sight to rush, I took a slow, somber walk around the North pool. Despite the thousands of tourists and family member that surrounded me the pool felt like a ghost town. With only the sounds of the odd camera shutter.
On my journeys to and from the subway I circled the new, One World Trade Centre. It's quite spectacular, when you are right underneath it and look up it looks like it continues into the heavens.
I took the subway ride up to Central Park to come back to reality and headed out to find the Gapstow bridge. You know that one from Home Alone 2. (If you can't tell it's one of my my favourite Christmas films. I felt like a local power walking up Fifth, weaving through slow walking tourists. I entered Central Park on the 59th street entrance and there it was, definitely looks better in the movie when there aren't any tourists. I'm glad I managed to fit it in though.

After basically running to Lexington I had less than half an hour to get to Grand Central and get back to the hotel. I hopped on a 6 downtown and made it to Grand Central with just enough time to have a quick look around. It was crazy busy but worth visiting, if I ever wanted to come for decent photos I'd go back at night. With 10 minutes to get back to the hotel jumped on a 7 back to Times Square.

Before we headed to the airport we went back to Southern Hospitality for a late lunch, but the wait was over 30 minutes. So we nipped across the street to 5napkin where the wait was only 15. I had chicken and waffles again, I don't know what it is about American chicken, I love it!
The duty fee at Newark international is pretty shit, barely any selection but I did manage to pick up my moisturiser at less than half price!

The plane back to Heathrow was newer than the one we flew out on, even economy felt almost spacious that was until the girl in front of me put her chair all the way back. That ruined my plans of editing the weeks footage on the plane.
To pass the time I watched Lucy, divergent and listened to the new(ish) Slash album. I'm so glad we got a newer plane, the TVs were so much better.

I'm currently sat in Heathrow with a Starbucks and a packet of pro plus. Now all I want is my warm bed and binge watch all the shows I've missed.

If you couldn't tell I loved New York and I'm already planning my next trip. Although, next time I'm flying premium.

Until next time.
R x

Adventures in: NYC Day Five.

It's our last full day, I keep coming up with extreme ideas on how I can stay.

Today started late for me, I set my alarm for 7 but didn't wake up until 9, last night was the first night I haven't slept like a baby. Once I dragged myself out of bed I headed uptown searching for a Dunkin' doughnuts, surprising between 43rd and 77th I couldn't find one. I sat outside the natural history museum for a while, toying with the idea of going in, in the end I decided not to and save that $30 for Fifth Avenue. 

I took a leisurely stroll through Central Park, its quite surreal being surrounded by trees and grass with skyscrapers in the background. I can see why hanging out there is popular with the locals, its so refreshing to be surrounded by nature. I'm definitely going to head back tomorrow morning before we leave.

After a quick trip to the Upper East Side, I realised I felt a little out of place. Pretty much everyone was coated in Cartier and Armani, even wearing a complete MK outfit I felt majorly underdressed.

Wandering down Fifth, I found the home alone hotel! The Christmas decorations were just like the movies! I ended up walking all the way back down to the hotel without realising, stopping in Bendel's, Saks and Michael Kors. After dropping on my bendel's purchases at the hotel, I headed out to meet mum and dad via Dunkin doughnuts, which I actually found this Time!! Their Pumpkin spice brûlée latte is actually better than Starbucks! Just to top it off they accidentally gave me an extra doughnut.

Once I met up with them we headed downtown to K-Mart, so mum and dad could do some clothes shopping. It's surprising how few plus size shops there are in Manhattan, the only one dedicated to menswear doesn't open until March! So K-Mart it was. I picked up some Crest whitening strips at half the price I would pay at home, winner. After another crammed subway ride we came back to the hotel to freshen up before dinner.

Usually on our last night of holiday we would go back to our favourite restaurant of the week, but considering we don't leave until 8pm tomorrow were going to do a late lunch at our favourite (yet to be agreed upon).

Tonight we went to Bubba Gump for tea, a Forrest Gump themed shrimp chain right in the middle of Times Square. We arrived no later than ten to six and were advised there was a 30 minute wait, but that's what you get for choosing a restaurant on Times Square. We had a wander round the gift shop and definitely didn't leave with anything ;) we got seated about 6:20, it looks like our luck with snagging the last table has run out. Josh, our waiter was possibly the best waiter ever, he knew everything about every thing and just sold us the entire menu, deciding what to order was impossible. I have no idea how I managed a three course meal! Although I'm sure the cocktails helped.

The food was amazing! That's saying something from me, I'm not a major fan of sea food. After waddling out the restaurant, mum and I took a slow walk up through Times Square to Hershey's world. The only time you can justify spending that much money on chocolate is at Christmas! As its our last night we had to go to the Rockefeller Centre to see the Christmas tree, we would have been there by nine if I hadn't of drunkenly got us on the wrong train. We ended up on an express to the Bronx, after realising we were on the wrong train it took us over half an hour to get back to the station. Although, at least we had a entertaining guy preaching the word of god the entire way through the upper west side. When we finally got to the Rockefeller Centre it was so busy it took us a good 5 minutes to wade through the crowd just to get a good view. While we were wandering around we noticed the ice rink was rather quiet, only to realise we had just caught a proposal (thank god she said yes!).

Just as we decided to head home my phone died, and with that we lost our map. Even without we managed to make our way back to Times Square and back to the hotel by half 11.

I'm all snuggly trying to come to terms with the fact that this is my last night in this beautifully comfy bed.

See you tomorrow.
R x

Adventures in: NYC Day Four.

It's getting too close to the end now, I never want to leave!

We had a rather late start this morning thanks to that bottle of wine and few rather large whiskeys, I was not fully alive when I woke up!
We headed through Times Square to Evergreen diner on 47th. It's one of those stereotypical American city diners, looked a tad run down but it's really a hidden gem. The portions were huge and the food was delicious. After letting the feast settle we hit the subway back to the best place on earth... Macy's.
We literally only went in to see if they had an MK shirt I wanted, while I was checking mum went off to find the plus sizes. After being told they had none left in the building I went to find mum. I came across her in the Micheal kors section. Who knew that designers did plus sizes? Even the mannequins were big and to top of my excitement I found my shirt!! 

Over an hour later and I've left with a whole outfit from MK, a Calvin Klein jumper and a jacket! The joys of being a size that both plus and normal ranges carry. Sadly the most beautiful jacket ever was too big for me :( Although, we're heading out to queens to hit another Macy's.
You can really tell the difference between boroughs when you cross the Hudson, queens is so refreshing compared to Manhattan, it feels so much more open and the air is that little bit fresher. The queens centre reminds me of a small town shopping centre it's not massive but has a great range of stores. Surprisingly I didn't buy anything, the overpowering scents in bath and body works had me running for the door in less than five minutes! The hunt for this Calvin Klein jacket continues. After spending nearly an hour in macy's I left empty handed, had a quick wander around Michael kors but that was it. Americans are so nice, I've been complimented so many times today! It really brightens your day.

After a long and crammed subway ride home, we took an hour before heading out for tea.
Tip: Avoid the subway around rush hour, unless your comfortable with no personal bubble for the entire journey.
Tonight we went to Kat'z Deli, it's been featured on man vs. food and diners drive ins and dives. The queue was surprisingly non existent, we were waiting for no longer than a minute to be seated and snagged the last table, again!

The walls are coated in photos of celebrity visitors, everyone from Elvis to Clinton. The place has a authentic vintage feeling so you can really tell it's been going over 100 years, they still uses the old school deli ticket system.

Considering the place was full, there was only one waiter so service initially took a little longer than normal. After 50 years of wanting one dad finally got to live his childhood dream and order pastrami on rye in New York, I got the same with Swiss cheese and mum got a Rubén. Oh my Jesus! These sandwiches live up to their reputation, they were huge! It's like that feeling you get after Christmas Dinner just with meat sweats!

Finally back in the hotel curled up with a whiskey, watching night at the museum contemplating visiting the natural history museum tomorrow.

See you tomorrow.
R x

Adventures in: NYC Day Three.

Day three in the big apple. 

It's 10:15 am and I managed to takes us the wrong way on the subway, twice! Oh well it only added an extra hour on our journey, by 11am we made it to South ferry, today were are doing the traditional tourist pilgrimage to the Statue of Liberty. Currently we're sat in potbelly sandwiches (pretty much subway) because apparently the financial district doesn't know what brunch is. Do you know what I hate about traveling?... Tourists. I know that I'm technically a tourist but being a seasoned traveler amongst tourists can be a nightmare. The moment you get within a couple of blocks of major attraction you are bombarded by street salesmen trying to fob you overpriced tickets that get you the bare minimum. While it seems more expensive to ignore these bundle 'deals' actually buying your tickets at the attraction and using public transport is the best way forward. We've saved almost $100 dollars by using the subway and buying at the attractions!
Tip: Pre-order tickets for the Statue of liberty if you want to go into the museum and the crown. By the time we got there (11:30) they had sold out for the day.

 The windswept ferry ride took less than 10 minutes and it was definitely worth ruining the hair for! The Statue of Liberty was incredible one of her fingernails is longer than an arm! The views of Manhattan, Brooklyn and Jersey are incredibly! You don't really realise how built up it is.The ticket for Liberty Island includes Ellis Island, we didn't spend long on Ellis Island but in the short time we were there it really hit home how far society has moved forward in the last couple of hundred years. The dormitories where they used to keep immigrants while they were processing them reminded me of concentration camps. If you visit Ellis Island prepare to be in for an emotional time.

By the time we got back to Manhattan we had lost the sun and decided to leave the sightseeing for daylight, we hit Century 21 up by the World Trade Centre. Prepare for amazing bargains! (If you have the time and determination to hunt) I was lucky enough to come across the bag I've been wanting for a while without even trying! At 50% off I wasn't complaining! I spent over an hour searching through the array of designer shoes they had for sale only to find the perfect pair for well over $400 :( I attempted to search through clothes but from what I could see they were at least 3 seasons old and more for the older woman. But it was a very successful shopping trip, Mum bought her first designer handbag, dad got a Guess watch for less that £40 and I got a £500 handbag for less that £200! Century 21 is definitely worth a visit if you’re into your designers.

After navigating the subway home, we decide to go to an Italian for tea. We found a small family run restaurant on 44th, Gallo Nero, clearly popular with the locals. The atmosphere was dark and romantic, the service was wonderful and I had the first glass of wine I've actually enjoyed! The food was nice but it didn't blow my socks off although, their red velvet cake was to die for.After a drunken walk home I decided to go for a wander into Times Square. Honestly I thought it would be more intense but I did go at 11pm, I went for a browse in Sephora and had to restrain myself! I ended up with Make-up Forever HD foundation and a Marc Jacobs lipstick. By the time I left Times Square I had maxed out my card :( It looks like I'm going to have really restrain myself now.
Tip: Always over budget, I only budgeted $500 spends, it's only been three days and I'm on my last hundred, even though most things are cheaper here you have to remember that the prices look higher in dollars, always use a currency converter to see how much you're really spending.


It's now 1am and a drunken Rosey is curled up in bed watching friends.

See you tomorrow.
R x

Adventures in: NYC Day Two.

Day two in the city that never sleeps, it's insane how many places are open 24/7.

Todays plans were changed by the weather, but despite that the day started out on a high note. I managed to help mum realise that we weren't going to die on the subway! Surprisingly we managed to actually get to the right place on our first attempt!
we started out for breakfast at the best place on earth, Ihop. You can't come to the states without having excessive amounts of pancakes and bacon!

After deciding what we were going to do with our day, we walked up 5th stopping at a few shops along the way. We had a wander around a christmas market in Union Square with a nice warm cup of cider and I only bought one of the many prints I waded through. I ended up with a landscape taken by John Conn, his easy shop has a range of urban photos taken in the eighties after he left the marines.
Making our way up 5th we found the Flatiron building, only to realise the sun was in the worst possible place for photos so we ended up in a Belgian beer house. I had a naughty long island iced tea with a Belgian twist, even I didn't know that beer works in a long island!
Since we were basically underneath it, we decided to go up the Empire state building, forgetting that the weather was not the best! It was so calming at the top looking down on the hustle and bustle of the city, despite the weather the views were amazing! I can only imagine how incredible they would have been if it had been clear. At the top I spotted something, somewhere that called to me... Macy's.

The moment we walked through the door I died. So many handbags! After leaving mum and dad in the cafe I went for a wander with no intention of buying anything really, boy was I wrong. After spending an hour gawping at handbags I will never be able to afford, I found the clothes. I never really look at designer clothes mainly because they don't think women come in sizes bigger than 0. Although, I found so many things in Michael kors I could have spent all the monies! In the end I ended up with a shirt from MK and a jumper from Ralph Lauren, both for under £30 a piece!
I didn't think I had been gone that long but apparently I left mum and dad in that cafe for almost two hours... oops.
Since I'd spent so much time shopping it was getting late so we decided to just grab some food and hit the hay, tonight we went to Southern Hospitality. The food was beautiful and the Guinness was smoother than at home we ended up spending $32 on Guinness alone, but hey, at least our waiter was hot!

I'm all curled up in bed with a night cap watching nickelodeon.

See you tomorrow.
R x

Adventures in: NYC Day One.

Guess where I am?

Im currently blogging from 43rd & 8th. 

As a graduation present, my mum and dad wanted to take one last proper family holiday and here we are, New York City. I wasn't planning on daily blogging while I'm here, mainly because I don't trust myself to keep up with it. But I'm committing to this, if nothing just to share the wonders of the big apple with the world.

I'm counting today as day one because we arrived in New York at midday, but first let me fill you in on the journey. Our initial flight from Manchester to Heathrow was one of the best flights I've ever had. Massive shout out to the pilot, if only I could remember his name! 

Anyone who has flown through Heathrow knows it's treasure chest that is duty free, I had a sneaky look in Chanel only to depress myself that I will probably never be able to shop there. Only actually spending in Jo Malone, if our connection hadn't had been so soon after we arrived I probably could have spent my life savings.

Finally we were on the plane, 8 hours of no personal bubble and a bum so numb you would have thought it was on drugs. Flying usually is a time of pain for me, my ears go mental in the air, but today on both flights they were fine! I managed to sleep the majority of the flight, without that I'd probably of killed someone.

Finally, were here.

None of us can hack the long haul flights so we decided to go straight to the hotel and get a quick nap in before going running wild round Manhattan, only to be told our rooms wouldn't be ready for over an hour. A Starbucks and quick shop later, we find out our rooms still weren't ready! Lucky for us, I'm a charmer and managed to get our rooms upgraded. I know New York hotel rooms are not huge but I would hate to think of the rooms we were going to have, my university halls were bigger than this! 

But hey, were a block away from Times Square, I can't complain.

Since that nap was a no go by now we decided to just find a restaurant and get an early night in. I know so boring. We ended up at 5 napkin burger on 45th and 9th, Oh my god! If any of you ever find one of these, go! We managed to scoop the last table, and within minutes we had 3 quite beautiful drinks, everyone was happy. 

Dad managed to get a proper ale, mum finally got her root beer float and I had a naughty cocktail, within maybe 10 minutes of ordering, Bam! Food. Even that quick, you could tell it had been freshly cooked. I had chicken and waffles, a weird combination if ever there was one but surprisingly it worked soooooooo well!

After a quick night cap and a strange encounter with a couple who thought I was a new yorker. I am finally in bed and it's only 10pm, but hey, I'm a 90 year old in a 22 year olds body. Tomorrow is when we start getting all touristy and going crazy, but you'll have to check back tomorrow night to see what we get up to :) 

I am 'vlogging' this trip but don't expect the videos up as they happen, I'm not wasting any shopping time on editing! They will probably go up later in the week, more likely when we get home. 

See you tomorrow

R x

Budget beauty: beautyuk.

I'm one of those people that rarely takes a glance at, let alone tries the really cheap beauty brands. I'm a firm believer in you get what you pay for, but every now and then I will pick some up on a whim. 

I've been using the beautyuk face powder for almost a year now, and I love it! it's a great product and doesn't break the bank. On my last trip to SuperDrug, if you bought two beautyuk products you got a free posh pout,

Who says no to free stuff?! right.

The posh pout is basically a knock off version of Clinique's chubby stick and I'll tell you a little secret... I think I actually prefer the beautyuk version. 

I picked up the shade 'power to the purple', a berry (Swatch: second from right). The colour pay off is very good albeit slightly misleading, looking much deeper in the tube. It feels so creamy and actually more moisturising than the chubby sticks, and for only £2.99!! 

It claims to have a minty flavour but I can't really taste anything, there is a hint of mint behind that plasticy smell that's common with cheap lip products. But that doesn't even bother me I just want to keep applying it! I can't really comment of its staying power because I've just been constantly applying it. Although, when I have neglected to reapply it fades to a more natural berry shade.

This is definitely one of those staple, everyday lip products that is doomed to get lost in our handbags, this little freebie had me running back to the shop in less that 24 hours to get more colours.

Until next time.
R x

Hair care on a budget.

My hair is in horrible condition. But hey, thats what you get for having red/ pink hair for five years.

Ive been searching for so long to find the best repairing hair products. Believe me I've used everything. The Macadamia and Organix ranges are my favourites, if you have the money to spend but if not, I've found a crazy cheap range that works almost as good as the more expensive ones.

If you live in the UK you need to try these out.  The Argan Oil range is available at savers, B&M bargains and a few other discount stores, for a £1 a pop. These are the such good value for money, especially the deep conditioning masque. 

Deep conditioning masque: I've been using this for the longest, I love it. Unlike how some other masques don't really feel very conditioning, this one feels so moisturising and leaves your hair feeling soft even after being rinsed. I've been using this intermittently alongside the Macadamia deep repair masque and my hair is slowly but surely starting to look and feel healthy again.

Shampoo and conditioner: I picked these up after falling in love with the deep conditioning masque. and while I wouldn't say they are the best products I've ever used, I do believe that for the money they are the best products in their price range. I usually interchange the organix argan oil, keratin oil or macadamia oil shampoo and conditioners. and I love these but every now and then I will switch it up and throw these argan oil products in the mix. The ingredients list is virtually the same and the results are not that much different.

Argan oil also a couple of other products in the range.

Serum: The argan oil serum, is heavy and sticky, the bottle doesn't come with any form of dispenser and I always end up with way too much. While I do think it has improved my hair, I would much rather just pay that little but more for the VO5 Miracle concentrate.

Heat defence spray: I've been using this for a while and don't really have much to say about it. It's just sort of there. Oddly, it doesn't feel very defensive, but on the other hand it smells good and does leave your hair feeling extra soft.

Face Oil: The only thing I can compare this too is a knock off version of Estee Lauder's Advanced night repair. It's very oily so really it depends on your taste. I only really use this when I'm really dry just because it feels so much more moisturising.

Until next time.

R x