Another bright and early start for us again this morning, and with a talk from the TDC and Craig Ward on the cards we were all excited for a day of learning. (Okay, maybe there is a hint of sarcasm there but we really were excited to do something a bit different from site seeing).

The TDC (Type Directors Club) is an international organisation dedicated to excellence in typography in all its forms. It was created in 1946 and its mission is to raise the standards of typography within the world today.After a brisk walk and a few wrong turns, we were ushered inside to Carol's (the Executive director) little office and conference room. She was in the middle of setting up an exhibition, so it was really exciting to see work on the wall as well as listening to her presentation. Its always nice when someone believes in what they are presenting - and Carols enthusiasm for type oozed into the room as she spoke. I left the office with a real buzz for type, and even some ideas for a joint Beth and Ellie project... who knows!

Next on the list was a talk with Craig Ward - a past student from Bucks now living and working in NYC. He is an occasional artist, sometime author and contributor to several industry journals, he is known primarily for his pioneering typographic works. As we strolled towards his studio, me and Becky shared a moment of hesitation. We'd spent the last 3 hours listening to a topic we weren't fully educated on, and so thought it best to give the graphic students some space and do our own thing for the afternoon.

It was also the only chance I'd had to spend the afternoon just Becky and I - so we did what any fashion students would do: GO SHOPPING!! With the sun beating down on the west village, we strolled from boutique to boutique spending more money than we brought with us. Thank god credit cards exist!

Stopping for a quick bite to eat in a gorgeous Parisian cafe - we whiled away the afternoon having a good old catch-up. Finishing our grilled cheese and paying the check in coins (well you cant change them back!) we wandered over to the magnolia bakery for some dessert. I ordered a triple chocolate cupcake in a box and we headed back out into the streets passing through a movie set. Not a clue what they were filming but if you ever catch a glimpse of a yellow clad girl outside Smalls jazz club it was probably me - just sayin'!

Next on our list of shops was Macy's. Now 3 years ago I purchased my cowboy boots from one of the shelves within the massive department store. Seriously... its like a village in there! So 3 years later I was back to buy another pair - and that's exactly what I Did! With a huge Macy's bag in one hand we headed back out into the street and over to Sephora to hunt down something for Becky. I can proudly say I managed to find what she was looking for - and the favor was later returned when she spotted a pair of green converse in a shop window. I have been wanting a pair of green converse for years and so I didn't even need to try them on. We also found a pair of yellow converse which ended up in my basket too. See, I have a story with yellow converse - I brought my first pair in New York 3 years ago due to the colour reminding me of the yellow taxi's. I have worn those converse pretty much every day since I brought them - and in fact was wearing them in the shop as I brought my new pair. The colour difference was rather hilarious so definitely time for an update... when in New York ayyee!

Pretty knackered and rather broke we headed back to the hostel stopping for a quick Starbucks in the Empire State building. Yes - you read that correctly - we had'nt planned to go up it so might as well grab a coffee in passing. We also took full advantage of their wifi and both face-timed home to show off our new wardrobes.

Safely back inside the YMCA, we hunted down Ellie and Chloe for a girls night. We spent the evening having a good old natter, and Ellie gave me a tutorial on how to use snap chat. In fact we she also helped me build a Bitmoji so the evening was very productive. We headed out for McDonalds around 10:30pm - where we quickly scoffed our dinner and headed back to bed.

Stay Snazzy

Bxx