You know when you’re a kid and the Top 10 is about the most exciting event of the entire week? For me, it was even better than going for fish & chips after swimming club. The Top 40 itself was worth getting giddy for but when you got to the Top 10 you knew you were on to something special. After all, in them days you actually needed to sell quite a few copies of a single to make it in the charts. I remember the first two singles I bought with my own money, I bought them on the same day in an HMV in Chester and they were cassettes. It was 1998.

The singles?

‘Horny’ by Mousse T and ‘It’s Like That’ by Run DMC (Jason Nevins remix).

I still count ‘It’s Like That’ as one of my all time favourite choons and I don’t know what it says about me that I was singing ‘I’m horny’ at the top of my lungs when I was, ahem, 11.

Anyway, I digress.

Here’s the top ten new things with me…

1. I have an iPhone. It was a Valentine’s present to myself, because if you can’t love you then you can’t expect anyone else to. I’m a big fan of Tweetie, Locly and my new pet Koi carp.

2. I attended London Twestival. And wasn’t it lovely? A real treat to meet lots of online peeps in the ‘real world’ and to catch up with all those I’m fortunate enough to already spend a lot of time with…and all in the name of charity:water. Get drunk and save lives? Yes please.

3. I watched Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid. I highly recommend you do the same if you like to laugh and wish we all lived in the dizzyingly glamourous world of Film Noir. Films like this one make me wish I smoked, it always looks so god darn sexy in black and white.

4. I nearly had a pigeon in my bank account. My new marital status means I’m looking for new digs, Spareroom has been a source of strength for me as I’m probably going to share with a bunch of strangers (as scary as I find the idea). I fell in love with a one bed apartment in Holborn which turned out to be a scam, if you see any ads where the contact email is atameliat@googlemail.com…run for the hills.

5. Globrix had a love-in with Twitter. We’ve integrated a ‘tweet this property’ button into all of our property listings on Globrix, so now you can pimp your favourite properties to your Twitter friends with one easy click.

6. @PropertyPorn was born. Love sexy houses? Like to pretend you have a few zillion pounds in a Swiss bank account somewhere? Follow @PropertyPorn for your daily fix of hardcore homes.

7. I realised that I need to sort my health out. I don’t know if it’s the Jade Goody tragedy on the front of every red top paper, or just the fact that for a 21 year old I seem to be sick pretty much all of the time, but I’m going to sort my life the hell out. The boys at work say BMF is the answer. I’m sure fruit and veg is involved too. It starts next week…but this time I mean it, kinda.

8. I admitted that Eastenders is a bit rubbish at the moment. I know, a bit late to the game aren’t I?

9. I watched a lot of Flight of the Conchords. And I wondered, why is Bret not my boyfriend? We were clearly meant to be.

10. I continued with the never ending mission in my head to marry Dustin Hoffman. I could make him so happy if given half a chance.

And that’s about it. A lot less exciting than a real Top 10 chart, but I didn’t make any guarantees at the beginning of this post, did I? Hmmmm.

…and it was lovely, thanks for asking.

I had only been once before, same time of year but in 2006. This trip was very different, I went on my own, didn’t indulge in cheesecake, and I learnt a lot. I knew I was supposed to learn stuff, I was going to a conference after all, but I didn’t expect to come back having learnt what I had.

All in all, a very nice trip. I’m writing a proper real estatey article about it for The Negotiator, assuming it’s put online as well as in the magazine I’ll link to it here when it’s published. On this blog, well, I’m not so into chatting real estate ya know?

It was very nice to be spoilt for a week, I won’t miss that feeling in a hurry.

If you’re going to NYC any time soon, here are some do’s and don’ts to help you on your travels…

• Don’t eat before travelling by cab, you will vomit.
• Don’t speak loudly with a British accent, people will gather around you in awe.
• Don’t drink rum. Don’t drink rum. Don’t drink rum.
• Don’t think about the environment when standing in Times Square. The flashing lights are pretty, the polar bears will have to get over it.
• Don’t bother exchanging your pounds for dollars. There are enough drunk people in every bar to ensure you don’t have to spend a penny.
• Do go to Pravda in SoHo for amazing cocktails.
• Do wear tights under trousers if going in Winter. It may not be sexy, but it’s practical. Actually, who says it isn’t sexy? I secretly enjoy wearing tights under trousers.
• Do what you feel like doing, there’s nothing fun about being a slave to a travel guide.
• Do eat streetfood. Whether it falafel of Kosher franks…it’s yummy.
• Do look up, it’s dizzying in a cute way.

See it says ‘Pop’…they knew I was coming baby!

More pics here.