NYFW 2019 Travel Diary: Days 2 + 3

     I can't believe this is one of my last posts from NYFW! I've had so much fun recapping this trip and all of the Fashion Week events over the last few weeks. I'll be sharing the last outfit that I wore in Monday's post, and for today I'll be recapping what I did during the second and third days of NYFW!

     Gentry and I kicked off our second full day in the city (Saturday) with a chilly walk through Times Square! I was so excited that our hotel was only a block away- Times Square is always a must visit when in the city. There's just no place like it! Although the sun was shining on that morning- it was absolutely freezing. The weather on TV that morning said Manhattan had a wind chill of -10!

     There's just no place like Times Square!

     One thing that I try to do every time I'm in NYC is stop by the Forever 21 Times Square. It's four floors of amazingness. My favorite F21 finds of all time have always been found at this location! This time I didn't buy too much, but I did score some new pajamas and fun statement earrings!

     We didn't have any NYFW events until that afternoon, so we enjoyed a leisurely morning of walking around the frigid streets! I was really excited about our lunch plans... so excited that we showed up to lunch quite early.

     Gentry and I had lunch on Saturday at BlackTap. If you're going to NYC (or Vegas- they have a location there as well) anytime soon, GO GO GO here!! Pictured above is not only the best milkshake that I've ever had in my life, but what I think was one of the best desserts of all-time in my life! I wanted to try out at least one "Instagrammable" restaurant while in NYC, and through searching hashtags on Instagram I found BlackTap. So glad that we made it over here! It is a fairly small restaurant and does book up quickly- there was already a line forming outside when we arrived for lunch.

    After lunch, we walked over to Rockefeller Center to check out the shops there, see the ice skating rink, and pay a visit to the Plaza where the TODAY show films each morning!

    It's a dream of mine to watch a TODAY show taping- unfortunately it didn't happen this trip with our schedule, but I know I'll be back someday and do that! Gentry and I also enjoyed some of the shops near Rockefeller Plaza, like J. Crew and Kate Spade. Next it was time to head back to our hotel and get ready for our afternoon NYFW show! We headed back over to Chelsea Piers, which is where we had seen a show the night before.

    Our final NYFW show was presented by Oxford Studios, and had eight designers featured! Each line was so unique. My very favorite, Farah Naz, is pictured above. Farah's collection featured the most stunning evening wear in bold colors, and y'all know that I absolutely adore formal wear!

     Another designer that I really liked from the Oxford Fashion Studios show was Ron Ramos. His collection was described as "sultry-luxe workwear," and I'd say that's an accurate description based on the outfits above.

     The third designer that I really loved at Oxford Fashion Studios was Minzou! Minzou designer Seray Sacan used cruelty-free silks and naturally died silks to create a fun and colorful collection. It was fun to see so much bright color on the runway! 

     On Saturday night, Gentry and I had plans to attend a Fashion Week party at the Bryant Park hotel. As we were getting dressed for it... we both realized we were so tired, and we ended up staying in and going to bed early. Best decision! Sometimes a girl has just gotta SLEEP. 

     We started off Day 3 with a photoshoot in our Lilly Pulitzer outfits in the Upper East Side! It was freezing early that morning as we were shooting, so right after we ducked into La Maison du Chocolat to warm up with some hot chocolates. Next was a really highlight of our trip- visiting the Lilly Pulitzer Madison Ave. store! 

     Gentry and I had so much fun exploring this Lilly store- you can read more about it in this blog post! 

    Next we went for a leisurely stroll down Madison Ave., and I stopped by Laduree for a sweet little pick-me-up! When I studied abroad in France a few years ago, I had visited a Laduree cart in the Paris airport, and fell in love with their macarons. I love how there are a couple locations in NYC!

     Our final stop in the Upper East Side was a FUN one- I visited the Tory Burch store and made a special purchase! Tory Burch is my favorite designer, and I'd been wanting a pair of Miller sandals for years now. I saved up my Christmas money this year and finally got to buy them. I thought the experience of buying in store vs. online would be more special, and it definitely was!

     Here's Gentry and I at our final event of NYFW! We attended the Fashion Mingle networking party. Conveniently- this was held in the lobby of our hotel. We had no idea it was in the same hotel that we were staying in until a couple hours before. A highlight of this event was getting to meet some great bloggers, and a few people in the fashion industry in NYC! 

     The next morning, Gentry headed off to a showroom visit that we had been invited to. Unfortunately I had to miss it as I had an earlier flight, but if I do go to NYFW in the future I hope to be able to schedule some showroom visits for myself! I was sad to leave Gentry and all of the fun of NYC, but also really excited to get home and back on my routine, and to sleep- haha! Fashion Week is fun but it sure is tiring. 

     I'll be sharing my final outfit from this trip in Monday's blog post, so stay tuned for that. Tomorrow I'm leaving for a girls' trip with some of my Charlottesville friends- I will say that coming home from NYFW was easier knowing that I had a fun trip in March to look forward to! 

     God Bless,

     xoxo Annaliese