NYC

As we boarded the plane back to Raleigh I think I felt a tear or two run down my face. The last thing I was ready to do was to leave the city. As you know from this post or my Instagram/twitter last week I made a trip up to NYC for the Smart Girl Conference and added a little extra time to enjoy the city!

We flew in Tuesday morning and quickly made our way to the city to make use of every second we had in NYC! We decided to start on Madison (not a bad place to start if I do say so myself) and do a little thrifting. (See some of my favorite upper eastside thrift shops here!).  I didn’t have as much luck as I did last time, but I did find an adorable alice and Olivia blue and white tweed skirt that I am in love with! Going to some higher end thrift stores is one of my favorite place to get clothes because you can find some great deals and find original pieces that no one else will have. After searching through the racks of  the consignment/ thrift shops we somehow made our way over to the Kate Spade and Lilly Pulitzer store (shocker, right?!). Not a bad way to start off the trip.

That night we ate at one of my favorites, the stardust diner in Times Square and then made our way back to our hotel!

Day two began with an early wake up call and we made our way to the first day of the conference. I had the amazing opportunity to run the Smart Girls Group Instagram during the conference to document everything that was going on! The speakers were truly amazing and it was so inspiring being surrounded by girls who were just as motivated and had some of the same goals as me!

After the conference we did a quick outfit change and did a little shopping on 5^th ave, aka heaven. We ended the night with dinner at a yummy little quaint Italian restaurant. Oh and we also go caught in the rain and promptly stood under an over hang for 20 minutes….LOL. We capped off the night with ice cream because how else would you end the perfect day?

Day two the majority of the day took place at the conference as well. I got to meet even more girls and we even got to hear some of my favorite bloggers speak; Mackenzie and Carly! As the conference ended, we did a super duper quick outfit change and rushed over to see Matilda! AH-MA-ZING. Highly suggest!

With only one day left we decided to spend the morning uptown and the afternoon downtown hitting some of the spots that were still on the list of places to go. We hit the met to take the classic Gossip Girl pic and then wandered around and swooned over all the houses while talking about what our lives would be like if we lived in the city.

On our way downtown we met up with my sweet roommate from freshman year (and soon to be sophomore year!!!!) so we could spend the day together! I miss our nightly sleepovers so it was so nice seeing each other and catching up a little before we move in!

The rest of the afternoon we spend in SOHO shopping and brunching and wandering around searching for ice cream. Truly the best afternoon.

This trip made me fall in love with the city even more and realize my dream of moving there someday. I love walking down the street surrounded by people who are moving 100mph with determination in their eyes and their goals as the destination.

It was a great break from reality but now it’s back to work and emails today! My love for the city continues to grow and you can bet I’m already dreaming of my next visit back!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Remember,

xoxo

Shannon

P.S. These are my favorite NYC hot spots!