New York as a model and a blogger is some where that I dreamed of going to. The funny thing is I don’t know why it has taken me so long to get there!!! I have been all up and down to other states on the east coast, but hey here we are… Finally!!!

Late last year I had received an opportunity from a PR company to be able to attend Fashion Week in New York with them and they had all of these activities and events planned for the bloggers that they invited along for the experience. Sounded like an awesome time, so I thought… There were a lot of broken promises and not enough follow thru!! Never the less me being me I made the trip worth my time and made this some what of a learning lesson not only for me, but to be able to share with everyone who reads this post thinking about attending Fashion Week in NY.

While preparing for New York, I found out that friend and fellow blogger Vanessa Oblinsky, who also lives in San Diego was going as well!!! I was excited to have a friend who would be there, because I would have been by myself. Her friend Jennifer came along also, and it was a fun week getting to know each other. You definitely get to know people when you travel with them and we all got really close. We are best friends for life at this point!! We all happen to be on the same flight flying in to Newark, New Jersey, then we Uber’d in to New York. By the way yalllllll Uber in NY is not a joke!! It’s so expensive!! There are extra fees that we don’t pay over here on the west coast, like all of the toll and bridge fees. I had no idea before I got there!!

We took a red eye flight, so once we got to NY it was around 6 am (Jet lag definitely kicked my booty later). Our hotel rooms were not ready, so we couldn’t check in… Whelp let the city exploring begin!! I stayed at the Hilton in the Fashion District and it was pretty close to quite a few areas in the city, so it was easy to walk and get around. I learned quickly that the people of the city keep it moving and everyone walks even when it is cold. By the way I survived the cold!!! I am very proud of myself, because I am a born and bred Cali girl. All I know is sunshine and warm weather. I low key had to buy a whole winter wardrobe so I wouldn’t be out there blowing in the wind freezing. There was one rainy day and one windy day, but other than that it wasn’t too bad.

After a lot of walking, we went back to the hotel to wait for our rooms to be ready for check in. I went to my room unpacked a little and took a much needed nap. Another thing that I did before arriving in New York was try to make a few connections in the fashion scene there. I happen to connect with a designer (Terese Sydonna) through instagram and my friend Kali. I got to meet up with her on the first day. I will talk more about Terese and her designs in another post. I’m glad I was able to connect with her.

Jumpsuit: Terese Sydonna

Later on the first night in the city I went to eat with Jen and Vanessa, then we went to a party. While at the party, we met a girl who happen to be friends with a club promoter and these people party almost every night!!! So, we ended up at Tao. It was a blast, but that jet lag y’all had the bed calling me. I struggled to get up the next morning (haha).

Day 2 of New York I attended a blogger conference, that was put on by the PR. It was honestly one of the best panels that I have been to in a while, it covered all parts of the industry from TV to laws, rights and photography. I learned quite a bit and look forward to putting that knowledge to good use.

One of the panel members was Liberty, she was on ANTM Cycle 24, and I was able to talk to her about being a model while having a blog. She was very encouraging, super sweet and I am glad that I had a chance to get to know a little bit about her journey. I also connected with more of the bloggers that were invited with the rest of the group as well. Monica Delgado is a blogger in Texas and I love her style!! Her husband was with her as well, and it was great to be able to chat with them.

After the panel… Myself, Jen and Vanessa (at this point i’m just going to call us the 3 amigas) went to grab lunch at Eataly. We honestly lived at that place!! There are so many options to choose from. If you love Italian food, you have to see if it is in your area. I heard that one just opened recently in Los Angeles, so I will have to check it out and report back later.

The first day when I went Eataly I had pasta, on this day I got Pizza!! It was so good, or maybe I was just really hungry. Either way I went back for more the next day, so I mean you be the judge.

Day 3 I did a showroom visit and a photoshoot. This was the coldest day of the trip!!! The wind was blowing like no tomorrow. I tried to be indoors as much a possible.

Camo Vest: A Little Something Creepy

I put a look together and we went out and did some street shots. It may not look like it in the photos, but I was freezing!!

The photos were shot by Sergio Cuen and I also shot a few photos with Dear Leader Joe, who is a blogger as well from Croatia.

Top photos: Shot by Sergio

Bottom: Shot by Dear Leader Joe

Later that day I went to an ELLE Party and met up with Kali, who is also a San Diego blogger, and a NYFW pro!! Kali goes to Fashion Week every season (you have to check out her blog), so it was great to see her and I am so thankful for her invite. I was able to meet some pretty cool people!!

Last Day!!! Day 4…

This was actually the only day that I attended a fashion show. The PR that I was with promised to get us into other shows, and did not deliver!!! Lesson learned!!! I’m grateful that I was at least able to attend a few events and made some great connections. There is so much that goes on during fashion week, you honestly can’t do everything!! I will be doing more on my own next time.

Anyway I attended a show at Pier 59 that had different independent designers from all over the world. There were a lot of great pieces. It was definitely an interesting show.

Being able to connect with all of these amazing bloggers from all over the world made this trip worth while!!! I have worked with several PR companies and have never had the experience with any of them that I had in New York. You can’t trust or take anyones word as gold in this industry! Look out for yourself always and ask questions, even if you think they may be stupid. Keep all of your emails and copies of any type of contract, so you can use it as a receipt. You never know when you might need it!!

After the show… I got the last bit of content done and did more exploring, since I was going to be leaving the next day.

There was the cute book store close to my hotel, so Jennifer and I went there and did a quick photoshoot.

Later I had an early dinner with Carly, Vanessa, Rachel and Jennifer. Then we went to Washington Square Park to check out the arch. The NYU campus is right in that area as well, so we walked through there also.

Last stop of the night was Time Square!!! I’m so happy I got to see it in person. It was a fun way to end my trip.

I didn’t get to attend as many shows as I wanted to this time, but not all is lost!! I was able to make some great connections and know what not to do for next time. I know more opportunities will come my way and that I will be back in New York soon for another fashion week!!!

Here is the vlog from my trip. Check it out if you haven’t already. Be sure to subscribe to see more videos in the future!!