my empire state of mind

my mom and i took a last minute whirlwind trip to NYC in july. i am so behind on blogging it is ridiculous! before i begin, i’m just gonna say i so wished i would have packed my nice camera!! i was trying to pack light and then spent the whole time wishing i would have brought my good camera!! who votes with me that it is high time to replace this 2003 pocket model:) ?

the last time my mom and i took a trip together (just us) it was 1998 and i was on a mission for a prom dress. my sweet mom let me entertain this crazy notion and then reality hit for me when i got there (for the first time) and saw the price tags on dresses in all these places i had my heart set on. needless to say, i did not come home with a NYC prom dress:) so 12 years later, we are back on a mission. this time it’s to make little miss poppy come to life!!! here’s where it all started:) i needed to get inspired!

so as i hit the streets of new york on this mission, it was just too perfect that these alicia keys lyrics were just what came to mind. seriously. i was free of kids in tote, free of being chained to my computer, i had time to myself and and i was bursting with visions and ideas AND had the queen of all things creative (aka my mom) with me!! i’d like to think it was god speaking through these words and giving me just what i needed to assure me that i wasn’t crazy for pursuing this venture and believing that there was nothing a little bit of time in the big apple couldn’t help me achieve!!

New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of
There’s nothin’ you can’t do
Now you’re in New York
These streets will make you feel brand new
Big lights will inspire you
Let’s hear it for New York, New York,
New York

…now fast foward to this henri bendel window display we stumbled upon that says “i’d rather wear accessories” – could this be any more perfect for the inspiration i needed? this is such a visual for my love of accessories, and here we are seeing it on display – it totally spoke to me!!

now look at how they describe themselves on their website? just love this language!! again, soooo inspiring!! a girls playground!!?? really? i couldn’t agree more!

so between all of the appointments and sourcing, here’s a quick recap of all the fun things we did!

• Mood – the fabric store as seen on Project Runway! This was just one of soooo many great places to inspire us with their unbelievable assortment and offerings.

• Wicked!! My incredible husband hooked us up with a pair of tickets and we were blown away! neither of us had ever seen the show and i honestly was worried i’d be disappointed with as much as every single person has talked it up to me, but it was sooooo good!! definitely a top 5 of my life!!

• Sidewalk Catwalk – this was an event going on that was a celebration of the Fashion District among A-list designer big names like Michael Kors, Diane von Furstenberg, Isaac Mizrahi,  Kenneth Cole and so many more! The designers use materials from the area – from fabric to notions – to construct the ensembles. Here is one of my favorites – using straws if you can see!! so creative!

• we had an afternoon snack at baked by melissa. too perfect for my love of sweets and my name! these are delicious miniature stuffed cupcakes that come in really fun, unique flavor combinations. available out of a tiny window in canal street.

• an amazing dinner at spice market with one of my best college friends who is now livin’ it up in new york! such a treat and truly our only nice meal considering we walked and shopped until we dropped and had to seriously make time to eat because that was the last thing we wanted to waste time on! this southeast asian cuisine is to die for and the place is super cool inside. located in the trendy meat-packing district. here’s a self portrait in the hotel room after our dinner:)

• shopping!! we blasted through 5th avenue, hit up canal street and scored some major good finds at a hole-in-the-wall dress shop we completely stumbled upon and that made our trip with the service, bottle of wine and unique dresses! it was such a treat!
• trip to dylan’s candy bar in honor of my very own mr.d!! a 3-story, over the top, candy store filled with a cotton candy bar, chocolate fountain bar, snowcones and so much more goodness. even this stop was full of inspiration for me with all their wonderful merchandising! and the pail of alphabet gummies were the perfect potty treats to bring home!

• FAO Schwarz – last time i was in NYC with derek, it was under contstruction, so this was my first time back since i’ve had kids. it was so fun to go through there – i wanted to buy everything!
• We made so many great contacts and established some wonderful relationships to help make my vision of Little Miss Poppy come to life! It was certainly a trip full of inspiration and exciting discoveries. Can’t wait to see where this road leads me…