For my Birthday, all I wanted was to spend a weekend with Jamie in NYC. My birthday was January 27th but we didn’t book the trip until mid-January, so we decided to move the weekend we go to February, which also happened to be Fashion Week. I swear I didn’t plan that coincidence but I wasn’t mad about it, ya feel me?

So the week of my birthday Jamie ended up surprising me with a weekend away in a cabin in the mountains. Those who are local are probably familiar with Seven Springs. We had a little bit of a boujee dinner with lots of wine and then went snow tubing. It was seriously so much fun! Let me know if ya’ll wanna see a blog recap of that weekend as well. Anyways, that trip ended up being for my birthday and since we already had the trip to NYC booked, we just celebrated twice.

Here’s a little recap of our weekend just incase you’re headed to NYC in the future and need some recommendations on where to stay, eat, etc.

I booked our stay through Hotels.com at The Evelyn hotel. It’s a beautiful Triumph owned property located in the middle of NYC about a block from the flat iron building & Madison Square Park. I believe we paid $150 a night, which is great for a super esthetically pleasing hotel in NYC during fashion week. However, we did have to pay an additional $50 a day for parking which sucked but that’s the case everywhere in NYC, so if you drive be prepared to pay to park your car.

I loved staying at this hotel and would for sure stay there again. The lighting sucked but the lobby was stunning with all white marble. The lounge was my favorite and it’s where the above photo below was taken. Green suede couches, tan stained glass and marble tables – such a vibe! There was one restaurant in the hotel. We didn’t eat there but we grabbed a drink and it was pricey of course but basically everything is in NYC. I think we paid $35 for 2 glasses of wine to give you an idea. The hotel also had a bakery inside with a pink neon espresso sign, so very cute. I surprisingly didn’t get anything espresso or breakfast sandwiches from here but we tried one of those cake bars and it was super good! It’s always nice to have a bakery/quick cafe in your hotel incase you’re desperate for some breakfast or coffee.

The halls leading up to our room reminded me of titanic. Not really sure why, I guess cause they were enclosed and fancy looking. The room itself reflected the hotel aka V. CUTE! It had a moody, artsy, neutral vibe and I was super into it. We went with the cheapest room option and it was perfect for what we needed. It was equipped with a queen bed, a desk, iron, hair dryer, tiny refrigerator that was perfect for out bottle of wine and leftovers and a closet space. There was a big window with pretty curtains and a modern chandelier. Sadly our room was facing an apartment building, so we didn’t get that great of views but it’s whatever. OH WAIT – HAHA, we actually did see some lady’s boobs. She had not a care in the world that her blinds were open. Good times.

So the bathroom was my favorite part or the hotel. I’ll attach some pictures because I honestly can’t explain the beauty. It was all white marble with the cutest music note tile lining the walls. It had an exposed sink white glass shelving. I was so happy once seeing this bathroom because it did not look that cute online. To me, cute bathrooms are important in a hotel stay, call me weird if ya want but I need those esthetically please shots for the gram ya feel me.

Speaking of photos, I had 2 sponsored campaigns to shoot in the room, so I was very happy it was a cute space. I shot photos for my favorite shape wear company, Yummie and my favorite lube company, WOO More Play. (BTW it’s all natural and tastes like cupcakes, I highly recommend trying). We woke up Saturday morning and shot both of these before exploring for the day. I am so thankful for Jamie understanding and helping me out with work stuff even though we were on a (supposedly) relaxing trip. We shot WOO in the stunning bathroom and Yummie by the window. I draped the bed spread over the work desk and made it look like a bed. Sometimes ya gotta work with what you got! You can see the end photos below.

Now let’s talk a little bit about the location. I mentioned before it was about a block from the flat iron building, Little Eataly, Madison Square Park, The Sex Museum, etc. If you look on a map, you’ll see it’s right in the middle of NYC. It took us around 35 minutes to walk down to the China Town area and 20 minutes to walk up to TimeSquare.

Overall I would stay at the hotel again however, the staff wasn’t too helpful or clear.. They were actually kind of awkward lol. They never gave me a receipt or told me how much I would be charged for parking or their “service fee” that Booking.com told me I’d have to pay upon arrival. I feel like when I asked question, the front desk gut thought I was dumb. Not sure it that’s because they usually have higher-end guests that don’t care about cost or if it’s cause I was in sweatpants?? Either way it didn’t bother me enough not to stay their again. Definitely recommend.

FRIDAY: Friday we took our time getting into the city because Jamie had to work in the morning, so we arrived at our hotel around 8:30pm. We checked in, changed quickly and took a walk down a street where we saw a ton of restaurant options when driving. I would have loved to go to one of the restaurants recommended by you guys but we were so hungry and didn’t want to Lyft anywhere. We ended up going to this hole in the wall BBQ place that was FIRE! Or maybe we thought it was so good because we were so hungry IDK but I’d go back again. It’s called, Hog Pit. It was affordable and super casual compared to most places in NYC.

We ordered chicken nachos for an appetizer because if ya didn’t know, Jamie is obsessed with nachos so we get them almost everywhere. They were your average nachos but the chicken was SO GOOD! For dinner, I order these chicken stick things and mac n’ cheese. I usually try to order healthier but fuck it we we’re on vacation, right? Jamie order a spicy fried chicken sandwich and the best french fries I’ve ever had. Okay maybe that’s pushing it but they were thin and crispy and so different! The place has good ranch too, which is V. IMPORTANT. I recommend this place for a chill (not so esthetically pleasing but bomb food) bar vibe.

We then walked around and found ourselves in Eataly. I wanted dessert but they were closing right when we walked in, bummer. It’s super cute in there though. It has a market vibe with dessert, groceries and a few restaurant options inside. I think we then went to CVS for a sweet treat and headed home to bed. We’re old lol.

SATURDAY: Before we headed out Saturday, Jamie helped me shoot a campaign for Yummie and one for Woo More Play (as mentioned earlier). Then we got ready for a day out and headed towards the China Town area. We were starving so we hoped to see a cute breakfast place on the way but didn’t happen. Luckily we found a cheap and fast diner called, Good Stuff Diner. It was delicious and had a cute diner vibe. After that, we walked down to canal street where I bought a Louis and Gucci dupe and Jamie got a Rolex dupe that broke literally 5 minutes later and of course the man we got it from disappeared. We then made our way back to the hotel, stopping at the most delicious cannoli place called, Ferrara Bakery. They were so fresh! We also stopped at a coffee shop called, Jack’s Stir-brew Coffee where we grabbed something warm to drink and I charged my phone up a little. Then we found a candy shop called, Dylan’s Candy Bar. I’m pretty sure one of my readers recommended it. I love sweets so I was happy to grab a snack. Once we got back to the hotel, we changed, drank a bottle of wine and then headed back out for a super cute dinner at, Marta. They had really good pizza! I got the margarita and Jamie got some pulled pork thing that was on special. We ordered the ‘Ricotta’ for an appetizer (Ricotta, oven roasted pears, rosemary, aged balsamic, sourdough) and omg delish! We didn’t have reservations so while we waited for a table, we went over to the little bar next to it called, Vine E Fritti. We downed another bottle of moscato while waiting, oops. After dinner, we walked to Times Square, explored, took some pics, walked back to the hotel at like 1am and then we passed out.

SUNDAY: Sunday was my favorite day because I got to shoot lots and spend some time with my babe Kristina Mcinnis from @kristinacatherinemcinnis on IG. This was our first time meeting in real life and it was so much fun! We met her and her roommates at Old Rose for breakfast. I highly recommend this place. It was so beautiful inside plus they had delicious food. I got the American Breakfast with Scrambled eggs, sourdough, bacon and roasted potatoes. It was $15, so not horrible for a boujee breakfast. I tried to make a reservation through Yelp but it said the place was all booked up. In the morning when they opened around 8am I called and they had no problem fitting us in. We got there and it was basically empty so don’t go off of Yelp if you plan on visiting. After breakfast, we walked a few blocks to their apartment where I changed into my second outfit for another campaign that Jamie was apart of so Kristina was nice enough to shoot it. I shot her after on their rooftop, it was a fun time connecting with my internet friends! We then headed back to the hotel, got out car from vallet and headed home. On the way out of the city, Jamie and I stopped in Dumbo (area under the Brooklyn Bridge) to shoot some quick shots for another campaign. I really loved this area and wish we could have spent more time there! But we had a 5.5 hour drive ahead of us and it was already like 3pm.

I asked you guys on my Instagram where we should go eat/photo ops. and here are the recommendations categories organized into Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, coffee, cocktails and good locations for photos.

I bolded the ones we wanted to go to but just didn’t have time.

BREAKFAST: Sadelle’s, Cafe Clover, Sarabeth’s, Banter, Citizens of Chelsea, Butcher’s Daughter, Two Hands, Good Thanks, Jack’s Wife Freda

COFFEE: ChaCha Matcha, Bel Ami, Viand Coffee shop, Salt Water Coffee, Blank Slate, Matchaful, Urban Backyard, Laduree, L Room Cafe

LUNCH: Crown Plaza, The Tick Tock, While We Were Young, Eataly

DINNER: Rare Bar & Grill, While We Were Young, TAO, Gelso & Grand, Bocaphe, Aunt Jakes, Wild, Faro, Old Rose

COCKTAILS: Old Rose, The Skylark, While We Were Young

PHOTO LOCATIONS: Dumbo (under Brooklyn Bridge), Spark Pretty (shop), Museum of Color, Serendipity, Public Hotel neon escalator, Flat iron building

1. If you drive, make sure you plan on where to park. Most hotels have a valet option and will store your car (no in & out privileges) for a fee per day. We paid $50 a day at our hotel. My friend Lauren chose to park at the airport for somewhere around $10 a day and take a 45 min. Lyft into the city.
2. This is not a relaxing destination – LOL. It’s actually a very stressful environment. Everyone is rushing all the time and not very nice. Don’t get me wrong, I still love it there but I think It’s a place meant for business, not a relaxing weekend away.
3. Make a plan, the city is huge. We lacked in this department a little. Since the city is so big and most of the popular places to visit (Statue of Liberty, Twin Towers exhibit, China Town, Times Square, etc.) are all so far apart, it’s smart to make a plan. Also, take where you’re going to walk to and where you’re going to take a Lyft or taxi into consideration.
4. That brings me to my next tip, bring a portable charger. I used my phone to get around wether that be using Lyft or using my GPS while we walked. By using the GPS, my phone battery went from 80% to 23% in a matter of 35 minutes.
5. Be prepared to drop some $$! Everything is overly priced but hey, it’s NYC just be prepared.
6. If you plan on eating out at a particular restaurant, make reservations. Luckily it was just us two so if a restaurant had a ridiculously long wait or no openings at all, we were able to snag a seat at the bar. But trust me, you don’t want to Lyft/walk all of the way there for them to tell you sorry, we have no open tables.
7. If you’re into designer dupes, Canal street is a must. Rewind – if ya’ll aren’t aware, there is a road in NYC called Canal Street (near China Town) and it is full of people selling fake Gucci, Louis, Chanel, you name it and most of the bags look so real! You’ll see some people with blankets on the side of the road with purses on top or you’ll see random ladies standing on the street with a piece of paper that has photos of all of their bags available on it. If you purchase from someone on the street, they will encourage you to hurry up because “the police are coming” – this happened to me multiple times but don’t worry, they only say this to get you to make a buying decision. Obviously the act of selling a counterfeit designer bag is illegal but I purchase my Louis dupe in front of a cop so I really don’t understand, lol. Basically the Police don’t care but you still want to be careful. If you see the people with a paper and find interest in a bag, you tell them the bag and then they call their business partner to meet both of you with those bags for you to look at and then decide it you want. NEVER EVER PAY WHAT THEY ASK FOR. I got my Louis dupe for $40, he originally asked for $85. I got my Gucci dupe for $50, originally asked for $70. They won’t let you walk away. **DISCLOSURE: Now, I want to say something about this situation. I am 110% open about buying fake designer bags. I have a designer dupe blog post and I even make it a point on my social media to let ya’ll know that my bags aren’t real. I can’t afford an $1,000 bag at this point in my life and I have no problem keeping it real and admitting that. When I put my purchases up on my Instagram story, I got some negative feedback saying that I am “supporting child labor and sex trafficking as well as funding terrorism” from buying those bags (my life). I totally get that it is illegal to buy fake designer bags. Smoking weed, speeding and drinking alcohol under the age of 21 is also illegal, but probably 80% or more of the population has done/do all of those things. I’m not saying this makes it right, i’m just saying there’s bigger crimes happening in the world to worry about. Now touching on the “supporting child labor, etc.” situation. I have no idea who makes those bags but I do know that it’s probably the same people that make all of our fast fashion items from Forever21, Shein, etc. Unless you only wear clothes that were sustainably and ethically made, please don’t come at me about my fake handbag purchases. I also highly doubt that my $40 is funding terrorism. It’s sad to realize, but bad things are going to happen in the world anyways no matter what we do. Okay, I think my rant is over. But side note, I feel like those with a following literally can’t do anything without getting backlash. Realistically, we can’t be advocates for everything wrong in the world so please, go easy.
8. If going in winter, bundle up because IT’S FREEZING IN NYC! The wind combined with being in wind tunnels in the city is horrible. Be sure to layer up and stop at every coffee shop you can for something hot to hold – lol.