BlogFest/NY- Day 1 and 2...in 24 Pictures or Less {with an Edit}

As promised, here's the skinny on my trip to NY/BlogFest.

And PS, I had to split it into two posts...figured there's no way I could keep your attention for the whole shabang.

So, here's Day 1 and 2 to start...3 and 4 will come tomorrow.

Day 1.

First, I got up at an indecent hour and boarded the plane...of course, I needed some smut to get me through the flight...

...sadly my eyes weren't working yet due to lack of caffeine and sleep, so I didn't get past the first page.

The plane basically went up and then landed...turns out T. to NYC is nothing...so close.

After deboarding, I made my way to the taxi line only to find out that in NY, you not only need the name of  your hotel but both cross streets...and of course, my farking ridiculous Canadian cell phone service meant that I couldn't look it up...que very cute boy behind me who did the search and praise Jesus, found the address, which allowed me to actually leave New Jersey and head for the big apple.

Here's me trying to look cool in said cab...

...thank goodness for black and white filters is all I have to say on that front....also, why do I have no neck in this shot? Digressing.

A quick, and might I add cheap (PS, taxis in NYC are SOOOOOO inexpensive- practically free it would seem,) ride later and I saw this on the horizon...

...hooray.

And a few minutes after that, I was checked in to the hotel...easy peasy.

Since I had a few hours to kill before some of my peepsters arrived, I walked around the corner and had the best manicure of my life...sadly, I didn't take a photo of my own hands so...think this...

...only with the gold as french tips and the rest a little more blushy...good stuff.

Apres nails, I met up with fellow canuck people Vanessa and Christine...

...and we wandered the streets together.

The highlight of said meandering was:

1. an insanely good crepe I had at this outdoor food market...loved watching Joe Blow make it...turns out pioneer wood tools make for some delicious eats...

2. the Marimekko store...

...so much fabric, so little suitcase space.

3. Seeing the amazing construction at Gound Zero...

A few hours later, we headed back to the hotel to quickly change for a little dinner meet and greet, organized by the very sweet Viv, of Fashion Truffles fame...here's a shot of the gang I stole from Viv;)

{Tobe, Naomi, Gabrielle, Christine, Vanessa, Me, Viv, Mackenzie, Alex, Sarah, Elizabeth, Meg, Erika, Jen, Natalie}

...and a grainy iPhone pick of us two...

And that was day 1.

Day 2.

Monday started with an early breakie in the hotel lobby with Christine, Vanessa, Chassity and Amanda...it was a good thing we actually ate because this day was B to the izzy.

The fun really started with an amazing girl's hair party at the drybar...sweet Chassity organized it and after her, Amanda and I trudged in the rain for a while...

{photo via Look, Linger, Love}

...PS, those are Chassity's feet...we arrived and enjoyed beaucoup pampering.

I luuuurved this place...so pretty...

...the hairdryer chandy took the fab cake...

...and most importantly, turns out drybar knows how to rock out ladie's hair...

In progress...

{photo via Look, Linger, Love}

...and after...

{Erika, Erica, Moi, Amanda, Naomi, Melissa, Tobe, Gabrielle, Amanda, Chassity, Mackenzie, Meg and founder of DryBar Alli...photo via Recycled, Consign and Design}

...the founder/owner Alli was so sweet to let us all invade her gorgeous salon...so lovely to meet her and soooooo wish this place could/would set up shop here in the great north!

Moving on.

Apres hair, we shopped a little, and ruined most of our new dos in the rain.

Boo.

On the plus side, I got a long blue dress and a white blazer...worth it...I think.

The ladies and I went back to our hotel and I was delighted beyond words to find my sweet roomie Alex had arrived...sadly, I literally don't have one stinking photo of the two of us together:(  

Anyhoo...we chatted a bit and then quickly got ready for our firsts official BlogFest event...the Kip's Bay Showhouse tour.

I enjoyed this part...mostly because I met so many of my blogging buddies in person...delightful.

I also got to touch Margaret Russell's waist...

{Amanda, Chassity, Me, Margaret}

...after some serious photo stalking...

To be honest, the above photo and said friend meetings were the highlight of the tour.

The showhouse itself was a little...I don't know...contrived maybe?

I did quite enjoy the giant brass giraffe...

.....these blue walls were impressive...

...and I adored this Eagle console...

...but honestly, the rest just wasn't my proverbial cup of tea.

Case and point...the kitchen had this pig/turkey spit built into the cupboards...

{photo via Marianne Simon Design}

...as Amanda pointed out, how the heck would you deal with the flying grease all over your brand new sparkly kitchen?  Weird.  On the plus side, there were delightfully large brass handles so that sort of made up for it...sort of.

Anyhoo...there were tons of people and a little bit of food so all in all...was glad I went.

After a few hours there, we boarded a bus and were whisked away to the Savant Center...which PS, was one of the more 'interesting' venues I've ever been to...apparently it's an 'automation control/experience center'...so if you're rich and in the market for super high end hidden electronics, you would be SO into this place.

Alex, Chassity, Amanda, Nicole, Elizabeth and I basically found a table perch and enjoyed some bevies/apps...and that was that.

Edit...I totally forgot about this stop...shows you how much we did in 4 days...brain fart...after the Savant Center, my and some ladies met up with some other ladies at a great spot my husbter would have loved....Lure...

{photo via Ever Swoon}

...he seriously would go mad for the place...basically like a restaurant inside a wood ship...very cool.

Chassity, Amanda and I sat at the bar and had some 'get to know you deep talk'- enjoyed muchos.

Because Day 3 was going to be a large one, we ski-daddled early and headed back to the hotel.

I managed to catch Erica, Melissa, Marianne and Tiffany in the hotel lounge so had a fabulous little late night sit down with them and then to bed I went.

All in all, the first two days in NYC were the bom Tom.

I got really wet and was already whining like an old lady about how things ached and how tired I was but...so many face to face meetings with so many awesomesauce bloggers totes won out in the pros/cons department.

Good stuff.

I'll be back tomorrow with action from the next two days.

xo