SASHA TAKES A BITE OUT OF THE BIG APPLE

From one cold place to another, I must say New York was the better of the two. For you all who don't know, I live in Michigan. While it would be nice to go somewhere where I could wear a bikini and show as much skin as possible in the middle of January, it was just as nice going to a place that I have always wanted to visit. I attended NYC with a group of girls who are either business or advertising majors all interested in working in corporate retail (preferably the fashion industry). We stayed a total of five days and had plenty of time to explore the big city.

​The first day was a pretty chill free day. We arrived in the city around 4 pm and checked into our hotel. After getting settled in we went to eat of course! The first meal wasn't my favorite, I got a small buffalina pizza which tasted like any other thin crusted pizza honestly. On the bright side the place was very cute on the inside. After dinner, we caught the subway to Canal St (my boyfriend A$AP Rocky has a song by this name). Here we visited Glossier. I must say, this store's presentation is immaculate, a great place to take photos, the worker's are so cute in their matching uniforms, and the packaging tops it all off. I wanted to buy something just because of the packaging. (Presentation is everything) We wrapped the night up by walking up 7th Ave and grabbing snacks. 

Wednesday morning we grabbed NY bagels and smoothies and headed out to our first company visit which was TJX's  Buying Office. After this meeting, we met with Macy's at their headquarters. After our company visits, we grabbed some more food at Pennsy's Food Station where I got a chicken panini. This also was not my favorite meal. After eating we visited the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) Museum where we saw some very high end designers such as Balenciaga, Dior, and Alexander Wang's old designs. From this museum we visited the Museum of Illusions which was very fun of course but also educational if you read how the illusion worked. Before settling in for the night, we visited a tattoo shop which was very expensive so of course we left the same way we entered. That night was wrapped up by grabbing a random man's door which we thought was Uber and him looking at us like we were crazy. (I think I got McDonald's that night...safe choice. I loved it)

The next day was an earlier morning so sadly breakfast was missed. We started the morning off with FAO Schwarz which was the most fun company visited. The store was so fun and I literally wanted to buy myself all the toys in the store just because of the worker's knew how to sell the product. I definitely felt like a kid again. Following this visit, we went to Chelsea and visited Shadow. Wrapping up the company visits, we visited Michael Kors headquarters. I went to bed early this night and caught up on some well-needed rest.

Friday was the first day of the National Retail Foundation (NRF) conference. This day consisted of hearing numerous speakers. Though all of the speakers were very informative and influential, some of my favorite speakers were Karen Katz (former CEO of Neiman Marcus), KJ Miller and Amanda Johnson (founders of Mented Cosmetics), and Andy Dunn (founder of Bonobos). After the the first day of the conference, we attended a MSU alumni mixer which was very fun. I met many people living in the New York area that all were where I am now however, everyone's path was different on how they landed in NY. After the mixer ended, a few of us did some shopping and window shopped at the stores on 5th Ave. This night concluded with more McDonald's...they forgot my apple pie but everything else was delightful.

For the last full day in NYC we attended the conference and got to speak with professionals and ask them questions in a more intimate group setting, After this, most of the students left to attend the career fair. The career fair was like any other career fair just a bit smaller and of course only retail companies were in attendance. After the career fair ended, we headed back to the hotel to change and enjoy our last night in the big city. For the last night we got some real NY pizza (I got buffalo chicken pizza), 10/10 I was very pleased after my numerous fails at trying new foods. We headed to Times Square and attempted to shop some more. After not finding anything we ran into Cody Simpson and went to the Sugar Factory (not with Cody of course). 

The next morning we headed out to the airport at 7. As we walked out, we were greeted by snow. A perfect time to leave I believe. All in all NYC was everything that I imagined and more. It was literally like the movies. Buildings toppling over you making you feel so tiny and millions of people making you feel like a small fish in a big pond. I definitely don't know if I could live here but I would love to go back when it's a bit warmer considering you walk almost everywhere outside of catching the subway. (Which I found confusing cause NYC is soooooo much bigger than I thought.) I also loved how everyone was different, and by this I definitely mean you could people watch. You had so many different ethnicities as well from Asian, Latino, and Italian who had their on communities within the overall NY community. People were at work speaking Spanish and I'm like...I seriously need to learn another language or at the least pick up a New York accent because their accents are to die for. New York definitely showed me a good time, we have unfinished business because there is so much more I need to explore.

P.S. I put visiting NYC on my 2018 vision board so manifestation is real and dreams really do come true:)