New York City travel photo diary.

Jul 18

Written By

robbie & i are currently on our way to Florida for Swim Week, but i wanted to share with you our NYC travel photo diary before i get too wrapped up into sharing details about FL! you can think of this as a mini travel guide, but i'm only sharing what we did on this trip. i will probably be back to NYC two more times before the end of the year, so one of these days i'll put together a proper travel guide.our trip was sponsored by Alaska Air and we are super excited to share with you the campaign we worked on with them! that post is coming soon. below i'm giving a little blurb about what we did, saw, and ate, as well as sharing outfit details. i mentioned in this IG post that New York is a very inspiring city for me, and i came back feeling so refreshed with lots of new ideas and projects in mind. stay tuned! enjoy the photo diary! xx

Shake Shack was obviously the first stop after checking in! the best part? it's two streets away from Hotel Giraffe.white tee | distressed denim | layered gold choker | pink ball cap | white mini bag

speaking of Hotel Giraffe, this was my second time staying there {robbie's first!} and we can't recommend it enough if you're coming to NY. it's in such a convenient location {right next to the Flatiron}, the service is phenomenal, and my favorite part is the breakfast in the morning, as well as the cheese & wine {for those who drink} in the evening in the lobby. read my full review on Hotel Giraffe here.

i've been wanted to shoot at the Top of the Rock with a photographer for YEARS and Lauren from Laurel Creative made it all come to life this trip! definitely recommend her if you're needing a photographer in NYC. this is my third time shooting with her!

white eyelet dress | pink Valentino Rockstud flats | round wicker basket

i mean, the VIEWS.

robbie and i headed to Soho one afternoon to check out a few spots i had my eye on. first up, the famous pink Pietro Nolita Italian restaurant. we actually didn't stay to eat since it was so hot and we wanted something a little lighter than Italian, but we will be back next trip!

lace blouse | pink blazer {similar here} | distressed denim | pink ball cap | pink heeled sandals

on the same street is The Butcher's Daughter, which is an all Vegan cafe. we've heard nothing but amazing things so we popped in for a light lunch and it. was. amazing. highly recommend! i got the watermelon feta {fake feta....} salad and robbie got the grilled cheese {also fake cheese, haha}. we also got a smoothie and special water to split. everything was so delicious! i would always eat Vegan if i could have the chef come live at my house. apparently, there's one in LA, too!

Aerie currently has a pop-up shop in Soho, so i had to stop by! it's probably the cutest store i've ever seen. the branding is so on point and all the decor is so fun and whimsical. my Aerie tee is here and i also bought this girl power tee.

Hotel Giraffe is so chic and truly lives up to its branding. robbie loved being able to work in the lobby while the pianist played!

striped tee | pink pinafore dress | pink statement earrings | Chanel tennis shoes | Louis Vuitton bag

i just can't resist the taxi shots when in NYC! photo by Laurel Creative.orange midi dress | pink Gucci belt | pink mules | Chloe Nile bag | layered gold choker

remember what i said about branding at Hotel Giraffe? this is on their rooftop garden!

when i lived in New York, i lived on the Upper West Side {UWS}! i had to show robbie my old apartment and of course take him to get my favorite treats. while we gobbled them up so fast we didn't get a good photo, be sure to stop at Levain for their delicious cookies, milk bar for their b'day cake truffles & crack pie, and Magnolia Bakery for their banana pudding!my old apartment on the UWS! 73rd W 83 Street, which was 83rd and Columbus, one block west of Central Park! i loved our location.

even though it was super hot this day, we strolled through Central Park to Bow Bridge! i've always loved this view of the UWS. next time we want to row boats!robbie has never seen a Broadway show, so we decided to see Aladdin! it was such a good one, from the sparkly costumes to the hilarious characters and everything in between, we highly recommend this musical!

the museum of the 9/11 Memorial was still being built when i lived here, so robbie and i spent one afternoon visiting it and Ground Zero. it's such a profound memorial, and really you could spend days in there reading and listening to everything. it's fascinating and sad all at the same time. but it also makes me so proud to be an American and see what our great country has overcome. DŌ was high on my list to visit the last time i was in NYC for Fashion Week, but the line was an insane two hour wait. this time around, we stood in line for about 45-50 minutes, which wasn't too bad at all. if you're unfamiliar, DŌ is a cookie dough confection shop. it's basically like an ice cream shop, but instead they scoop various flavors of cookie dough! it was so fun and delicious, but honestly it's so sweet there's no way you can finish it in one sitting. worth it? yes. will go again? probably not. love the photo i took, though!

DŌ is just around the corner from Washington Square Park, where we went to walk around and eat our treat! we also ate dinner at the famous and delicious Joe's Pizza before that, which is only about a half mile away.about a week before this trip, body positive model Iskra Lawrence posted on her IG Story that she was looking for a handful of people to work on a special project of hers and how to apply. she basically wanted a one minute intro video... and robbie pretty much made me do it, haha! i'm so glad he did though because it was easily one of the coolest experiences and i am so thankful i was picked to work on it. i can't share many details yet, but we filmed the project at YouTube NY Space and i met a lot of amazing, empowering people {see below}. can't wait to share more! it was so awesome to meet Iskra and work with her, as she's one of my role models. i kept telling robbie, 'this is the best day ever!!!!'

Iskra is exactly how she depicts herself on social media: confident, funny, so open to talk about anything, and above all kind.so thankful this guy always pushes me outside of my comfort zone and helps me to succeed!if you're in NYC, be sure to stop at Junior's Cheesecake. it's one of Iskra's favorites!