Jacket, Ayr. Top, Cos. Similar here. Jeans, Mother. Shoes, Stella McCartney. Similar here.
New York in the Springtime
I went to New York City last week and it was one of my favorite trips in recent memory. The weather was perfect, but for one rainy day. I ate (and ate and ate), trying new (to me) places like abcV, Nobu Downtown and Maman TriBeCa and visited old haunts like Fred’s, Sadelle’s and Mr. Chow. I tried a couple new workouts to offset the meals and would highly recommend The Class by TT (the studio itself is jaw-dropping) and Rumble (which is a fun experience, even if you’re not one for boxing).
I happened upon Leonardo DiCaprio strolling down Madison Avenue, Jake Gyllenhaal in the window of abcV and Linda Fargo in her eponymous shop at Bergdorf Goodman on the first day…early celebrity sightings are always an indication that the trip is going to be a good one.
Beyond these run-ins (which believe me, had my inner fan girl freaking out), I had the pleasure of meeting some women who truly inspire me. Inslee, who I’ve followed for years and recently collaborated with to make Elle’s first birthday invitation, was sketching at Kate Spade. She is as delightful as I imagined. Daphne Oz, who I watch from time to time on The Chew, was at the Hey Mama x Hatch Mother’s Day brunch that I attended and gifted everyone her cookbook, which seems just my speed (if I ever decide to actually cook). Paula Knight, a former WSJ editor who is now the Director of Content at J.Crew (!!!), was also at the brunch and was totally cool as I stuttered over my excitement to finally meet her in person after following her on Instagram for years. I had interesting conversations with a host of women, some of whom have founded big companies, and others, more similarly to me, who are in the midst of figuring out their next step. Pictures to come…
A Few (New) Favorites
The reason for my trip was to attend the Create & Cultivate conference. I was expecting to learn a lot (which I did) and take a lot of Insta-worthy pictures (which I didn’t…see above for one of the only outfit shots I took, on an elevator), but I hadn’t planned on falling in love with so many new brands. I thought I’d share a couple with you since part of what I love about them is their badass founders.
Lexy Pexy
While I was waiting to be seated at Maman TriBeCa these wooden teethers immediately caught my eye…I mean, how could they not?! Always one to document chic baby stuff, I posted a photo to my instastory and to my delight, Lexy (Lex/Alexis) messaged me that she was going to be at Create & Cultivate the next day. Isn’t it funny how these things happen? We ended up hanging out for almost the whole conference and I learned that she invented the product after looking for an eco-friendly and also fashion mommy-approved baby gift to no avail. My order of four of these beauties should arrive this week!
Belle Force Activewear
In our Create & Cultivate Swag Bag (which was like 15 pounds and full of beauty products galore), there was a beautiful little bow, made of French elastic. Of course being bow-obsessed, this caught my eye…and after a quick scroll through the chic and sophisticated @belleforceactive Instagram feed I was sold on the brand. I didn’t get a chance to meet founder Kelsey on Saturday, but am glad we’ve connected after the event. The collection launches this week and makes me want to work on having a ballerina body so I can wear all of the pieces.
The Sculpt Society
On the subject of working out, I met the lovely Megan Roup on Saturday. She’s the founder of The Sculpt Society and I’ll definitely be hitting up her classes next time I’m in the city (they’re held at Project by Equinox and Athleta in Flatiron). Megan had an amazing energy about her and is one to watch!
For a full circle moment, the reason I met Megan is that Lexy from Lexy Pexy takes her classes. Worlds collided and I was glad to have a group of girls to roll with at the conference (I’d recommend going with someone you know, since it’s semi-overwhelming otherwise). I met Nualime founder Taty on Friday night at the pre-event mixer and can’t share what she’s doing quite yet, but will share as soon as she launches!
One Final Mother’s Day Idea
How sweet are these necklaces? Maman, the it-bakery I visited last week, means “mother” in French, so they’ve created a perfect-for-Mother’s Day delicate necklace that I’m sure any mama would love to receive.
More to Come…
I’ve got to figure out how to best organize my thoughts, but am thinking I should do a full recap of the Hey Mama x Hatch Mother’s Day brunch and Create & Cultivate. I’m really struggling to find the time to be attending these events while also figuring out photo elements and turning it into a post you’ll want to read. I hope you’ll stay tuned as I work through this learning process!
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