Stylist in New York City

I LOVE NEW YORK

Now I understand the T-shirts and mugs. My first visit to the Big Apple was one of the best holidays ever – this city opened my eyes to the bigger picture.

Springtime in New York is a feast for the eyes, with flowers everywhere and blossom trees on just about every corner. It’s also the most popular time to visit for Expedia’s Aussie travellers, who make the most of the mild weather.

Sights

There are a million sights to see in New York, every moment feels like a film set, and in fact we often saw crews filming TV shows or movies.

Here is what I had to see on my to do list:

– The Flatiron Building: an iconic piece of New York Architecture

– Central Park: you could spend days strolling this beautiful space

– Top of the Rock: the best rooftop view in NYC as you actually see the Empire State Building in the view

– Paris Cinema: a cool cinema right near The Plaza Hotel and Central Park

– Guggenheim Museum: an awesome collection of art and an iconic frank Lloyd Wright-designed building.

– The Metropolitan Museum of Mordern Art and MOMA, the Museum of Modern Art: must see art collections

– Grand Central Station: the scene of so many movies and must see its grand in scale and beauty

– Brooklyn Bridge an iconic moment and place in NYC. Walk across to Dumbo Williamsburg and Brooklyn – best avoided on the weekends to avoid the crowds but to be honest the bridge is always pretty busy

– Carrie Bradshaw’s steps: who isn’t a fan of Sex and the city?!

– Cupcake ATM: yes, an actual ATM that dispenses cupcakes continuously stocked night and day with fresh and delicious cupcakes YUM!

– The High Line: a public park built on a historic freight rail line and perfect walk in the springtime right near the meatpacking district

– Times square: cray busy bright light in the city that never sleeps

Aussies in NYC

There are certainly lots of Aussies in New York, especially a number of iconic Australian brand in the retail/design and creative fields. I met up with a number of friends whilst in town (photographers, stylist, creative directors etc) and was excited to see iconic brands Aesop Dinosaur Designs and Mud Australia each with their very own flag ship store downtown.

Mud Australia: stunning handmade porcelain made in Sydney. 91 Crosby street Soho New York

Dinosaur Designs: everyone’s favourite resin designers. 211 Elizabeth Street New York

Aesop: handcream royalty. Numerous stores thoughout New York

A few of my fav stores

Michele Varian: pillows, linen, lighting and more. Awesome design homewares store with beautiful hard to find stuff your home. 27 Howard street New York

Mood: I’m a big fan of TV show Project Runway so I had to visit this famous fabric store. I now know why the contestants have a hard time choosing fabrics – the store is huge Thanks Mood!

Bergdorf Goodman: possibly the best department store I’ve ever been to. Exquisite men’s and woman’s fashion, with impeccable home décor and furniture displays.

Opening Ceremony: one of the coolest brands in the world, the New York store is super cool, as are the clothes and people that work here.

Kate spade Saturday: I love Kate Spade, her brand is awesome, fun and colourful. Saturdays is her latest store filled with woman’s fashion accessories and more and super friendly staff.

Anthropolgie: famous retailer Anthologies create awesome window and in store displays with a mixture of woman’s fashion and home all under the one roof

Abc home: home HEAVEN. This store has it all, it’s the place where you find all the things you didn’t know you needed to make a beautiful home. An awesome edit of beautiful home décor and furnishings – well worth the travel and very close to the Flatiron Building.

Fishes eddy: I stumbled across this store best known for its tableware. Head here for cool and quirky wares and the best kinds of not cheesy New York souvenirs

Design within reach: authentic design retailer with everything in stock, unlike other brands where you have to wait weeks or months from order to deliver. Here you’ll find all the classics in furniture, lighting and more.

Miansai: this awesome mostly men’s accessories retailer with its signature nautical sailing vibe is a must visit in super cool (quite possibly New York’s coolest street) Crosby Street.

Flea Market, Hells Kitchen: I love vintage markets and couldn’t resist a look here. Weekend markets are everywhere but I rather enjoyed this and enjoyed scouring through this one.

Food, drink and fun times

Soho House: awesome to visit with a friend who is a member for the roof top pool/bar.

Happy Bones NYC: we stumbled across this cool café by New Zealanders – I do appreciate a good coffee so this was a pleasant find.

Mission Cantina: The best Mexican we found in the USA was totally in New York. After a recommendation from a lady in a shop, we wandered down the street to check it out. As soon as I saw Mission Cantina, I knew we were on to a good thing. This restaurant is super cool, with some of the best fresh Mexican food I’ve ever had. We went back 3 times! It isn’t that expensive either. Favourites were the fried chicken, the fish tacos and the best ever spicy margaritas.

Navy: catching up with friends in New York is always fun. Especially when they take you to their new favourite place. Navy is a dark, cute little café with yummy breakfast. I quickly discovered that in New York its all about brunch with cocktails (totally fine at 1pm).

Pod 39 Hotel: The roof top Lounge Bar at this super cool budget hotel is a local hot spot with a cool vibe.

Ace Hotel New York: We stayed at the Ace for the majority of our trip. I loved its central location and cool vibe and décor (of course). There’s a great downstairs bar where no matter the time of the day, it’s packed. The perfect spot to meet friends for a drink any night of the week.

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