city love.

i always look forward to going to new york city. it's like magic. i know it's a bit cliche to talk about the energy, the lights, the sounds, and the overall vibration of manhattan, but that's honestly what gets me most excited about going there. but i'm lucky enough to have a job that allows me to travel, and 3-4 times a year, i get to go to new york and pretend i'm carrie bradshaw (well, i get to pretend harder than i normally do). 

the real reason i'm sent is for the contemporary apparel tradeshows. the line that i rep, ogle, was recently revamped and given a totally new look. it's been pretty cool to see people's reactions to how much better it looks now. what i love about people on the east coast is that they have no problem telling you how they really feel about something. so most of the time, if they like it, you know you have something good on your hands. the show went really well, which surprised all of us, considering the current state of the fashion industry. buyers were more excited and positive than i've seen in a while, which is amazing considering that i still can't afford anything that they sell in their stores. i'm over this recession.

this is the second year in a row that i've spent cinco de mayo in the city and i have to say, new yorkers get just as crazy, excited, and drunk as we californians do. i have always considered cinco de mayo to be synonymous with riding bikes at the beach and drinking coronas with my friends; but for the past two years, i've downed margaritas and roamed the streets with coworkers. last year involved feather boas and tequila shots (not down my throat, thank you very much), and we somehow ended up at a chevy's in times square. this year, i kept it pretty mellow. my coworker deena and i met up with quintin and his roommate jenna at a mexican restaurant in chelsea. we had been craving guacamole all day, so when it showed up on the table, it was like playing hungry hungry hippos. quintin and i always have the best time together; he's one of those people that can make me piss myself laughing, just by giving me a certain look. i miss working at the shows with him, especially when britney or rihanna comes on and i have nobody to shake my hips with. but luckily, i got to hang with him on tuesday, and he even helped out in one of the booths the next day, so we got to have our usual moment of silliness and prepare for our upcoming fashionista stand-up comedy tour. we're gonna be huge.

friends aside, my favorite part of the trip was making a visit to the new topshop in soho. it was amazing; so huge, and so many things to look at, but all very well organized and easy to shop. i picked up a white leather waist belt with gold hardware, and a bright teal tank dress with gathered sides. trust me, it was hard to edit down. if i won the lottery tomorrow, i would head back there and swoop up everything. the kate moss pieces are fantastic in person, and it took everything in me not to buy these: 

two-hundred-and-ten dollars of purple suede and sheer beauty, that i have absolutely no business purchasing, and absolutely no place to wear them. i'm waiting for some kind of miraculous clearance sale. the window display was pretty awesome, too.

overall, this was probably one of the best new york city trips i've had so far. the weather kinda sucked, and as usual, i had to put myself in a tylenol pm haze so i could pass out on the plane -- i just hate that flight -- but i got to eat good food, hang with good people, and make a little commission in the meantime. not too shabby.

mood music: kings of leon - manhattan