LIFE: NYC – Making The Transition

Hey y’all, can we talk? I’ve been thinking about sharing a bit of my personal journeys with you all on here for quite some time now. I’d love to say that my life is full of fun, sun, shopping and all things fabulous, but seriously it isn’t. Frankly, I can be a bit boring but anyway. Some of my friends, new friends and blogging homies made the suggestion to try it out, so here we go (Slick Rick voice).

If you’ve been an eclechick reader, you’re well aware of my interest in fashion and style, specifically the behind-the-scenes aspect of it. This new chapter on eclechick, called LIFE will give you the behind-the-scenes view of some of my journeys. The first LIFE post is a little late, I’m making the transition from NC to NYC, GASP; but better late than never. Join me on my journey featuring some images from Instagram: eclechick and Facebook: facebook.com/eclechick. Enjoy!

I like being comfortable when I’m flying so sneakers are the best option for me. You can slip in and out of them easily and wear socks to protect your feet from God knows what when you have to step on that platform of the body invader (aka Body Scan) at RDU and every security check at any airport. The creator of one of my new found favorite life and style blogs, Marcus Troy does Kicks On A Plane, you take a picture of well, your shoes on a plane and share it on Twitter and Instagram. So this was my Kicks On A Plane pic, with my Alexander Wang Rocco bag (I can’t live without it) and a pair of Retro Jordan 4 with my favorite color, purple. I hadn’t seen a lot of chicks participating so hopefully this will kick that part off.

After arriving at good ole JFK, and taking that cab ride (this particular cab driver thought we were on a race track, gotta love NYC cabbies) into the city, I settled into my second home when I’m in NYC, The Eventi (a Kimpton hotel) located in Chelsea. Seriously, if you ever get a chance, stay at The Eventi, you’ll LOVE it! The views are breathtaking, they have a daily wine reception, comfortable beds…it’s just great! One cool thing they have is an outdoor area that plays movies, this particular night and old black and white film was showing.

Dope, right? The views from The Eventi are insane!

I spent a lot of time gazing out of my window at night before my nightly/early morning slumbers. So yeah, the views are amazing, great location, easy access to anywhere in the city. Perfect area to live in right? WRONG! Do you know how much rent is in this area? I looked at one place whose name will not be mentioned and the rent was $4500 a month! I don’t know about you, but I, yes me, Sereeda, can NOT afford that. Carrie had a lot of girls fooled with her lovely closet, chic apartment, expansive shoe and clothes wardrobe and thrilling night life…all on a freelance writer’s living. Major side eye! Finding a nice place to live is HARD! Do you hear me?! Kanye said it best…

“How you go to New York, what you ain’t never took a tour there?
What you ain’t know you gotta be rich just to be poor there?”

I was in complete shock coming from NC where $600 a month can get you at least 700 square feet. You can’t even get 300 square feet for $600 in Manhattan! At least from what I’ve seen so far. If you know of any places, hit me up. So yeah, Kimpton is my home when I’m there for now. They treat me good. The living space hunt continues on. On another note, I’m not alone in the NYC living space hunt struggle, Vashtie (one of my style influencers) wrote about the same issue here, apartment hunting in Manhattan really blows. Perhaps Vashtie and I could become roommates.

The next day I caught up with a good friend of mine and we made it to the Met Museum.

A long overdue visit. I was supposed to go last year to see the McQueen exhibit, but life happens. I made it a point to make it this year and it was all I expected and more! Here’s a tip, the fee is $25 BUT you can negotiate and pay what you can. I’m serious. The guy asked me was I ok with paying $25 and I asked him if I wasn’t what would he do. Then he hit me with the “You can pay what you want.” Next time, Met Museum money taker button giver, next time.

We strolled through the Impossible Conversations exhibit and it was quite interesting. For some reason people tend to gravitate to me and strike up conversations. It never fails, this time an older lady decided to tag along with us. She was so sweet and a little creepy, but we talked about the various Prada and Schiaparelli items on display. I’m a little tall and I wore heels that day so I was extra lanky, so much so that when I’d point at certain things on the garments the alarm would go off. I promise I wasn’t trying to touch or try anything on! I did break a few rules…

Yes, I snapped a picture or 3. But trust me I wasn’t the only one getting snap happy in there. I just had to be sneaky with it. You know act like I’m texting or checking my phone, yeah; sneaky sneaky.

After that we went to indulge in one of my favorite foods, PIZZA! I’m telling you a pizza a week makes my life complete! We cabbed it over to Little Italy and had the BEST pizza in the planet, Lombardi’s Pizza!

Everything is fresh! I told my friend that they made this pizza with love in their heart, you can taste it. Seriously, go to Lombardi’s.

Let me let you in on a little something, I despise taking pictures. I always make the dorkiest faces and end up looking like ill (sick) instead of ill (dope). I’m working on learning how to work the camera and be Tyra ready but until then you get this…

This was a shopping/meeting/nail day, hence the comfy attire. I see ladies traipsing around in super high heels and I bow down to them. I can’t do it! Try that in the Meatpacking District with the cobblestone or just take a trip over there and people watch, it’s hilarious watching some ladies teeter around wobbling on that surface. Shopping in NYC is thee best, it’s in my top 5; the alluring windows, amazing deals and just overall variety is unbeatable. The Louis Vuitton store had just revealed it’s new window and store treatments for their Yayoi Kusama collaboration and this particular window display caught my eye…

I found myself all in the window, because it looks like Yayoi is standing there. Then I remembered she’s in a wheelchair, good one smart Louis Vuitton window display creators. The detail on the mannequin is phenomenal. From the facial expression to the wrinkled hands gripping the Limited Edition bag, you have to see it if you’re in the area.

Can’t forget about my nails. I met up with the super sweet and talented Ajahmure of Her Nails Rock and got my little tips rocked.

Read the full story and view more pictures here.

That was a great trip and there will be many more, I’m sure, until I find my living space. The journey continues… I hope you liked the first LIFE entry. Let me know if you want more.

xx Sereeda

This entry was posted on Monday, August 6th, 2012 at 1:22 pm. It is filed under Et cetera and tagged with life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.