New York Extravaganza! Day One...

Okay, it's been a few days since I last posted. Unfortunately my last hotel didn't have internet (either that or we just couldn't figure it out), plus I had zero time to even get on the internet. Tonight is the first time I've had time to actually sit down and relax. I'm not fancy enough to be invited to stuff, so it's not like people are banging down my door to go out and party.

Anyway, I've got to go back and catch up on everything! This post won't have any pictures of me because I'm obviously the one behind the camera. In the next couple days I'll do another post or two including photos from the other girls where you can actually see me!

On my first full day I had to wait for a few hours until Andrea and Tieka got into NYC so I could meet up with them at the hotel we were staying at. I ended up lugging all my bags through the subway (again) to a coffee shop with free wifi so I could do some homework during the wait. The girls got into town at around 4 pm and I once again lugged my baggage through the subway to meet up with them. I ended up wandering around for like 10 minutes being quasi-lost until I found the hotel. After a joyous introduction, we grabbed all of Tieka and Andrea's bags (lucky ducks got to fill their car full of outfit options. I have one 10" x 17" x 24" bag for all my stuff!) and brought them up to the room to commence getting to know each other and preening for the Girls Night Out that night. (prepare for mass amounts of images in 3...2...1...)

The event was held at The Dove Parlor at 228 E. Thompson, which was a lovely little bar and lounge. It had gorgeous red damask wallpaper and the kind of lighting which makes anyone look amazing (bonus right?). We three were fashionably early and got to awkwardly stand in the middle of the room until our reserved seats opened up. Luckily it wasn't that long of a wait and soon we were seated and perusing the menu of delicious snacks and beverages.

We waited to order until some other girls arrived and then started munching on some delicious sandwiches, sipping on opulent cocktails, and socializing! We first met Jessica from What I Wore, who was so nice. She's an amazingly fun girl to hang out with. Kim and Melissa from Crowded Closet showed up next and it was really wonderful to meet them since I'd never been to their blog before! They ended up being really great to hang out with and added such a life to wherever we went (Plus I was totally crushing on Melissa's dark lipstick- I'm not sure I can pull that look off!)

We were taking so many photos that I'm sure the rest of the people in the bar were both totally annoyed and totally blind. Some people actually asked us if we were in a photography class. Hah! It was really funny being in a group of people who totally understand the whole concept of having to take lots of photos and not minding whatsoever when a bunch of cameras are out snapping pictures. I suppose bloggers are similar to celebrities in that sense. We are our own paparazzi.

A little later on Rebecca, Erin, Julie, and Jen (from The Clothes Horse, calivintage, Orchid Grey, and JenLovesKev respectively), showed up and it was so fun to see people in real life (or IRL, as my dad likes to say). Everyone has their little mannerisms that you see on their blog, but it's amusing to see them in real life. It makes me wonder what my mannerisms are, hah! It was especially funny to do outfit photos with everyone and watch them do their "signature poses."

After a couple hours at the Dove, we all loaded into a Hummer Limousine. I know. Swanky. We all felt like total rock stars. To make us even more like rock stars, we stopped at a liquor store and picked up some champagne (which, in retrospect, I probably shouldn't have partaken in, but at the time... I mean we were in a Hummer Limo driving around New York City!). Our limo driver was really nice and took us to Times Square where we took outfit shots and a group photo. As we were getting our photos taken, random bystanders were taking pictures of us getting our photos taken. I just don't even know what they were thinking, like... that we were famous? Some dude jumped in next to me in a couple of my shots. Crazy!

I decided to go out dancing with Melissa and Kim afterwards, and I don't even know where we went, but it was pretty fun. I was pretty tired so we didn't dance for that long, and then I took a cab back to the hotel. First time in a New York cab! Felt very Sex and the City...

I want to give a huge thanks to Jessica, for hosting this wonderful event, and Dove, who generously provided our food, drinks, limo service, and Dove Visibly Smooth samples. Thank you so much! It was one of the best nights of my life!

Well, that was the first day! Hopefully tomorrow more pictures will be forthcoming.