images by Dose of Dash except for pretzel: source

November through January marks crunch time for me at work. On top of the holiday craziness, we are all preparing for the biggest event of the year for our industry.

This year more than ever I had a HUGE “To Do” list that was causing a lot of stress. I couldn’t imagine how I would make it through to the end of January. Now I have one day left in the office and I’m staring at my white board in amazement and satisfaction with pretty much everything crossed off. It sure feels good. And to celebrate, I get to go to the conference myself and spend a week in NYC!

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I was born and raised in New York City, but my parents live in Austin and most of my extended family is elsewhere in the Northeast, so I hardly get to spend time there. I’m either in New York on business or passing through on my way somewhere else. Nowadays when I’m in New York I have a very limited amount of time, but there are certain things I always do.

Street Food: Nuts4Nuts and Pretzels

Call me gross, call me nuts, but I’m nuts for Nuts4Nuts. Nothing you can say will dissuade me.

Same with the pretzels. Hot, doughy carbs for $2? Sold.

Discount Shopping

I usually go to Loehmann’s, but now that there’s a Century 21 in midtown it’s a must-shop. If you haven’t picked up on it by now, I am a discount designer deals junkie. Daffy’s also has good stuff depending on what location you go to, but I heard that they’re closing.

Last year at Century 21 I got a Rebecca Minkoff bag and Façonnable loafers that match my Furla bauletto bag.

Chinese food

We have every kind of Asian cuisine in Austin except good, New York-style greasy Chinese food. Nothing better than having Chinese delivered straight to your apartment door and eating it out of a carton while watching a movie. Pure lazy. Pure genius.

Pizza

Two Boots Pizza is a childhood favorite, and so far it’s held up to my memories. The two boots refer to Louisiana and Italy, and their pizza has an amazing cornmeal crust with different pie names like The Dude, The Newman, and the Bayou Beast.

Other favorites:

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• Rubin Museum
• The Whitney
• The MET 
• The Guggenheim
• Central Park – walking past Sheep Meadow, the zoo, the zoo clock, the carousel
• Eloise portrait in the Plaza
• Anywhere around Washington Square Park, particularly a little north
• Union Square
• Saks
• Henri Bendel
• SoHo
• The Kati Roll Company
• Wandering around beautiful neighborhoods picking out where you want to live
• Stumbling upon a cute coffee shop to stop in

There is so much more that I could go on forever, but I’ll stop here.

Have an excellent weekend, and follow me on Instagram @em_dash512 for updates while I’m away!