This past week when I was in NY, we spent a lot of time walking around the city. Whether it was to brunch, shopping or a show, we were on our feet. The weather was pretty nice (compared to Midwest standards) and I came across some great things. Like finding a Dolce and Gabbana Blazer on my birthday for mere pennies of what they retail for. I slipped it on and it fit like a dream. Completely made my day!

{ Delicious Latte at brunch in the East Village }

{Cute little street corner}

{The famous Magnolia Bakery. I’m a huge fan of their sugar cookies}

{Beautiful graffiti along a brick building}

{Large robot outside of a consignment shop made out of little parts}

Sincerely,

THE GIRL IN THE YELLOW CAB

Soho is one of my favorite places in New York City. And not just for the great shopping it offers, but for the awesome architecture. I make it a point to head to Soho everytime I’m in NY to stop at my favorite boutiques, street vendors, cafe, and walk the cobblestone streets admirning all of the architecture. If I had a choice of anywhere in the United States to live, hands down it would be Soho.

Sincerely,

THE GIRL IN THE YELLOW CAB

Brunch has been on my to-do list every trip I make to NY. Somehow, something always comes up and I never make it. However, this trip was a success. Lets just say that I could do this every Sunday; sitting outside on a brisk afternoon with an over-sized sweater, drinking coffee, people watching, and eating a Latin-style brunch in the homey east village.

{vintage inspired bikes that I would love}

{Delicious french toast covered with fruit}

{They left our bill with this awesome postcard. So cute}

Sincerely,

THE GIRL IN THE YELLOW CAB

I’ve been wanting to post about my awesome restaurant-finds when I was in NYC for Fashion Week. Next to fashion, the mass of restaurants squeezed into every crook and cranny of the city is a close second to why I adore NYC so much.

I came across this little restaurant right after I got to New York. I dropped off my bags at my girlfriend’s place and immediately went exploring until she got out of the office. When I’m in New York, I am so overwhelmed by my span of restaurant options. I’d make it a goal of mine to eat at every single one if it was physically possible.

This little pizzeria is called Vezzo. And I can honestly say I had the biggest, best mushroom and cheese thin sliced pizza of my life. Vezzo’s interior was the epitome of New York: brick walls, dark wooden tables adorned with a small candle, and a floor to ceiling red velvet curtain in front of the entrance. Practically, the curtain was there to keep the harsh wind out, but I like to think it was strategically put their to act as the cherry on top of the ice cream to complete the picture. The butter on top of the popcorn. The Louis on top of the Vuitton. You get the picture.

(photo taken via Driod)

I also ate at this little Italian Restaurant the night of my birthday. Great choice by my girlfriend. It’s called Malatesta Trattoria. I call it Malatesta for short, as you can see why.

The most adorable restaurant ever. Scrunched into a little corner, this small Italian restaurant is very popular, so expect to wait  at least 45 minutes if you go on the weekends. The hand-written menus added the perfect touch to the restaurant. Below is a picture of the Bruschetta that we ordered, delicious. For the entree, I ordered the Potato Gnocchi. Amazing. The restaurant only accepts cash as well, so come prepared!

(Photos taken via Droid)

Dos Caminos should also be another restaurant to add to your list! Fabulous Mexican Restaurant, known to be a favorite of Jessica Simpson. I personally, have only had their chips-n-salsa because we decided just to go out for some drinks. But, if the food is half as good as those chips and salsa, wow. Not to mention, whatever mix drink the bartender made me was heaven. Great things to say about Dos Caminos! My next trip I’d love to actually eat there.

After all of these food and restaurant posts, I’m wondering if I should just become a food critic? Hmm. Making a trip in the summer months would be even better; patio dining.  But, if you find yourself in New York City searching for a great restaurant, Vezzo, Malatesta Trattoria, and Dos Caminos are among my favorites.

Sincerely,

THE GIRL IN THE YELLOW CAB

It’s official, New York has been named the #1 Fashion Capital in the world! This excites me just about as much as Christian Louboutins. New York wins over Milan and Paris?! Not to mention the ‘normal’ top fashion capitals-Paris, London, Milan, and Rome- are scattered all over the board.  We have new meat, I love it!

“As the global fashion industry adjusted to the new economic reality, New York rebounded to the No. 1 spot it has now held for six of the last seven years,” said Bekka Payack, the Manhattan-based fashion correspondent for the Global Language Monitor. (The Language Monitor is a U.S. based non-profit group that tracks the frequency of words and phrases in the media, on the Internet and throughout the blogosphere).

The Global Language Monitor reported that the the biggest movers in the list were Hong Kong, Madrid and Melbourne. The group said that the top newcomers to the expanded list included Amsterdam at number 17, Cape Town and Johannesburg at 23 and 25 respectively and Vienna at No. 27.

A New York Sunset. And if this list doesn’t make me want to clip clop my way back to New York, I don’t know what does!

Take a look at the list:

Following are the 20 top fashion capitals of 2010 and the change from the 2009 rankings

1. New York (up 1)

2. Hong Kong (up 5)

3. London (up 2)

4. Paris ( down 1)

5. Los Angeles (up 1)

6. Milan (down 5)

7. Sydney (up 2)

8. Miami (up 5)

9. Barcelona (up 5)

10. Madrid (up 11)

11. Melbourne (up 14)

12. Shanghai (up 2)

13. Sao Paulo (up 5)

14. Tokyo (down 2)

15. Singapore (up 5)

16. Las Vegas (up 6)

17. Amsterdam (first time on list)

18. Berlin (up 1)

19. Rio de Janeiro ( down 1)

20. Moscow (up 2)

Well, it’s about that time again when I begin to go through my travel withdrawals. It’s been about six months since New York, and I’m starting to experience nervous twitches out of my desperate need to be back in the Big Apple.

My girlfriends and I are planning another trip to NYC for the month of October. This will be the second time this year in New York, surprisingly. You see, when it comes to making plans with my girlfriends, it takes serious organization skills to get us all together at once. More often than not, we end up only being able to get a couple of us together at a time because of our never-ending conflicting schedules. Luckily, planning a trip three months in advance hasn’t brought any conflicts thus far. Not every weekend has been booked up yet. (Sarcasm).

With that in mind, I also happen to have a little bit of a problem. It is my self-diagnosed Planning OCD Syndrome. I plan to make a plan. And sometimes, I’m not sure how I even keep my head straight. As much as I would love to live by the motto, “Go with the flow,” it is just physically impossible. I must have a plan in order to function like a normal human being. So, now that the planning for the NY trip is ‘planned’ I now am working on our plan of events while we are there.

Our options thus far:

1. As far as hotel, that is still up in the air. We want something inexpensive, but cockroach free seeing as though we will just be in our hotel rooms to sleep. Well, maybe. We tend to do it big when we’re all together.

2. I really want to take the girls to 5 Napkins. When they came to visit me in January, we didn’t make it out there. But, I went with one of my girlfriends from Marie Claire. If you are looking for the best burgers in NYC, 5 Napkins is the place to go. And you will need five napkins to eat the house burger. Although I can promise you that you will not regret it. Your calorie counter-maybe. But you wont

3. The famous Magnolia Baker, a special spot where the Sex and the City girls liked to venture, is also a place I would like to take them too. It’s a great part of town, with the Marc Jacobs store just a block down, and standing in line for some of the greatest sugar cookies is well worth it in my book.

4. We would also like to hit the night life a little more. Last time we ventured out to Coyote Ugly, and it will be a definite stop on our list this year as well.

5. I would also love to explore Greenwich Village a bit more. It’s a beautiful place with lots of boutiques and little shops. We can’t forget the famous Christian Louboutin store that is a must go in.

6. What I really enjoyed doing when I was last in NY was walking through Central Park and grabbing some Godiva chocolate covered strawberries and candy bars for my journey. Perfect way to spend an afternoon.

If you have any suggestions or just want to share something you enjoyed, I would love to hear from you! I’m always up for trying something new! Enjoy your day fashionistas.

Sincerely,

THE GIRL IN THE YELLOW CAB

As many of you know, I’m more than a fan of New York City. But when I can’t be there, I still like to enjoy a few things that make me feel like I never left.

I must admit, I have a serious addiction to this. So if you enjoy online shopping a little too much, as do I, I advise you to stop reading, skip, and scroll down. Serious damage to your bank account may occur. For you brave souls that have decided to read on, here they are:

www.gilt.com
www.ideeli.com
www.billiondollarbabes.com

You have to sign up as a member, and it’s free by the way, unless you chose to upgrade as a first row member. For Gilt and Ideeli, sales take place Monday – Friday and also some weekends beginning at 11am central time. (Billion Dollar Babes has a new sale about every 3 – 5 days). All sales last for 36 hours or until items are sold out. NOTE: If you want the good stuff, you need to log on a few minutes before 11 to try and race all of the other thousands of people trying to buy that same pair of Burberry shoes! I can’t tell you how many times I frantically press the refresh button and have even almost been late to work in order to grab a great steal. There are designers from Louis Vuitton to American Apparel all day, everyday, in every price range.

Gilt.com is very popular in New York. When I was working at Marie Claire almost everyone shopped at Gilt. Some of the girls would even try to sneak away to view the 11am sale. Highly recommended, but great self control is a must. None of this Confessions of a Shopaholic. We all are well-aware that those cards aren’t magic. Especially when that credit card statement comes in and the balance screams like a scene from a horror film.

Something that won’t necessarily break your Louis wallet is Chicago-style pizza. We all know that Chicago is known for their deep dish pizza. But, New York, is the exact opposite. Thin is in baby. I remember my first slice of New York pizza. It took place at Mariella’s on the Upper West Side. Mariella’s was even voted the number one pizza in America by Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King, so you know it’s good. The pizza place is right across the street from Marie Claire, and also the Oprah Magazine, as they show in the YouTube Video I attached. I spent countless lunches at Mariella’s and it sure hit the spot when working late at the office. But, you’re not a true New Yorker unless you fold your pizza, hot dog style. Apparently they can pick out the wanna-be’s pretty quick by how you eat your pizza.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPQAGnpZ5Cs

But, when New Yorker’s come to Chicago, they can indulge in our deep dish Chicago-style pizza at one of my favorite restaurants, Giordanos Pizzeria. Although, if you’re craving that New York style pizza, don’t be ashamed to pick up a slice. But, don’t forget to eat like a Chicgoan. We can pick out those New Yorkers if they fold their pizza hot dog style.

More of my favorites are coming soon! And if you’re working too hard, reward yourself with a great slice of pizza and some gilt-free shopping!

Sincerely,

THE GIRL IN THE YELLOW CAB