My Trip to New York

A few months ago, my Grandma Merrell called me and left a voicemail saying "Hey Chelsea's voicemail, it's Grandma, I just wanted to know if you wanted to come to New York with me for your Uncle Louie's wedding and I'll pay for everything. Gimme a call back and let me know." I got this message just a few minutes later and was screaming with excitement, as you can imagine. And I, of course, called back immediately accepting this once in a lifetime offer.

So August 5th through the 8th I went to mecca, a.k.a. New York, New York. The purpose of the trip was to go to the wedding but how can anyone expect a fashion design student to be focused solely on family activities when in the Big Apple for four days?

Grandma and I flew into JFK around 5PM EST. We took two different subways into Manhattan and got to our hotel and checked in around 7PM. Fast forward an hour or two and I was on a subway uptown to hang out with my cousin Geena. We decided to catch another subway back downtown and ended up chain smoking throughout Times Square, just taking in the sights.

Above: Outside the Virgin Records store in Time Square.
Dress: Mac & Jac (Macy's)
Shoes: Vans (Urban Outfitters)

The next day we caught a cab to St. Patrick's Cathedral. The wedding was very intimate and very beautiful. How could it not be in a place like that?! Anyway, it followed 8AM Mass, so after the reception we took our tired selves back to our respective hotels for a cat nap and met up again that afternoon to walk around Central Park. The rest of our family got preoccupied with some guy and his collection of hula hoops, so while they were busy, Geena and I headed over to one of the park's many large rocks for a smoke or two. There we met some guys and one of them, Justin, had five passes his Mom scored from work and took us to the Museum of Modern Art. The art was amazing, to say the very least, and hanging out with three cute guys didn't suck either. On our way back to Geena's hotel, we walked through Central Park again and found a charming little bridge.

Above: Somewhere in Central Park.
Dress: Pinkerton (Anthropologie)
Shoes: Rainbow Sandals

The next day, Geena, Carly (her sister and my cousin), my Grandma and I went shopping all across town including Mood Fabrics, Canal Street, and Century 21 (a discount designer department store). I bought some amazing fabrics for my upcoming line, Valentino and Balenciaga knock-off bags and a little white dress. The last day we were there, Geena, my Grandma and I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art because I wanted to see the Costume Institute. Let me tell you now, that if you plan on going to the Costume Institute in the next two years, don't, because it's closed for the next two years. However I did get to the see the Model as Muse exhibit which was just as well.

Above: Outside the Model as Muse exhibit at the Met.

The wedding was amazing, Grandma had a ton of fun being shown around the sites (she hadn't been to New York in fifty or so years), we shopped 'til we dropped, and got to see all the art I had could have ever dreamed of. I'd have to say it was a very successful trip!