it took me being getting back to nyc yesterday to remember i hadn't shared some pics from a couple of weeks ago, when jessica and anna and i were here for the gift show, all the eating (including the chip buffeting with nick olsen), the general dumb shenigans we enjoy most in hotels away from home and the most inspirational wandering around that one can only do in new york city.

i'd heard all the things about egg shop and we finally went.   extra cute little space with great breakfast options.  i say yes.

we were just a week early for galentine's, but celebrated nonetheless.

there we are, feeling all the love.

we stopped by the new sézane store in soho.

and le labo because jessica wants a new scent.  we narrowed it down to one contender, and all sprayed ourselves with it to test throughout the day.

meanwhile, at the giftshow, a few exciting items were spotted and purchased for spring.

each and every little thing worth discovering, we found it - rest assured.

i'm maybe most excited about these amazing blankets

all the prettiness at john derian

love this set of melamine plates by jd

i mean, how can you pick when it's all this good looking?

we made a point to check out the new roman & williams guild -- we did coffee and a snack at the in-house cafe la mercerie.  i gotta be honest - it's too concepty to me.  the 'store' part is intimidating, and the cafe part feels like an afterthought - a bit incomplete.  it's beautiful, and fronts the space, but the menu is tiny tiny, the few selections aren't stellar, and the staff felt judgey.   that being said, if your expectations are set correctly - you're going to have an expensive latte and get an instagram a pic of the mini flower shop, then i think it's worth the visit.  but i think you'll need just one.

on the other hand, in places you can't visit enough news -- there's freemans.  at the end of this amazing alley off rivington street - it's a chic spot to have a hipster dinner, but also a great moment to duck into for a 4pm happy hour with a few treats like an amazing hot artichoke dip and a plate of tots.

love the look at freemans.  begging my friend bryan costello, who owns holder goods and has the lock on this style at home, to make us one (a good-looking restaurant, a bar, a hotel -- something!) in raleigh.

my trusty travel bag these days - an old lv saddlebag i updated with some new leather, hardware and an elephant bag charm.

and my go-to hotel these days when i'm in the city - the ludlow.  it's got all the things on my list: great design, a cool lobby that's perfect for laptop and coffee mornings, and for cocktail meet ups at night.   affordable rooms that are large and decraoted tastefully, a great restaurant (dirty french) and plenty of instagrammable moments.  nick's right around the corner so the ludlow works as a great get-together spot before dinner each night, or for a quick catch-up before starting our days.