So nice they named it twice. A few months ago, when T booked his new television series that was to film in Spain immediately after our wedding, we made the decision to change our honeymoon plans from Hawaii to Europe. I didn't complain - I love Europe (but I also love Hawaii so that trip has been rescheduled for later on)! T flew out to Spain one week after our wedding, but I decided to hang back at home in LA for a bit before flying out. However, I didn't want to do a direct journey like T did - I knew I wanted to make a 48-hour pit stop in New York. I have a love-hate relationship with New York. For those who don't know, I was born and raised in New Jersey in a town about an hour outside of Manhattan. I didn't visit New York for the first time until I was a teenager, when my parents took my sister and I to our first Broadway play (42nd Street). Next time I visited New York, I was 16 and participating in my very first fashion photo shoot (as the reigning Miss New Jersey Teen USA) which would ultimately be the starting point of my 8-year modeling career. I ended up graduating high school a year early and moving to New York City at age 17 to attend a 2-year acting conservatory. I lived in Brooklyn Heights and LOVED it. Loved it, loved it. However, I only stayed for a year (hence why I am NOT an actress unlike my husband), and next lived on the Upper East Side as a struggling model with a very frustrating love life. Naturally, I wasn't having a great experience there so I decided to move out west to California with my father. The next time I lived in New York was because I had won Miss USA. As a 21-year old, you'd expect me to have the time of my life in New York (especially since I lived in Midtown) but I didn't, and so this was another not-so-stellar New York experience. I was convinced I was the only person who hated New York. But as I have kept visiting since then, I have fallen in love with it all over again and could happily live there once more. I definitely appreciate it more now that I am older. My newfound love for New York lies in the friends I have made there, the foodie in me, the fashion lover in me, and my new sense of adventure. I try to squeeze in as much as I can whenever I visit now. Even the sounds of sirens and car horns are my pleasant white noise before I fall asleep at night. Maybe someday I will live in New York again, but for now, I love being a frequent visitor/former resident.

Ted Baker dress (also available here), Whistles heels (sold out, similar here), Rebecca Minkoff bag, Illesteva sunglasses, Tom Ford lipstick in Blush Nude

For a business brunch downtown, I wore this Ted Baker dress and paired it with black mules and my handy dandy Rebecca Minkoff bag.

Ted Baker floral dress (also available here) // Black mule heels // Rebecca Minkoff bag // Illesteva Mirrored Sunglasses

Photos by Lydia Hudgens.

So nice they named it twice. A few months ago, when T booked his new television series that was to film in Spain immediately after our wedding, we made the decision to change our honeymoon plans from Hawaii to Europe. I didn’t complain – I love Europe (but I also love Hawaii so that trip has been rescheduled for later on)! T flew out to Spain one week after our wedding, but I decided to hang back at home in LA for a bit before flying out. However, I didn’t want to do a direct journey like T did – I knew I wanted to make a 48-hour pit stop in New York.

I have a love-hate relationship with New York. For those who don’t know, I was born and raised in New Jersey in a town about an hour outside of Manhattan. I didn’t visit New York for the first time until I was a teenager, when my parents took my sister and I to our first Broadway play (42nd Street). Next time I visited New York, I was 16 and participating in my very first fashion photo shoot (as the reigning Miss New Jersey Teen USA) which would ultimately be the starting point of my 8-year modeling career.

I ended up graduating high school a year early and moving to New York City at age 17 to attend a 2-year acting conservatory. I lived in Brooklyn Heights and LOVED it. Loved it, loved it. However, I only stayed for a year (hence why I am NOT an actress unlike my husband), and next lived on the Upper East Side as a struggling model with a very frustrating love life. Naturally, I wasn’t having a great experience there so I decided to move out west to California with my father.

The next time I lived in New York was because I had won Miss USA. As a 21-year old, you’d expect me to have the time of my life in New York (especially since I lived in Midtown) but I didn’t, and so this was another not-so-stellar New York experience. I was convinced I was the only person who hated New York. But as I have kept visiting since then, I have fallen in love with it all over again and could happily live there once more.

I definitely appreciate it more now that I am older. My newfound love for New York lies in the friends I have made there, the foodie in me, the fashion lover in me, and my new sense of adventure. I try to squeeze in as much as I can whenever I visit now. Even the sounds of sirens and car horns are my pleasant white noise before I fall asleep at night.

Maybe someday I will live in New York again, but for now, I love being a frequent visitor/former resident.

Ted Baker dress (also available here), Whistles heels (sold out, similar here), Rebecca Minkoff bag, Illesteva sunglasses, Tom Ford lipstick in Blush Nude

For a business brunch downtown, I wore this Ted Baker dress and paired it with black mules and my handy dandy Rebecca Minkoff bag.

Ted Baker floral dress (also available here) // Black mule heels // Rebecca Minkoff bag // Illesteva Mirrored Sunglasses

Photos by Lydia Hudgens.