NYC weekends: Heels in my bag

I am back in the best city of the world. It is all about #workhardplayhard 

One thing I remembered living in New York and keep doing either going to work or going out:

NYC rule Nr 1: Carry a pair of heels in your bag

A quick coffee or shopping trip can end up in a party brunch. To be prepared for such situations I carry a pair of heels or small flats in my bag.

It’s more painful than fun walking in high heels through the city during the day. Especially when going to a rooftop party or brunch starting at 2 pm and ending late.

Small flip flops fit everywhere and it’s easy to change a few blocks before walking in the club.

Rule Nr. 2: Finding an outfit for many occasions

An outfit that looks nice for lunch in meatpacking with friends and can be worn paired with heels for an after rooftop party. 

Queen of chaos - packing like a pro last minute

Dear New York,

See you soon!

Before I leave for New York in a few hours, I have to pack not only my luggage but also my “apartment room” in 5 Ikea boxes.

Since living in New York is anything else but cheap, I rent out my apartment in Salzburg, while I am overseas.

Instead of sitting and writing in the middle of my own chaos, I should actually finish packing. My head is full with questions: What shoes, how many heals, comfortable travel outfit or a chic one, when should I get up, I need to color my nails and, and, and …

Packing for one month or one week is the same but the destination makes the difference. Packing for NYC means – the less the better – the more I can shop!

So I have chosen my carry-on very wisely and left a lot of my favorites in a Ikea box to have enough space to buy some new favorites.

The perfect travel outfit is a Must Have. Mine is something between comfortable and chic. Black high waist jogging pants, paired with a white top, a scarf, a light cardigan and black-gold sandals.

Heatwave chic

Summer has arrived in Austria – 37 degrees or even more.

While I would rather be sporting a bikini, on the pool, there’s some work to be done.

Instead of relaxing and cooling off, I was busy with NYC packing, shopping errands and college papers. Those last few days I questioned myself: how to make the most of the sunshine while remaining cool and shopping appropriate.

Here’s how I tried to survive the soaring heatwave and keeping cooly chic.

Comfortable shoes from H&M paired with high waist denim shorts from Levis and a light-fluttering Zara top let me beat the heat. But there is no outfit that can keep up with a jump into cold water. That's why I headed to the lake after the work was done :-)

Home office: dress to impress – even for yourself!

Since two months I have been writing and researching for my master thesis. Approximately 3 days a week I am sitting on my desk at home all day long. Sometimes I’ve found myself in my pajamas at 3pm.

However, I have noticed that my productivity and motivation greatly improves when I dress nicely.

Dressing when I work at home is completely different than going to work at the office. Nobody cares what I look like – neither my neighbors across the street nor my roommates.

But I figured out that I do!

Besides dressing up it is important to make a break during the day and go somewhere just to grab a coffee or meet some friends. Yesterday, after my brain couldn’t read anymore scientific and theoretic literature, I planned to go outside to buy some fruits. On my way there I passed Zara and couldn’t ignore the big SALES poster in the shop window. Although I didn’t want to buy anything before I leave for New York in 10 days, I came back home with an apple, strawberries and two denim pants.

There was one good thing about it though, I was excited to wear my new white denim shorts and got dressed as soon as I woke up. Today’s daily break should have been an hour of sun somewhere outside near the river. The minute I was about to leave the house it started raining. Instead I thought to take it as it comes and sat down in the middle of my apartment – summery dressed, with a smoothie, some magazines and my NY checklist.

Summer love

The best thing about summer is that I can wear my beloved but very old summer dress and my most favorite pair of good old Steve Madden wedges.

If those two wardrobe icons would be still available in a shop I would by them again.

“Meli don’t you want to throw those heels away, they look very used?” my Mom asked me last weekend. How dare she say that? In fact, they do look as old as they are but I would never give them away.

Those aren’t only my most comfortable pair of 12 cm heels but they also remind me of some good nights and days.

And it’s the same story again but with the dress. It’s not fancy or special at all, it is very simple, crème colored and almost three years old - but whatever! 

With the perfect styling the dress from Urban Outfitters is still a fit for a cocktail party as it is for a relaxed afternoon in my backyard, for a BBQ with friends or for a weekend at the beach.