nyc day 2

Day 1 was great but exhausting.  Day 2 was just as busy and silly me opted for heels instead of my cowboy boots or saconeys- not a great choice.

I wondered around trying to find the Hilton where the expo was and got super lost.:(  Lots of time wasted but I ended up at Cartier.:)

I was honestly a little afraid to go in since I was looking pretty disheveled at this point.  But then I saw some other scrub going in and I followed.  I looked around the front, lots of beautiful things of course and then I made my way to the back room where all the real goodies are.  There was a man in there looking to buy his wife an anniversary gift, he was spending between $200,000 and $300,000- must be nice.  So far from the reality that I live in.  I listened in as the sales guy gave him an overview of the history of Cartier and the story and specs of each piece. while I gawked at the beautiful works of art, many of them vintage pieces.  I had been in the room for quite a while and decided it was pretty obvious that I was listening in so I went in to the watch room where I looked around, tried on several watches and picked out my first Cartier piece that I am hoping I get before I die.

The Santos 100, originally designed in 1904 by Louis Cartier for his Brazilian aviator friend Alberto Santos-Dumont, the design has been modernized but does resemble the original...

Gorgeous...

Hey a girl can dream right?  I left the watch room with a beautiful brochure that is literally a hard back coffee table book, pretty ridiculous.  Then I went back into the back room and struck up a conversation with the sales guy.  Spent another hour in there talking with him, learning about the pieces they had in the store, special shows they have in Paris and how they train their jewelers.  It is so fun to talk with some one that has a passion for original design and craftsmanship.  He told me about some fun bars and restaurants and the Van Cleef exhibit at the Cooper Hewitt Museum that I ended up going to on day 3.

Then had to stop by H&M.  Then to Gensler for a tour of their office. and get more restaurant suggestions.  Then a quick walk through the diamond district which is actually pretty dirty and totally unglamorous.

Needless to say, no purchase made there.

So then I headed over to Metalliferous where I spent almost three hours picking out tools and supplies and asking questions and being slightly harassed by the sales guy.  Who told me I should move to New York, he seemed to think North Carolina was a total joke.

 I felt like a complete goob taking pictures inside the store so I didn't but the place is tiny and packed but they pretty much have any hand tool you could ever want and tons of other supplies and books and lots of good advice, a great place to go if you are ever in NYC and in need of some things.

Then it was back to the hotel for late dinner and again straight to bed to rest up for my last day.