What's in my bag for a spring afternoon in NYC?
When I go to New York City, I almost always bring a bag for everything I need. Depending on the event, I'd pack differently, but today I was just going for the afternoon to shop around in Herald Square and hang out in Bryant Park.
I almost always carry this one backpack from Neiman Marcus. Sadly, it is not in stock anymore, but there are a lot of other similar ones like it out there. I think this backpack is awesome for the spring and summer. It's a good enough size that you can fit everything that you'll need for the day. The inside has lots of pockets to put your phone, make up, sunglasses, money or anything else that's valuable that you don't want to lose. I also really like the color of the bag because it's a very natural brown color that would go with almost everything. It's also much easier to carry because it won't hurt your back. Whenever I would bring a purse to NYC, my shoulder would start to hurt. With this bag, it keeps all your stuff safe and it's so light, you probably won't even feel it on your back!
In this fabulous backpack, I always pack some city necessities. First off, I always pack a jacket for the spring in case it's a little chilly. The wind in NYC sometimes makes it feel cooler than it actually is or if you go inside a building and it's cold. This jacket, believe it or not, is from Target. It was super affordable, cute and it's one of the most comfortable jackets ever. It's made of Tencel, which makes it super soft and eco-friendly. This jacket can go with so many different outfits because it's basic and loose. You could wear it with a white shirt and jeans, black jeans, or you can dress it up with a color. I'm also a huge fan of the army green color because I think that color just screams New York City!
Then I bring some sunglasses because you never know when the sun will come out. Sunglasses are sometimes tricky to shop for because they have to fit your face just right. Whenever I try on a pair, the lenses are always too big for my face. I think the oversize sunglasses trend is cool, but my face doesn't agree with me. I get very indecisive on whether I should go with the circle frames or the regular one, so I just bring both. My one circular framed sunglasses are from Free People. I got them because the circles are super trendy and all of the models wearing them. I also think that the blue-grey lenses are cool because they go with the NYC chic theme. My second pair are the aviators I got from a street vendor for five bucks, but there's a lot of similar ones. I think they are super fun, summery and they could add a little spunk to your outfit. It's hard for me to shop for the aviator style of sunglasses because sometimes the lenses are too big and it just looks weird on my face, but these fit my face perfectly.
Lip stick/gloss is a very important thing to pack. If your going to be in the city for the afternoon, your probably going to need to do some touch ups to keep your lips on track. I know for me, after a couple hours, and a couple of snacks later, my lip stick is faded. My lip stick is from Smashbox. I don't have really any make up from there, except for two lip sticks. I got them as a gift and I think it is a really cool color. I'm so used to wearing light, neutral colors, that it's good to mix it up. It stays pretty well, but it definitely needs to be reapplied every few hours. My lip gloss is from Bare Minerals and it is my absolute favorite! I get asked all the time if I'm wearing lip gloss or if it's just my natural lips because it blends in so well. I put the Smashbox lip stick on and add a little gloss to it and it looks awesome!
I pack a small tube of lotion for when my hands get dry. I got this one from CO Bigelow at Bath & Body Works. I've never really heard of this brand before, but my mom bought it just to keep in my bag. I use it all the time, it really keeps my hands from getting dry. I went through a phase where I was obsessed with the different scents Bath & Body Works came out with, so I would go there every week. There are ones that don't do anything, but these ones keep your hands moisturized to the max!
I also always bring a portable charger and headphones. My phone runs out of battery a lot because I'm constantly on it and taking pictures. I got my charger from the AT&T store and it works great! They don't sell it anymore, but there are a lot of similar ones to it. It has two plugs, so it will charge them both at once, but if there are two plugged in at once, the battery of the battery will run out pretty quickly. I charge mine overnight and it lasts a pretty decent amount of the day. It could last the whole day if you don't have it plugged in for very long, but if you need it, it lasts like four or five hours. As long as your phone is on low power mode, the charger will last you the city trip, if it doesn't, you may be on your phone too much. I always bring just a regular pair of earphones for the train ride there and back if I'm by myself because I get bored pretty easily.
Last but not least, we have the very important wallet. You can't really go into New York City and not spend money at all. Whether it's food, shopping or fees to get in somewhere, everything costs money. I absolutely love my Kate Spade wallet, I bring it everywhere with me and it has all my money and gift cards in it, which is sort of an issue considering I can spend all my money shopping in New York City before you could say "don't you already have that?!"
