It’s been a while since I’ve been to New York City, so when I got this opportunity to head east, there was no hesitation. Especially being able to work with JD Sports again, I was ecstatic.
I landed in NYC around 9 p.m., checked into the hotel, got dressed and headed straight to dinner with my friends at Pergola. I didn’t stay for long, because I had an 8 a.m. call time, which is 5 my time, so I knew I needed to get some rest. I stayed at The Knickerbocker Hotel which was beautiful and ever so convenient, being right next door to the JD Sports store in Times Square. I set my alarm for 7:13 a.m. Random, I know, but I have this weird thing where I can’t set my alarm on an even number, or anything ending in 5. Don’t ask why.
When 7:13 a.m rolled around, I hit the snooze button twice and eventually woke up around 7:21 to start getting ready. I knew I needed to leave around 7:57 to give myself enough time to catch the elevator and walk about 12 steps to the front door of the store. When I tell you as soon as I walked into the store, everything was so lit and beautifully designed, I felt like I was in sneaker heaven. I didn’t even know where to begin.
From 8 to 10 a.m., that was my time to take an early store tour, pick out a fit for the day, and then answer some questions from my followers. I started off on the ground floor. The first area was all men’s sneakers, with a wall dedicated to just Nike Air Max models, so I was already in love. They had the coolest sneaker belt running, with a bunch of Air Max models. I definitely need that whenever I build my dream home. Honestly, the amount of shoes they have in the store was overwhelming!
After checking out the men’s section, I knew I had to head over to see what the women’s section had lined up. It was sooooo cute, it was so well lit and the selection was amazing. Can you tell I am a sucker for good lighting? Perfect for selfies! The women also had their own sneaker belt, and I am going to have to add, their selection was definitely better than the mens’ spread.
It was about 8:40 a.m. when I realized I had spent a little too much time in awe of the store, and needed to pick out an outfit so I could start to get to work! I headed up the escalators, and when I tell you there were so many dope videos in the displays that I felt like I was at a concert. At the top of the escalators is where the women’s Nike apparel was. There were so many cute outfits that I didn’t know if I could pick just one. The selection was literally everything I had seen online, so I kind of knew what I wanted, but if definitely took some back and forth before I finally decided to just choose the original outfit. I swear it always be like that. The outfit was was so cute, it was an all-white fit, pants and jacket were a set, and then I threw in a cropped sports tank that had a little rainbow detailing in the middle. I originally picked out some cute Air Max to go with it, but then one of the associates found some ‘Photon Dust’ Dunks in the back in my size. I couldn’t turn those down, it was like it was meant to be.
Around 9:15 a.m., I was finally ready to start answering some questions and giving my followers a behind-the-scenes store tour. I really wish I could’ve answered all your questions, but I really wanted to make sure I got to the ones I was REALLY passionate about, in the time that I had. Thank you to everyone who sent questions in, we are definitely going to have to do it again so I can get to them all. Being that I was there for the Nike “Play New” campaign, which encourages everyone to try something new, whether it be a sport or just something you’ve never done before. I mean, because how can you know if you like something or are good at it if you don’t at least try? Thankfully there were a handful of questions that fell right into the theme of the campaign and I couldn’t wait to answer them. I really truly feel Nike does such a good of reading the room and hitting the nail on the head with everything going on in the world, especially with women in sports and equality.
Before I knew it, it was 10 a.m. and it was time for the store to open up to the public. The store filled up quickly and it was now time to hand out some “Play New” gift boxes to some lucky ladies who were shopping. Inside the boxes there was an amazing smelling lavender candle, a Metrocard (which I ended up needing to use later that day for the train ride to the Brooklyn Nets game), a Polaroid camera and film, a notebook, a $150 Visa gift card, a water bottle, and more! Choosing only 10 ladies was kind of hard, because if it were up to me, everyone would’ve got one! We carefully selected a handful of women, and everyone was so happy, surprised, but most of all, thankful, it really warmed my heart to make someone’s day with such a small gesture. I really appreciate Nike and JD Sports for giving me this opportunity to not only experience the new store, but more importantly the opportunity to make people smile.
My day at the store was coming to an end and one of the store employees came up to me and asked if the staff were going to get the gift boxes, and it really broke my heart to tell her no. She told me that she had been following me for quite some time so, with the permission of my JD Sports rep Tyler, I gave her my personal box. It was the perfect way to end my day, and I knew it would mean more to her than it would to me, so the decision was easy. My experience at the store was nothing short of amazing and it realllllly made me want to move to NYC. Especially because as I am writing this in Seattle, it’s a cold and rainy June day.
If you’re reading this, not even to be cliche, but honestly, when is the last time you tried something new? I challenge you to go out, and do something for the first time. You might love it, or you might hate it, might even not feel any type of way, but at least you can say you tried! You never know until you try.
