sincerely, TheBlackBradshaw

Times Square, the Village, Soho, Central Park, Harlem and Manhattan are just a few of my favorite places in the dazzling city of New York, where dreams are made of.  New York City is a place you either hate or love, and well for me--- I love it! Its empire state of mind and taxicab yellow lights light up my inner Carrie Bradshaw. New York is probably the most visited city on the northern region. It’s Fashion, nightlife, art, theater and (last but certainly not least) its pizza of course! NYC is the heart of the world; it’s where everyone with a dream wants to be (myself included).  Sadly, the city is entirely too big for just a one day visit. To actually enjoy and explore the city you’ll need at least another decade.  Now, a city the size of New York is a little pricey but don’t fear coupons and deals are endless here. I have a few tips on how to save a few coins in the big apple. First off, the city is a great place to walk around. On Wednesdays, the Municipal Art Society offers a free tour of Grand Central Terminal and the Brooklyn Brewery offers free tours on Saturday as well. However in advance, Big Apple Greeters will actually pair you with a local New Yorker to show you around for the day (awesome right?). But that’s not all; you can’t visit NYC with out seeing a show on Broadway. Tickets alone could cost you a few hundreds of dollars, but don’t worry there is a way to get tickets at a great price. The TKTS stand in Times Square offers almost 50% off select shows (you can’t beat that). As for food, NYC has great food for an even greater price. Food carts, kebab places and as I mentioned before, you cannot visit the wonderful city of New York without getting a slice of pizza but not any of those fake New York pizza scammers. The real NYC pizza will only run you a dollar a slice.

Early last month, Grammy award winning artist and fashion phenomenon Rihanna kicked off her ANTI World Tour in Jacksonville, FL and let’s just say the style icon did not disappoint. Besides her amazing vocals and synchronized choreography, let’s get into her dope costumes shall we? Of course, each piece was custom-made considering Badgalriri’s creativity and originality. Each outfit served more than just fashion, it gave ANTI-BASIC hunny. Entering the stage, the star wore a white elongated oversized coat designed by Craig Green. But we all know this bajan beauty doesn’t like to cover up for too long, ditching her coat she revealed a sliver bodysuit made by none other than her favorite designer Adam Selman. Despite its loose-fitting silhouette, Rih still managed to serve with her amazing Giuseppe Zanotti thigh-high boots. Not only does this the cream colored boot fit like a glove on her amazing legs (insured for 1 million dollars btw) , it also showed off her curves, but the belt attached to them accentuated her waist.

I’ve always admired women who take control of their own lives, women who are dominant, women like Sex and the City’s Carrie Bradshaw. At eleven years old, I started a journal with cutouts of my favorite articles from magazines like Teen Vogue and Cosmo. I stumbled across a quote from Carrie that read “maybe you have to let go of who you were to become who you will be.” I know how it sounds, I was pretty mature for an eleven-year-old but her quote exposed me to a vision I’ve always dreamed but suppressed; my life outside of Baltimore. For years, I wanted to be a fashion journalist, a style guru living in what I call my utopia but known to the world as New York City. I started watching season one of Sex and the City not long after I discovered Carrie. Just as every other girl in the world, I played the “Which Sex and the City character are you?” charade, I definitely related to the other three ladies occasionally but unlike Charlotte, Samantha and Miranda, Carrie’s character hit home. She had the career of my dreams and not to mention the closet I would kill for. I became infatuated with everything she stood for, in actuality she was exactly who I wanted to be. A journalist, living in Manhattan with a closet that typically amounted to the price of a four year university (in my case, maybe a two year university).

From season one filmed two years after I was born in 96, through the shows final airing in 2004, Carrie was the wonder woman for single women of the New York world. Of course because of her unhealthy relationships and fiscal irresponsibleness she received backlash. But aren’t we all a little fiscally irresponsible sometimes? Carrie only did what every woman (without bills) wants to do, she took her money and invested in shoes of course! Not just any shoes, she particularly preferred Manolo Blahnik. Ultimately, judging her character without knowledge of her past you’d assume she had it made. In the episode “a Vogue Idea” we learned that Carrie grew up without her father. It’s scientifically proven that women are often attracted to men who are like their fathers which explains why Carrie dated older guys like “Mr. Big” and “The Russian” Aleksandr Petrovsky. Her talent as a writer blended into her daily life perfectly. She was a relationship expert in a sense. It’s no secret Carrie dated… a lot. I think of her as someone who is learning who she is through first hand experiences with her relationships. At first glance you wouldn’t realize, her drunk nights in the city is a great distraction to the real issue. It wasn’t until the sixth season when we met Jack Berger (the Narcissist) that I realized Carrie was me or every woman in a sense. Everyone has had a “Berger” you know, the kind of guy who understands your corny sense of humor, sharp and charming, seems like a dream come true. Unfortunately, “prince charming” isn’t always… well charming. The man who seemed adorably modest turned out to be unbearably neurotic. If Berger and Carrie’s relationship was a Facebook status it would be classified “It’s complicated”. Berger was a fictional writer whose career never exceeded his journal and pen because of his jealously. Although Carrie wasn’t a world class author, she was a little more established as a journalist than Berger. In attempt to help Berger’s career, she was dumped via post-it-note. I watched Carrie fight endlessly for her tarnished love with Berger, as if she was the problem! She opened my eyes to the world of relationships and love. She was not the problem, it was Berger who was not sure of himself that caused Carrie to question herself. As a women in the twenty first century, I personally have encountered one too many “Berger’s” in my life. Was Carrie searching for herself through the men she dated? Was she the reason her relationships failed? Yes and no, Carrie loved Berger and even found herself through his neurotic ways. She discovered a love much better. Self-love. (You can imagine that at age eleven I discovered all of this)