Interesting place no. 1, the New York Palace hotel where Serena lives and Chuck owns in Gossip Girl. When we were planning it, we imagined lots of gossip girl-esque pictures- which we realized in the end. The place is as luxe as it looks, except for one thing- it has more traffic than one would imagine from the show. But oh well, it IS a hotel. Oh and behold the picture above of the courtyard- it is not the official xmas decorations for the hotel but for filming purposes only- expect to see this scene on GG. 
Next place I visited was Soho. First my friend took me to Le Pain Quotidien, a Belgium chain cafe (also available in the upper east side, amongst other places) which served the most delicious Belgium waffle I've tasted this side of the Atlantic. If you have a sweet tooth- you must try this place!
Then, I finally got to visit the Prada store in Soho. It is like the fashion mecca that I forgot to visit last time I was there. Interestingly, outside, it completely blends with the rest of Soho and doesn't look like a Prada store at all. We nearly missed it, if we didn't have the address (that is ONE good thing about blackberries)! And I find it fascinating how such small entrances can enclose such large spaces in NYC, because inside it was HUGE. And the stairs down.... it was just incredible. Definitely a fashionista's stop when in NYC.
Another highlight for me on this trip was the fact that it was SAMPLE SALE SEASON in NYC. So I visited one random sample sale in Soho on Greene St (one of the reasons I went to Soho actually), where I FINALLY found wide legged jeans which I liked! They are from Rich & Skinny and they were only $75! Score! 
I also went to the Helmut Lang and Rags and Bones sample sale on 32nd St. I was in heaven. Besides the already cheaper prices, there was an extra 25% off everything. In the end, I got a classic white dress shirt and black dress pants from Helmut Lang for $160 in total. I DO need more office clothes after all. And the material and cutting for these two is amazing- smooth and not wrinkly at all (which is SO important for office wear). My white dress shirt is actually slightly different from the one above. It has a slightly asymmetrical cutting, which makes it interesting and at the same time subtle enough for interview purposes. So I thought that was pretty good for HL. There were more stuff too, like HL jeans and this Rag & Bones dress shirt that I liked.... I had to restrain myself! I can't wait to go back to NYC! I still haven't covered the Met, Magnolia Bakery, Serenpidity.......
Image Source: ShopBop