Nykeiko shops: Sarah Flint Sample Sale August 2018 [NYC]

Hi!

I wanted to document a sample sale I attended months ago in August.  (You are now seeing the trend of me posting about things that happened months ago but at least it's slowly catching up to present date!)

The last Sarah Flint sample sale happened on August 1-3 and the sale usually happens twice a year. I want to write about it because when I was trying to find more info about pricing points, it was not possible to find anything about the sample sale.  It's a small NY brand worn by a handful of celebrities (they dedicate a whole page about it here) but the person that is most photographed in them seems to be Meghan Markle at the moment and a bunch of influencers. I first spotted the Natalie shoes worn by Meghan and I looked up the brand (got to say, paying celeb to wear a brand works #ad!). The price point was not attractive but the make of the shoes is. Meghan appears to have a whole range of their collection which always makes me wonder if she was gifted them or she flat out (pun intended) likes them and purchases them herself (doubtful). We'll never know.

When I saw that the shoes have wide toe box design to ease crowding, my heart fluttered. Due to my painful bunions, I have been avoiding wearing any type of heels because pinching my toes together in pain is just not worth the glam. I started researching and boy did I want to get my hands on a pair but at over $300 a pair, I could not do because I knew I wouldn't be wearing heels daily and they would only be worn on special occasions (although going to Trader Joe's by myself is a special occasion for me). I was also looking at their flats but I do not want to risk hating a $300 pair of shoes. I prefer my Birkenstocks more than any shoes I own but when you have an event to attend and want to be comfortable on your heels, the Birks must stay at home.

So because of the price point, I decided I would wait for a sample sale and also a chance to try the shoes on in person since they do not have a stand alone store yet. Well, I didn't end up seeing Perfect Pumps nor Natalie at the sample sale but I did get a pair of Roann heeled sandals which was not my intention but they looked so good! I asked another girl in front of me in line to pair up to get the "Buy 2, Get 1 at 1/2 off " deal but alas, she didn't use Paypal, Venmo or any other useful payment method so that we could split the cost. We both didn't carry any cash either. Her lost!

Side note: Last month, my sister and I each won a $400 gift cards from Sarah Flint via an Instagram contest. I thought I'd pick up the Perfect Pumps but we decided to go with shoes we would wear on the daily instead. Will review those in a later post (hopefully not next year!) My sister picked the Cindy Crawford X Sarah Flint jet set flats and I went with two sneakers. The Andrea and the Perfect Sneakers. I end up paying a little extra for taxes but I was able to use $25 off first order and received $24 in cashback via ebates. Please use my referral link if interested! Click here.

(See pictures from the sale after the jump!)

nykeiko travels: San Antonio Texas! Work travel diary...

Earlier this year in March (happened this year so still relevant), I went to San Antonio Texas to speak at a conference for work.  Yes, a speaker! I've done a few scientific poster presentations here and there but never an oral presentation on a non-scientific topic in front of an audience. When given the opportunity to give a talk about my department within the first year of my new job, I was like HELL YES! I was craving a challenge and this was it.

So this is not a typical travel post because it was not a vacation. In fact, I have been to a few places last year and this year and have yet to write about it (Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Shanghai, Tokyo, San Francisco...). I went to San Antonio for work and barely had time to do any sightseeing. The only free time I gained happened to be when my flight back to NYC was cancelled due to a snowstorm so I had an extra day in San Antonio to enjoy.

nykeiko shops: Rodarte Sample Sale in NYC , September 2018

Oops, another late post. Meant to publish this in September when I went to the sale on September 15th 2018. 

Rodarte NYC sample sale September 2018 

As you may have noticed, I do not go to as many samples sales as I have done in the past. Lately, I just go to the ones where I know I can score nice deals or just to pick up some closet staples. I haven't been to a Rodarte SS in a while but that one time I did, I picked up $10 collab shoes (which I wore once and resold for $75, super soft tees I also resold and a hoodie I still wear to this day. They host a sale once a year and skipped one last year I believe. As always, you have to RSVP and then they tell you the location of the sale via email. This year, I was aiming to arrive an hour before the sale started at 10 a.m.  on a Saturday morning. In the past, the lines were long and painstaking long. You also want to be one of the first ones to enter so you can find the limited deals. 

I arrived maybe around 9:15 a.m. and to my surprise, I was first in line. There were only 3 of us when doors opened at 10 a.m.. This sale definitely lost its popularity. 

nykeiko plays: ON THE RUN II concert with Beyonce and Jay Z *worst concert experience of my life thus far*

Hi

It has been so long. I feel like I owe this space a nice long post and some TLC.  Yesterday on my way back from a work trip, I thought I would have some time to do some writing on the train but the ride was so vomit-inducing, I could not do it.  Instead, I was on my phone and watched Instagram stories for way too long. My total screentime was 7h+ yesterday!

Back in August, we attended our first Beyonce+Jay Z "On The Run" concert and naturally, I was very,very excited to booty shake all night long to my Queen B.