I’m in the Meatpacking District

Hey y’all! I feel like it’s been forever! Anyway I have to tell you about this really cool event that I attended last Thursday. I’d been eyeing it for a while, the Meatpacking District Open Market. This event is an indoor block party celebrating businesses in the Meatpacking District. The problem was the price tag, $150 for general admission, $350 for VIP admission, and $75 for an hour admission. I knew places like Gilt were offering a discounted rate but I decided against going since I had other responsibilities. Could you believe my luck when I received an email from a contest (I forgot about entering) from Afar Magazine. 

You would not believe my face when I checked my email after lunch. The first thing that I said to myself was “I never win anything”, well I did this time. I got so excited as I read up on what the VIP ticket included, entry an hour early, food & drink samples from over 25 restaurants, sample sales from over 10 retailers, music by Coco & Breezy, a silent auction, and a gift bag worth $500. My excitement went through the roof and I couldn’t wait to attend. 

The Day came and I had some time to waste before the 6:30 pm entrance, so I ended up attending the Popsugar x FTD Pop Up event (check out my post on that) which was only a few blocks from Highline Stages where the event was being held. After that event ended, I had about 30 minutes so I went to Samsung 837 (it seems I always end up here lol) where they had a Women’s Day Panel getting ready to start. I only spent enough time in there to taste a sweet potato square and then I had to head to the event, a block away lol. 

I ended up waiting in line for maybe 15 minutes before we were let in. I gave my name to check in and received a pink wristband but no $50 credit. When I mentioned this, the guy at the table told me that since I was a comp ticket, I wasn’t to receive a credit. I walked away disappointed while thinking to myself, “If I won a VIP ticket, shouldn’t I be entitled to all of the VIP perks?”. Whatever I was happy to be there and walked to the first table, Dos Caminos to taste their offerings. While tasting their food, someone came up behind me. I turned to see the guys from the check in, he said he was mistaken and that I do receive the credit. This turned my attitude all the way around, I thanked him and started to visit all of the food booths. 

I think I hit all of the food booths which had offerings including, Dos Caminos, STK, Fig & Olive, Catch, Bodega Negra, TAO, and more. I noticed a back room with more food, didn’t have to tell me twice, I headed back there to sample more food when an announcement was made about the upstairs being open with more food and shopping.

I got in the freight elevator and headed up, where I started tasting more food and looked around at some sample sale booths where I could spend my credit, when I saw this cute little booth for the Vintage Twin. They had some of the cutest sunglasses for $18 each which I got two pairs of. I looked around at other booths like Rag & Bone, Theory, Vince, The Kooples, and Lilla P where I purchased more shirts. By the end of the night, my hands were full of bags and it was only 8:30 pm. I decided that since I got to do everything I would get myself a gift bag and head home. It was heavy and I def knew I would be taking a cab home. All in all besides the mishap, it was a great event and something to look forward to next year. View some pics from the event below!