Poppin’ Bottles at Liberty Warehouse

Dress: For Love & Lemons / Hair Comb: L. Erickson

I’ll take any reason to visit New York, and in this case, this trip was to attend the Rakuten Golden Link Awards. I was a finalist for best influencer monetization and it was such a sweet and unexpected surprise to be recognized for just doing what I love.

After a long productive day of city sight seeing, we got back to our hotel to get ready, took some images around Brooklyn with New York photographer Fernando Ceballos.  See more shots here.

When we were ready we realized we looked like salt and pepper – from our lace dresses, nail polish, even down to our leather jackets! Meagan is definitely the pepper to my salt and I was thankful for such lovely company and support for such a special occasion.

So many of my friends, family and husband have been the driving support of this blog, it makes me tear up when I think about it – they take my photos, read my posts, and because of them (and you) I continue to do what I love – from photography to blogging, to who knows what will be next!

We took an Uber to The Liberty Warehouse – what a location for weddings, banquets and awards.

It was time to mingle and enjoy the sights. This shot was Meagan’s idea, she has quite the eye!

Then we saw this amazing show stopper – a darling gal in the chandelier pouring champagne! Aerial Artistry was a gorgeous hit with the backdrop of Lady Liberty in the background.

“Di, look where you are right now,” Meagan said.

And I stopped to take it all in. Sometimes, it’s a good idea to remind your friends – Look how far we’ve come! Look where your hard work has taken you! I’m excited for you! I would be nowhere without all the cheerleaders in my life.

Dinner during the awards was a true treat – I love a nice red steak!

The other option was a cod which smelled just as delicious. I’m holding the awards brochure pointing at my name as a finalist. Meagan was intently following along so excited for me, don’t you love it when your friends are so invested and supportive? I could tell she was so excited for me. Meagan is my kindred spirit, she’s always wanting to know about every detail of my day, my favorite parts, my feelings, thoughts, and absorbs herself in whatever my interest are – they are hers. She really is the best!

I didn’t end up taking home a trophy but it was such an honor to be a finalist and have the support of Rakuten. It was still a celebratory night.

At the end of the dinner, we hopped on a bus and headed to a rooftop party in Brooklyn hosted by OPMpros, stayed for only a bit before retiring for the night since the next day was going to be a long one filled with back to back meetings.