Commuting for day two was hard. After writing up my Katie Gallagher piece and going to sleep at 3am, I was not happy when my alarm sounded at 7am. And to wake up to a text letting me know I’d be completely on my own backstage at HARARE…. let’s just say terrifying.

I called the creator of Hey, Hey! Gorgeous and talked through what he wanted. I was to take photos along with video interviews. Although I’ve conducted hundreds of interviews, never once had I been behind the scenes at an event like New York Fashion Week! Lucky for me, Enrique sensed my concern and decided to send over two of his interns to help me out.

Feeling a tad more confident, I got ready in waxed jeans from madewell, a simple black shirt, and my new favorite item, a faux cheetah fur jacket belonging to my lovely mother. I pulled on my pony-hair Céline slip-ons that would remain a staple of my Fashion Week experience. Once again, momma Tannenbaum came through with a gorgeous gold and pearl multi-string necklace, pulling my street meets luxe look together.

Well, as it turns out, any concerns I had faded away the second I arrived at the Chelsea loft for HARARE prep. I went right in with my can-do, journalistic attitude and I was home. In fact, I was directing the two lovely interns who also had no experience back stage at such an event. The lovely Torri and I became fast friends and we were loving all of the amazing clothing back stage.

We interviewed newcomer Australian designer Caroline Fuss of HARARE, head makeup artist for Bobbi Brown Cosmetics (my absolute favorite beauty brand), Tia Hebron, head hair stylist for Oribe, Adam Livermore, and the owner of PRITI NYC Aussie Kim D’Mato. It was such a great experience talking with all of these talented individuals. To read about the products they used and their inspirations, check out my article on Hey, Hey! Gorgeous.

But the real joy was meeting and befriending these wonderful players in the fashion industry. Between spunky Iowan, Adam Livermore, sweet Torri from Hey, Hey!and gorgeous, on the inside and out, model Courtney James I made some friends I will definitely reach out to when I make my move to NYC!

In the end, HARARE’s first ever Fall/Winter collection was a knockout. I will be looking out for more to come from the adventurous label and have a new favorite jewelry line in Wanderluster, which topped off each look.

Heading home on the train that night, I was filled with a new sense of confidence in myself. I know what I am doing, and I have what it takes to make it in this industry among the top members of it’s elite club.