The Best Mother/Daughter Activity in NYC
nordstrom - A day trip to shopping MeccA!
I’ve found the most legit mother/daughter all-day activity in New York. Is it possible to visit a spa, food, shopping, drinks, pampering destination in one place? As you read on, you’ll be shocked that the new Nordstrom Flagship Store has everything to give you life!
Also, I’m a life hack aficionado.
In my five hours of visiting this epicenter of fun, I discovered all the loopholes to take advantage of the best the store has to offer, and I’m sharing them in this blog post.
Same, same but different.
My mom has visited from Seattle over 10 times now. We’ve done every tourist “New Yorky” thing you could possibly do.
So, when she visits it’s usually chill time with a mix of restaurants, shopping, drinks, and beauty treatments.
The basic, but bare necessities.
“We spent 5 hours exploring the 7 floors, indulging in all of the activities, visiting the bars and restaurants…and probably could have stayed longer!
This is a completely unbiased and unpaid post on my favorite new day-time activity with any significant female in your life.
Despite being a shopping and eating haven, it’s a beauty and wellness destination with certain amenities like a spa, nail salon, pop-ups with the latest beauty technology (aka Dyson or NuFace), and a blow-dry bar.
“Nordstrom is perfect for a non-touristy thing to do with your mom in town. ”
the Shopping.
From high to low fashion, you can buy anything according to your budget.
I’ve never been afraid to buy a new fashion trend or product at Nordstrom because of their epic return policy. If a zipper breaks or you try a new serum for a few weeks and don’t see results, return it - no questions asked.
In fact, their customer service is SO legendary there are books written about it. I feel taken care of more than any other store I’ve been in.
Bonus! While my mom and I were on that hunt for that perfect Spring bootie, we saw menus scattered across the shoe department. You can straight up order ANY cocktail or coffee and it’ll be delivered to where you’re shopping!
Photo courtesy of Washington Post.
beauty products.
You can try out and shop any beauty and fragrance favorite from Charlotte Tilbury, to Hourglass Cosmetics and Le Labo.
Pro tip: ASK FOR SAMPLES! I got two of my favorite Le Labo scents for free that usually cost $8 in the Le Labo store.They’ll last me a few weeks!
bars and restaurants.
With 7 different bars, cafes, and restaurants, you can basically eat all of your meals for the day here!
As importantly noted, they have a full bar in the shoe department. A bistro with American bites. I was beyond happy to find that they serve their famous Caesar Salad (it’s what garlicky dreams are made of). There are also higher-end restaurants from world-renown Pacific Northwest and James Beard Winning chefs.
With the building’s glass facade, you can eat or drink looking over Central Park and Columbus Circle.
beauty amenities.
On the second level, there is an entire Beauty Lab with every service you’d want in a one-stop shop. We were on this level for more than an hour!
You can test out SO many free treatments from getting your brows perfectly filled in, to trying the latest beauty technology devices. Two gals you must ask for help you are Barbie (who’s a knockout and hair goddess) and Touria, who will tighten and your massage your face like a Queen.
We didn’t book any treatment in advance but were lucky that it wasn’t too busy! I’d recommend booking any paid treatment ahead of time (see link below).
What you’ll find in the Beauty lab:
A chance to try the latest in beauty technology (see photo below). I got to test the NuFace Microcurrent Machine and after 5 minutes was wowed with the difference of how sculpted my cheekbones were! Ask for Touria.
A Dyson pop-up - try the infamous $550 Airwrap and ask Barbie (my favorite beauty gal there) to help you. After trying it yesterday I’m very close to splurging and wouldn’t have otherwise!
Nail Salon
Face Gym (a sculpt, tone, lymphatic drainage bar)
Anastasia Brow Bar - get Laura to do your brows for fun!
A St. Tropez spray-tan Bar
A blow-out Drybar
Multiple Facial Options: Heyday $65 Facial, Kate Sommerville luxury facial, Light treatments from Light Room, and a Sisley Hydrating Facial
General Nordstrom Spa for massage and body treatments
I tried out the nuface micro-current machine and saw tightening and sculpting results in 5 minutes.
Blog post on this soon!
book beauty treatments ahead of time here
In general, I was so surprised for how different my Nordstrom experience felt from any other shopping day or department store in New York! I can’t recommend it enough and hope you guys enjoy it too!
Photo courtesy of Elle.com