Miami Swim Week Diary: Day 1

Alyssa Conroy | Jul 23, 2013

My name is Alyssa Conroy and I am the editorial assistant for SI Swimsuit. I started with SI Swimsuit last summer after graduating from Fairfield University (with a degree in Politics & International Studies...go figure) and still consider myself a newbie to SI. I usually spend my days coordinating samples, working with designers, and preparing for the next shoot, but last week I was given the task of flying to Miami to cover Mercedes Benz Fashion Week: Swim. Thankfully I wasn't alone as Janine Berey, the editorial coordinator, joined me for the trip. Before we left, Andy Gray, who edits the SwimDaily section and MJ Day, who runs the swimsuit issue, asked me to write a diary of the trip. They thought it would be fun to not only capture beautiful women in the latest swimsuits, but to also give you a play-by-play of the madness that is swim week. I split the diary into four parts (this being the first), and along the way, took some awkward selfie videos and pictures (see video below), shot tons of photos of gorgeous women and tried to capture every detail of the week! Hope you enjoy my Swim Week diaries.

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Saturday, July 20th (5:30 a.m.) - Normally I would still be in bed sleeping but with a flight to catch and a car waiting to take me to the airport, I had to wake up. I am not a morning person (unless I have a Soul Cycle class to attend) and was particularly groggy. However, I was super excited to get to the airport and to Miami for my first Swim Week!!! Everything was going smoothly, car arrived on time (although at first he thought I was flying out of JFK not Laguardia), checked in with no problems, bag was under 50 pounds and then the search began for coffee. Being a novice traveler I completely forgot about the no liquids through security rule and had to chug an extra large Dunkin Donuts iced coffee, with the security guy cheering me on.

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https://twitter.com/alyssaconroy/status/358545293417381888

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Saturday, July 20th (8:30 a.m-2:30 p.m.) - Other than that hiccup, I got through security, found Janine, boarded the plane and we were off!!! We touched down in Miami 30 minutes ahead of schedule, got a cab to the Mondrian Hotel and checked in. Of course, our rooms were not ready and we had a few minutes before our first event began. Being ever so resourceful, we begged the hotel spa to let us use their showers and locker room. I do not think the spa clientele were too happy with us, but desperate times call for desperate measures! We changed quickly and headed off to Salon Allure at the W Hotel in Miami Beach. We checked in and headed up to the fourth floor. Our first stop ... MIKOH! It was great to meet people I am ALWAYS harassing via email. Kalani and Oleema Miller (the sisters behind the brand) showed us some of their fabulous new suits, including the sexy black bikini, shown below.

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Lei for Mikoh Swimwear (www.mikohswimwear.com) :: Janine Berey/SI

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Saturday, July 20th (2:30 p.m-10:00 p.m) - We continued on, stopping by all the suites in the hotel (you can see all the designers here). Vy (the designer & owner of Lolli) gave us the CUTEST phone cases and showed us new styles of her signature bow bottoms! We got to preview so many great designs from so many designers and make selects for upcoming SI Swimsuit shoots (Sorry -- locations still confidential ;) )!! We continued on to the Cabana at the W where we met with more brands including Tori Praver and many others. They even had a coconut water bar, where cute men were serving fresh coconut water *swoon*! On our way out, we met up with 2013 SI Swimsuit model Hannah Davis and chatted about life and other girly things. After she left, Janine and I headed back to our hotel where we had some dinner and rested. I'd been up for over 16 hours and needed to sleep but was greeted in my room by a strange painting of a woman's head on the wall. Below is a photo of the scary head (though it wasn't that scary since I proceeded to send snapchats and texts if it to all of my friends) and the rest of my Day 1 highlights. We also attended the Mara Hoffman show on Day 1, but I will include it in a separate post that will focus on the shows. Stay tuned for Part 2 tomorrow!