The Bronx

Today Sarah and I went to Greenwich Village to do some shopping. It was a lazy day. We ate lunch at a pretty good Mexican food reatuarant. Now this wasn't Tex-Mex, so I'm still going to be in the mood for some tomorrow! It's pretty weird that I'm leaving tomorrow. I'm excited to come home though.

Sarah and I went to the Bronx after shopping to go and visit Linda again. We went all the way up on the subway, and then Linda drove us to Newark and we went to Ikea to help her pick out furniture for her new apartment. After Ikea we hung out at the apartment and watched tv. It was a great last, lazy day.

Shopping and the The Bronx

Today I spent my day shopping. First I went to SoHo. I really just felt like I hadn't had the full experience of the area. I didn't really buy anything, it was more of a 'lets check out this store because I always see people carrying their shopping bag and I want to know what it's like' kind of day. Everything was way expensive. Then I went to Canal street to see if I could score some fake Chanel earings for Christmas presents. However, the ladies were not out today touting their wares. It was like there had been a major crackdown on fakes and no one was willing to show anything that was even relatively illegal. So, I didn't get anything. It was highly disappointing. After that I went to the garment district because I wanted to go to Mood one last time before I left. I bought some really cool silvery leather to try and make a handbag out of, as well as some beautiful silk printed fabric to make a shirt.

When I returned home, Sarah was back from her trip. She had just talked to Linda, our old roommate, who said she was coming by. Linda took us back to the Bronx, where she now lives, and showed us her new apartment and neighborhood. She lives really close to little Italy in the Bronx and so we went and got slices and then had delicious chocolate mousse. Then Linda brought us back to Newark. I think we are going to hang out again tomorrow after she gets off work if there is time!

Coney Island and the MoMA

Yesterday I made my way out to Coney Island. I couldn't leave the city without seeing it. It was great! It was both crappy and fantastic, and I think that's why people love the place. I can only imagine what it was like visiting it in the early 1900s...The subway ride took like 45 minutes to get out there, and once there you are greeted with a main avenue with tacky shops and boarded up buildings. Well, mostly boarded up except for Nathan's famous hot dogs! And yes I did have a chili dog with fries and a lemonade. The boardwalk was actually quite large, with many rides at different areas, and the beach was actually pretty nice. (Granted the sand was pretty trashy, but the water was fairly clear.) I didn't ride any rides, I really didn't feel like it, but I had a great time none the less.

Today I decided to check out the MoMA. It was really great! I wish that Roy and I had gone there when he was here because he would have liked it so much more than the MET. There wer so many famous pieces of art there, I really couldn't believe it. I think I liked it more than the MET becuase it just had art, not artifacts. And while I was walking there this morning there were all these people grouped outside of these movie trailers waiting to catch a glimpse of one of the girls filming the Sex and the City movie. Well I didn't pay this any mind, because while I love watching celebrity exploiting shows like E! and Entertainment Tonight, I'm not going to waste my time waiting around to maybe see someone. So, I went in and spent like 2 hours walking through the museum, and then when I was done, I got some delicious falafel from a cart and sat down across the street to eat it (since there were benches and trees and cool breezes) So, I'm sitting there eating my falafel with no crowds to bother me, and who comes walking by? none other than Charlotte York, aka Kristin Davis, and Miranda Hobbes, aka Cynthia Nixon. There were dressed in their movie finery and were escorted by bodyguards. There were a couple of people who tried to say hello, but they were whisked away and that was the extent of my celebrity siting of the day. Pretty exciting! I'll have to do a count of all the celebs I've encountered before I leave, but I've got 2 more days, so we'll see who I can scrounge up!

Brunch

The plan today was to sleep in late and then go into the city for Brunch at a bakery that Sarah and I had read about. However, I just woke up about 10 minutes ago, and when we opened the blinds to get some light in the room, we realized that it is pouring down rain. There wasn't even rain in the forecast! Not only are our brunch plans cancelled, but now my after-brunch plans to go to Coney Island are also dashed. Looks like I will have a lazy day at the apartment.

Last Day!

So today was my last day at Zac. It was kind of uneventful. Mary and I said our goodbyes early since she was leaving to go vacation in LA for a week or so, and that left me with about 3 hours to kill before I usually go home. I decided to go uptown to the fashion district and go to all the shops I usually go to for work, but instead shop for myself. Obviously I didn't go to some because they are strictly wholesale, but I went to the ones that I could. I bought some really great fabric to make a dress and I got a lot of purse making supplies- bag frames, clips, etc. I plan on going back up there before I leave next week. I still need to look at more fabrics and buy some of the really cool leathers that you can't find in Austin. All in all it was a good last day.

Last Day

So tomorrow is the last day of my internship! I really can't believe that it has been 2 months at Zac! Time has flown by now that I look back on it. I think I'm going to miss the people at work more than the actual job though. I really like the friends I've made, and I think that we will keep in touch.

Today Mary took me out to lunch, took everyone out to lunch actually, at a delicious Indian food place in SoHo. It was probably the best Indian food I've ever eaten. We also had Taj Mahal beer. Beer at lunch is always a good choice.

After lunch I went around sourcing some things for Billie, and I got a little snacky. Luckily one place had some Runts candy for free. I love Runts! So, I was eating them and I came across one that looked like a deformed banana piece. I love the banana pieces and I wanted to save it for the end (because that is how I eat my candy.) Anyway, it turned out Runts made a new flavor and it was really Pineapple! Delicious! I think it took over as my new flavor. Point of my story is that you should all go out and try Runts again. Yummy, yummy pineapple.

Roy's Visit

So Roy came to visit me here in New York last week. We had a really great time, I just haven't gotten around to posting about it!

Roy arrived Wednesday night, so on Thursday morning we made our way into the city. First we went to the Whitney museum to see the Summer of Love exhibit. Roy really liked it, and I still had fun seeing it a second time. We watched a couple of really interesting short movies this time that I didn't see before. Afterwards we went to the Carnegie Deli where we split a corned beef sandwich, Dr. Brown's soda, and the best potato knish I've had since I've been here. Delish! Afterwards we walked around and went shoppping at Bloomingdales, H&M, Tiffany's, and all of 5th avenue. We saw Rockefeller center, Bryant Park, and we had dinner at the Shake Shack in Maddison Square Park.

Friday I made breakfast and we went to the MET. We had a great time and I saw some of the museum I hadn't seen before, especially modern art. I think I still haven't seen any of the Asian art though. Roy and I really liked the Pre-Comumbian gold section. After the museum, we had delicious onion and scallion bagels, which Roy loved. After the bagels, we went to the garment district where I showed Roy where I walk around a lot for work, and we ate again at Gray's Papaya, splitting the Recession Special (save $1!) and then getting a tasty canoli at the Halal bakery on the corner. Afterwards I took Roy to Canal street to see all the commotion there, and then we walked around SoHo shopping and seeing the neighborhood until we made our way to Greenwich Village where we ate BBQ at Dallas Jones BBQ.

Saturday was a big day because it was Roy's birthday, and because we went to Brooklyn. I hadn't been to Brooklyn yet, and I really liked it. (Except I kept getting confused and turned around because it isn't really a grid like Manhattan) We went to Williamsburg for the Brooklyn Brewery tour, and then we went to DUMBO to eat the "best pizza in New York," Grimaldi's. Delicious, and thankfully, not a long wait since there were just 2 of us. We had intended to go to Coney Island, but it would have made us late for our dinner date at Les Halles, where I took Roy for his birthday dinner. We had a yummy dinner, and the greatest creme brule ever, for dessert.

Sunday we decided to take it easy, so we went into the city late, got scallion and ham and cheese bagels, and walked around Greenwich Village all day. It was Roy's pick, since we hadn't gotten to see a lot of it when we went on Friday because it was dark. We lunched at Benny's Burritos, which was a bad idea because it was awful and Roy got overcharged. We walked around some more and then it was time to go back to New Jersey so Roy could catch his plane back to Austin.

#1: Celebrities- Bette Middler, Demi Moore, Lucy Liu, Bernadette Peters, Martha Stewart
#2: Ana Wintour! Wearing Shades inside...just like me!
#3: Celebrity stylist, Rachel Zoe
#4: The dress I wore for fitting
#5: Me, Mary, and Audrey, aka the production team!


So the fashion show last night was really fun!!

I arrived at Bryant Park at around 7:15 for Zac Posen fashion show. The show was set to start at 8:30 and I was told it was important to get there early. The tents were packed with people and there were many, many photographers. Mary and I had our picture taken separately by a tiny asian woman. She said we'd probably end up in some Japanese fashion magazine. Fun! All the employees and interns joined together to wait in line to get into the tents. Once we waited to get into the tents, we then waited to get into the actual tent. As we were all standing in line, Martha Stewart walked by and said hello to Mary. Then we saw Melrose from America's Next Top Model, or so says Jesse, I thought it was Ashley Simpson... Once we got into the tent, we passed a GIANT wall of photographers and walked up the stairs to the standing room seats. We watched many celebrities arrive amongst tons of flash bulbs and tv crews, until about 8:45 when rabble from the photographers got people into their seats and set the show rolling to start. It was a really good show! I didn't really know what would come down the runway because there were a ton of clothes that didn't make it to the show. After it was over, we made our way to the afterparty. The afterparty was held at a fun burger joint that played movies and oldies while we dined at really low tables on mini burgers, mini mushroom burgers, and tasty french fries. Champagne was free, as was any drink with Svedka Vodka. It was really fun to hang out with everyone. Zac didn't show though, at least while I was there, and I only left about 30 mins before the party was set to end.

Check out the entire collection with professional pics at style.com

Under Construction

Will fill you in on the fabulous happenings of this evening tomorrow in a very long post! (Pics included!) But I just got home and am tired. It is 1:20. I have not been home since 9am. Good night!!

Exciting things!

I have done many fun things recently:

*Met Scarlett Johannson at a dinner party where Sarah and I dined on lobster at the coolest apartment I've ever seen.
*Hung out with 7 members of the Astros baseball team at Foley's bar in NY. Backe went to Ball in Galveston- We chatted about our peeps, and Munson is cute like Roy!
*Sarah's lovely uncle T. Shaun showed us the rough cut of his new movie Harold.
*Have been surrounded by fabulous runway models and stylists who won't quit smoking! (So annoying and illegal indoors)
*Went boutique shopping on the Lower East Side, which I loved! They have some really awesome community gardens. Didn't buy anything though.
*Fashion show is tomorrow!!!

You like me!

I'm glad people like reading my blog. It makes me feel interesting!

Today not much happened. Mary invited me out with some other girls from work for an after-the-fashion show party at some place called Hawaiian Tropic Zone in Times Square. She said she and the other girls like to go to mundane places all dressed up in their fashion week finery (we get to borrow things from the sales closet!!! and we might be getting shoes?!??) because they think it's funny. I think it's funny too and it sounds like a blast. I love a good majority of Zac's spring line and can't wait to post my favorite pics after we present on tuesday. If I had my way I'd probably spend about $10,000 on clothes, shoes, and accessories from the collection. Retail price anyway.

Also ate dinner at the Shake Shack in Maddison Park? in the city. Tasty, tasty burger, pretty good shake, and good fries for being krinkly cut! I am stuffed

PS- Linda, one of my other roommates gave me a pair of shoes today. Sarah gave me a pair of shoes yesterday. My total is now 5.

Fit Model

Today I got to play fit model. For those of you who don't know what that means, that means I got to stand in a garment and have people pin and sew things on me. Think Zoolander when Mugatu says "Oh, I'm sorry, did my pin get in the way of your ass? Do me a favor and lose five pounds immediately or get out of my building like now!" Well, no not really, but I did have to stand in a super puffy gown for about an hour in six inch heels that were three sizes too big for me. My feet fell asleep because my toes were squished and my knees ached, but it was fun! The dress was really pretty. I'll have to post a pic of it after the fashion show on tuesday. The french woman who is in charge of gowns kept asking me how I was enjoying learning to be a princess. She also said I had nice boobs. It was a fun day.

Stuff

I have amassed a fair amount of stuff since I've been here in New York:
- shirt, tan suede heels, and marc jacobs sweater at the now awesome Barney's warehouse sale
(the trick is to go at the end when everything is 75% off!!)
- rain boots
- dress
- jacket
- teal heels
- lunch bag
- new Rilo Kiley cd
- ipod
- msc. stuff from mom
- COMPUTER! yay!
I think that's kind of a lot....

PS- I fell down the stiars the other day. It was more of a slip and fall on my bum, but now I have bruises showing up everywhere.

My Life

The past few days I've been having and existential meltdown/life crisis. I feel stressed about where I want to live, what I want to do, etc. etc. I feel like if I had just gone ahead and moved here, or had a real job, I wouldn't be stressed at all, because I had made a decision. But because my life here is so temporary, I feel like I'm unattached to anything and it is scary. On one hand I kind of feel like I would be letting people down if I didn't stay in New York for a while, and at the same time though I want to go home and live in Austin, I don't know what I would do there. However, after talking to Roy and talking to Whitney I feel a lot better. I also feel like I don't have to make any decisions and perhaps I should just coast my way through the end of 2007. My internship is over at the end of September and then I am vacationing in Costa Rica in October, which leaves about 2 1/2 months of uncertainty left for the year. Perhaps I could pay a visit to my cousins and good 'ol Steph in San Francisco for a few weeks and maybe vacation somewhere warm in December, the rest of the time playing with friends all over Texas. I guess I figure I don't really have to work this year. (Although I may hate myself come tax time...) I can live cheaply and figure out what I want to do. Maybe I will get inspired on vacation, or by family or friends. I hope that by writing this I will stop worrying and start really enjoying the moment.

School Time

I think it's funny that I don't miss school. I know a lot of people went back today, but so far I don't miss it. I got a very pleasant email today from Dr. Rewerts saying she was changing my internship grade (since I scanned my paperwork and emailed it to her) and that she hoped I would keep her posted on the job hunt. I also got an email from Judy, my advisor, saying that she personally took the grade change form over to the appropriate office. I emailed her a thank you for all the help she's given me over the years. She's always been so nice to me and so helpful. So, basically everything with school is good again. Other than that not much is new. It's going to be a busy week!

I got a MacBook

This morning my laptop went on a spiraling downfall of death. It was stuck in a loop of serious failure. I carted my beloved all the way to Manhattan to be checked out by the Geeksquad at Best Buy. Of course once the laptop was out of my house it was no longer stuck in this loop of failure. It turned on and stayed on, but the man said it's life was short and that it was totally corrupted, and also that my wireless card was failing and I would need a new one. I've known my laptop was ailing for some time now, but thought perhaps she could last me until the end of the year. Without the use of internet I would be so incredibly bored up here. Internet is what I use my laptop for anyway, so insted of spending upwards of $300 to fix my 4 year old 'top, I went to the apple store on fifth ave. and spent tons of money. I have a glorious new MacBook with max ram and ample storage. I also have a shiny new black 30 gig ipod video, which only cost $50 with the rebate. (Daddy, if you want my nano, you can have it, but only after I figure out how to get all my songs onto my new one....) Also, the mac store was going to transfer some files for me, but they didn't say how many, I would have to make folders, and it would take like 2 days. Needless to say I have decided to do it myself, and have begun transfering my word documents to one of my flash drives. If someone has suggestions about how I can get my pics and my music onto my new computer, I would be grateful of the knowledge. Also, if someone has microsoft office for mac and maybe photoshop and illustrator, I wouldn't turn those down either...

Pissed

I am really mad. Dr. Rewerts has given me an incomplete on my internship because she says she never received my faxed documents. Yet, she decided to tell me this on the day grades were due. I emailed her the day I sent them that they had been faxed, and had she let me know that day that they were never were received, we could have fixed this situation before grades were finalized. Now I have to re-send everything and have her change a grade. This is a big hassle for both of us and I think pretty fucking rediculous.

Cable

I never thought I'd say this, but I miss cable TV. A lot. Especially since network tv looks awful for this upcoming season... I miss travel channel with Tony Bourdain's No Reservations, Food Network for Top Chef and Iron Chef, and VH1 for 80s movies and reality tv shows. I miss turning on the tv and having something interesting to watch. I miss free movies on tv. It's not that I don't have anything to do, I read the news every day in the metro and I read my scifi novel on the train. I make myself dinner every night, I talk to friends on the phone, and sometimes I work on Roy's scarf. I just miss relaxing and being truly entertained.

Cookies

Today I made cookies. I really missed baking and since today was rainy and cool I felt like it was the perfect time. They were not up to my usual standards, but I don't think they turned out bad. I really didn't like the taste of the vanilla I used. In other news, I need a pair of rain boots. It has rained at least once a week and I haven't found any boots I like here in the city. However, I found these on zappos.
http://www.zappos.com/n/p/dp/29379539/c/110122.html
What do you think? They go with my winter wool coat, my down coat, and my trenches. Hmm...now that I've typed this I think I should just go ahead and order them.

Last Call

This morning I noticed that there was an add for the infamous Barney's Warehouse sale on the back of my morning Metro, with today being to first day. Having heard of the greatness of this sale, how people camp out for it, and that it is THE sale of the year, I was pretty excited. I got out of work 30 minutes early and decided to make my way over there. SEVERE DISAPPOINTMENT! Not only was it jam packed with people, but it was no bigger than Austin's Neiman Marcus Last Call. It also didn't have the selection of designers, size selection, or the price reductions of my beloved Last Call. So, this disappointing sale is just another confirmation for me that New Yorkers are willing to pay anything for something with a name brand on it. Marked down from $500 to $300 is not a sale. Marked $500 to $100 is a sale. New Yorkers take note!

Sick?

I have been having a lot of throat and nose issues lately. I'm not exactly positive that I'm sick, as it may be stress (on my immune system from moving to such a dirty place) or it may be allergies, but all in all I don't feel so hot.

This weekend I'm planning some relaxing activities- mainly hitting up Bloomingdales to shop for some rain boots and getting a massage. I pretty much ruined my sandals walking in the rain the other day, and it was really miserable having wet feet all day, so I need some nice boots with traction that I can walk in. Carting a purse around Manhattan all the time really takes a toll on your back too. As well as sitting in uncomfortable PATH seats, standing, sitting on slatted park benches, and walking, walking, walking. Therefore, I need a massage. Maybe I will go get a massage at the Brazilian Spa where I got my fake tan, I do have a free coupon for another tan...

Summer of Love Exhibit: Art in the Psychedelic Era

Today Sarah and I went to the Whitney Museum to see the Summer of Love Exhibit. I read about it on the Subway and thought it sounded awesome. It was! As a student, it only cost 10 dollars and that included free audio tour with music -Austin's own 13 Floor Elevators were one of the artists represented. Sarah and I walked around looking at all the art and played in the coolest Psychedelic "room." It reminded me of this really cool "kid spaces" book from the 1960-70s that I used to read as a kid that mom and I had bought at Goodwill.



My other favorite works from the exhibit:
- Framed LSD squares that looked like sheets of mini stamps. Perforated sheets of paper, the smallest being a tiny one cm by one cm square with a picture of a man fishing. Medium sized was a kid's scene with a rabbit and a turtle (with three squares missing), and the largest a 7 x 7 inch square of squares that were golden pyramids on black paper. I wanted them, they were awesome art!
-A digger dollar.
-"Flower Monster" by Jimmi Hendrix. I didn't even know it was by him and I loved it before looking at the artist name. Even cooler that he had painted it himself. It looked more Asian than psychedelic though.

Olamida & Rachel's Big Adventure

So this morning at 5:15am I was awakened to a fantasticly torrential rain storm. I thought that only Texas had storms like these, but this was loud, loud, loud! I listened to it pour without stopping for at least 30 minutes before I fell asleep.

When I woke up this morning to go to work I walked outside to see if it was cool, but it was hot and muggy, and looked dry out. However, just before was about to leave for work my boss calls me to tell me the subways are broken and can I get to work? I said I think so, so Olamida offered to give me a ride to the Path train. There was horrible traffic getting there, and it was only a mile a way, and when we got there there was no way you could get to the train even by walking because the road was covered in about 2 feet of water. Olamida and I tried to drive to Newark Penn Station and there was so much traffic and so many people we both decided to give up after about an hour of sitting in the car. We called in to our jobs, got Dunkin' Donuts and are not sitting at home relaxing. (Well, she is working, and I am sort of working.) It's nice to have a free day off!

The subway isn't working because some of them are flooded and so they stopped all of them. Some trains and some buses are not running because of flooding. It's so crazy that all this can come from 2 hours of torrential rain! My boss said we should touch base tomorrow about whether or not I would work because the subways might not be fixed.

ny1.com for the top story

Day Off

My bosses Mary and Audrey were both taking the day off today, so I was left to do as I pleased. Sarah and I had planned on going shopping, or adventuring, or fine dining but she had to fly at 3. Instead of heading into the city, we went to get Mystic Tans. A natural substitute to failed plans. Having both wanted to try it, we said "why not?" The verdict is that they look surprisingly natural! Now I can pretend I went to the beach this weekend like my boss.

A conversation on being a flight attendant-
Me: Sarah, what happens if our plan backfires and we turn orange? You have to work today.
Sarah: I won't be the only orange one there. You should see some of these ladies, it'll be okay.

Super-lame title, I know.... taking suggestions....

My First Entry!!!

Here is my blog for all you people who want to know about my life here in New York!

Today I met Zac Posen! (Officially, as I have seen him at the office every day this week. I assume there are just too many interns to introduce them to him all the time.) Here's how it happened: I was walking out of the offices with a bag full of stuff to go to the factory uptown and he was sitting on the side of the building waiting for a car. He smiled at me, noting my bag in hand, and I went up to him and introduced myself. I said "I'm not sure we've met yet, I'm Rachel the new production intern." And he said "Hello Rachel, nice to meet you!" And we shook hands. He's a fantastic hand shaker. Then he asked "Are you going to the factory?" And I said yes. He looked at the skirt in my bag and said "ah yes" and then said "very nice" and I said "nice to meet you, see you later" and he said "nice to meet you." So nice!

Anyway, when I got home Sarah and I went to the grocery store and then made a delicious dinner of fried chicken, macaroni, and mashed potatoes. Hopefully, I will get to take some in a sandwich for lunch tomorrow!

Tonight I shall take a gloriously long shower and wash my hair, since I had a giant glob of water? fall on me from somewhere above today....