THE END IS NEAR

This is my final blog posting. I've enjoyed my time here in NYC so much and I can't believe it is almost over! I come home Sunday Dec 18th and go back to work on Monday at Calvin Klein. I'm sad this amazing experience is over but looking forward to moving back here after I graduate in May 2013. My parents come to get me on Saturday-the saddest day I've had in 4 months! I'll try and post some more photos on tumblr! For now, I must study more I hope everyone has a great holiday season! Thank you so much for following me these last 4 months! I hope to see all of you soon! :) GOD BLESS

nothing like lying to your parents on thanksgiving......

so as most of you know by now, I lied to my parents for over a month. But no worries, it was well worth the deception for sure. I was originally planning on taking a bus to my Aunt Jackie's house 2 hours away for Thanksgiving, but my friend told me about this really cheap bus to ohio. I jumped on the chance to go home for the holiday. I was so excited, I called my dad and told him I was planning on coming home on that bus and to not tell my mom; I wanted to surprise her! But, my dad thought this was a really bad idea: he didn't know what bus I was talking about, where I would get it, how I would get from Columbus (where the bus drops off) to home and all these other annoying questions, so I knew what I had to do: drop the dad. I knew he would have to be left out of my plan and I could then surprise both of them! I booked my Chinatown bus ticket $30 one way to Columbus, Ohio.
Everytime my mom called I told her I was just staying in the city for Thanksgiving because all my friends were going to be here and we would have fun going to the parade and enjoying the city. This was a lie. She would be so sad on the phone saying this was the first time she would be without her children on Thanksgiving...I tried to keep my secret by dismissing her comment and remind her I'll see her in December.
It was the night my bus left and my roommates Jenna and Shantelle escorted me to chinatown in the pouring rain. We got lost of course and I just made it with like one minute to spare. I literally ran 2 blocks in the rain with my luggage in one arm and my umbrella in the other! It was quite a dramatic entrance for me getting on that bus with all those foreign people. Out of the 50 people on the bus there were maybe 8 white people the rest were either Chinese, Black, or Hispanic. The bus left at 10pm on Tuesday night and arrived in Columbus at 730am! I barely slept partly because I was so excited to see the look on my parents' faces and also because I didn't want anyone to steal my stuff. I sat in my seat clutching my coat and purse and I slept with one eye open. Thankfully I sat in the front seat both ways and everything was fine.
I arrived in Columbus and my friend Vicki drove me back to Stow. I called my mom on the way home to make sure she was home and to tell her I was just finishing up work for the week and I was excited about the parade. This was also a lie. I got home and rang the doorbell....she thought someone was robbing the house because she left the front door open. haha She opened the door and I jumped out and she looked completely terrified. I knew I had definitely surprised her! My dad was next. He was at work so my mom and I went to his office and I surprised him there. My mom opened the door to his office and then I walked in behind her and his face was priceless! I had successfully kept a secret from them and succeeded in making their Thanksgiving better!
It was so nice to see my family and all my friends, but after a weekend in Ohio, I was missing New York City again. I'm glad to be back, but sad that this experience is going to end in 3 weeks. :( I come home December 18th, the saddest day of the year. I plan on returning to this city after I graduate so everyone book their trips to NYC in 2013! :)

just another update

so here is the latest from new york as i see it:
the leaves have finally changed their colors and are slowly falling to the ground. the weather here has been so unpredictable; windy, rainy and cold one day, and 60 and sunny the next. i prefer the latter and hope the snow holds off until i leave for ohio. the christmas tree in rockefeller center was just delivered over this past weekend and will be lit the wednesday after thanksgiving. this tree is massive and supposedly it is brought from somewhere in colorado or somewhere over there. ice skating rinks are in full swing all over the city in bryant park, rockefeller, and central park. i hope to do some skating before i leave also. the rockettes have started their annual christmas shows and my aunts and i went to see them on opening day. they were AMAZING! each and every girl was always on the beat, not one leg was out of line. highly recommend this show to anyone and everyone. 

vogue internship updates: the december issue is out and everyone should buy it! i still havent looked through it yet, ill have to run to the art department and get me a copy! :) i thought i would just tell you guys about some of the places i get to go to in my everyday work day. i have of course been sent to starbucks, but also ive been to corporate headquarters of valentino, derek lam, calvin klein, phillip lim, oscar de la renta, bottega venetta, hermes, chanel, christian dior, prada, and tom ford to name a few. even though running errands are not my favorite thing to do, it allows me to see awesome fashion offices i otherwise would never be allowed to see ever. my internship is almost over at vogue magazine, december 9 is my last day of work and it will definitely be bittersweet.

next week is thanksgiving and i will be staying in the city watching the parade live while all of you are watching on the tv. to be honest ive never seen the parade ever not even at home on the tv screen! so this will be an experience to remember. i dont quite know what i am doing for thanksgiving dinner but im sure me and the girls here will figure something fun to do! well i hope everyone has a nice weekend and thanksgiving with their families! christmas is right around the corner and i hear there is nothing like new york at christmas time! pictures are sure to follow! :)

What's an Ohio?

I know this may sound really crazy, but I feel like a native New Yorker already; after only 3 months, I feel like I've lived here my whole life. The other day me and my roommate Jenna were talking about how we are leaving this city in a little over a month and we started to tear up. I never want to leave. I know I will be back after graduation of May 2013 and I am counting down the days until I can return here once again! The hard thing about loving the city is that I will be so far away from my family and friends that I love back in Ohio. But sometimes in order to move on in life and be successful, you have to leave behind everything familiar and comfortable. My dad once told me I was tough, now I believe him. I've proved to myself that after all those years of living at home and never being away from my parents for more than a couple of days at a time that I am capable of being independent and living somewhere by myself. Mom and Dad I love you for everything you've ever done for me and all the prayers you say for me everyday. I wish I could have my city and my family too, but I know my family will always be with me no matter where I end up.

Let me tell you how I left my phone in a taxi.....

If you haven't heard, it snowed here in NYC yesterday. I woke up saturday morning, looked out my window and gasped so hard it woke up my roommate. It was snowing!! Big fluffy snowflakes! I thought, it couldn't be snowing, the leaves haven't even changed colors yet! Weather is so unpredictable. But let me back up here first. This week started off terribly; I guess I was bound to have an off week sooner or later. I found out on Monday someone got a hold of my debit card number and was charging things to my card and overdrafted my account. I had to close my card. Then on Tuesday and Wednesday I was starting to get under the weather, I had to call off work on Wednesday and I basically slept all day and my one class was cancelled because my professor was sick also. So Wednesday was a day spent in bed. Friday, I went to work and the day was very busy I went on many errands and the first errand I ran I got my own car and driver again! It was pretty nice riding around the city in the car. But the next errand I had to run, I had the company credit card so I could take a taxi to the Prada store on 5th Ave so I could get gift wrapping boxes for the accessories editor. I was in a hurry and as I got out of the cab, I paid with the card, and ran back to the office. I realized once I was settled again that I had left my phone in the back seat of the cab! oops! Turns out the guy who got into the cab after me was here in NYC for business from Milwaukee. He called my mom and told her she would leave it at the security desk of his hotel. So thankfully I was able to get it right after work! Had the guy been from New York, I doubt I would have my phone right now! Thank goodness he was a Midwestern guy! :) God was looking out for me then! 

So after this whole ordeal of a week, me and my friends went out on Friday and Saturday for Halloween partying. I put pictures on my tumblr enjoy! I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend and Happy Halloween (even though I hate the holiday)

Photo Story

Instead of writing to you, I will show you via my Tumblr account:

http://thefashionstudent21.tumblr.com/

TOO BUSY!

Sorry! I have been super busy lately! But here I am writing to you few loyal followers! Hope this finds you at a nice time in your day because I may have a lot to report. Let us start with my 21st birthday I just celebrated in the city. My birthday was one I will never forget for reasons I can spill to you in person. Not to say that I was crazy on that night, but let's just say for now that I went out with my roommates and some girlfriends I met here to a nice Chinese restaurant for dinner and dancing. (Check out my tumblr account for pictures of everything: http://thefashionstudent21.tumblr.com/) That same weekend my friends from high school came to visit me and it was a busy weekend full of sightseeing and touristy adventures. The best part of that weekend by far was stumbling upon Bethesda fountain and the mall in central park. To describe these 2 iconic places with mere words would not even begin to explain their beauty. The fountain is one of the largest fountains in the city and one of the most well known fountains in the world. The 26 foot tall bronze statue features the Angel of Waters who is thought to heal the water. It is linked to the powers of the biblical pool of healing waters from John 5:2-4  "Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool which is called...Bethesda...whoever then first after the troubling of the waters stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had." Tourists and natives flock to this peaceful place for pictures, a place to relax or just something breathtaking to look at- the fountain is a nice relief from the surrounding hustle and bustle of the city. The other site I mentioned in the park is the Mall - no it is not an indoor smorgasbord of various retailers selling overpriced merchandise, it is the most beautiful stretch of land in the entire city, in my opinion. Originally built to accommodate horse drawn carriages for the wealthy sightseers, it is now a walkway draped by tall elm trees. The entire Mall is encompassed by these beautiful trees that shade the walkway, but when the sun shines in you look up through the leaves that are soon to be turning beautiful reds, oranges, and yellows, and thank God for such beauty in the middle of a skyscraper wasteland. I hope to visit the mall more often once the leaves decide to change their colors from green to autumn! The best walk through Central Park could never be without a stroll through the Mall. 

Now, this past weekend was my first real weekend I was able to go out with my friends to their favorite bars in the city! I've never been a party girl, obviously, but there's something about NYC that just puts everyone in a good mood. Friday night and Saturday night we went out and Saturday morning and Sunday morning (the mornings after) took me until 1pm to recover and wake up! Nothing too crazy happened, just a good time out with my friends! :) I don't think I'll ever be a real party girl, but I guess we'll see once I come home from the city. (I still think staying inside with pizza and a good movie sounds better than staying out late and stumbling home.) 

This weekend will be different! I am going to see my parents this weekend!! They are going to my grandparents house in Pennsylvania for the weekend and I am taking the train from Penn Station here in NYC, which is right across the street, to Elizabethtown, PA where they are picking me up! I've never been on a train before and am looking forward to a window seat to stare out at the beautiful trees that are all ready for fall. I can't wait to see my parents and I hope they are excited to see me- wait of course they are, duh! Also, excited to see my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins! I'll be sure to give a full report sooner than it took me to post this! Make sure to check out pictures! :) God Bless xoxo

it only took 21 years....

I wish everyone could have celebrated my birthday with me! I had a lot of fun with the friends I met out here in the city! :) Thank you to everyone who sent me something! esp. my parents, I love the care package you sent me! I felt very loved on my birthday thank you! I will be posting pictures on tumblr soon from my birthday! I will try and write more tuesday, but for now I am exhausted from a long weekend! God Bless!

broadway, cathedrals, and vintage oh my!

take 2: I decided to try and re-type everything i already wrote but got deleted.

On Friday I was able to leave work early- I was out by 6pm! yay! Went to bed early to get up for a busy and fun filled Saturday. I woke up Saturday morning and got ready then my moms sisters came to the city! We went to a concierge recommended Jewish deli for lunch. The food was delicious! The sandwiches were stacked with a huge fistful of deli meat! yum! After the meal we walked around Times Square and into a few shops then made our way to the theater for the Lion King on broadway. The show was absolutely amazing! I highly recommend seeing it! Great for any age especially young ones, but I loved it too! The costumes were phenomenal- the animals were all operated by people- my favorite were the 2 giraffes- they looked so graceful and effortless moving across the stage! After the show we went to Da Rosina's for dinner on restaurant row. Another delicious meal of authentic Italian food! I look forward to their next visit in November when we are going to see the Rockettes! :)

Sunday was another fun day! Me and my roommate got up and went to St. Patrick's Cathedral for 10:15 am mass. I know I'm not Catholic, but the Cathedral was on my list of sites to see while I am here. Inside the Cathedral is just breath taking! The arches and the stainglass and the huge columns; it was very well attended by locals and tourists. Following the service, me and my roomie went to do something Holly Golightly did every morning. Don't recognize the reference? Think Audrey Hepburn: Breakfast at Tiffany's. Yes, we went to get our morning coffee and muffin and stood outside Tiffany's to have some breakfast. There were also many other tourists doing the same! Later, we went meet up with a fellow intern I work with at Vogue and she took us all around greenwich village/soho area and showed us the best thrift and vintage shops. I bought a wool light grey peacoat- it has no label but it says it was made in Italy which counts for something right? While we were walking around we stumbled upon Little Italy and there was the Italian fest going on and so we walked through there for awhile. There were so many Italians! haha After all that walking, our feet were killing us and so we headed back home to soak our feet in the tub! Felt so good!

My 21st birthday is in 2 days! I can't wait! 4 of my friends are coming this weekend to help me celebrate! Wish you all were here with me too! Next time I write a new post I will be able to buy my own cocktail legally! :)

next week

i apologize for this post: I just spent 40 minutes writing a new blog post for you guys but blogger deleted it and i am too tired to re-write 40 minutes worth of writing! im sorry but i will write something next weekend