Big Girls Don't Cry!

I can’t believe my time in NYC is coming to an end. There is so much I still want to do and see so I’ve made a vow to do as much as I possibly can before I leave! I’m starting to make a dent in my NYC bucket list so sit back, relax, and happy reading!

Two weekends ago I left the City that Never Sleeps and headed to Sweet Home Alabama. I was so happy to see my whole family, even under the circumstances. I was just as excited to indulge in homemade food Paula Deen style and lounge around in rooms quadruple the size of my cubical dorm room! As nice as it was to have a taste of home, I was eager to get back into the swing of things in the Big Apple.

I’ve been working on a special project at work with one of the Senior Designers. She is graciously allowing me to help her create illustration/mood boards for the fall 2010 intimate’s collection. I’ve seen the drawings and I must say; everything is just darling!

I’ve been having such a fun time working every day that I almost forgot two of my best friends were coming to visit for several days. The smog must be getting to me because I NEVER let my social life fall to the wayside! Or maybe I’m becoming a true New Yorker…mean, inconsiderate, self absorbed, and rude! (If you haven’t caught on yet, this is sarcasm at its finest!) Anyway, back to my social life. Carrie and Christina arrived on Wednesday and spent Thursday having fun in the City while I was slaving away at work (insert sarcasm once again). After work, I met up with the girls for dinner in Times Square!

Me, Christina, and Carrie in Times Square!


Friday, I was a true tourist and participated in as many tourist activities I could, including the red double decker bus that takes you around all of Manhattan and drops you off at places like Times Square, Ground Zero, 5th Ave, etc, etc. We decided to take a ferry out to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. We got off at Ellis Island and toured the Immigration Museum. Barbie’s of the World was of course our favorite exhibit, or maybe it was just Christina’s…I can’t remember! After nearly melting from the heat wave we hopped back on the bus and made our way from Battery Park back to Times Square just in time to go to Magnolia’s Bakery from Sex and the City for a “Carrie” Cupcake and then to see Jersey Boys (the Broadway show based on the story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons)! Let’s just say I’m still singing “Big Girl’s Don’t Cry”! If you’ve ever been to NYC you’ve seen the advertisements at each theater stating, “Must see Show!”, “Greatest Show of ALL Time!”, “The Crowd Goes Wild!” Well all this can be said of Jersey Boys! This show has quickly jumped to the top of my favorite Broadway Shows of all time list.

On top of the bus!


Lady Liberty!


Skyline!!


Statue of Liberty Barbie!






After the show we were in the mood for more singing so we headed to Ellen’s Stardust Diner where we were serenaded while enjoying All-American Diner food and fun! This next part could possibly be my highlight of the weekend with Carrie and Christina. As we left Ellen’s at approximately 12:50AM, Carrie and I decided that we felt perfectly safe riding the subway home. I mean why not? There were three of us, it was a busy Friday night and I mean it’s the City that NEVER Sleeps in case you forgot! Well, Miss Priss aka Christina didn’t see things through our eyes and was compelled to give a speech stating why we should NOT ride the subway at 1AM but I wasn’t budging and neither was Carrie! Now I know how this looks…three young girls riding the subway in the wee hours of the morning, one kicking and screaming because she’s terrified she may not live to see the next 15 minutes and her two best friends hysterically laughing at the dramatic moment could possibly attract a few unwanted creepers. After a few minutes of debating, Christina claimed that it was “ON ME” if she died and marched her little self down the stairs and got on the subway and was home within 20 minutes safe and sound without a scratch. Imagine that!

Saturday came early but we refrained from sleeping the day away! We ate at a local deli called Katzs and decided that we should see another show and then spend the rest of the afternoon in Central Park. After buying our tickets from a rando on the street (not the greatest idea in the world) we made our way to the nearest subway stop not realizing that we were heading for the top of the park instead of the Great Lawn. As we got off our subway stop I knew we weren’t in our "neck of the woods". Harlem! Yep, it’s true. This is my second accidental trip to Harlem. We decided not to linger too long so we headed for the park. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Central Park, it’s pretty big and our location wasn’t ideal. After walking for what seemed like hours we came to a fork in the road. It was almost like the Robert Frost poem, “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood…blah, blah, blah and I took the one less traveled by.” Well, we took the one most traveled by bikers, mother’s with strollers, and rollerbladers. Dodging the rollerbladers was a challenge not to mention the rolling hills! Next time I’m choosing the dirt trail less traveled by! We finally were typical Americans and took the easy way out. Our cab dropped us off at the Boathouse where we ate dinner and then took a nice little stroll around the park before heading to see Westside Story.

Central Park!


Alice & Wonderland statue from Remember Me.


My favorite part of Central Park (Boathouse is in the background).


Westside Story!


Sunday my roomies and I took advantage of the summer sales downtown and then had a girls night which included Sour Patch Kids, Chocolate, Famigilia’s Pizza, and of course Robert Pattinson!

4th of JULY!

It’s week five of my internship, and I must say this place is starting to feel like home. Of course I do miss the wide open spaces of the south and that charming “southern drawl”. However, I’ve brought a little bit of home to the big city and who knows, maybe I’m here to stay.

Last Sunday I received some upsetting news about my grandmother, “Gran”. She was put in the hospital for about a week but wasn’t able to hold on. She passed away July 3rd. I’m usually not one to share personal details such as this, but I can’t ignore the thoughts and feelings that have been running through my mind, and since the purpose of this blog is to keep everyone informed, I think it’s only right to share a few words about someone who has touched my life in such a deep way. It’s been bitter/sweet reminiscing on all of the cherished memories, knowing that new memories are a thing of the past. I’m so grateful to have known such a wonderful person. To those of you who have never had the opportunity to meet my Gran, just picture Lucille Ball, and there you have it! Looks, personality, the whole nine yards! I’m choosing to remember her with a laugh and a smile! I’m flying home on Thursday to be with my family for the funeral. On a lighter note, I’m keeping my sense of humor, which she would want. As I travel to the Deep South, I plan on satisfying my craving for fried chicken, collard greens, and HOMEMADE mashed potatoes!!!

This week was Ashton’s last week in the city, so of course we had a lot of bases to cover! On Saturday we shopped till we dropped which included trekking down to Little Italy for some authentic Italian cuisine. We went to a personal favorite, Florio’s!!! After lunch we walked around Little Italy and parts of SoHo then eventually came across Chinatown where we were bombarded by women and men trying to sell us Gucci, Prada, Fendi, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, and Coach! Oh the joys of NYC. I think we even passed a man selling copies of the Twilight hit, Eclipse. And you know what that means, buying a copy of someone videotaping the actual movie. The things people do to make a buck! On Sunday, we decided that you can never shop too much, so we headed down to Times Square. On the way we ate at a very authentic Mexican Restaurant. Again let me remind all of my Statesboro readers that I am unfortunately not referring to Mexican food “El Sombrero” style! You can kiss free refills of Coca-Cola, chips, and salsa good bye. And if you start craving guacamole, DON’T! Unless you want to pay $15, which in my case is just fine because you can’t put a price on good guacamole. After chowing down, we made our way to Zara, H&M, and J.Crew, where some very cute purchases were made.

On the Subway!


Now, I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this but, each morning I wake up to screaming children playing in a park below my building and a very persistent Mr. Softee, AKA the ice cream truck that comes around every five minutes blaring the Mr. Softee jingle! For those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about, I’ve inserted the lovely jingle that wakes me up every morning! Needless to say, I have developed a love/hate relationship with Mr. Softee. The 4th was a particularly scorching hot day in NYC, so couldn’t help myself. I caved and gave in to Mr. Softee!

Mr. Softee jingle! It may sound sweet at first but it's NOT, don't be fooled!!!



Ashton, Meagan, and I enjoyed our ice cream in Bryant Park. For all you fashionistas out there, Bryant Park is known as the venue of the fashion shows during Fashion Week! After consuming those delicious calories, we headed back to Columbia to get ready for the Macy’s fireworks. We stopped at a local market to buy goods for our picnic. The fireworks were magnificent, the best I’ve ever seen! We watched them in a park that ran along the Hudson River.

Park along the Hudson...



Waiting on the fireworks!!



After the fireworks, we headed down to Greenwich to continue our July 4th celebration. We met a couple of UGA Alums and a Zeta. Small world! We spent the rest of the night hanging around in Greenwich Village.

Monday, was my day of rest! After Ashton got all packed up, we headed out for a quick lunch and reminisced on all the fun we packed into these past two weeks! She hit the road after lunch which was depressing because it’s always sad to see a little piece of home leave.


Work has been great! I’ve been working closely with one of the head designers at TH which is very exciting. He’s full of great advice and really utilizes the interns! He has been busy working on the Men’s 2011 fall collection. We got to talking about fashion shows and he mentioned something about me coming back to attend Fashion Week! I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July! Cheers!!!!