Busy, Busy, Busy

Hi all!
Sorry it has been a while since I last blogged. Sometimes I feel as though someone has hit the fast forward button and it's stuck there. It's nice being so busy but when I sit down I realise how exhausted I actually am. I've been putting long hours in at both internships (Beauty Blitz on Mondays and Wednesdays and MVP NY on Fridays). In between that, I've been squeezing in Anthropologie shifts left and right! I'm sure I'll look back on all of this and wonder how I ever did it, but in the meantime its ok (as long as its for a short period of time!) I'm dreading tomorrow as I intern 'til 6 p.m. and then have to go in to Anthro from 7 p.m. 'til who knows when!


On my off days (not many of them) I've been relaxing mostly. I've applied to several jobs (some of them looked really exciting) and a few paid spring internships so I am hoping to hear back and see what happens! I also had a great night out with some girls from the Markle (it was a mix of Americans, English, German, Australian and Brazilian!) We went to a BBQ restaurant for delicious (and happy hour cheap!!) margaritas and mojitos! New York is very expensive so I'll be saving up all week just to do it again!


Some things to look forward to in the next few days: Halloween Parade and festivities, a possible Knicks game, seeing Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and the Roots and work, work and more work!

“The most important thing in life is your family. There are days you love them, and others you don’t. But, in the end, they’re the people you always come home to. Sometimes it’s the family you’re born into and sometimes it’s the one you make for yourself.”---Carrie Bradshaw

One Month and Counting...

Well I'm writing today to say that I've officially been here for one month. And it feels weird when you think about it. Time here seems to speed up and I'm not sure if that's a good or a bad thing. I'm thankful that there is a new day to go and explore and do new things but it also means its one day less I have to find a job. As I'm sure everyone knows it's been extremely tough for everyone to find a job and I have been no exception. I started seriously looking for jobs back in March before graduation (because I knew how hard it would be) and I still find myself seriously looking. I try not to get discouraged, especially when I have two really great internships right now but its just so frustrating to not be getting paid for something that you got a degree in. If what I've been doing doesn't prove that I'm trying as hard as I can using every means possible-then I don't know what is! Sorry for the soapbox, but it feels better to tell other people who are going through the same thing how I feel.


With that being said, I have accepted another internship position and just started work on Fridays. Back when I was applying for internships (because jobs right now are literally impossible to find) I had received two great offers but felt I only had the time to do one. Now that I've gotten more of a schedule, I was lucky enough for the opportunity to do them both. I will also be working at MVP NY (Morris Visitor Publications). They produce Where and In New York magazines monthly as well as a Where Guestbook New York, QG: New York City's Quickguide and In New York Map. These materials serve as the travel companion for all of New York City's visitors and tourists and offers information on shopping, dining, lodging and activities. I'll be working in the editorial department creating listings and fact checking. I'm super excited about gaining more experience in this industry and hopefully being one step closer to a FULL-TIME PAYING JOB in the near future. 


On a side note, I'm still having a great time here in the city and I've even met two Delta Gamma's. I had recently joined the NYC alumni chapter and reached out to some girls who were in similar situations as me. After lots of planning and going over each other's schedules, we decided to meet up at Dos Caminos, a nice Mexican restaurant close to where we all work. It is such a small world meeting other sisters and we had a great time talking about where we were from and what we are doing in New York now. We are even planning some fun events including a trip to the movies and even a Knicks game!!


"I need money. You know money. I need to know what you know about money."---Carrie Bradshaw

Whirlwind of a weekend

Amazing views of the Manhattan from Brooklyn!

Let me just say I have never been so tired in my life. These past four days have been packed full of fun and activities but after having settled back in to the monotony of doing laundry and applying for jobs it hit me. I am exhausted and will probably go to bed at 8 p.m. tonight (something I don't do unless I am deathly ill). 
First, I would like to apologize in advance for the length of this post, but so much has happened that I want to share! 


THURSDAY: 
For those of you who haven't kept up, my friend Amanda has been in New York for the past week and a half setting up meetings and searching for jobs in the PR industry. She's been staying with her grandparents in New Jersey and commuting in to the city everyday for meetings. This past Thursday (I had the day off!), Amanda and I decided to do some sightseeing after her morning appointment. We headed into Brooklyn for Grimaldi's pizza (yes, you read that right...I've now eaten there twice since I moved here three weeks ago!). Now that I've discovered this place I want to take anyone that visits me there and share the amazingness with them.  It was just as good the second go around and after we had finished lunch we decided to walk to Brooklyn Bridge back into Manhattan. We had done this once before and it was so much fun we decided to do it again. It didn't hurt that it was one of the prettiest days we've had in Manhattan too. Once we got back into Manhattan we headed over to Canal Street and Chinatown in an attempt to find a Burberry side satchel. Sadly we left empty handed, but still enjoyed walking past all the shops. Our final stop for the day was Times Square. It was fun being touristy and taking pictures of the all the madness. We made sure to stop in to M&M World where I got a bag of yummy chocolate and then headed over to the Yankee Clubhouse shop so that Amanda could buy some Yankee fan gear. 

Grimaldi's for the second time!

Brooklyn Bridge

Love the lines on the Bridge

Artwork that I purchased on the Brooklyn Bridge

Cheesy tourist

Heavenly chocolaty goodness

FRIDAY: 
It was "Round 2" for Vicki and Amanda go sightseeing. Our first order of business was to head over to Mood Fabrics near Times Square. I am an avid Project Runway fan and have always wanted to go into Mood. Even though I can't sew or make my own clothes (a talent/skill I would dearly love to have!) it was fascinating being in the store. I even tried to find that adorable black, white and purple houndstooth fabric Mondo used for the Jackie O challenge. Right before we were about to leave we ran into Swatch, the "famous shop dog" that has captured the hearts of Tim Gunn and viewers alike. This pudgy, black and white Boston Terrier was just about the most adorable thing I've ever seen and if my handbag had been big enough (or Swatch small enough), Mood would be looking for a new replacement dog. After perusing through fabric at Mood, we headed back through Times Square on own way downtown.We headed over to Kleinfeld, the wedding dress shop where they film "Say Yes to the Dress." Amanda had been dying to go there and was practically skipping down the street as we approached the store. We didn't go in, although we did admire some gorgeous gowns in the window and we even got a sneak peak at Sarah, our favorite Kleinfeld consultant! Across the street I spotted an interesting looking building that looked just like an old church. It turns out that Limelight Marketplace is a boutique type department store that is actually housed in an old church. The outside is so old and the inside looks just like Bloomingdale's....an interesting contrast and a great find for the day!

Times Square!

Crossroads of the World

SATURDAY: 
Today was a very long day as well. I got up super early (for a Saturday morning) and headed over to the Broadway Theatre and sat outside for an hour and a half to get tickets for Promises, Promises. I was told by some friends that you can get ridiculously cheap student show tickets and decided to try it out. I was third in line and got tickets for Amanda and myself for the matinee showing that day. I've wanted to be able to see a show since I got here but with ticket prices so steep, didn't think I'd be able to. Not only did we get such a great deal, but I've been told by just about everyone how fabulous this show was. And boy was it. It certainly did not disappoint. I was entertained from start to finish and it was amazing seeing both Sean Hayes and Kristin Chenoweth. A Broadway lovers treat! To cap off a great day we decided to go and cheer on our Auburn Tigers at 515 (an Auburn bar where alumni go to watch the games). It's such a fun atmosphere to cheer on Auburn next to people who went there too. Such an exciting game and a huge win for us! (FYI...Auburn is ranked #7, Alabama #8...all is right and good in the world)

Waiting on our train!

With Sean and Kristin of course!

Promises, Promises!

At 515 in Murray Hill cheering on our Tigers

SUNDAY: 
Sadly, Amanda had to return to Atlanta but today was a big day for me. I recently transferred to one of the Anthropologie's up here and today was my first day. We had new hire training in the morning where I met some of the new hire employees and got acquainted with the new store. Hope to start working some real hours very soon! Thank you for sticking with this post to the bitter (and long) end. Here's an appropriate quote to leave you all with...


"I like my money right where I can see it...hanging in my closet."---Carrie Bradshaw

I think I'm in love....with beauty that is.

So today was the second day of my internship with Beauty Blitz and I'm in love with my job! I spent the morning working on the Free Style giveaways and then worked on creating the Free Style content for the month of October. I took the press releases and other information given about each daily product and came up with a short, snappy blurb about what each product was all about. It was actually a lot of fun learning about different items, whether it be hair, skin (face or body) or fragrances and can now safely say that I am addicted to all things beauty. I've even started keeping my own list of items to try out and I want to share two of them with you. The first, is the Boscia Luminizing Black Mask, which is a jet black mineral mask that gets rid of all the skin's impurities and the other is the ESPA Pink Hair and Scalp Mud, a scalp treatment made from red and white clay that is supposed to work wonders! I also got to work on the Insider Tricks section and did a story where I talked about Nikki Reed's makeup products and techniques from the Teen Vogue Young Hollywood Party! Oh and the best part about working in the beauty industry...lots of free goodies to try! 


On a side note, Amanda and I indulged ourselves a bit yesterday and stopped at Magnolia Bakery for a sweet treat! The pictures say it all. I can't get enough of these things (what are they putting in them?!) 


"I will never be the woman with the perfect hair, who can wear white and not spill on it."---Carrie Bradshaw

Blitz and Glitz

Well today was my first day of my internship with Beauty Blitz, an all-online beauty magazine. I took the subway over in the morning (not a bad commute!) and arrived at 11. When I walked in I was shocked by the size of the office. It was smaller than my room here and had about five desks and computers in it. I'm surprised we all fit! That's New York for you I guess. I spent most of the day learning and familiarizing myself with content management systems and figuring out how to access certain documents. I then worked on updating the Free Style section of the website. I was in charge of selecting the winners for the daily product giveaways and then had to compile a list for our records. Then I notified the contact person or company so that they could send the product to the winner. Believe it or not, it took most of the day, but it was fun seeing who won and what types of products they were receiving. For lunch, I went down the street to the most amazing gourmet deli. It had an enormous selection of sushi, salads (and every topping imaginable) and a large variety of hot items. I've never seen anything like it! Before I left for the day I packed up a couple of boxes full of beauty products. Beauty Blitz gets so many samples and free products that they donate some of their items to women's shelters and women in need. Overall, a good first day. Looking forward to Wednesday!

"When you are young, your whole life is about the pursuit of fun. Then, you grow up and learn to be cautious. You could break a bone or a heart. You look before you leap and sometimes you don't leap at all because there's not always someone there to catch you. And in life, there's no safety net. When did it stop be fun and start being scary?"---Sex and the City

Carlo's, Friendly's and Denville Dairy oh my!

Well I've had a couple of very packed, fun-filled days!
Amanda arrived in New York on Thursday to visit her grandparents and schedule several meetings with PR firms and contacts in the hopes of getting a job. I recently joined an organization for women in communications and told Amanda about a PR networking event they were having. She of course wanted to come and even flew up a day early to join me. When she arrived after lunch, we headed out to Hoboken to visit Carlo's Bakery.  Amanda had been this summer with her family-and I having watched the show was a big fan. Twenty minutes door to door and we had arrived at Carlo's and there wasn't even a line! We of course got all sorts of goodies including their famous cannolis-which were excellent.

Carlo's Bakery with our goodies!

Later that night, we attended the networking event where we met all sorts of women in various industries of communication. While we enjoyed the people we talked to (I even met a Delta Gamma!) we paid $19 for one drink. I don't know if that's normal in New York City but for a poor college graduate, it definitely hurt the pocketbook a bit. (To make ourselves feel better we did label it as a 'work expense'.)


On Friday, Amanda and I ventured over to Canal Street and had lunch at an amazing restaurant, La Mela, in Little Italy before Amanda's meeting. For the weekend, we decided to get out of the city and head back to the 'burbs. Morristown, NJ that is. When we arrived we had a girls' night out at a Mexican restaurant in Hanover, which made my day! It's funny the things you miss when you leave home and Mexican food, at least the kind I'm used to, is impossible to get up here. I already had one interesting experience in the West Village but was pleasantly surprised by my second experience in New Jersey and the similarity it had to our Mexican food back home.


On Saturday, Amanda and I walked to Friendly's and enjoyed burgers and their famous ice cream before the Auburn game. I've never been so glad to see such a boring game after all these close nail-biters! We had a lazy Saturday, which consisted of watching the LSU vs. Tennessee game (can you believe that ending!?), the Alabama vs. Florida game (painful and embarrassing) and a massive meal at an Italian restaurant. As if we couldn't eat anymore, we stopped at Denville Dairy for ice cream!

Our favorite place in New Jersey!

On Sunday we headed to church and enjoyed a huge brunch at a local diner after. I then headed back to New York in the afternoon so that I would have plenty of time to get ready for the first day of my internship Monday. Overall, a nice relaxing weekend away from the city!


"Every once in a while, a girl has to indulge herself."---Carrie Bradshaw