Style Icons

Oscar Nominee Rooney Mara: The New Audrey Hepburn?

Audry Hepburn has been one of my favorite style icons since I first saw her in the film Breakfast at Tiffany's. It's interesting to see her compared to the seemingly edgy up-and-coming actress, Rooney Mara. I will definitely have to keep an eye on Rooney's style evolution as she continues to play a bigger role on the Hollywood scene.

xo

Twitter

Since I'm awful at blogging as things come up, you should probably follow me on twitter for real time updates and pics :)

NaomiSarah520

xo

Apartment fiasco

Since I know you're all dying to know about my apartment (and I should have written about it as soon as I moved in - sorry for the delay), here's the story:

I went into the process of looking for an apartment in the City with the mindset that living in a nice place was essential to having a good time in NYC. After all, I lived in a luxurious apartment (for free) over the summer and had the time of my life - how could I not return to New York thinking this way? Needless to say, I was somewhat disappointed when I walked into a building far from luxurious. 

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Towards the end of my last semester at school, I used apartment searching (among many other things) as a form of procrastination. And by "apartment searching", I mean "drooling over apartments that cost more monthly than I will make in my entire life". Let's just say I wasn't really looking at within-budget places...take the gorgeous $100,000/month place that I found, for example. The master closet alone was bigger than all of the rooms in every apartment I've ever lived in combined (probably just enough space for all my clothes to fit comfortably). Sad.

Hey, a girl can dream. One day I will own that apartment, but all that dreaming was not going to help me find a place to live ASAP, and sadly I was forced to snap back to reality...

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Anyways, most of my extended family lives on the east coast, so naturally I have family in the NY suburbs. My aunt and uncle that live about half an hour from the City have been more than helpful in the entire process of my move to New York, and they have supported me throughout the evolution of my dreams of being here.

Both my aunt and uncle are doctors and are both affiliated with Columbia University. So as I (attempted to) study for my finals and write the last papers of my college career, my uncle took it upon himself to use the Columbia U housing database to help me find a suitable* apartment. My parents had mentioned to my family that I, being the stubborn brat that I am, only wanted to live in Manhattan (it's convenient, obviously), and that I was unwilling to even consider other burrows. This posed quite the problem, however, since Manhattan is not known to be the cheapest area to live in New York. Hence my uncle's help.

My uncle was on top of his game, though, and he sent me several options of affordable apartments around Columbia, all of which were cheaper because they were school-owned buildings meant for grad students. I can't say I'm ungrateful for his help, au contraire, it was extremely nice of him to put in the time that he did. But it was semi-overwhelming receiving multiple e-mails a day describing different places, all of which I only had a few days to decide whether or not I wanted to sign there [side note: there were no pictures attached to any].

Time was running out, though, so I had to decide quickly. My dad told me to go for the last one my uncle had sent me - the price was right, it was only 9 blocks north of where I was living over the summer so I'd know the area well, and it seemed spacious (at least from his description). So reluctantly I e-mailed my uncle back telling him that I'd sign for that one.

Note to self: NEVER agree to living anywhere if you don't see pictures first.

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As I pulled up to the building, my new roommate, an international social work grad student from China, came down to help with my bags. I finally arrived at apartment 25:

Hallway from front door (open door is bathroom)

Bathroom

Kitchen

Pseudo-office

"Living room"

My room

 I mean, it's not awful, but it's no Riverside Drive (summer apartment), that's for sure. I'm not going to lie, I was not thrilled to be walking into this place. I tried to keep a smile on my face as my roommate showed me around, but I was holding back tears. The place just didn't seem homey.

I tried to think about the positives. On the bright side, the ceilings are high and there are hardware floors. On the unbright side (literally), I couldn't help but notice that there is ZERO natural sunlight. There are large windows on every side of the apartment, all of which look out to a beautiful view of brick walls. When I complained about this to my dad, his argument was that's what you get for living in a city full of high-rises. My argument was that's what you get for not having a say in the apartment searching process and signing a lease when you don't know what you're getting...  

NEVER.EVER.AGAIN.

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So that's pretty much the gist of my living situation. The place obviously wouldn't have been my first (or second or third or fiftieth) choice, but now I have 3 full months to do some serious apartment searching. And don't worry, my permanent apartment will be much more my style.

Updates to come.

xo

 

*suitable to him

Week 1: An overview

My first work week in the City was a whirlwind. The days were long, but somehow they seemed to go by fast. 

-Routine-

I wake up every morning at 5AM to have breakfast and coffee, then go for a short run before work. I get cleaned up and ready, and somehow I'm out the door by 8. As I get more comfortable with my routine I'll be leaving a bit later, since I'm usually about a half an hour early. Starbucks in my building has been a blessing and a curse. Without it I'd be wandering around Times Square before work everyday (not that I'm opposed, but in 30-degree weather it's not as enjoyable as you'd think; as it gets warmer out, I'll purposely leave earlier again so I can wander around - one of my favorite things to do in the City). Having Starbucks so close to my office, however, has allowed the franchise to own my soul, and I really don't need to be spending extra money on coffee when I make a pot every morning at my apartment. I need to figure this whole timing thing out ASAP.

-Work-

Even though at this point I've only come into the office 8 times, I feel as though I've learned so much already. I won't bore you with specifics (although the specifics are interesting to me, they might not be to you), but retail and merchandising is a lot more business and a lot less celebrity handlings than PR. I work a lot with computer programs to find/document warehouse and store inventory, and I have created tons of catalogs that are made especially for buyers to peruse. I've done some "intern" work as well (i.e. running to the Soho and Madison Avenue stores to check up on merchandising, etc), but that is to be expected when you're an intern (at least in the fashion industry). As far as internships go, though, I've been lucky to be doing real work - work that even my bosses do on a daily basis - so there haven't been as many errands as you'd think.

-Side note-

[This blog will go in whichever direction my mind is going at the moment, so you can expect a lot of side notes.] 

Since getting into this industry, I have considered going back to business school for marketing. Not going to lie, much of the reasoning behind this idea is because of my dad. For those of you who know me well, you know that my dad is my hero. He's my inspiration. He's been my role model since I was very very little. He's one of the smartest men I know - a Cornell University and Harvard Business School graduate. He has always pushed me to do my very best in everything I do. I somewhat blame him for my extreme perfectionism, and there was definitely a good amount of pressure put on me growing up to do well in school, etc, but I can't be too mad about that, since I identify with that characteristic of self more than any other aspect of my personality. Honestly don't know who I'd be, or if I'd even be where I am today, if I wasn't a perfectionist.

Anyways, the reason for that tangent is that, ever since my summer internship, and even more since starting my Nicole Miller internship, I have realized that (contrary to my father's beliefs) it isn't 100% necessary to go back to school. My boss at NM, for example, is 27ish years old and is the Retail and Merchandising manager for the entire company and corporate office. She has the power to hire and fire all of the store managers in each of the 6 NM boutiques nationwide (she's done it twice already since I've been here), and she works with (and has influence over) every department of the company, since retail and merchandising has a lot to do with finances and how the company sells merchandise in order to make the most profit.

She didn't get her position through extra schooling, though. She, instead, worked her way up the ladder and learned everything there is to know about what her position entails solely through doing it. So far everyone I've talked to in the fashion industry claims there isn't a need to go to business school because you learn best on the job, and I've seen first-hand that this is true. This is great news for someone like me who, as I mentioned in a previous post, has trouble motivating myself to learn like an actual student. 

Who knows, though. Seeing myself go through intense phases of which once I'm checked out I'm CHECKED.OUT, having more formal schooling is still a possibility if I get sick of what I'm doing. Doesn't seem too likely at the moment, but I'll obviously keep my options open and see where this internship (and my first paid job) leads me.

For now, though, I love learning in the environment that I'm in. (How could I not be happy surrounded by gorgeous clothing and my favorite fashion designer?!) I feel like this next chapter in my education will be extremely beneficial to my future and, although the future freaks me out like nothing else, I'm excited to see where I end up.

xo

Week 1: Outfits

MONDAY: Pitaya shirt and belt, Express capree leggings, and Urban wedge cut-out shoes.

TUESDAY: Unknown sweater dress and belt, Pitaya maroon tights, and Lucky Brand wedge shoes.

WEDNESDAY: Pitaya sequin bow back shirt and tourquoise denim. Steve Madden wedges (FAVES!!)

THURSDAY: Unknown bohemian shirt, Pitaya faux fur vest and dark purple denim. Lucky Brand wedge shoes.

FRIDAY - casual: unknown silk shirt, American Eagle jean caprees, Steve Madden boots.






xo

Touch down in NYC

Traveling is so frickin stressful. Packing all of my clothing was just about the death of me. I was limited to two checked bags ($25 and $35 respectively - $100 if I wanted to check a third...but seriously??), and I had to make sure not to go ONE pound overweight, otherwise the airline would charge $100 per overweight bag. If you do the math, if I had checked 3 bags and gone overweight on all of them, I would have had to pay $460. Um, no. Good thing the airlines didn't charge me for the .5lbs I went over on both of the bags that I checked. 

Not only did I have to make sure my bags were the appropriate weight, though, I also had to decide what clothes were most important for me to have as soon as I got to New York, since the rest of my clothes would be shipped to me. I did a really good job at packing enough clothes to probably last me about 2 months, but failed to pack coats, sweatshirts, and the majority of my shoes (so sad).  Luckily I was greeted by this beautiful weather as soon as I landed: 

Looks like spring, right? Nope. January 7th, everyone. I know, I was just as surprised as you are. Not complaining though. If only the rest of the winter would stay like that. It actually has been pretty mild here within my first week. Today was probably the coldest day yet, and that's mostly because of the wind chill. 

Anyways, I celebrated my first night in NYC by meeting up the lovely Mia at her hotel at the Soho Grand. Beautiful hotel with even more beautiful employees...note to self: go back, if not to get drinks, then at least to walk in and out of the front door as gorgeous men stand in the front to greet the visitors. 

It was great catching up with Mia. We bought some delicious drinks...somewhat of a foreshadow of what's to come:

Adios money. This is going to hurt. 

Regardless, though, I could not have asked for a better arrival into the City.

xo

About me.

Let's start here. A little background about me.

I recently graduated from the University of Wisconsin - Madison with degrees in both Communication Arts and French. It really is a strange feeling. I can't believe it's over...I swear my first day of freshman year was yesterday...

While the majority of my friends are going back to school and preparing for the semester, I am on a completely different path. I don't mean to say this as though I'm any more superior than everyone else in school at the moment, but I have definitely phased-out of the whole "school" thing. Just can't do it anymore. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love to learn. But, if there's one thing I DID learn from college, it's that test taking and paper writing aren't the best learning strategies for me. I found myself disappointed at times that I was actually incapable of sitting down and motivating myself to study and, to be honest, it was a little discouraging.

Enter summer 2011. This past summer was definitely the catalyst that helped me get to where I am today. For those of you who don't know, I was interning in New York City for a boutique fashion and beauty PR firm called C.I. Visions, Inc. I was living on the Upper West Side with my cousin and I could not have been happier. Everything was perfect - my job, where I was living, who I was living with, everything.

It was the best experience I could have ever asked for. I learned an unbelievable amount about how the fashion industry works. Working at C.I. Visions completely solidified the idea that this is the industry that I want to be a part of. Don't get me wrong, there were days that were challenging and, like any working person, there were days I wished would just end. But the good FAR outweighed the (little) bad, and I left New York at the end of the summer extremely sad that it was over. 

Going back to school was difficult for me. To be honest, I hated it. I wanted nothing more than to be back in NYC doing something that I love in the city that I love. But my last semester as an undergrad went by faster than I could have ever imagined, and I've finally been reunited with the Big City. 

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As of this past Monday I started an internship for fashion designer (and might I add, one of my absolute favorites) Nicole Miller in the retail and merchandising department.  I could not be more grateful for this opportunity.

Ever since I bought my first Nicole Miller dress on Newbury Street in Boston, Massachusetts [see picture below], I have taken it upon myself to learn about Nicole and her style. I completely fell in love.

You might say that I took the easy way out by graduating early. But I see the next few months as a continuation of my education and, as glamorous or easy as you might think they'll be, I am going to take my work very seriously. I've seen how the industry works from the PR perspective, and now working in retail and merchandising will give me a holistic view of how brands like Nicole Miller become successful. 

That being said, you just cannot live where I am living and not have an amazing time. There's no way I'm not going to go out and live it up in New York City :) 

Hopefully there will be some good stories to come...

xo

Uh oh, Naomi's blogging...

Let me just start by saying, I am writing this blog for several reasons:

1. I have recently moved to a new and exciting place: New York City. I will use this blog for my own sake to keep track of my experiences.

2. I'm obsessed with fashion. Therefore you will read about brands and fashion news, you will be seeing some of the outfits I wear to work or while going out, and you will probably realize that I'm boarderline crazy addicted to shoes.

Finally,

3. I'm a sucker for social media sites. As of the addition of this new blog, I am now the proud owner of 8 sites (that I know of, probably more that I'm forgetting). But to be honest, I truly believe you can get to know a person through the things that he or she posts on their Facebook, Twitter, etc. So hopefully you will get to know me and learn things you might not have known, even if you (thought you) know me in person.


-Also-


I just wanted to clarify one thing. Some people seem to have the misconception that everyone in the fashion industry is dumb. It is one of my BIGGEST pet peeves when I am looked down upon or seen as inferior just because of one of my (many) passions. Sorry that I like to dress nice, and I apologize that I find happiness in shopping, but none of that will ever equate to a lower IQ. So lay off. Seriously. Unless you want me to hate you, in which case by all means call me dumb or a ditz for liking the things I do. That's your prerogative and I want nothing to do with you. 


Anyways, that's my rant. I hope you enjoy learning about me as much as I enjoy talking about my experiences :)


xo