January Outings

My first full weekend in the City was pretty low-key. Coming back, I knew a few people who I met over the summer, but not many. 

Because of that, I am so thankful that one of my good friends from camp introduced me to some of her school friends staying in the City. Lisa and Evie have been so great and have invited me to many of the events and outings that they had planned. 


My first night out with the girls started with a dinner to celebrate Lisa's recent landing of an interview to work for one of the top companies on her lists of desirables. We went to a place called the Hi-Life on the Upper East Side. In two words, the best way to describe this somewhat eclectic restaurant is sushi and burgers - Asian food with American staples thrown in (why not, right?). Although their menu was interesting, to say the least, I decided to play it safe and go for a cocktail. It was a hard choice...

I narrowed down my selection to the 4 champagne cocktails and finally decided on the Champagne Continental. Such a good decision. Honestly wish I could have tried them all, but that would have gotten a bit pricey. After a good time at the Hi-Life, we walked down the street to the "Stumble Inn". We stayed at the sports bar for about half an hour, chatted with two guys - one trying to get into the NFL draft (uh huh) and the other the NBA (of course) - then headed out and split ways. 


For our next outing, we decided to start at the Soho Grand Hotel [see post: Touchdown in NYC], and later made our way to a Brooklyn apartment birthday party. It was a lot of fun meeting some of Lisa's friends, and it was really interesting for me to see what Brooklyn is like, since that was the first time I've ever been there.

Delicious cocktail at the Soho Grand: $16. Typical.

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Side note: One thing I absolutely love about NYC is the infinite opportunities available to do something spontaneous. You never know where you'll end up, or what you'll end up doing. It's both an amazing and scary feeling to me. 

What I would call my next "outing" was definitely spontaneous: an after work field trip to the Soho Apple store to meet the one and only (drop dead gorgeous) Matt Bomer, an actor in one of my favorite TV shows, White Collar.

Meet my future husband, Matt Bomer.

If you've never heard me obsess about Twitter, you'll be hearing a lot about it from now on. So what does Twitter have anything to do with this last adventure? Well, I follow many NYC Twitter accounts, ranging from those that specialize in posting pictures of the skyline, to free open bars/events, to news accounts, etc. It is because of Twitter that I found out that Matt Bomer was in town and would be speaking in Soho, a short subway ride away from my office. So after work, I jumped on the next train going downtown, and made it to the Apple store with 20 minutes to spare. So random, but such a great way to start my week.

My next notable evening out was Thursday, January 19th. Evie and Lisa had RSVP'd to an art gallery event and said they would put my name on the list as well. We had all gotten an e-mail from the coordinator saying we should dress colorful and fashionable. So I chose one of my favorite red dresses from Pitaya, and my favorite Steve Madden black wedges:

(Pardon the mess)

 

I thought this outfit would be appropriate. I mean, it's certainly colorful and at least somewhat fashionable, right? Well...wrong. Very very wrong. As my cab pulled up to the venue, I couldn't help but notice that almost every single person in the gallery was dressed in typical New York garb: black on black on black. On black. Luckily both Evie and Lisa were brightly clothed as well, so we all stuck out in the monotonous crowed together. And you know what? Who cares. We might have been getting looks from girls who thought they were better than us - "oh my gaud why is she wearing that", blah blah blah - but we didn't care. We were there to have a good time and enjoy the event, and that's exactly what we did. The photographer seemed to realize this and found his way to whichever corner we were huddled in, snapping pictures as we pointed and pretended to be interested in the "art" that paid homage to pendulums (yes, you read that right). I could not have asked for a more entertaining way to spend a Thursday night.

Saturday of that same week I was sure I was going to spend a relaxing time at my apartment, catching up on TV shows and getting to bed early. Yeah... that didn't happen. Lisa, Evie and I went out to dinner at a seemingly hidden restaurant named Buddakan. Although I walked past it several times before finally realizing that the entrance was a glass door on a plain brick building, when we walked in we were in awe of the vast size yet intimate ambiance. The menu consisted of many artistic Asian-inspired foods and it was surprisingly reasonably priced. 

In the middle of dinner, Evie received a text from a friend, informing her that we had been invited to the Aspen Social Club, bottle service included. Within minutes, my plans for a restful night disintegrated, and I was in for a long night of dancing.

Mmm Champagne...

Cheers

I just want to note that the great thing about that particular night is not just that bottled service was involved (this was obviously a bonus, though), but the fact that it was not planned. It was exciting and spontaneous. I heart New York.

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Finally, the last night that I should mention was a dinner with the lovely Stacy and Katie at an adorable French restaurant named Tartinery in Nolita. Not only was it authentic French cuisine (Fois Gras, anyone?), but the people who worked there were authentically French, too! Quelle Surprise! And so much fun! Yet another restaurant I'll have to revisit, if only to make sure that the many years of French I've taken don't go to waste. Practice makes perfect anyways, right? And I don't know about you, but I think perfection goes hand-in-hand with a nice glass of white wine.


So, that was my January in a nutshell - awesome restaurants, art gallerias, bottled service, and friends. Such a great first month in the City. I could not be more excited to see what February has to offer!


xo

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