Grand Central...STAT!

Yesterday was a pretty fun day. With the exception of P and I almost losing our minds because it was so quiet at the store, the day went by somewhat quickly. Reason being because my mom's good friend from college, Bob, was in NYC and on his way to meet me at my store around 7. He hadn't seen me since I was about seven years old so it was definitely a funny experience seeing eachother again. He was in town to go to this showcase for his friend Nathan at The Annex (which I think is in the villiage). After P and I finished closing the store, Bob and I hailed a taxi and headed downtown to find Nathan. We ventured into this dark little club where there were maybe 10 people hanging around. The woman who was putting on the showcase had just moved here from Austin too and lived right next to my neighborhood in Austin AND in Brooklyn! Small world. We all chit chatted a bit and then Bob and I walked upstairs to watch Nathan from the balcony. He was pretty good! It was a solo-acoustic thing and the whole point of the show was to sing for a record producer who was in town for that night. Nathan had a really beautiful voice and I was excited that he did a cover of one of my favorite songs, Landslide by Fleetwood Mac. His set lasted about 20 minutes, when it was over Bob and I had to leave pretty quickly because he had to catch a 9:15 train and it was 8:50! We rushed out to the corner, suitcases in tow, hailed a cab and once inside I got to say one of the things I've always wanted to say, "We need to go to Grand Central...STAT!!" With that, the cabbie laid down on the gas and got us to the station in eight minutes! We quickly rushed to Bob's train with five minutes to spare, gave eachother hugs and with that, the two hour visit was over. I walked downstairs to the 7 line and headed back to Brooklyn. When I got home, I had a text from Keith telling me that his sister, Becca was going into labor! I couldn't believe it has been nine months already. When I first met her in college station she was barely pregnant at that point. I excitedly called him up and we talked for a bit on the phone. I always love talking to him because he's got such a great laugh and we have always gotten along so well. I was so happy after talking with him, I could barely sleep for some reason! I woke up around 5 and tossed and turned for a couple of hours. At seven I decided to just wake up, get dressed and go to the gym early. After 20 minutes on the treadmill and 20 on the eliptical machine...I feel amazing!!! Today we're having a big party at the store for Breast Cancer Awareness month so I need to run out and get balloons blown up and cookies! Last time we had a party we got cupcakes and WE ate them all. I'm not making THAT mistake again...especially since I just spend the morning exercising. Haha!! Whew. I feel like a big ball of energy!

A Quiet Zone.

Yesterday the sun was shining and there was a really wonderful breeze that was just cool enough to require a sweater. I had left my window open during the night and awoke to freezing toes and a red nose, but I would trade warm weather for this ANY day! I put on my newest Betsey acquisition (a gray plaid gauze tunic from last fall with puff sleeves and a square neckline), black tights, my new Frye boots and threw on my black leather handbag. The plan for the day was to head over to the upper west side. I had never been to the Columbus avenue area and I wanted to check out our competition stores. I took the L train to 8th avenue and then waited for the C train. Of course it was a weekend and the trains were all running on the wrong lines. I waited and waited, the C never came. Some ladies confusingly asked me what was going on so I told them the same shpeal others had told me when I first arrived to the city. "The trains run funky on weekends, I'll show you the way!" We got onto the A train and I gave them directions to the Magnolia cupcake bakery via their tourist subway map. I decided to get off on Columbus circle and walk the 15 blocks up to where I needed to go. The weather was just so nice and I couldn't bear to be underground!
I walked up to around 72nd and Columbus Ave. The upper west side is absolutely beautiful. The brownstones and architecture are so old but very well taken care of. On that side of town I found TONS of high-end stores meshed with small cozy clothing boutiques. There was a restaurant every 20 feet and people were EVERYWHERE. I wish our store was in such a prime foot-traffic location! We would be KILLING our goals. Sigh. Alas, I enjoyed the area, even if it did make me a little depressed that I didn't get to spend time in such a cool neighborhood each day. From that street I realized that I was only a block away from central park and decided to trek over that way. Although I have only been there a few times now, I am always blown away by how gorgeous Central Park is. It literally pops out of nowhere, even though it is absolutely ginormous. It's a green, luscious oasis flourishing amongst a huge cascade of cement, traffic and pollution. I carefully followed down the paths for walkers and sightseers, paying careful attention not to step food into the joggers and bikers paths. There were so many people there, probably because the weather was so beautiful. Benches line the paths and were packed with everyone from business men to little kids licking ice cream cones. I've never seen anything like it!



At some point I came across this huge field that I had never seen before. There were hundreds upon hundreds of people sprawled out on the grass, basking in the sun. For as many people as there were, it was dead silent, unbelievable! The tall city buildings loomed in the background but the noise of the city had somehow been shut out of this large square of Central Park grass.




I sat down on a nearby bench that lined the jogging path. There was an older couple sitting nearby. The man, probably in his 80's, was reading a hard-cover book that seemed to have been read so many times that I couldn't make out what the title was. His wife sat in her wheelchair opposite from him. There were oxygen tubes in her nose and her head was tilted slightly to the side as she blankly watched the families sprawled out in the grass parallel to us. At some point, a gust of wind swirled through the red and green leafed trees and blew her white, fine hair into her eyes. She didn't move. Her husband immediately looked up to her, removed his hand from her knee and pushed the strand of hair away from her eyes and behind her ear. He then patted her knee with his hand, adjusted his glasses and went back to reading his book. It was such a touching moment. After briefly feeling a rush of home-sickness, I decided to walk back up to 7th avenue and catch the train home.

Care package.

I have the most incredible friends and family.

I came home just now after a busy Friday and a nice run at the gym to find a package sitting in front of my room.

I dropped my enormous duffel bag and purse onto the floor and sat down to opened it up. Inside I found an adorable card accompanying 27 mixed cd's that my best friend Jenna made me. I had told her a few days ago that all of my music had gotten deleted when my brother reformatted my computer. I can't believe she did this for me...this must have taken forever!!! Jenna, I love you!!


My family and friends have been taking such great care of me, even from thousands of miles away. They always know how to cheer me up and instinctively know when to do it. This whole process of starting over somewhere completely new and on my own has been so much easier thanks to the wonderful people I am so lucky to have in my life.

Thank you so much to my incredible parents, brother and best friends. My life would not be the same without you.

What makes the world go 'round.

The day ended in one of the strangest ways I've ever experienced since I have worked in retail. It was a quiet Tuesday, like most Tuesdays in our store since my arrival to New York. I spent the early afternoon praying for a burst of people to storm into the boutique and buy whatever their hearts desired to help us make our goal for the day. Well, God definitely sent me a burst of something...and it came in the form of a 60-something-year-old woman named Charlotte. At about 6:52 (we close at 7), a petite well-dressed woman with a blond bob and bright red lipstick walked into the store hauling a giant rolled up pink rug over her shoulder (a modern day sex in the city inspired Jesus, maybe?) She dropped the heavy load off near the counter and started to browse through the racks of colorful clothing. I approached her and commented on how gorgeous her Yves Saint Laurent handbag was. From there, I had made a new best friend! She grabbed me by the arm tenderly and led me around the store while telling me about her early days as a NYC fashionista. She started collecting BJ clothing in the early 70's, many of which she still has to to this day. We have many customers who come in to the boutique because the funky clothing helps them reminisce about their early years and past love for fashion. However, I quickly realized that we could have been a store selling Polish Bratwurst, live poultry or Barry Manilow CDs and Charlotte could have found interesting stories to share about those things, too. She started to pick up speed at this point as she stumbled around the store. While she spoke to me, her hands flew wildly through the air like an orchestra conductor as she switched from subject to subject, often interjecting enthusiastically when she would see a piece of clothing that stood out to her. I began to collect a pile of dresses in my hands and started running them back and forth to the dressing room like it was some kind of baton relay race. It was about 7:09 at this point and I looked over to MG who was patiently standing behind the counter, staring at me with confusion. We both knew that there was no way we were getting out of the store by 7:15 and especially no way that I was going to make my Pilates class at 7:30. Goodbye, vision of perfect abs! Eventually, the woman made her way into the room after asking me to pick out a pair of shoes for her to try on with the dresses. She wanted pumps, so I brought her pumps in a size 9. However, she decided on a pair of rainbow-colored beaded suede moccasins to balance out the simplicity of the silk charmeusse dresses she had chosen. At this point, I decided that there was something very peculiar about this woman. I asked her name, she replied with Charlotte. After I told her my name, I could hear her gushing about Gone with the Wind and how it was her favorite movie. I crept around the other side of the mirror and stared at the floor until she came out of the room. All of a sudden....WOOSH! The dressing room curtain flew open and there stood a very pale-skinned weathered Charlotte, with one breast hanging completely out of the dress that she had managed to put on backwards. I immediately turned to MG who stood behind the counter with her mouth dropped completely open. With the speed of a gazelle, I rushed over to Charlotte and struggled to get her dress put on properly so that she wasn't flashing all of the upper east side homeless people who stare into our windows late at night. The current situation had no visable effect on her. I had a feeling that this wasn't the first time she had been topless at a public establishment. Three or four ensembles later, we embarked on a conversation about how I had just moved to the city and that I need to join "groups" in order to make friends. "I joined groups, Tara. One of them was an AA group, but that doesn't matter. What matters is that not all drunks are BUMS!" she shouted in a muffled tone through the dressing room curtains. I just stood there with my hands on my head...staring into pink oblivion. It was 7:56 by this point and we just wanted to get out of there! Charlotte came out of the room with one of our own blouses on, jeans, moccasins, lipstick smeared on her front tooth and her blond bob, slightly off center from the position it was in upon her arrival. While trying not to stare too intently on her ever-shifting wig, Charlotte sat down indian style, possibly embracing her new choice of footwear, on the black and white checkered floor and told us to pick out pajamas for her. I suggested that I ring up her current items to give her the total before we picked out any more pieces. It came to $1800. I truly did not believe that she'd be able to pay for this and I especially was nervous about the fact that she could potentially be under the influence of something. I've had similar situations where I have received angry phone calls the following morning by husbands who had not given consent to any frivolous spending sprees at stores with a "no returns" return policy. I repeatedly asked Charlotte if the amount was okay with her and she seemed more than excited about her new items. I explained our return policy prior to swiping her card. I had her sign all receipts and I took her contact information down just in case I get a call from an angry spouse tomorrow morning. It took about fifteen minutes to get her all wrapped up, calmed down and on her way out of the boutique. I was worried about her walking home with her newly acquired pink shopping bags, expensive designer purse and large area rug (although I don't think anyone would mess with a woman wearing moccasins) so I ran outside to hail her a cab. A taxi showed up within 45 seconds. I was pretty impressed with myself, as this was my first time hailing a cab! I loaded all of her belongings into the taxi. When I turned around, she gave me a big lipsticky kiss on my cheek and said, "thank you tara, you both have sweet faces. goodluck in new york." I gave her a hug, pushed her pink bags into the car, closed the door and ended the Charlotte chapter in my big story book of crazy retail customer experiences.

This little guy ventured into our store the other day. His owner was a Russian model. I asked what his name was. "Putin", she replied.

Enough said.

This morning was going to be a GLORIOUS morning. It was going to be the first day after a long 40-hour week of hard work where I could sleep in a little later than usual and not worry about my alarm going off at 7am. I even stayed up a little later than usual last night because I knew I could bask in the glory of dim lighting the following morning on my semi-comfortable make-shift bed.

Alas, my dream of peaceful slumber was completely obliterated at 7:45am when the angry Polish landlord from downstairs pounded vigorously on the front door to our apartment. The guy who is in charge of our rent is out of town and told me to give him the rent when he got back on Tuesday. This, unfortunately, had not been brought to our landlord's attention and he wanted the rent NOW (my share, anyway) in CASH! In a state of confusion, I deliriously slipped on a big sweater, jeans and a hat and walked 20 minutes in the cold to the closes Bank of America to get money.

Eventually, I returned back to the house and gave Slawmomir (that's his name) a chunk of $20 dollar bills. Here I am now, back on the floor staring at my alarm clock.

I guess the only positive thing about this situation is that I get to say that in my lifetime, I was once awoken by a 6 foot 2 angry, red-faced Polish man shouting in a thick accent about money, young kids being irresponsible and Sundays being church days.

Saturday night at the movies

Today was a wonderful Saturday! It was really cold outside but M and I decided to leave the door open all day at work because I really think it creates more foot traffic when people can freely enter the shop. As funny as it sounds, I feel like people are intimidated to ring the buzzer and open the door on their own. They enjoy stealthily sneaking into the store when we're not looking to avoid having to talk to sales people. When you think about it though, it just gives us more of an opportunity to talk to them if they actually step foot into the store in the first place, no matter which method they use to do so. Ah, the joy of retail! This is what my psychology has resorted to during the slowest shopping season we've seen in years...analyzing conversion rates and foot traffic!!

After a crazy wealthy family from Mexico destroyed our store five minutes before we were about to close, I changed into my gym clothes because I was going to go for a treadmill jog at the gym. After getting out of my pretty clothes, washing off my makeup and packing up my bag, M and I left the store and I trekked over to the gym. To my dismay, it was closing at 8 which wouldn't give me enough time to workout. I guess most people have better things to do on a Saturday night, but I was really looking forward to a good run!! Instead, I hopped onto the train which took me down to Times Square. I walked over to the biggest movie theater I've ever been in and bought a ticket to see Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. Going to the moves by yourself is actually really fun. This is the second one I've seen solo since I've been here. I think it should turn into a once-a-week kind of routine. It's a nice stress reliever and since I don't have a television, it gives me a chance to see what else is happening in the entertainment world! I lovedddddddd the soundtrack to the movie, it's playing via itunes on my computer right now. Sigh.

Tomorrow will be a good day. I am waking up early, heading to Manhattan to go to the gym and from there I'm going to check out an apartment on the upper west side. A friend from work owns it and has two rooms for rent. It's really close to central park and VERY reasonably priced. I hope the apartment lives up to its reputation because it would be sooooo wonderful to live in the city AND be able to save money at the same time! The fact that he has two rooms, one for me AND Kate is absolutely awesome....I guess we'll see!! I'll take pictures and keep everyone posted.

One more day...

...until my day off! I've got the itch to explore during Sunday and Monday. This past week was difficult for a number of reasons. However, I think the things that were causing the last seven days to be overwhelming are finally behind me and I am ready to get into the groove of the New York City life that I had started to develop before the craziness began.

Today was a quiet Friday at the store, but we are doing well for the month so far! We are 22% up for October, so that's great. I spent the day finishing up paperwork, re-merchandising our store with the girls and helping one of my associates re-do her resume. She's trying to get a merchandising position in the corporate office. It felt good to edit someone's paper, just like I used to do in my English courses, ha!



It is starting to get pretty chilly up here. Today was really the first day since I've been here that really felt like Fall to me. Granted, I don't really know what Fall feels like entirely, but the sky was gray and there was a crispness to the air that I haven't felt before. By the end of October I am most definitely going to need a good pair of boots and a nice coat! We received a shipment of winter cold-weather accessories today. I can't wait to wear my hats, scarves and (for the first time)...mittens!!

Alrightttttttttt....I'm exhausted. Time for bed. I hope everyone is doing well. I miss you all so terribly much. Sometimes it's all that I think about.

Rice to Riches

I haven't posted in a few days. The small things that I wanted to write about were put aside because of the bigger issues that have been consuming my thoughts for the last week. Most have been more personal and I don't want to get into them on here. I guess I'll see how the next few weeks play out and whether or not I want to write about it.

Last week, Nina and I decided that a girl's night was definitely in dire need. We had both had busy weeks and needed to relax. After I got off of work on Wednesday, I met Nina in soho. We walked a few blocks and decided to eat at a dimly lit pizza restaurant in little Italy. The vibe was wonderful; really great indie music mixed with fashionable New Yorkers, great lighting and the best thin-crust metropolitan pizza I've had since I've lived in the city. We talked about life and the little things that had been happening to us since we had seen eachother last. After finishing our gigantic pizza, we walked down the rainy streets over to a place called Rice to Riches. It is very well-branded store devoted entirely to rice pudding! They embrace the idea that it is terribly fattening for you, however, you mine as well enjoy yourself anyway! They had a ridiculous amount of flavors that you could top with cinnamon, nuts, fruit or chocolate chips. Nina and I decided to share a small graham cracker flavored pudding (which was GIGANTIC!)that had berries on top. Good god...it was delicious! I sat there thinking that, in essence, this is a restaurant entirely devoted to a product that people could absolutely care less about and any sane person would run as fast as they could away from rice pudding due to its fat content. Because it is branded SO well, however, rice pudding is now the coolest thing since Lindsay Lohan! This teeny restaurant was so busy with everyone from tall lanky models to business men and tourists who could barely speak english. The women who worked there seemed to be of European descent because of their thick accents however the design of the store felt very influenced by the clean and simple design of the asian-culture that has been developing restaurants like pink berry. I took a couple of pictures.





Yesterday, I woke up pretty late in the afternoon because I had trouble sleeping the night before. I met my friend Liz who is an apartment broker in Williamsburg to look at an apartment for Kate and I. It wasn't exactly what I had in mind, so we left and grabbed a cup of coffee. She lives in the same building as my friend Chris, so on the way back I called him up and decided to hang out as his place for a bit. It's funny being in an apartment full of very vocal guys. It's such a different dynamic than living with girls. The three of them are constantly joking around, laughing, walking around without clothes on....it's pretty hilarious. We waited for Chris' roommates, Chris and Eric, to get ready and the four of us took the L train to the East Village to eat brunch at a little vegan restaurant that Chris #2 was really excited about. I ordered this delicious frittata that had olives and goat cheese inside of it with a side of really tasty home fries. Spending time with a group of guys made me realize that boys obsess over girls just as much (maybe more?) as girls obsess about guys. I think the preconception is that, as women, we are always nervous to be the ones to make the first move, be too expressive with our feelings at first, wait for THEM to make all of the decisions, etc. because we don't want to make them feel uncomfortable in any way. I, myself, never want to come off as too needy or dependent on someone so I tend to back off and let the guys do most of the work at first. I don't want them to get the wrong idea about me. But is that really the right approach? I think that the genders have become so uncommunicative with one another over time that we have developed all of these preconceptions that aren't really based on anything concrete! After hanging out with the guys yesterday, I realized that they worry about the same things girls worry about and if we all just vocalized it in the beginning stages of dating...life would be so much easier. At some point while we were eating, Chris was like "do you know what this is right now?" We all looked at him, "It's Seinfeld! We're the guys and she's Elaine!" It was really funny, but very true. I was the voice of the player from the other team. It was a good brunch.

So today has been really lazy so far. I slept in, cleaned my room up and have been sleeping on and off. I just need a day to relax after everything that's been happening in the last week. It's really amazing how huge of a toll external stress can take on your body and mental state. It is always a very gradual but slow buildup until BAM one day I just can't stop crying and feel awful. Luckily, I have such supportive a family. Without them knowing how I function and knowing how to calm me down and make me laugh, I'd have runny mascara on an hourly basis!

Run in with the feds...

Today was an interesting first day back to work after my two day-off stretch. It started off incredibly eventful.

My morning began like most other mornings. My alarm went off at seven and I re-set it like I always do to 8:30. I carefully and deliriously crawled off of my bed (which is lofted four feet off of the ground) and headed to the bathroom to wash my face. I finished getting ready and began my 10 minute walk toward the subway station. Lady luck was with me this morn because the trains were running back to back and I made it to Manhattan surprisingly early. I decided to treat myself to a mushroom and cheese omelet from Green Cafe (they've got this amazing $3.99 special. Two eggs any style, toast and a cup of joe) and got it to go so I could mangia and play around on the computer before I had to open the store. I walked up the street to the boutique, set my deliciously warm meal on the stoop and unlocked the gates. However, to my dismay, when I went to pull the chain to lift the gates to the storefront, it appeared to be stuck. The girls had accidentally forgotten to call me the night prior to let me know that the gate had broken when they were lowering it. There I stood, my steamy vanilla flavored coffee rapidly cooling in the crisp morning air, helpless. After repeated attempts to call our little handyman Louie (who was I kidding? it was 10am on a Tuesday), I decided to call a 24 hour locksmith. Two shoddy guys showed up and were able to get the gate working again in about 30 minutes. To be honest, if I had a ladder available, I could have probably fixed the gate too, and for FAR less money than these jerks charged us. They wanted almost $400 for resetting the chain on the track. I used my newly-gained New York "go-get'em" attitude and tried my hardest to talk the price down. Ultimately, they won the battle and I had to call corporate to cut them a check. UHG. To make matters worse, my omelet was cold by the time I was able to eat it.

One of my sales associates showed up a little while later and we got to work. We were really busy pretty early on for a Tuesday. P had some great sales in the morning and helped a little girl pick out an outfit for her 13th birthday. Holy $900 dollars later, the little curly blonde teen pranced out of our store with two pink shopping bags filled with a blue poofy dress, gold purse and a sparkly cardigan. Her parents looked proud. After talking with a long-winded 80's era fan of Betsey's for far longer than I politely should have, I found a moment to scurry out of the store so that I could run our deposits to the bank. I stood in line for a few moments and approached one of the tellers with three deposit envelopes. They usually scowl when they see me because they know I have a ton of pesky change and slips to turn in. Sandra, who had barely looked at me the entire time I was standing there, was down to my last deposit when she froze for a second, held up a $100 bill to the light and said, "This, my dear, is a counterfeit!" Everyone grew silent and two other tellers looked to her direction. "What?" I asked. "It's a counterfeit...a fake! Boy is it a good one, I almost missed it myself." The woman next to her jumped out of her rolling chair and leaned over the cubicle wall to get a glance at Mr. Ben Fake-lin. "Wait...how do you know? I mean, we marked it...the pen says it's real!" I exclaimed through the glass barrier. "The pens lie. This one is a good one," Sandra assured me. From that moment on, the bill was passed from teller to teller. Even the man standing to my right asked to hold it so he could see what a fake bill looked like! I couldn't believe it, I felt completely embarassed even though I had nothing to do with the mishap. I stood there desperately trying to avoid the stares of the many eyes standing in line behind me. Sandra confiscated the bill, filled out a ton of documentation and had me sign forms that were going to be sent to the federal reserve. She gave me the paperwork to send to our corporate office, and with that, I slumped away from the counter and hurried out of the building back to the store.

For the rest of the day, I became an ID super-freak! I was checking people's ID's like a madwoman and was getting everyone's information during each transaction for tracking records. I had found out where the counterfeit money had come from and simultaneously began a frivolous cleaning frenzy throughout the store. During one transaction, a woman from Brazil FREAKED out on me when I asked for identification. She started shouting at me that she would never shop at our store again and that it was against the law for me to ask to see her license. I was so frustrated from the prior events of the day that I looked at her directly and said something to the effect of, "I had to deal with someone using counterfeit money all morning ma'am, so this is for your own protection and it is part of our company policy!" I was proud of myself for backing up our policy but also frustrated that someone would yell at me for trying to protect them.

SO...That was my day. I told you that I'd promise you an interesting post...and there you go! I am SO happy this day is over. Hopefully I will awake tomorrow with a more positive work-day and find that my obsessive compulsive laundry-spree has disposed of all microscopic insects from my bedroom.

I hope everyone is doing well. Goodnight.

I may have been complaining about the last week being very slow at the store, but the last three days certainly made up for the loss we had in sales. It has just been non-stop busy since Thursday...but hey! I'm not complaining! Just thankgoodness that I have tomorrow and Monday off because I don't think I would have made it two more days at the store. I am so exhausted. Tomorrow I'm sure I will have more to say, but as of right now, my head is pounding and bed is calling my name. I just wanted to make a quick post to let everyone know that I'm alright. Expect an INCREDIBLE blog update tomorrow.

Night.

Whewww!

I just got home after going to Pilates class and running two miles at the gym. I always procrastinate going, but once I'm there I always feel a million times better when I leave. After a long day of work, I feel rejuvenated once I run my little heart out and sweat out the mental stress that accumulates within me during the day. I've decided that, instead of waking up early, it's easier for me to walk over there after work. I don't mind bringing my work-out clothes with me on the train if I'm able to get an extra hour of sleep in the mornings because of it. Whew! Comfy bed...here I come!

Sunday and Monday was the first two-day span I've had where I've had back-to-back days off since I've arrived in the city...and boy did it feel good!!! On Sunday, Chris and I went to McCarren Park. We laid out a blanket and ate bagels while watching hipsters place softball. It was awesome because at some point, there was an entire team of Orthodox Jews, dressed head to toe in white collared shirts and black slacks with suspenders, playing against a team of Mexican men. It was definitely a sight to see (and one that I'd never seen in Texas, that's for sure!) We sat there for many hours, people watched and relaxed in the sun.



A few hours later after our vegan bagels digested, we decided to get up and walk down 8th avenue to this random little park that they've converted an old loading dock out of. The views were beautiful, even with the overcast sky.





I couldn't believe this little spot was so close to where I live. I love the Bedford Avenue area. Although it's very trendy, it has a great vibe and is a lot of fun to walk around. There are so many interesting and varied people walking around. I can't wait to explore all of the little coffee shops and boutiques on that strip. My mission for next weekend is to walk around my area more and find some hang-out spots for those lonely nights when I'm craving something to do.

Spring Runway show 2008

The last three days have been an absolute whirlwind. I have so much to write, where do I start? I'll begin with Monday.

Monday I left superrrr early to meet Michelle from Dallas and Sharon from Toronto at their hotel on 34th and Lexington. I can't even explain how wonderful it was to see Michelle, I miss talking to her each day. She reminds me of being back in Austin. Sigh. The three of us hopped into a cab and drove out to the place where we were going to have our corporate meeting. The showroom was apparently insanely chaotic because of the runway show the next day so they set up a spot in an architectual firm that our VP of Retail's boyfriend owned. Ummmmmmmm it was GORGEOUS!!! They had a really long table set up for all of the area managers that was lined with bouquets of pink flowers and jars of candy beans, m&m's and red licorice. It was wonderful! It was a very open, bright space for us to have our meeting. The best part about it was this metal staircase that lead up to the roof of the building where they had set a large deck and chairs for the architects to hang out on during the day. It overlooked the Hudson river and you could see Martha Stuart's showroom right across the way.




We would go up there during little breaks to warm up in the sun and chit chat. The architect firm was a perfect example of a really motivating, enjoyable workspace. Natural sunlight, big windows, a place to wind down and relax...it was perfect design (it better have been...they're architects!)

Basically, Monday was one large meeting but we were able to get a TON covered. Around 4, we all headed down to SoHo to do a little competitive shopping and then we all met for dinner at this Thai Restaurant called Peep. It was fantastic, I completely stuffed myself. I wound up sitting next to our new VP of Retail and she kept eating calamari off of my plate. Talk about surreal! I kept giggling every time she'd reach over and steal another piece.

On Tuesday I woke up at a quarter to six again to head to Manhattan. Michelle, Sharon and I caught a cab over to the architectural firm for another meeting which lasted until about 1:00. They ordered vans to drive us to Bryant Park since it was raining. It wasn't just raining...there was a DOWNPOUR while we were sitting upstairs. I kept hoping it would blow over in time for us to go to the show and eventually it did. Luckily, my $7 umbrella came in handy!


(Michelle and I waiting to get into the van)

We drove in traffic for a good while and eventually made it to Bryant Park. This is my second time going to fashion week and I was feeling a little more confident since I knew what to expect. The photographers are always overwhelming! They were stalking Michelle and Sharon! Their outfits were amazzzzzzzing. You definitely feel like one of the cool folk' when you go to things like this. So many people are waiting outside desperate to go in, but we just flash our little pass and they let us right through. DEFINITELY cool.






(haha Kelly Osbourne was there! Too bad my camera hates things that move... it is so blurry!)



Eventually we got in and Michelle and I quickly ran up the stairs to find the best standing spot. Seating is usually reserved for people who are invited, press, celebrities, etc. I like standing because you can see the shoes...but when the guy sitting in front of us offered us the two seats next to him, Michelle and I jumped on that! We climbed over the chairs in our dresses and sparkly shoes and enjoyed the show while resting our feet. The clothes were absolutely amazing. Her things are really going back to ORIGINAL Betsey design. We talked about it for a very long time today at the showroom. They brought all of the pieces from the show out on rolling racks and we edited it down to things we thought were truly special and sellable in the retail stores. I feel really passionate about the approach they're taking with the line, they want to get back to basics and really focus on what makes Betsey Johnson different from other designers and how we can appeal to the entire market, not just prom girls. It is all veryyyyy exciting. I feel incredibly lucky to be part of this company...and this week was so inspiring. I've been so caught up with trying to get the store on track and getting adjusted to New York. I put aside why I moved here in the first place --- for the FASHION!!

I'm waiting for the runway videos that I took on my camera to finish up loading on Youtube, but until then...here are some pictures that I took this morning in the showroom ;)


The Hallway leading to the showroom.





The pieces we edited down to production from the actual runway dresses.





EDIT!!! Here are the two videos I shot on my camera! One is of the opening of the show, Betsey and her grandchildren. The other is of the very end of the show!!

Whenever I'm walking around the city by myself (wait...when am I not walking around NYC by myself?!) I always wonder what the soundtrack to my life would be at that moment. Sadly, my mp3 player broke long ago so I can't necessarily hear music while pondering things like this. There are certain bands that I can correlate with different time periods in my life, however, without headphones and an ipod, I'm starting to associate city sounds with New York instead of actual music. I sit on the subway each morning and gaze at all of the people around me who are plugged into some kind of electrical device. Their ipods, iphones, dvd players, etc. Before I moved here I was constantly surrounded my music...at the gym, in my car, at my store, my mp3 player was always in my purse. However, I feel like I would be missing out on so much around me if I still had my headphones constantly in my ears. I really enjoy walking down my daily route to the subway each morning. I live in a Polish neighborhood and there are always locals hustling and bustling at 8 in the morning while they prepare their bodegas and corner shops for the day. I enjoy standing on the subway platforms listening for the faint sound of the train coming down the track. Even if you can't hear or see it at first, you can always tell when it is coming when the humid, stagnant, sticky air begins to move just the teeniest bit around you. It lifts up patches of peach fuzz that you might not have even known you had. I would totally miss out on the sound of commuters in taxis whizzing down the streets and the faint honking noises coming from blocks away. On a daily basis, I overhear random snippets of conversations that leave me wondering what kind of book I could write if I pieced together each remnant of these stories that pass me by while I walk.

This evening I walked down my little Brooklyn street after work alone in the dark with my umbrella while hurricane Hannah poured down above me. I listened to the water slosh underneath the cars and onto the sidewalks. Although my ballet flats squished as I walked from the rain water inside of them, I didn't mind the weather. I realized that being alone isn't so bad because I definitely wouldn't appreciate these tiny moments if my attention was focused elsewhere, whether it be on my ipod or the companionship of others.

Good pick-me-up from yesterday.

Tough week.

For some reason this past week has been particularly overwhelming for me. I think, with August winding down and me finally moving into a more permanent apartment, the events that have happened in the last four weeks finally had a chance to catch up with me. I've spent a lot of time by myself, more than I have for quite some time. In some aspects it feels good to do things independently and reflect on my life a little bit while I'm at it. At the same time, I miss the companionship of my friends and little brother. It's like...you come home at the end of the day and you just don't know what to do with yourself. I feel restless. Upset. My nose won't stop running. A friend of mine suggested that I should take a class or something to try and meet people. That's definitely a possibility. Where do I even find out about something like that? Is it meeting people that is really my problem? I feel like I could entertain myself if I just knew where to go. This city is so large, I find myself wondering...where do I even start?!

I took the last three days off to wind down from the craziness of August. A friend of mine from high school was in town so I played tour guide, even though I had absolutely no idea where I was going. We took the F train to Coney Island yesterday. I was pretty shocked at how deserted it was, but it felt really inspiring to see a little piece of my mom's and grand parent's history. That was their playground back in the day.




The other night we ventured out to try to find a special place that Dennis showed me a few weeks ago. For some reason I feel such a huge connection to this spot. The view of the Manhattan skyline is gorgeous down at the Brooklyn Heights Promenade. It is a long boardwalk that overlooks the lower end of the city and at night it is a picture perfect place to be. I've never been so close to something so beautifully breathtaking. I wound up going back to that spot tonight by myself to snap a few more photos that didn't come out so well while I was there with Sean. It was difficult being there alone. Although there was a decent amount of people walking along the path, it was very quiet and the big city seemed at a standstill. The only thing you could hear were the cars whizzing by on the freeway below. Every time I turned around, there were couples holding hands and enjoying the romantic view together. Eeek. To say the least, it was emotional for me but I will continue to go back to that spot. For one reason or another, it's the one spot I don't mind being alone in.