It's 4:30 AM, and I have to leave my dorm in about 20 minutes so I'm going to make this quick.

It turns out that I finished my internship earlier than expected.  It's bittersweet, really.  I'll be on my way to the airport at 5 AM.  I'll be driving past the beautiful skyscrapers, weaving through taxis, and remembering every single moment I spent here.  I love this city.  I don't know whether to cry because I'm leaving or jump up and down because I'm going home.  I kind of just want to do both.

I would like to leave one final thought before I'm out of New York and the moment is gone.  I believe, out of all the lessons I've learned from being up here in such a short time, there is one that stands out the most.  It all comes down to this: live your whole life. I often found myself walking these streets, darting in between tourists taking pictures and New Yorkers on their blackberries, and wondering what the heck I was doing here.  And every time I thought about how I got here, I just had to smile.  It was literally just an idea that popped in my head about seven months ago on a rainy day in Starkville.  I was just really wanting some life experience outside of my normal boundaries.  Next thing I know, phone calls are being made, resume is being perfected, and I'm flying up to New York City for an interview.  It happened so fast and I really don't remember my thought process along the way, but I do know this much:  it happened because I never doubted it would.  It happened because, at the time, it was the absolute right thing for me to do at this time in my life.  I have to encourage anyone who reads this to make up your mind about where you want to be, or where you think you need to be, and just do it.  Really, nothing is stopping you.

I have several people to thank for getting me up here (and getting me back home!) And I do intend on making this blog longer.  For now, though, I have to go.  As sad as it is to say, this is my last blog I'll be writing on my New York summer while I'm still in New York..  but I can't wait to write the rest when I get home.

Here is how much I miss cooking:
1. I watch the Food Network almost daily and write down little kitchen appliances/groceries I need when I get back home.
2. Today, while at the library, I checked out 3 cookbooks and bought a composition notebook so on this lovely Saturday evening in New York City, I could sit in my dorm and write down Barefoot Contessa's recipes for chicken and biscuit stew, parmesan roasted asparagus, mustard vinaigrette... you get the idea.
3. I already have an online Target shopping cart of the kitchen appliances I want upon returning to my beloved kitchen.

Moving on.
I have THREE weeks left in New York! This summer has really flown by.  I can't believe in three weeks, one of my very best friends will be getting married. Where did the time go? Although she will be a married woman soon, I will always remember Grace from our freshman year at MC- thinking we own the place, listening to Taylor Swift nonstop, and eating cream cheese and wheat thins on a daily basis. (Oh- and might I add, driving to Ridgeland one day so she could go in Fusion and check out hot stuff Tyler Douglas when I first met him.) Now she has to go off and get married and make us all feel old. ;) (Just kidding, Graceypoo.)

Oh, so, I guess I should update everyone on the New York trip.

I may be coming back for fashion week in February! Apparently interns are very much needed that week at Ford, and it's a lot more hands-on.  And I mean, you know, it doesn't hurt that I could be watching some of the shows. ;) I guess it just depends on my school schedule and whatnot before any concrete plans are made.

J and I had a pretty adventurous night on Thursday.  We're both laying in bed around 11 PM, trying to fall asleep, then some of her friends came in town from Long Island and she asks me if I want to go out. Why not? I hadn't really done much since Tyler left anyways.  So, we left our dorm around midnight (gotta love the city that never sleeps.) On the way to Greenwich, we talked about how we aren't the kind of people to stay out all hours of the night but more of a hang out for a bit, then go back home around 11 kind of people.  And, obviously, we "can NOT stay out until 4 in the morning."  Our first stop was Paquito's in Greenwich, then we met up with everyone and walked around Greenwich.  One of the guys was from South Carolina (where J is from) and just wasn't digging the Greenwich crowd.  So we all piled into a taxi and headed towards some southern-style bar on 31st street.  Literally the moment we arrived, a girl walked up to me and did the Alfalfa hand-under-the-chin move and asked me what movie it was from. I said, "Little Rascals, of course." She was so excited that she offered to buy me a drink.  Gotta love those strange... hospitable New Yorkers.  Anyway, against our word, J and I got home at exactly 3:58 AM. So much for not staying out late.

Bailey called me today and told me there is a little bug problem in our apartment again- and by little, I mean roaches. I'm kind of scared. If there are bugs in our apartment, they usually come from my room. (Mom & Dad- I keep my room clean there so that's not the reason! Promise!) Apparently my room is just nice and cozy for those little creatures. I think they go in there because they know I'm too afraid to kill them. Why me?

Last but certainly not least, if you (whoever you are) ever go to New York, go to Silver Spurs and get the eggs benedict. I don't know if it's because I haven't had eggs benedict (or just any real food) in a while, or if it really is just the best thing on the planet, but I have to recommend it.  Deeeeeeelish.

I am terrible about keeping this updated! First, let me give a recap about Tyler's visit here.

So, he flew in last Thursday.  After his nap, we walk towards Little Italy looking for a place to eat.  We just happened to stumble upon Lombardi's, which is the first pizzeria in the US. I think it's been there since 1907 or something like that.  Needless to say, considering they have a reputation to uphold, the pizza was SO good. 

After dinner, we decided to go to Times Square so he could see what it's like at night.  I was pretty excited about seeing his reaction... I wondered if he'd be as amazed as I was the first time I saw it.  Well, he was.  He LOVED it.  We walked around for a while, went to Toys R Us (which by the way, has a carousel inside?) and the Hershey store, ran into the jerk from "Pretty In Pink", then found the building where Tupac got shot. We snuck inside to see the elevator he was near and so Tyler could throw up  the westside gang sign (probably a bad idea in a crowd, huh?)  

After taking a few minutes to relax inside the restaurant near the Tupac building, we decided to go get some sleep so we'd be ready for the next day.  We took a detour to Union Square, I showed him where I worked and a little bit of the East Village (my hood).  He was totally in love with all of it.

The next day, our first stop was the Dakota. (He got to see where Tupac got shot, it was my turn to show him where John got shot.)  We took a couple pictures, then walked across the street to go see Strawberry Fields.  Tyler was amazed at how big the Imagine monument actually is.  We sat there for a little while because, wouldn't you know it, it was Paul's birthday and this hippy/huge Beatles fan was playing "12 o'clock Beatle Power Hour" on the radio.  

We walked around Central Park for a while.  It was a BEAUTIFUL day- perfect for a first time Central Park-er.  We then went to the Met and stayed there for the rest of the afternoon.  Tyler loves history, so it was like a playground to him.  For dinner, we went to Serendipity.  It turns out that Serendipity has a lot more history behind it than just the movie named after it.  We were downstairs reading little things about the restaurant, and it turns out that we actually sat at the exact table where John & Yoko used to always sit.  Pretty ironic, huh?  

After dinner, we met up with Amber and Jeremy at an Irish pub near the Empire State building (another thing that Tyler was just blown away by. I think he made me take about 15 pictures of it from different locations in the city.)  Jeremy wanted to go to an Irish pub in the city, and it turned out that I actually knew of one because my mom and I ate there during both of our visits to NY. Later, we went to the lower east side for a little while and walked around a bit. After a while, Tyler and I were both ready to pass out after our long day, so we decided to be old people and leave early so we could get some sleep.

On Saturday, our first stop was Greenwich Village.  I read that the bar/restaurant "Cafe Huh?" on Across The Universe was actually based on a real place in Greenwich called "Cafe Wha?"  It's actually a bar where Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, and Bill Cosby (random) used to do shows.  It was closed for lunch, so we just got a few pictures and walked to this other place called Groove Lounge (did I mention Greenwich is awesome?) Oh, and by the way, if you ever go there, go to a coffee shop called Cafe Reggio and just drink one latte. It will change your life. True story. But don't get the capri salad... it's just ten tomatoes circling mozzarella and basil in the middle of the plate.

Jimi and Tupac on the same wall=happy Tylerissa.

After Greenwich, we walked to Chelsea so he could see the other place that I work (well, sort of. ha. All 4 hours of the week.) We walked around Chelsea Market.  Again, Tyler loved it.  By the time we were done in Chelsea, both of us were pretty wiped out.  We went to my dorm to relax for a bit (as much as you can in a room with no AC.)  Later, we met up with Amber and Jeremy again for another lower east side night.  And again, we left early because we were so tired!

Sunday was the day we planned to celebrate our 2 year anniversary.  First, we went to Steamer's Landing (my favorite restaurant in New York.)  It was SO beautiful outside.  Steamer's Landing faces the Hudson River, so there are tons of sailboats around and it is absolutely gorgeous.  

It was so good that we ended up canceling our dinner reservation in the Meatpacking district and making a reservation there for dinner.  We had to rush after lunch to get ready for The Lion King (thanks, Mom!).  We made it to the show just in time.  It was really, really good. We got out of the show earlier than we expected, so with time to kill, we decided to take a little walk to Hotel Chelsea.  I tell Tyler that we can go inside, but they only let you see the first floor.  Being the adventurer he is, he says, "and what's stopping us from going upstairs?" Nothing, of course.  You just have to act like you live there. So, he asks what floor Edie lived on, and we make our way towards the elevator.  It was SO cool. The building is very old looking and hasn't been updated whatsoever.  It's very charming.  There is tons of crazy art all over the walls and the. most. beautiful. staircase you will ever see. We walked up the stairs, stopping on pretty much every floor to take pictures and hiding the camera when we heard the elevator beep or a door open.  We went all the way to the top, where there is a skylight and a bunch of portraits hanging from the ceiling.  Upon reaching the top floor, we realize that we are actually very very late for our reservation (in New York, it literally takes 45 minutes to go 2 miles away.)  We leave Hotel Chelsea with every intention of coming back later that night. Because that's just how Tylerissa does things.

Andy Warhol pose.  Very appropriate given the occasion.

We arrive at Steamer's Landing and to my surprise there is a bottle of champagne and candles at our table. That sneaky Trick Tickler.  Dinner was amazing, and we sat near the window so we had an amazing view of the sun setting over the Hudson.

After dinner, we go back to Chelsea because, thinking we were eating in the Meatpacking District, I bought tickets to the Chelsea Cinema for Toy Story 3.  The movie was great but we both fell asleep towards the end.

The next day was Tyler's last day in the city, and we had some big things planned.  First, we were supposed to go to Good Morning America (again, thanks mom!) but we didn't wake up in time because we stayed out so late the night before.  Oh well. We actually didn't get a move on until around 1 PM.  First, we had to go to the Ed Sullivan Theater to pick up our tickets for David Letterman (for those of you who don't know the story, Tyler won us tickets to the show).  We actually didn't have as much time as I thought, so we just stuck around near the theater until the show was about to start.  The show was really good. Salma Hayek was the guest that day. I think we were actually the youngest people there.

After the show, we walked to 5th ave so Tyler could see the Rockefeller Center.  We stuck around that area and met up with Amber and Meagan for dinner.  After dinner, Tyler, Amber, and I went to Greenwich for the night.  First, we went to some really expensive Mexican place (on accident) because it said that NY Magazine rated their margaritas (one of 6) of the BEST in the city.  Yeah, they were good. No, not $10 worth. After our very expensive drink, we stumbled upon this sort of hole in the wall place that had $2 beers and 20 cent wings. My kinda place.  Amber was sweet enough to pick up the tab of the broke college students, then we all left to get some sleep.  Unfortunately, I had to work the next morning.  

Tuesday morning, Tyler walked me to work then went to Grand Central to catch the bus to the airport.  Well, as I'm sure you all know, he was asked to be an extra in a movie.  Of course.  He's here for 4 days and he gets to be an extra in a movie.  :) I must say that was probably a great way to end a first time New York trip!

Whew. Okay, so that was pretty much the whole trip.  If anyone is still reading, let me just add a few things from this week:

1. NYU dining halls have it figured out.  I had an omelet for breakfast yesterday morning.  First omelet in about 2 months. Yum.

2. I have a sinus infection and everything smells and tastes funnny. :(

3. I laid out in Central Park today, but couldn't last for more than 45 minutes. It's SO hot!!

I know, I know. It's been almost 2 weeks since I've written anything. I'll do my best to give a full recap.

First of all, TYLER IS HERE!!! His plane landed at 2 and thankfully Ford let me leave early for the day so we met at Grand Central.  He loves New York so far.  Little does he know, I am so about to wear him out this weekend.  We have a weekend packed of pretty much everything New York has to offer with absolutely no downtime. The thought of it alone made him sleepy, so he's taking a nap right now. :)

We have 2 new interns at Ford.  One is a super nice guy named Christian; he's in a broadway play and is just doing this internship on the side. (You know, the usual.) The other is named Marisa. She started last Friday.  It can get pretty hectic with 3 of us there (especially when Marisa and I are working together and someone says "Marissa/sa?" and we both turn around and say "yes?"), so they kind of spaced it out to where we all have at least one day to ourselves, and all 3 of us never work at the same time. It actually makes things go slower with more people there.  Don't get me wrong, it's nice to have more people to help with the overall project, but it's very difficult to teach the system I created. I think I'm kind of OCD. And I'm not a very good teacher, I sort of just assumed they knew this and that, so I'll randomly find something that wasn't taken care of because no one (aka me) showed them.  I'm sure it will get better though.  It took me about a week or two to get the hang of things.

One thing is for sure, I did realize the other day that I will not be working in this industry after I graduate.  My eyes were opened to the ugly side of the business a couple days ago. I'm going to just leave it at that, considering this is a public blog.

I started at Anthro on Monday. What a day to start! It was the night before inventory, so we had to pull out every single tag from every article of clothing in the store.  It was pretty intense. The store is really big too, I would say it's probably 3 times as big as the Ridgeland store... so that's a lot of ground to cover.  It was fun, though.  I met a lot of new people just in one night of working. Plus, it's in such a great location. I'm absolutely in love with the Chelsea area. If I ever live here, that is where I'm living for sure.

I know I have more to write, but I really can't think of anything else right now.  If it comes to me, I'll update this post. :)

First and foremost, I have a question. Does anyone want to donate to my fan fund? Our room has no AC in the dorm, we only have one fan, and I'm dying! It's so hot here. I'm sweating every morning when I wake up, and I don't even wear any covers. Even Haley Barbour said today at Missisippi Day that New York summers are way hotter than Mississippi summers. Fact.

Okay, now on to a few updates.

I love getting lost in New York.  Yesterday afternoon, I left the dorm and just started walking around... no destination really, just wanted to walk.  After getting to Union Square, I decided to walk to Chelsea and find where I'll be working.  Even though it was slightly out of the way, I walked about 8 blocks north of the Chelsea Market so I could go by Hotel Chelsea again. Hotel Chelsea is the previous home to Edie Sedgwick, Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Joni Mitchell (she wrote the song "Chelsea Morning" in her room there) , all the girls from Andy Warhol's "Chelsea Girls," and many more... that probably explains why I love it so much. This time, I asked a Janis Joplin doppelganger outside if it was possible to walk inside.  She said to just act like I was a resident and I would be fine, so that's exactly what I did.  I tried to quickly sneak a couple pictures, but I figured that would be a dead giveaway that I didn't live there.  The two pictures I did take aren't that great of quality, but here they are:

I saw a sign in the lobby about a tour of the building in a couple weeks.  They take you through the entire building, including notable bedrooms from the past. Hopefully I'll be off work so I can go. 

Here a few more pictures I took while touring the neighborhoods around there:

where I'm working on my days off of Ford

for all you SATC lovers out there

Starting work at Anthro tomorrow morning. Hopefully it goes well. :)

I got the job at Anthropologie, the one in the Chelsea Market. I'm excited! It's brand new and really nice.  Apparently, though, I'm not going to get many hours.  The manager emphasized "part-time."  Oh well, I don't want to have to work every single day I'm here anyways.

Our other roommate moved in.  She goes to Princeton and is working for Google.  Poor girl, stuck in here with two southern girls.

More later.

It's been a very relaxing weekend.  I never thought I'd want to just stay inside in New York, but that's what I did for most of the weekend.

Meagan is dog-sitting in this BEAUTIFUL apartment in Park Slope, so I went over there Saturday night.  The guy she's dog-sitting for asked what kind of groceries she wanted for the week, and she said lots of vegetables. Of all things, guess what he bought? Butternut squash. So, we searched for recipes involving butternut squash and ended up finding a pretty great one (thank you, Ms. Joy of Cooking).  I have this fear of gas top stoves, so I was having a hard time in the kitchen... I still don't understand why people have gas stoves. :(

Anyway, all day and night Sunday I laid in bed. Yep. That's it. It was fantastic. With Netflix at hand, you can keep yourself entertained for hours.  I watched the documentary "Food, Inc."  Just a warning... don't watch that if you like to eat... anything. Seriously. I'm glad I watched it, but it makes me long for my kitchen in Starkville so I can decide what goes into my meals again.

Yesterday, Memorial Day, was so fun! A group of people went to Prospect Park in Brooklyn and cooked out.  There was not a cloud in the sky.  We stayed out there pretty much all afternoon, so I got some sun (finally).  You would think walking around all day every day, I would have gotten a little tan before then.  Maybe the buildings are just blocking all the UV rays.

Unfortunately, I've been awake since 2 AM (fell asleep at 7 PM).  I think I'm sick.  I watched NY1 news for 3 and a half hours straight.  They played the same stories over and over the whole time.  I was so thankful when the 5 AM news came on.  When the sun started rising, I left Brooklyn and headed back to the dorm.  The sunrise was beautiful.  I watched it rise over the (imitation) Arc De Triomphe.

I'm so thankful for NYU dining dollars, even if we can only use it at Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks.  And I'm also thankful that Dunkin serves mild coffee.  I couldn't survive in the mornings without it.

Laundry: A Hate Story

Let's go back to Monday.  Monday afternoon, while I was unpacking, J took a little trip to the laundry room in our dorm.  Five minutes later, she runs back inside our room and says there was a roach in the washing machine.  For those of you who may not know me very well, roach in a room= I will never ever ever ever enter that room.  Apparently, J is the same way.  So all week, we've been wondering what to do about washing our clothes because obviously neither of us would be going to the laundry room here.

So finally this morning, we decided that it was time.  We couldn't find a self service laundromat all week, so we figured that MAYBE if we went down together it wouldn't be as scary.  Around 6 AM (we missed the Sugarland concert by the way; didn't wake up in time) we carry our dirty clothes down to the dreaded basement laundry room.  We got downstairs and I thought, "well, it's not too bad down here." Then, J said it was even further down. We open the door to the basement and start walking down the damp, dark staircase.  It's completely quiet.  We reach the laundry room, and my imagination just gets the best of me.  I pictured putting my clothes in the machine and a giant roach jumping out and attacking me.  I think J pictured the same thing, because we ended up running back upstairs.

We googled tons of different laundromats, and finally found a self service one about a mile away called "Campus Laundry & Cleaners." Perfect. A mile isn't too far if it's roach-free, and if it's for students then it must be cheap. Right?

Wrong.  Upon arrival, the first thing I look for is the prices.  Get this.  Just try to wrap your mind around this.  I still can't.  $6 for one load of laundry, and 25 cents per 5 minutes of drying. WHAT! Okay, whatever, we're already here, I'll know better next time.  Maybe I can get a security guard to come with me to the dorm laundry room next time (you know, to keep those dangerous killer roaches away.)

So I put in all my quarters- I mean, literally, ALL my quarters. All of a sudden, the door locks, the machine starts, and I haven't put in my clothes yet! I start freaking out because I thought I just wasted $6.  The manager saw me do it and tried to help me but we had a bit of a language barrier:

Me: Oh no! It started! What do I do!
Laundroman: Why you do that? No when you see prewash you HALT!
Me: What!? I don't understand! Wait, wait, what do I do?
Laundroman: You HALT!
Me: I don't understand what you mean!
Laundroman: I do this for you and only you this one time, you do nothing. Go sit down.

I start to walk towards J with my tail between my legs, not understanding how on earth I didn't know how to use a washing machine.

Here I sit with my clean clothes, a sore shoulder from walking a mile back and forth with a full hamper, and the number to call an exterminator for the laundry room.

It's been almost a full week since I've updated! I'll try my best to do a full recap of the past few days...

Well, first of all, I'm officially living in the dorm. It's great! It's a short walk to work and in a great neighborhood. I took pictures that I will post later.  The third roommate has yet to move in, but J. and I are having fun regardless.  By the way, NYU has dining halls figured out for real.  There are 4 dining halls and a few random locations around Union Square that we can use for our meals.  The only dining hall I've been to yet is a buffet with about every possible food imaginable: home style, vegetarian, pizza, sandwiches, hamburgers, salads, soups, a waffle maker (??), cereal, and desserts.  I'm glad I walk so much up here.. otherwise I wouldn't be recognizable when I come back home.

Work is going really well.  It can be stressful at times.  I'm glad I'm a multitasker, otherwise I would be completely lost.  There are several jobs I'm doing at once.  Currently, I'm updating 3 portfolios while getting models to fill out information sheets whenever they come in and writing down every editorial/test shot the models have taken in the past 6 months.  As far as the portfolios go, those can take a long time because I have to order prints for each girl and it can take up to a couple hours to get them, so I have to find little jobs to do in between.  On top of that, if I update a portfolio for one of the girls and it ends up that one of her books was checked out while I updated the rest of them, I have to look for the books when they return and go back and update those as well.  Thank God for post-it notes.

I think I've eaten more cupcakes in the past 2 weeks than I have in the past 5 years. It's always someone's birthday.  I may have already written about the cupcake thing, but there was another birthday celebration today involving cupcakes.  Again, I'm really glad I walk so much.

Oh, so here's a pretty random story that made my week.  Last night, I went out with Meagan and her friends.  Meagan was talking to a couple guys, and I ended up meeting them as well.  One of them, I would say around age 35, was named Shamone.  When he told me his name, I said, "I believe Michael Jackson used your named quite a bit in his songs." (Listen to "Bad.") He then tells me that his cousin used to live in Michael Jackson's neighborhood when he was really young, and he actually got to meet him once.  After introducing himself to Michael Jackson, MJ starts to repeatedly say his name.  "Shamone... hmm.. Shamone... that's so musical."  Apparently, a year later the "Bad" CD came out... coincidence???

Tomorrow morning, Sugarland will be playing in Central Park for FREE.  It's part of the GMA summer concert series.  I'm so thankful that I have a roommate from the south... because we are definitely going. Very excited. (I'm not a huge Sugarland fan, but I think it'll be a nice reminder of home.)

I (partially) moved into the dorm today! Still waiting on some boxes to arrive, but I got my clothes moved in. I only got to meet one of my roommates so far.  Her name is Jay, she's interning at MTV this summer.  Sweet girl.  We're still waiting on another girl to show up.  The dorm room is HUGE. We have our own bathroom, 3 closets, and a storage room.  We're on the 3rd floor and have a great view of the neighborhood.

Our biggest dilemma was a lack of TV.  Neither of us had one, but both of us have to sleep with one.  So, Meagan came to the rescue and suggested we look under "free stuff" on Craigslist.  She found us a 22" TV that was completely free from a guy who lived a block or two away from us.  We pulled up, he put the TV in our car, and voila.  Problem solved. I love New York.