Sparkling graduation with undertones of A.D.D.

As I passed the 300+ pound woman wearing the bright blue I heart New York shirt, I was assured I was on the right plane back to Texas. After I woke up on the plane with a cute dab of drool sparkling my face I decided maybe it’s time I stop falling asleep in public, and begin either an intensive coffee regime or see a doctor about “my attention deficit disorder” for Adderall. I’m pretty sure everyone has that, and my case can surely be argued with a focus on my driving habits and two totaled cars. It’s a good thing I’ll be one of those lulled into the public transportation circuit of NYC. For my own safety and the people (or objects) who I still insist were in my way.

Falling asleep in public only happened once after that, but it was during my graduation ceremony. With only two short speeches to break up the 750 jumbo-tron logs of graduates’ smiling and mouthing “I love you mom and dad” (or in my case, losing all composure and mouthing an excitedly frantic “YAY!”), what else is there to do?

Sleeping on the sly.

This semester in New York flew by. These past four years flew by. I’m a graduate- a cum laude one at that (to my surprise) which I realized by an asterisk in the graduation program. Apparently I did well on these final finals. Is adulthood really the hangover after the college party? I’ll fill my adult life with Gatorade, ice packs, and long runs to sweat out the toxins.

The last week before leaving for graduation at Baylor was an exhausting blur. Memorable points that break away from the haze include big girl job related activities, and Baylor’s NYC Karaoke party after my last final which was a success for many and a bomb for some, the latter involving my quad of gals screaming “voulez-vous coucher avec moi.” I insisted that Christina Aguilera was not in our vocal range, but others became ambitious for Lady Marmalade’s rhythms. After the performance, my girl group all agreed Spice Girls would have been more of a hit. My roommate Cait was excited to do the song she knows, Jesus Walks by Kanye, and her out of character “hellll yea” won over the audience in a fit of laughter. Another quieter guy in our program surprised everyone with his System of a Down burst which proves everyone has that alter ego, and one guy even began freestyle rapping and was totally stoked to break out of Microsoft Word to reveal his inner rap star.

It was all in all a grand time and full of embarrassing memories.

That week I also attended a Sunset Social with my Parasol Marketing boss, Andrea. She drove me up to Westchester to Oasis Day Spa, and upon walking in I was immediately sent to the back for my spa treatment: my first spray tan. The spa gal knocked on the door, and after an awkward “Am I supposed to be naked?” convo, she got to work with her spray gun inches from my bare flesh. As I stood spread eagle desperately trying not to make eye contact I began to silently thank myself for going on a run that day. Who knew my first work event would involve getting naked for a stranger? I’ll be upping my mileage before the next work event--

Andrea and I were attending this rooftop spa event because later this summer Parasol is hosting the next sunset social, and one of our clients is catering. I was able to meet the client, who loves everything Texas, and tried to bring out my inner cowgirl to make a good impression. Thinking a faux southern accent would be a smidge over board, I stuck to describing my love of boots and red meat, and even confessed to knowing line dancing from when they made the waitresses do that at Texas Roadhouse. (Almost as degrading as singing for birthdays, little did I know it would come in handy. Yee-haw.)

Suzanne said she has big plans for me to be a Suzy Sirlion gal and go into radio shows wearing cowgirl boots, hat, and even daisy dukes (per her request). I’m hoping I rope myself a cowboy out of it. A rich Manhattan one. Who believes in opening doors like a good ole southern boy, but is cut-throat like a New Yorker in a business deal. Can I get a yee-haw?

I DID buy blinged boots while home in Colorado for the few days I had before making the move to New York. Plan in motion.

This past weekend's graduation was a time for family photo shoots (my dad finally "found his calling" in photography) and bedazzled hats. I was not walking across the Ferrel Center's stage in the Harry Potter deal (as much as I am a fan), and so when my sister flew into town we decided Hobby Lobby could save us with pink spray glitter and gemstones. It was a sparkling success, but when I fell asleep on the stranger's shoulder next to me, my cursive, gemmed "J" was pretty set on grabbing people's attention. There's pictures.

Now I’m back in the city. Sleeping on a couch. Sorting through the hundreds of craigslist ads desperately trying to find an apartment before my June 1 deadline of temporary housing goes into effect. Graduation seems like a distant memory already and brutality comes in the form of $1000 monthly rent bills in all  of these ads I scour—and THAT’s cheap.

I will be accepting all donations in the form of cash, credit cards, and grocery gift certificates. Come one, come all.

plastic baby bellies, bourbon party favors, and other things worth having

The other week I ventured into downtown to meet Olivia Palermo, former The City television actress turned trend setting fashionista. She was doing a synchronized broadcast, meaning several television shows called in to interview her throughout the morning in a very chilly studio set. The reporters asked her what her faves were, and she talked about the very cute high heels, handbags, accessories and outfits surrounding her on set. ABPR's fashion team had some of our clients' samples in the mix and we set up the sync.The real fun was off camera, in the other room with her stylists and makeup artist. We down and dirty talked celebs, and my eyes are now open to a scandalous world of plastic pumped faces, plastic baby bellies, plastic everything. "Is her baby hers?" was a trending topic of conversation. Apparently it's commonplace for celebs to wear a fake tummy and turn to either surrogates or adoption to keep their bods. We talked Beyonce (it's actually hers, and apparently she's super glam, super nice in person), Nicole Kidman ("no way, she's too vain to get real-pregnant"), and others. Oh look at her, red carpet ready in just two weeks, and even with a baby...........goddess.
If you don't have plastic surgery, you don't have a job in Hollywood...or live there. I basically knew this, but didn't realize that even the "natural beauties" actual aren't natural and timeless. Think Jennifer Aniston...maybe I'm just super niave. I blame it on Loveland and Waco.... can't argue. I did compliment the hair stylist's third nose job after he confessed to the work of art. It looked good, really did.
I also found out Lindsay Lohan does coke behind her purse in public (was that really not public knowledge?), but that if everyone knew her background story the public may forgive her downward spiral. Eva Mendes is gay, among a couple surprising other mentions. SO many celebs don't know what fidelity is, especially on set....ETC ETC ETC
It was fun. It was eye-opening. I always thought I'd be the best celeb, but my cheeks would look wierd with plastic, a fake belly wouldn't fit into my morning routine, and I LOVE men. So...
Last week I went to a Stetson Western Wear spring collection launch party (Stetson is one of ABPR's clients)  and was the official hatwear assistant! It was way fun. The caterers kept bringing me delicacies (fatty in the room? it's fine), I'm awesome at the "That look's SO great on you!!!!" lines, I met the CEO of liquor.com, and I found a Bourbon drink that I enjoy. All of the guests were given Bourbon bottles as party favors, along with their new Stetson hats. HELLOOOO grown-up parties. At college parties the only thing you leave with is a stained shirt. And hopefully your dignity.

See bottom left.

That same week I was also able to attend the launch party of a new cosmetic line called Elle. Elle Cosmetics hired ABPR to launch their brand new makeup collection, and so the ABPR gals created an event in one of the studios at the Chelsea Market building. In the suite there was a fashion runway structure in the middle of the room, which split the room into two areas-- a backstage that had makeup artists and manicurists to test out the new Elle Cosmetics on curious bloggers sipping flower-infused cocktails (they looked awesome), and a front stage that included the fashion runway surrounded by chairs and displays of Elle makeup products. Pretty awesome that the room was totally transformed within a day (by this very attractive foreign couple who ran their own event business together, how do people fall into these adorable lives?). I was the official gift bag creator turned director of people to the event upstairs. The gift bags included as much makeup as three hours can take putting the product into gift bags, and red bows that had to be tied twice by me and then another time by someone else (fail?). And the bows were tied twice by me becuase the hang tags needed to changed last minute. The difference between the two was like night and day (see picture.) It was cool to see the kind of planning and execution of an event like that, and I even got a manicure backstage. Well, half of one, I had to grab some stuff the clean the white runway (double fail.)
This past week the intern gals, Cherie, Marissa, Carey, Audrey, and I went to lunch and chatted about one of the gals 36-year-old-divorcee-with-kids stalker/obsessor/fanatical texter who had nice shoes. "I swear he looked ten years younger." He must be from Hollywood. Or something.
So I haven't blogged in awhile. To make this not last forever, let's do a quick recap of the past weeks:

Bring your green hat!

The other night I was prevented from going to some kind of DJ Disco in Brooklyn becuase a fight broke out in the subway and a dude fell into the tracks and was killed--luckily I was not present. I've had AMAZING Spanish tapas at Boqueria (and a surprising first date), and also Macondo (you can write on the bathroom walls--made for a long line after Sangria). I filmed a work-in-progress segment for class in Madison Square Park using the name Jessica Fox... for FOXHUNT: New York-- seeking out the best the city has to offer! (hashtag famous).  Fell in love with LUKE BRYAN for his tight jeans and muscles when he played in concert with Jason Aldean in New Jersey; the concert was phenomenal. Finished all three Hunger Games books within a too short for public knowledge time period--seeing the movie with my film class Monday night, hollerrrr. Applied to 2340987 jobs. Had my first real New York City job interview with New York Business Partners, ANDDD was called back to a second interview scheduled for tomorrow--it will last a full day and I will be shadowing an exec in the company.

Black spots="Can I have highlights?"

 Saw THE BLACK KEYS in concert at MADISON SQUARE GARDEN--Awesome, awesome experience. Accomplished my goal of finding a green hat on St. Patrick's day in the city. Spent $500 on my hair color and cut which went from splotches and lines, to dyed black spots, to less black spots with an edgy super short cut, to even less black spots--both 40+ year-old stylists hit on me-- one offered a complimentary back massage followed by dinner and the other offered sushi for lunch the first time and to pick me up from class for a wild night on the town the second time, and it was all in all a terrible experience that could only be made up for by numerous hair masks and roommate talk therapy.
I witnessed a "long hair, don't care" kind of guy who appeared to be a member of Occupy Wallstreet roll a blunt in Union Square. I unpacked several boxes of MATRIX hair care products. Several.

See: Smoke.

Helloooo MATRIX products.

I also became one of those people that enjoys going to indy movies at the Angelika in New York by myself. Seriously though... it's invigorating.

Bocce Ball doesn't make you an ATHLETE, but 27 dates might

I think I tore my calf muscle running last weekend in Central Park (my foot has been numb ever since), and so I’ve been limping around the ABPR office all week. This put a little stress on me to keep up with the unofficial high heel policy, and I had to politely bend the rules in the name of flats. Don't think I went unnoticed.
...Especially by the spa package scam men on the street, who actually commented on my "so cute" flats (well, the guys wearing pastel did?). I literally made fun of two girls from our program last week for handing out their credit card info in exchange for a hypothetical spa packege, yet here I am now, a hypocrit who will soon have great skin and nails if my gamble proves legit.

This week I was a part of setting up ABPR's beauty product displays for the CEW (Cosmetic Executive Women) 2012 Beauty Awards. After overly filling two black SUVs with eye shadows/liners, lip sticks, face creams, hair product, those annoying acrylic display risers (which NO stores around ABPR sells, in case anyone was wondering...hashtag intern problems), and several beautiful sweet-smelling flower arrangements, I found myself barricaded into a backseat corner with pink ABPR bags piled on top of me. Once we arrived I shook out the leg cramps and helped Danielle, my mentor, set up Stila makeup and Darphin displays in one of the two large rooms designated for the beauty exhibitions. Vendors from all over came to showcase their latest and greatest in the hopes that later in the day the beauty magazine editors, CEW members, and other women of beauty prestige would choose their product for an award. It was fun to see all of the new makeup and skincare launches, as well as see brands I had never heard of before. Jodi, the VP at abpr mentioned that CEW membership fees raise for those women over thirty. Happy thirtieth you senior citizen. Oh, the beauty industry is cruel.

On Tuesday I met Danielle at the building in SoHo that will soon be the NYC Erno Laszlo Institute when it opens to the public later this year. We were meeting at a conference to gain product knowledge for Erno Laszlo skincare and sample some of the products ($250 velvet night cream anyone??). I really liked the animated speakers throughout the morning and began to wonder what public speaking, meeting new people, and traveling have in common... Oh, all of my interests. Add that to the job search list.

Tuesday night was a WICKED first Broadway show experience at the Gershwin Theater. While watching the performance I recognized songs that I've heard my 12-year-old little sister sing, but other than that I didn't know what to expect from the elaborate set with a huge red-eyed mechanical dragon looming overhead. Wicked is about the background story behind the Wizard of Oz classic. The Wicked Witch of the West, through her AWESOME vocals, relayed the real experience which involved a lot of miscommunication and bad luck. Quite entertaining, especially during the scene with Glenda (giggle, giggle, hair toss, hair toss) attempting to make green skin pahhh ahhh ahh ahhh ahh pular. All in all, a good field trip in leui of class........

I had 27 dates last week. They were all about three minutes long and, aside from the occassionally breach of personal space, I was entertained. For my Culture and Communications class I have to attend an event in New York City and write a research paper about a topic of communication. So hello physically fit and athletic singles speed dating!! I'm intrigued with first impressions, what people say and do to command initial attentions. Well, let me tell you what they do. Some sat next to me and kissed the top of my hand profusely; I'd describe the experience as wet. Another tried to intrigue me with his Spanish dance moves, which I must say I WAS intrigued until the dance started. And others tried to cram in as much info about themselves as if I had a large information retention capability. I played nice, didn't stare too intensely at hair line recedings, and even let someone buy me a slice of pizza. However, let me tell you, NONE of the candidates I'd personally place into the athletically fit category. It was on the same scale of me showing up at Asian singles night. Some men would sit down and one of their questions would be "so this is athletic singles night (thanks, didn't realize) and so what is it your into?" My alter ego came out in several different forms and throughout the night I became a scuba diving instructor, a skydiver fanatic, a marathon extraordinaire (eh I ran a half once) .... Meanwhile the male forms of athleticism included bocce ball, zumba, and the forementioned, Spanish dance. I think someone liked to ride bikes in there and there was one lone weightlifter that caught my eye until I noticed his near forty age lines.  Someone else should have brought their alter ego, then it really would have been a party. I didn't circle anyone's name on the sheet and therefore a mutual consentment to give out my contact information did not occur, but I do still recieve the physically fit singles! event emails on the reg.

First impressions are tricky. I decided a universally desired trait to creating a great first impression was the ability to make the other feel comfortable. Being (or at least acting?) genuinely interested, paying attention, smiling, open body language, contributing to convos......
It'll be a good college level research paper.

Chiseled performances.

Come on. They KNOW they're gorgeous (Levi's Show)

Lights, camera, male models. What's up Levi's fashion show backstage. My second fashion show this week was for Levi's, and ABPR's client Stila produced makeup for the event. Chiseled is a good description. (Minus picture to right) For the models, and for the gay makeup artists as well (who I kind of gravitate to-and they gravitate towards me?). At the show today, I was told I could come until I "get in the way." (Hashtag internlife) Which is how I felt most of the time while I was standing there un-introduced. The two gals from the office and I went to the show to check in media backstage and make sure they get their interviews with Stila's celeb stylist, Sarah Lucero about makeup products. Oh my gosh, Sarah is the most vibrant woman, very friendly, always smiling. I liked her. She even introduced herself to little ole' me, the intern. Media would walk up, and the account exec from abpr would introduce herself and the other girl, and then a small glance would be made in my direction before moving on. Nice.

I chatted up this one gal who writes for Her Campus, a website dedicated to the college woman. I told her that I have just moved here and am an intern for abpr.

The lumberjack and the feminist. Male models.

"Oh, that's why they didn't introduce you," she jokes.
"I'm just waiting for my debut."

She was a gem -- said she'd put in good word for me, and gave me a pat on the back. I feel like I deserved that. I started chatting up people, but sometimes was tentative to. Hi I have no clue about fashion, but let me try to be charming in my naivete. Regardless, I found the !E team and introduced myself to Jenna, a girl I had also seen at the Alice+Olivia show but didn't have a chance to chat with. I think they were live blogging about backstage. There were no cameras following them. Jenna is very chic, and always wears a trendy hat. I need a statement look. I need a bigger bank account. (looking up sadly at my mac n cheese cupboard...)

Gosh the male models were attractive.
"Hey can I get a picture for our beauty client Stila?" One point for Jessica...

I didn't get a shot of my favorite, an Usher lookalike chatting up the hot foreign models (girls). I know how to pick em. Prob one of the only straight men there.

Alice+Olivia was the other show I went to this week. I was much needed to give a pen to the gal I went with out of my purse. It was my favorite leopard one. She never gave it back...

Sarah Lucero

While I was at Alice+Olivia I met Dustin, a hairstylist walking around with a camera following him (Sarah Lucero's husband was the camera man, and she was doing Stila makeup at this show as well). Dustin said he guessed I was 22, he could smell it (sniffs all of the air around me as I mentally take note I forgot to wear perfume. awesome.) We chat about life, and I say one of my thoughts was broadcasting, I'm just waiting for my moment.
"It's now girllll." Shoves microphone in my direction.
"Hi this is Jessica Foreman, reporting from Alice+Olivia. Currently I'm wearing Stila makeup like the rest of the models with a convertible color blush in coral...blah blah blah."
He was pretty funny.

Thought she owned the show. It worked for her (Alice+Olivia)

The dresses at Alice+Olivia were AWESOME!! Sequins galore, gorgeous, gorgeous gowns. My pick was a sequined corset dress that blossomed into a puffy ballerina skirt. The models looked fierce in dark, dark lips and liner, and even more fierce when posing. Made me want to be in front of a camera....which happened after I left the show. A woman with a camera stopped me on the street when I was leaving and asked to take my picture for street fashion during fashion week for a fashion website. Did she know I was wearing a fake leather jacket and a tunic from Ross? No, because I posed like I wasn't...hello fierce.

I started reading The Hunger Games, basically because I was looking for another Harry Potter kind of obsession and I need something else to do on the Subway besides look at people. They don't like that, and eye contact is usually awkward if the person doesn't get off at the next stop.

Not always though--this one guy had to have terets which was accompanied by a walking cane that he enjoyed banging on the ground while chanting dah dun dun dun. Better than the F word I guess... Anyways, looking up I met the other guy's eyes across the subway car we shared a "oh, we live in New York" chuckle.

Madison Square Park

Today I told the Staples worker I was the best intern ever as I made a smart decision to not only get more bubble wrap than expected but to save ten dollars. Feeling on cloud nine for my 7 block walk back through Madison Square Park I started getting my sexy city strut walk on. Remembering you can't be sexy with 175 feet of bubble wrap (after I watched Mr. Suit's man's eyes go from mine to my extra large bag over my shoulder), I toned it down and just took in the sun setting on the park, which I've grown very fond of. It has a clock tower that looms over, and large trees surrounding some sort of fountain that I'm sure has water in it during warmer months. I really do love all of the parks NYC has to offer. Gorgeous escape havens from architecture. Makes everyone remember that is this thing called nature out there. And space.

Valentine's Day was yesterday. Uzbekistan apparently banned the holiday and decided to focus on the Moghul emperor Babur's birthday. The country decided they're not a fan of western ideals. I was tempted to spend the day there, short flight. Instead I wore red lipstick, red high heels, and got a chocolate cream filled heart donut in the morning. The chocolate kept on coming all day; I call it loving myself. I even smiled at all of the men carrying bouquets to their significant others.
"Ohhhh that's a good one." Audible judgement on the street. He was probably taken by surprise as he did shoot a glance my way. I began to rate them throughout the day. Threw out a few 8 and 9s even.
The Empire State building was pink and red. It was beautiful.
Qdoba had buy one get one free entrees if hungry people "share a kiss with a significant other, friend, family member or even an understanding stranger at the cash register." Thank goodness I took my roommate Audrey with me. We had already been sharing the same lipstick all day. Don't think kissing an innocent stranger is beneath me when free food is on the line. (*see above mac n cheese reference)

Rumor has it one of the interns from Baylor got our group tickets to the Nicks game this Sunday playing the Dallas Mavs. I'm hoping the gal at David Letterman can pull some strings too eventually? (Shout out Logan!!)

Panties in the lobby!

Laundry day is something I think I will come to dread now. It takes real agility to swiftly transport undies from the washer to the dryer up the elevator (with people on it) back to the safegrounds of home. Standing fourteen floors with everyone hovering over your (at least clean) pile of lace and push-up bras isn't something I think I'll come to enjoy. Eye contact is a taboo.

During the laundry process, I kept forgetting things and running back up the stairs, like three times too many. It was meant to be. I ran into our neighbors across the way who were moving out of the apartment...to Africa! Phil is the U.N. chief security for the Democratic Republic of Congo and is moving to Africa before returning to his wife, ahhh forgot her name, in Virginia. They insisted on giving me their cleaning supplies; I also said ramen noodle soup is popular amongst college students. I got a sympathy laugh out of that one. They ended up giving us boxes and boxes of stuff.

Leaving our apartment tonight would have been a better idea?

Last night I went to a huge church service at St. George's Episcopal church for a combined service with several churches from around the city. While it was a little long for me, (and I got there 45 min. late, bad Christian! :/) it was a pretty awesome experience to hear hundreds of people crying out for unity in Christ for their city. I felt a little uncomfortable during some parts (I can never find the words for public prayer) until I sat down, put my head in my hands, and talked to Christ like he was my best friend. That guy's pretty cool, and it makes everything so much easier that way. I'd like to find a church while I'm here. Put that on the list with the perfect job and the perfect man? :)

Some bonding has def gone down with our apartment. Last night we had a nail party when we probably should have been out in the city... Seriously, it was a Friday night. Erica, whose boyfriend is studying in Egypt, always says she met the perfect man when she wasn't looking. Our apartment was then filled with shouts of "I'm not looking! I'm not looking...?"

In all seriousness, how can you find someone you want when you're not even sure what you want? I'm pretty firm set that I'm not looking for a job with my internship. While I'm enjoying it more and more, I couldn't survive on 28 grand a year (apparent pay) and I am a faces person. My passion is for people. I have to be interacting with people, face to face, public speaking, etc. to be satisfied. This office does some of that, and there are always people walking in and out of the conference room (a big table surrounded by pink chairs), but mainly ladies are addicted to their emails and AOL's IM(bringing back middle school mems anyone? LOL, BRB?) is a utilized tool throughout the office, even for those sitting a few chairs down... While I'm here, who knows, I could turn a 180 and go to law school, or turn to non-profit PR, or move to Europe (I'm not looking? (: ha...)

The beauty team (which I'm on) had an AWESOME meeting on Thursday. We discussed our intern duties with our mentors which daily will include sending out product to editors, bloggers, makeup artists, celebs, etc.; unpacking products we recieve from our clients for publicity uses (there's literally THOUSANDS of awesome product in shelves, desk drawers, closets...); and we also discussed some of what our team does as a group. Trends (Valentine's day, red carpet events, etc) is another component to monthly PR media packages and so is taking client calls. I offered my note-taking skills in trade for the ability to listen in on client phone calls, meetings etc. I'd like to get a feel for the interaction, client requests, and all that goes along with maintaining client relations, and my mentor would like to gain feeling in her fingers from typing so much, so we're square. We also discussed events, and (YESSSSS!!!!) fashion week is definitely something that interns will be useful for. I said I will hold jackets, run coffee, whatEVER.... Pretty sure I'll be able to go to an event or two. Fashion week is Feb. 9-16. Stoked.

One of the interns recently quit and moved back to Florida after only a couple of weeks. And so, the day after her emailed announcement, (she told management she found another job, she told us she was overqualified and unsatisfied) the girls of the office got together for a meeting to discuss the interns.
In the middle of the showroom where I was working. "The interns..." "We need to utilize the interns..." "Well they need to...you need to" "The interns..."

Awesome. So excited I could participate from the outside, complete with subtle glares and whispers. Awkward.

Ugh. Interns.

The upside to that is that management is pretty in-tune to the interns wants and our value of free labor. We are here to work and to learn the craft, and from this point on I think everyone is more willing to enable our goals of that. Joe, our professor here, said that was pretty awesome and rare that that kind of initiative is taken for the improvement of internship relations and responsibilities. After the meeting, I told my mentor, Danielle, that she was doing an awesome job and I really appreciate her working with me, because well... I do. As an ex-intern herself, she's pretty awesome with giving me responsibility and being very available for guidance, even if it's just to shadow her daily work.

The same can't be said for Audrey's mentor, who we passed this week on the street on our way to Bread&Butter (Awesome, awesome salad, soup, sandwich place) for lunch. I sweetly smiled which was reciprocated with an "Ugh...interns." to her equally gorgeous friend. Mean girls take two.

Shameless.

...is the life of an intern as she changes from high heels to flats in the middle of Duane Reed pharmacy. And in the middle of the street. And in the lobby at work. I told Steve, the doorman who greets me in the building where Alison Brod is, not to judge me, as I shoved my sore arches into shiny gold stilettos. He said if he did, I'd pass with flying colors. He's a pal.

So the whirlwind of my first week is over...exhausting and exciting. This lifestyle is going to look great on me. Alison Brod is a daily fashion runway, a blur of sequins, 6 inch pumps, blonde hair extensions, and women who could all make a living in modeling. I showed up my first day in formal business attire. My mentor who I will be working with the most, showed up in a leather mini skirt. Wardrobe update pronto.

My first day I packed up boxes for TIGI to ship back. While that's not super glam, getting to take home whatever I wanted out of those boxes is. Hello hundreds of dollars of hair products and makeup. Awesome.

This past week my biggest project was working on media lists, as ABPR is trying to take on a L’Oreal Hispanic hair care line. I talked to different magazine and newspaper editors on the phone, updating contact info... some in Spanish. Thank you Madrid. Granted, I began talking to one editor in Spanish and he immediately handed the phone to his English-speaking supervisor. (Need to work on my accento?)Thank you dropping my Spanish minor immediately after studying in Spain.

Each Christmas break, I watch the entire season of Gossip Girl. Fab show, I'm fanatical, and living on the Upper East Side someday would be a dream. So when Kelly Rutherford, the mother (plays Lily) of the show's main star, Blake Lively (plays Serena Van der Woodson), walked into ABPR the second day of my internship, I was beside myself with joy. Really just pure joy. Did I make the intern rookie mistake of asking for her autograph? No (regret??). But I did move my computer into ABPR’s main showroom, which is lined with clothes, jewelry, shoes, jars of pink candy, and couches with colorful pillows, so I could discreetly glance up at the actress with what probably was an expression of “star-struck.” Rutherford most likely came into the office for samples of various products of our clients that we carry on-hand. ABPR can pay celebs to wear our clients’ shoes, jewelry, dresses etc. to land good publicity.

One of this work week’s highlights for me was a brain storming session on wigs.  ABPR is taking on three new lines of hair pieces, extensions, and wigs and some gals piled onto couches to discuss what could be done to market wigs to make them more daily-wearable for the typical woman. The goal is to climb over the thought of “I’m wearing a wig, this is weird” obstacle and turn hair pieces into a daily accessory. They also discussed planning a getaway weekend in Mexico that would take a week after to become sober again. I’m pretty excited to start making new friends.

…including a magazine editor on the subway. She lives in my building, and we walked to the subway together after her 15 month old blue-eyed son was “flirting” with me in the elevator. She gave me her card, and offered me a potential babysitting job. I’m already broke, so this could be a GREAT thing…and a fantastic contact. She has worked at a wine tasting magazine and is currently a senior editor at Parents Magazine.

I work with seven or eight other interns and am enjoying getting to know them via lunch dates. This one gal is from Barnard College and interned with Opah’s magazine last semester. While she never was able to sit and chat with the woman, she said Oprah smells wonderful? Other gals are from Florida State University, Iona College, South Carolina…….

Fridays I have off from my Mon-Thurs internship. Jordan, a gal in our group, is interning at 30 Rock for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and so we went with her to watch Jimmy’s monologue before he begins filming for the actual show. Fallon tests out jokes and decides what to use based on crowd reaction. I was laughing so hard the whole time, especially during a Newt Gingrich/Susan Boyle comparison. The studio he films in is the same studio Johnny Carson and Jack Paar had their Tonight shows in back in the day. The Roots were there as well and had their own comedic contributions as they played soft music while Fallon read thank you notes. “Thank you people that wear flip-flops with socks. You demonstrate that you don’t know how to use either of those things.”

MANAMANA!!

Saturday we had a class trip to the Museum of Motion Pictures where we sat in on a talk with movie director, David Cronenberg, and afterwards watched his film, The History of Violence. Cronenberg is mostly known as being one of the originators of the venereal horror genre. That was blatantly apparent after his movie about a mobster killer creating a separate identity after wanting an out from his previous life of violence. Also in the museum are the original muppets and an exhibit of their genius creator, Jim Henson. Pretty cool to see Miss Piggy in the flesh (cloth?). In class (Topics of Contemporary Cinema) this week we analyzed a muppet clip with Manamana. Theme song of the trip--people shout "Manamana" at random times and everyone chimes, "do, dooo, da, do do."

The Baylor group I'm here with is AWESOME. "I love us" is an overly used phrase, and the past week has been filled with bonding. We're in this together. These people are my future contacts, and I think great relationships will come out of this program of 17. Saturday night we went out to a Greek restaurant, Uncle George's, for a family dinner. A man that my roommate Audrey and I had met on the subway the day before told us about it, and ironically and hilariously we ran into him and his girlfriend there. Small world New York.

Chinatown

Nightlife is fantastic. Friday included flaming bottle toppers, drummers onstage, a trail of Cheetos and many Persians. Saturday men were dancing on a bar countertop in wigs and robot helmets resembling LMFAO's "I'm sexy and I know it" music video. A gal at work said her first months out of college in the meatpacking district took years off of her life. I don't want to get old anyways (OH! Kidding mom).
Today was kind of lazy day. Audrey and I ventured into Chinatown and Little Italy, and even though my aunt Kim will disown me for buying a Gucci purse from canal street, it's pretty!

First week down!!