Countdown

    The countdown to Winter Break has begun. This past week has been much like the previous – a lot of work on the computer. For Drexel’s records, the FHCC calculates values of donations received in the fiscal year. My main job this week was to figure out some rough/preliminary estimates for the past two quarters (they’ll be checked and finalized by someone else later). I don’t plan on becoming an appraiser, but it’s certainly interesting seeing how much an item will realistically go for vs. what someone might personally think an item would go for.

    Doing estimates can be slow, semi-frustrating work sometimes, so I found myself taking breaks to help with other projects fairly often. Preparations for the fall exhibition are starting to gear up – we’re looking through all sorts of boxes now. I didn’t get a close look at most of the things, but I did manage to get my hands in a box of purses! How awesome is that oyster purse? And the itty-bitty change purse that is literally the size of a coin?

Summer (and Fall) Loving

This week has been really exciting because we got our new Summer/ Pre fall line in! I am seriously obsessed with all of it but especially the summer portion. The dresses, tops and skirts are so cute and embody the light, carefree, easy summer dressing I always love. I wish I could post pictures of some of my favorite pieces but unfortunately they aren’t available to the public yet. Hopefully sometime before the end of my time at Shoshanna I will be able to share some with you all.

It has also been an exciting week because I got to sit in on a merchandising meeting that interns usually aren’t allowed to be a part of! It was so interesting to see how the sales and design team worked out any issues with the line. One thing that surprised me was how long was spent deciding the order of the collection. Almost the whole meeting after the initial presentation of the clothes was spent discussing how best to present everything. The order of everything even determined what was going to be cut from the line and what would stay. Some pieces were even saved from being cut just because they were put next to a different piece.

It is really starting to feel like the holiday season around the office. One woman had set up a cute table top “Charlie Brown” tree in here office with little sock monkeys underneath it, making it very festive. We have also started to receive gifts from other offices we work with, including a fantastic cheesecake that arrived on Tuesday! It may be early in the month but the holidays are defiantly here at Shoshanna and I am looking forward to what the rest of the month brings!

Busy with Thanksgiving

This past week has been very busy (hence my VERY late post…Sorry!) While I only worked two days at Shoshanna because of the holiday weekend it was packed with things to do especially considering that it was our first week without the three girls from FIT who have been with us since the beginning. Going from having five interns to two has been a challenge especially for all the office employees since they are used to having so many more hands to help. Despite only being in the office two days it felt like I had been there all week and I was more then ready for the long weekend.

Because my parents live in San Francisco I don’t get to see them for Thanksgiving as the flight is so long and expensive and I wouldn’t end up being home for very long. However my grandmother and my mom’s brother and two sisters all live in New Jersey so I can spend the holiday with all of them and not be alone which is very nice. On Wednesday and Thursday my little cousin and I made cake pops. My cousin loves to bake and it was obvious by her bossy attitude that it is obvious that I am terrible in the kitchen. Despite her attitude it was fun to help and I think everyone agreed that they came out very well. It might not have been a traditional Thanksgiving food but it might have been my favorite dessert we had this year.

After Thursday I had to work at Kate Spade every day this weekend. I have never seen it so busy in the store! We were not exempt from the Black Friday craziness, which was probably a good thing because up until this point the store has been so quite, especially considering we were leading up the holiday season. From the pace of the store I don’t think things will quiet down any time before the holiday season but that’s ok with me. Many people so far are in a good mood, especially when they get to check someone off their gift-giving list! Lets hope that things stay that way and the holidays don’t get the best of people.

My favorite day of the year!

Last week was very short. I only worked on Monday, still a very busy day to say the least. I was planning on coming in on Wednesday until 3pm when the office closed, but Michelle told me that wasn’t necessary. I left school on Tuesday after my shift at the Dandelion and was so happy to be going home. Even though I live ten minutes from school, it was still nice to sleep somewhere other than my apartment. Not to mention the home cooked meals and breakfast.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, and my busiest. Since my parents are divorced, that splits the holiday in half. I also have a boyfriend, who I have been with for four years so we spend holidays together as well. My thanksgiving goes like this: I begin at my dad’s house, but only stay a few hours, my brother and I then move to my aunt’s house to see my mother and her side of the family, I then leave there after dinner and make my way to my boyfriend’s for dessert. It is a lot of driving for a holiday and sometimes can be frustrating, but I love my family and would never want to skip a single step. I drag my boyfriend to my aunt’s house as well so I’m not the only one running around. This year was great! I am so glad I was able to see all of my cousins and family, and eat an amazing meal. I hope everyone had an amazing Thanksgiving!

A Very Greek Thanksgiving

I was so happy to go home for Thanksgiving. I got up early Thursday morning to meet my aunt in Brooklyn to drive up to Massachusetts. What I didn't realize is the Macy's Day Parade happens right where I live. I walked out of my apartment to find the roads blocked with hundreds of people waiting for the parade to start. I didn't realize that my subway stop would be closed on 57th street and that Columbus Circle would be blocked off. There I was walking aimlessly surrounded by people with my huge suitcase trying to figure out how I'd get to Brooklyn. Luckily, I found a cab going towards the east side. There was no traffic going to Brooklyn and only took me 20 minutes in the cab. I met my aunt and we were off to Massachusetts with her dog, Joey, in the back seat. We had Thanksgiving with my mom's uncle and family at their country club. It was alright but not the same as a home cooked Thanksgiving. Thank goodness my Yiayia (grandmother in Greek) and my aunts made a Thanksgiving meal Friday night. We had our part two Greek Thanksgiving meal Friday and it was amazing! I loved being with my family sharing stories and laughing around the table.

On Saturday night, I went to a Greek charity ball called, The Mistletoe Ball. It's at the most beautiful hotel in Boston called the Fairmont Copley Plaza. This was my second year going. I went with my cousin, Alexandra, and my mom. We had such a blast. I got to meet a lot of nice Greek younger people and danced the entire night. I realized that I need to improve on my Greek dancing. Hopefully my parents can give me some lessons. It was a wonderful way to end a great weekend with my family.

Giving Thanks

I can't remember the last time I was this excited to go back home! While I always love seeing my family (for the most part), I always get pretty bored back in the suburbs of D.C. However, it seems like this week has been consisting of me counting down the days until tomorrow. I do love Thanksgiving and the food it brings, but I am really just so excited to be home and relaxing with my family, even if it's only for a couple days. It seems like a lot of my co-workers ended up taking days off this week to head home. I didn't, regrettably, and will be waking up very early tomorrow morning to catch a train back to D.C. Hopefully the snow doesn't cause any problems for me, I am thankful I chose not to fly.

The other intern I had been working with had her last day yesterday, and she could not be happier to be finished. She worked for three months, so she had only started a little before I began. I am really glad to know that I am almost at the halfway mark here at Michael Kors, but I am still hoping that they may be able to switch me for the second half of my internship in some way, or that at least I will be delegated new responsibilities.

Me and Olivia had a fun weekend in New York, and managed to not be Grandmas and go out to some clubs both Friday and Saturday night, we then saw MockingJay with some friends on Sunday. Working at Galore on Thursday and Friday, and having fun on the weekends is definitely what keeps me somewhat sane. I am pretty excited because at Galore on Friday I emailed the PR people for one of my favorite rappers that is coming to town in January and they agreed to let me come in and interview him before the show (which will also likely mean VIP tickets), so that was my Friday work excitement! 

Goodbye (But not for Long)

What a busy past two weeks! I have finally entered the most dreaded time of the school year: finals. Although we have one last week before actual finals week, things could not be more stressful. To top things off, I finished my internship with Tommy last week (sadly). I know, I know. I should be happy that it is one less thing to worry about, but I'm already missing the people, environment, and experience! My last day was so incredible that I felt so appreciated; it was great! I came back to my desk after putting some items back into our storage closet and was surprised with cupcakes, a box of goodies, and a really sweet thank-you note. My supervisors were both watching me and giggling as I approached my desk in shock. They then took me to the head of our department's office so I could open my gifts and shove our faces with Baked by Melissa cupcakes! It felt so great not only to receive jewelry, a scarf, and wallet from Tommy Hilfiger as goodbye gifts, but also to read an extremely sincere thank-you note that almost made me want to cry! Each member of my team wrote such incredible notes and it really showed me that these past 10 weeks of hard work really paid off! I am super excited to know that upon approval from HR, I will returning in the spring for an additional internship with my same team! This has been by far one of the best experiences of my life and I have come to realize that making sacrifices for your future will always pay off in the long run.

TGITG (Thank God It's Thanksgiving!)

    I’m typing this at whirlwind speed because, duh-oh, I forgot to write my blog post again. (Sorry, Catherine!)

    I’ll be honest, though. I only had work one day this week – and I didn’t really do much that would be interesting to an external audience. Monday, I worked on some spreadsheets on the computer, wrote down some numbers…generally boring stuff. Tuesday, I was feeling under the weather and stayed home to sleep and fend off whatever was in my system. Wednesday, I had off.

    Having some time to dedicate purely to decompressing has really been wonderful, though. My boyfriend is a Culinary Arts major here, works at a restaurant in Center City, and didn’t go home for the holiday due to his schedule. I never go back to my hometown for Thanksgiving, so it worked out that we’d have someone to spend the holiday with. J We spent the day making food, eating, and Netflixing.

    I’ve got two more weeks until I leave for Winter Break. Frankly, it’s a little scary realizing that my Co-Op experience is pretty much half over. Where has the time gone?

New Hair

I finally decided to cut my hair into a long bob or a "Lob" as most people call it. I've been thinking about cutting my hair for a while but have been second guessing myself whether it'll look good and/or if my friends will like it. I had short hair my entire childhood so throughout high school and college I rebelled and had very long hair. The problem with having long hair is it takes forever to blow dry and gets tangled very easily. I was so done with my hair and wanted a change. The long bob is very on trend right now and I thought why not do it, because I needed a change. I'm absolutely obsessed with my new hair. I got ten inches off. It's so light and easy to maintain plus it looks very chic. Everyone at my office loved it and so did my friends! I'm so thrilled that I finally did it.

This past weekend was one of the best weekends I've had in NYC so far. I had so much fun going out with my friends. On Friday, Ashley and I went to Eataly, which is Mario Betali's Italian market. We had the best mozzarella and prosciutto along with other meats. It was an absolutely fantastic meal.

 

On Saturday our friend Naz visited. We went consignment shopping and then had an amazing meal at Rosa Mexicana. It was one of the best chips and guacamole I've ever had. Finally on Sunday, we saw the new Hunger Games movie. I thought it was very good but a little anticlimactic. I'm very Team Peeta and love the actor, Josh Hutcherson who plays him. I'm also obsessed with Jennifer Lawrence. I think she's so talented, beautiful and hilarious. I want to be her best friend. I can't wait for the las movie next year. All in all it was an amazing weekend.

THANKSGIVING

Thanksgiving. Nothing else has to be said. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and I can barely contain my excitement. I have co-op today and Wednesday I am done at 3pm, and then I am free! The Office is closed and I don’t have to come back until next Wednesday! Seeing from all of my exclamation points, you can see I am extremely excited. I cannot wait for time off. I know that sounds like I had my co-op, but I don’t hate it, I am just exhausted. Working all day really does make you tired, even if you are sitting at a desk all day. I also miss my family. I don’t live far away at all, but I barely see them and it will be great to be able to be home.

After my short break from work, I will have to come back and work until December 24^th. Since I am not paid, my co-op is giving me from December 24^th to January 2^nd off, which I think is great. I will be the only intern here after December 15, so I will be very lonely and probably have to take out the trash by myself for a while. I am writing about all of this because last week was honestly very boring. Nothing happened in the office that was too exciting, except a birthday party that included wine and cheese. I hope everyone else’s week was a little more exciting than mine and I hope everyone has a happy thanksgiving!