Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Public transportation in New York city is almost unavoidable if you're an active contributing member of society, simply because walking just won't do the trick in many cases. When I first moved to New York I read about a phone application that has nearly saved my life on many accounts. For those of you who live here, I'm sure you feel the same. Its called HopStop and in simplest terms, you type in your current location and your destination and can select various options of types of transportation. It calculates which bus or subway you need to take, as well as walking time and taxi time & fare. It also includes delays, should there be any. Basically this application has been my Bible for the past 6 months and is super convenient if you're an intern and need to go on runs all over the city. 

Moving forward, I have a minor yet life consuming issue that I'd like to address. If you are ever in New York City and you find yourself in a cab, by all means when it is time to exit, be alive and aware. I would swear that if you left your child in a taxi, you will probably never see it again. 

In my case, my version of a child in my life is known as my wallet. This contains my drivers license, my intern card, subway card, money, credit card etc. basically all things that you need on a day to day basis. I was on the phone when exiting my most recent cab affair, and although I had looked behind me to make sure I had all my belongings. My wallet had fallen onto the floor of the car and drove away into the black hole that is New York City. I'm sure my friends in Philadelphia could hear my reaction to this..... Naturally after my brief freak out, I cancelled my cards and called my parents to notify them of my mistake. After a week of dealing with the aftermath, all ended fine and well and life is back to normal. Obviously there are worse things to happen to you, but in the .5 seconds that you are leaving a taxi I beg of you to not repeat my mistake and to be sure of all your items and that they are on your person.

I filled out a missing item report with the NYC universal taxi website and called all the listed police precincts where lost & found items are returned. However, after doing so I did some research and apparently most of these precincts aren't even aware that they are listed for this purpose. I laughed this off and eventually moved on with my life, although I am still mildly bitter about losing my license considering I had gotten it during an era where I had black hair..... at least I won't be questioned in airports anymore. So I guess there's a silver lining.

I still hope that a kind samaritan sends it to my home address, but otherwise may my Chloe wallet rest in peace in the eternal island of misfit lost items. 

xx.

Philly Cooks

If you’re from Philadelphia, you’ve probably heard of a few big events held each year in the city, for example, the Philadelphia Whiskey Festival, ThinkFest, and Philly Cooks. Did you know that Philadelphia magazine is the creator of these events?

Yes, the three person marketing & event planning department that I work for is in charge of putting on these massive and exciting events for thousands of people!

Most recently, we held our annual Philly Cooks events at the Historic Strawbridge Building on March 28^th. The event brought together over 50 of the best restaurants in Philadelphia for a night in which attendees can walk around and sample food from each restaurant and all of the proceeds from the event benefitted the Ronald McDonald House Charity. The event was definitely the most chic of the events I have worked. The people, venue, music, food, and décor were very upscale and glamorous! For more insight, you can look at the pictures here: http://on.fb.me/13RPn6b

As I said, it was quite a fashionable night, but the prep work for the event- no so glamorous. The other interns and myself arrived at the venue at 8:45am on Thursday to begin that day’s work. Prior to that, some of the interns had already been assisting the event set up the day before. The first task to be completed was setting up two tables for each restaurant and prepping each restaurant’s area with the required cooking supplies, tablecloths, signage, and other supplies to meet the health department’s standards. Additionally, we had to arrange décor for the event, put together signage, set up the bars, check in restaurants, just to name a few other important tasks. Overall it was exhausting but also educational. I feel like an insightful Philadelphia Foodie now! 

But the best part of the day was my assignment during the event: to follow the photographer. The magazine hires a photographer for every event to highlight different features of each event and to create buzz for the event. I thoroughly enjoy this job because I get to walk around and see the entire event in action. Also, it is a more creative task; I assisted the photographer with lighting and suggested subjects for photographs. Just by seeing the photographer in action, I get to learn about a creative outlet that interests me. I would consider myself pretty lucky that my internship is teaching me such a wide variety of skills.

Webster Hall vs The Barclay Center

So I recently went to Webster Hall for a concert. This being my first show in NYC since I have moved here, I had somewhat high expectations. So when it comes to fashion in the sense of being fashionably late, I wouldn’t suggest this for a show at Webster Hall. We had heard that the doors opened at 7, so we left our apartment at 9:30 since it was only 20 blocks away, and ended up leaving the concert at 11:30. Regardless, this was yet another venue I had been wanting to step foot in and overall it was a great time.

A few days later, I made my mark on The Barclay Center to see Swedish House Mafia’s last show ever in New York City. I purchased these tickets back in September and although I was ecstatic upon purchasing them, I almost completely forgot about the event.

I had been running a little late to meet up with friends since I was coming from work, so I had to take a cab from my apartment to Brooklyn. $30 later, I made it just in time. So my piece of advice here is that if you can avoid taking cabs from Manhattan to Brooklyn, then do so because that one hurt my wallet.

Moving forward. Hands down this show was definitely better than the one I had seen at Webster. Maybe its because of the venue, different artist or the $5 waters…… I actually was hesitant towards going that night because when I bought my ticket I wasn’t aware that I was buying an actual seat—I figured it was general admission, so in this sitauation as well as all situations in life--be sure to read the fine print.

BUT if this happens to you, I’ll have you know that if you have friends in other sections you can borrow someone’s ticket and get in, they don’t scan them after you enter Barclay :) that being said, my $50 nosebleed ticket somehow turned into a seat located in one of the front sections with my friends. My plan B would have been to enjoy the show alone anyways but I kept my fingers crossed and planned accordingly and this time it happened to work out.

The entertainment aspect was incredible. I definitely felt the difference between seeing a show elsewhere as opposed to seeing one in New York City. The energy was through the roof, literally. 

It was comforting and exciting to soak up the fact that I was 100% in my element, living in New York, 20 years old, interning at a publication I love and seeing an artist I love for the last time. This will be a night to remember and per usual, I end this post with only feelings of love love love for New York. xx.

The End Is Near!

Hello from Free People!

Since my work is pretty similar most weeks, I thought I’d share some photos of my surroundings and some other cool parts of the Free People building.  We have a launch today, so I didn’t have much to prepare for that.  Our second March launch is very small, so lately I’ve just been tackling April, which has 300 or so items.  It’s a lot of desk work, but I know the end result is going to be good.  

My last day here is March 20, so I am just trying to work hard and stay focused on the tasks ahead of me.  I have really been relishing my work environment, and here are some pictures of parts of the building I love!

One of our many racks of vintage!

Inspirational quotes all around the office!

Many boxes holding old samples covered in Indian prints.

Beautiful staircase with great Indian vases.

A Wish Come True- Two and a Half Weeks Left?!

Hey Everyone! I cannot believe that it is already March and that co-op is almost over!

I have really enjoyed my time at A Wish Come True. I really have grown to love it, even when I am looking for work to do. The people I work with are great, too! I cannot believe six months is almost up. I do not want it to end yet!

Not to tell the whole world, but I need to keep this post brief because I have a minor concussion at the moment. I play women's rugby for Drexel's club team and hit my head during the match on Saturday-- a match that we won! But I am not supposed to be on the computer much at all because it bothers my eyes and my head. This has been an issue at work because I primarily work on a computer. My boss has been very understanding and has tried to give me tasks that involve the computer very little, if not at all. I have done a lot of measuring for costing, just minus the yields. Also, organizing swatches has been a big thing I have done this week.

An exciting thing that I have experienced this week is discussing one of my design sketches I submitted a while ago. Even if it does not go through, it was really interesting to sit down with my bosses and work out how my sketch can be accomplished into a costume without making it too expensive, too much labor, or too difficult.

Well, I hope everyone has a good week! I know that I will be preparing for next week's photo shoot! And resting, of course!

-Victoria

Winding Down at QVC

This past week hasn't been to hectic. I have been completing my regular tasks as well as enjoying my last few weeks at "the Q."My coworkers have been complimenting me on my work there thus far and it feels good to fit in. I feel as if I will be leaving a second family. I look forward to going to work to catch up with my coworkers. Whether it is talking about the latest episode of Girls or gossiping about what celebrity wore what, I have found a great group of friends in the women that I work with.

I feel as though I am always being educated. Even when I am not learning from a project that I am working on directly, I have certainly picked up on news and tidbits about the industry from being in my office. Today, for instance, my supervisor sent out a link to a news article about Redbook magazine and the redesign that it is in the process of undergoing. I generally would never pick up Redbook because it isn't my magazine of choice. I like to stick to magazines that I think of as being more "fashion-y" like Vogue and Bazaar, occasionally Lucky and Elle but Redbook is actually aiming to become more like those magazines. The article that the link took me to actually stated that the magazine is trying to stray away from the crock pot recipes and include more of a focus on beauty and fashion.

As I read this article, I began thinking about how I was really learning from it. We do a lot of work with Redbook and I have never thought twice about giving the book a look until I read the information about it today. I also started to think about how a redesign for Redbook, or any magazine really, would effect us and the work that we do. Because the magazine was viewed as less fashion-y before, but is trying to take it to the next level, it could mean the same for our business and in the long run, it could change our viewership. Of course, it would take time for that to all happen, but it is definitely fun and interesting to think about how things for one magazine can really have an impact.

For Public Relations, it is pretty much our job to get new viewership and increase the amount of people seeing our brands and products. With the help of a magazine or any other outlet, our efforts could be aided to do just that. I don't know if I sound like a dork, but it is things like this small change that gets me thinking about larger scale changes that really keep the industry going. Another thing that I loved seeing this week was when QVC was featured on The Rachel Zoe Project. A different coworker sent out a link to the episode when Rachel comes to QVC and to think that she walked the same hallways that I walk on a daily basis is pretty fascinating.

Almost at the Finish Line

            In the co-op class you take two terms prior to co-op they give you lots of advice on the application process. For D&M's one thing they advise you to do is to have independent job searches lined up in addition to jobs through the SCDC system. I didn't have a company that I was dying to work for in particular. There were plenty of ideas floating around for an independent job search, but I knew I didn't want to go to NYC which ruled out a lot of the options. I also knew that I planned on staying in Philadelphia because of my apartment lease and figured I would trust Drexel's job options, and if A Round really didn't appeal to me, I always had the option to go the independent job search route.

            In addition to independent job searches, you are allowed to complete two three-month co-op experiences if you wanted to do so. I thought this was a really cool opportunity, but I didn't think it would be such an easy thing to set up on your own. I'm 100% satisfied with my experience at The North Face/Full Circle Group LLC, but I do wonder how my independent job search would have gone if I had taken that route. I really think that Drexel should work on incorporating two-three month co-op opportunities within the SCDC system for D&M students especially. The sky is really the limit when it comes to the fashion world, and the options are endless when it comes to experiencing different brands/companies/places. If I were to have a second co-op, I probably would have had an easier time to doing an independent job search for a company such as 7 For All Mankind Jeans because they are a part of the same VF Corporation umbrella that The North Face falls under. That way, I would be able to experience a completely different type of company that is connected to the one that I originally had worked for. I really wish D&M had the three co-op/five year option. I would be able to really plan my work experiences ahead of time, and experience both independent and SCDC job experiences. Hope everyone had a good week!