Traditions

With the return of the Thanksgiving season comes the return of things I have been looking forward to for quite some time; home cooked meals, family bonding, shopping sprees, and for once in my life, cable TV. My roommate and I have the cheapest bundle at our apartment that we thought covered basic cable channels however we miss out on a lot of our favorites. This has allotted us to keep up with all things Kardashian (that I could do without!), as E! is one of the main channels we get. Coming home and being able to surf through the thousands of channels while staying weary of those that are rooted in pop culture has been quite the treat. I must say I feel kind of spoiled!

This visit home has allowed me to spend time with all of my families, my immediate, my extended, and my work family. I got to spend some time with my coworkers over lunch and it was so great seeing them in person, actually being able to see them speak and look into their eyes. Because it's so easy to reach people now through devices, we oftentimes forget how nice it is to actively participate in a conversation that involves our whole presence, being connected through lines of communication versus lines of signal. This time around, I got to meet Jenn, the newest member to the Entertainment Department who is our Social Media Coordinator. I have been talking to her for weeks prior to meeting her, so it felt like we were already good friends upon first seeing each other in person! It was a great time, the four of us all get along so well, and I thoroughly look forward to spending more time with them over my winter break! I must admit, I do love my job, and getting along so well with my coworkers has a great deal to do with it. 

The annual wild turkey sighting in our yard. Though they are part of the neighborhood, 
it is always funny (and quite ironic) seeing them on Thanksgiving day!

Thankful For This Weekend

Part of our Thanksgiving table! 

    I had been looking forward to Thanksgiving day for so long and now I am officially on the verge of exploding from the amount of food I ate while curled up on my couch watching the Ravens kick some Steelers booty. There is literally nothing in the world I would rather be doing. This is the first time in almost three months I have had time off and seriously I could not be more thankful. I had the opportunity to see some of my hometown friends last night. As many know Thanksgiving Eve is the the most popular going out night of the year and we definitely did not want it miss out on the fun. We ventured into New York City and traveled around to some of our favorite places. Our late night adventures allowed me to sleep late this morning, something I don't get the chance to do much anymore. It was amazing to be able to wake up on my own time and have the Macy's parade and football waiting for me. I throughly enjoyed having this lazy day and spending it with the people who I love the most.  The next plan for this weekend is going to be going out on Black Friday, something that I have never done before. I will absolutely not be waking up at 5 am, but I am looking forward to having this new, crazy experience !

A New York Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Day at Wollman Ice Rink

Yesterday was a very stressful day for me, I was unsure if my boyfriend was going to make it up to NY for this Thanksgiving week. There was a storm approaching the New York area, and I was really nervous it would delay or possibly even worse cancel flights. Thankfully, he was able to switch his flight earlier to avoid the storm, and I am finally at peace. Thanksgiving week is one of the busiest times to travel and I cannot imagine what a mess it would create in this city, if people were unable to come and go.  When you plan something so far in advance it would be very difficult to accept if friends, family, and significant others were unable to make it. Since I have gone away to college I have missed coming home every Thanksgiving, I blame this on my retail jobs! However, even though I will miss my family, I am excited to spend the holiday in New York City with my boyfriend. It seems like there will be many festivities going on, like the famous Macy’s Day Parade which I hope to go too; maybe even watch them blow up the balloons and floats the night before. As for my Thanksgiving meal, I was able to buy a prepared dinner from Whole Foods, I chose this option mainly because my oven is currently broken and I did not want to risk baking half of a turkey. I was thinking about going out to eat, but it would feel so out of the ordinary if I did that. I grew up with my Mother cooking an enormous amount of amazing food at home, and as a family we would spend the entire day eating and lounging. There was never a time when we went out to eat, except maybe a couple houses down to my neighbors. It is also funny to think that my parents are immigrants to this country, but my mother adopted the American tradition so effortlessly; her marshmallow sweet potatoes are too die for! I hope to one day acquire all of her great cooking skills! Anyway, I hope everyone who is traveling this week arrives to their destination safely and has a wonderful/yummy/restful holiday! Happy Thanksgiving! J

THE SIMPLE THINGS IN LIFE

Working full time has been a lot harder than I would have expected. I have learned to enjoy the little aspects of work that can make my happy. Beyond all of the positive aspects of work the thing that I adore the most is the view. My department is located on the 21st floor over looking the entire city! Every night the Empire State building is magnificently lit in colors that suit the season. the sky is transformed into a beautiful rainbow of cotton candy clouds, it is breath taking. 

People from other departments rush in around 5 o'clock to see the spectacular view. All of the designers and the interns break out our phones and take pictures of the sun set every night. I have about 12 photos of the view saved on my phone. I believe that this is my favorite aspect of work because it is out of my control. While actually working I feel as though I am constantly under pressure. I feel that if I mess something up it is all riding on me! With the sun set there is no pressure it simply is beautiful because it wants to be.   

No Shortage of Warmth

Buyers are gearing up with their holiday season and so are we here at The North Face. We have been crazy busy getting as many market appointments in as possible before Thanksgiving and especially Christmas. With the cold weather FINALLY coming in and Black Friday on our radar, we are watching sales very closely crossing our fingers that it will inspire large orders from the buyers. While everyone else may be scared for cold weather, this is what we pray for. Colder weather means great sell through and more reorders. Recently our heat has been slacking in our office so that also helps our appointments because we all end up wearing the jackets; it's amazing what just trying on a jacket can do for a buyer. The jacket might have no hanger appeal but as soon as you put on that jacket when they depend on it most, it gives them a reason to have a conversation about that piece which may not have happened otherwise.

I am really excited in the market appointments because, especially with stores I shop at, I can't wait to see what products they place next year because I will feel partially responsible for getting them there for everyone to buy. There are some jackets I wish I could buy now but they are new for next year so therefore haven't even been put through production yet. Plus I already have enough outerwear to keep me warm for a life time.

Believe me there will be no shortage of warmth this winter.

the customer

As they say in the industry, the customer is always right. While I don't believe this to always be something you should follow I do believe that treating the customer well is crucial to sales and repeated sales. A customer recently came in and was casually looking around the Duke and Winston showroom. As I always do I said hello and asked if they needed help. I could have stopped there, since the customer did not say they needed help. I noticed they kept going back to a shirt and looking at their phone so I casually asked again and they offered more information, which I was then able to hold a conversation about. From that conversation I made a large sale as well as convinced the customer to go visit our new pop up shop and got him very excited to tell all of his friends about the company. Had I not tried to look at hints the customer was giving he may not have bought anything or had as good of an experience with the company. Showing the customer you care is so greatly important in maintaining a company because without a customer, a company would not exist!

New York's True Colors

Living in New York has given me the opportunity to see this city's true colors. Some of my initial perspectives of the people and expenses have either proven to be quite accurate, or surprisingly false.

subway adventures

For starters, the people here are actually very friendly and more than willing to help when needed. I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I have seen a native New Yorker helping a tourist get to their desired location. This past week I was even unsure of my particular subway route while out and about on a run for work. Instead of having a slight bit of doubt in my mind, why not ask a stranger? To my surprise, this friendly New Yorker even whipped out his phone and gave me exact directions with the help of Hopstop. This scenario made me feel at ease that I did in fact know where I was going, and also that this type of helpful and friendly behavior still exists. Point blank: my perspective that most New Yorkers are too busy to be patient and helpful human beings was far wrong. I have come across so many lovely and open individuals while living here. It has made me realize that I could definitely see myself moving back upon graduating Drexel.

One thing that did not come as a surprise to me was the expense of living here. With the high taxes on food, clothes, you name it, I sometimes wonder how I could ever survive living in this city. As I mentioned in my previous post, being on a tight budget has become a must. As amazing as it is to have everything you need right at your fingertips, it comes with a high cost and I have learned this pretty quickly. You really do learn the value of a dollar while living in New York.

What I couldn’t prepare myself for was the sheer overwhelming volume of people, places and things to do. On any given day you can go to any one of thousands of restaurants. To someone new into the big city, it is overwhelming on mind as well as on wallet. Within my first week here, I had my fair share of awful takeout restaurant picks, leaving me missing the comfort of Philadelphia. However, within time everything becomes familiar. The feeling of starting new is exciting and also a great opportunity to learn about yourself and to step outside of your comfort zone. I am thankful for Drexel for providing me with this opportunity to learn not only more about myself, but also about an industry I am so passionate about as a D&M student. Working and living in New York has broadened my perspective as a whole, and I am eager to learn even more about myself and the industry in the time I have left here.