A week has already passed me by!

First of all, I'm really sorry for not writing more consistently.  Everyday I go to work at 8:45 and get home around 7 and don't spend much time on my computer.  So, here's a little bit of what I've been doing:

For those of you that think I work in some glamorous office or something...there's this.

We literally have enough space to walk around each other's desks and that's IT.  The only cool thing about this is that when I bump into Mary-Kate or Ashley one of us has to move.  I'm really affected people's lives over here clearly. HAH!  Anyways, I've been working on a lot of technical packages and whatnot. This means I'm inserting pictures from fittings and readjusting the formatting for now.  It does take quite some time...and recently I've been forced to use the "intern" mac laptop.  The problem?  I click once and I see...

 the DREADED RAINBOW WHEEL OF DEATH!  Upon informing my supervisor, I was told there wasn't really much she could do about it. Cool!  I guess one of the worst things about this internship so far is just that I feel like I'm wasting time.  This is a perfect example.  I've worked for hours on a computer...most of my time spent looking at the image above.  One thing I've learned while I'm here is that sometimes people don't have a lot of things for you to do.  I'm not sure if they don't want to take the time to show us how to help them, or if they don't want us to have to deal with certain pieces of their work.  As much as I complain about sewing and pattern making, I find myself wanting to do more of the creative work. This takes place on the 10th floor.  Here's a quick pic I snagged.

 Technical design I can already tell isn't for me.  And of course I know that I'm not REALLY doing technical design work.  Ena, my supervisor is, but I rarely get to stick around to see what she's working on.  I'm thinking of asking her if I could just shadow her on a normal day or even shadow a designer or pattern maker.  I want to make sure I get the most out of this.  It's difficult, however, because I feel a little disconnected from Ena.  Everyone else has a somewhat personal relationship with their supervisor.  I am closer with almost everyone else.  Frustrating, but true.  And just to be clear, just because I'm listing all the negative things above, doesn't mean I'm not enjoying my time here.  I love some of the other interns and having this experience with other students makes you feel a little more comfortable in a new environment.
One thing I need to just get over though...so on Friday the design interns all had to bring in their portfolios to show their supervisors.  And after looking at some of them, I felt so inadequate.  This is something these people absolutely LOVE.  I don't really see this as my passion and I feel like you can see it in my work.  If an employer had the option to choose one of them vs. myself, why would they choose me?  I know we aren't supposed to compare ourselves, but it just made me feel awful.  I have this constant need to be the best, if not just relatively at the top of my field ALWAYS.  Suck it up Kelly, "there's always going to be someone out there better than you."

How's hostel life you ask?  It's alright.  I find it difficult to separate my work, social time, and personal time.  I crave the company of others, but also strive to spend some time alone daily.  After work, coming home to a place with 15 others is a bit overwhelming and sometimes I have to retreat to the bedroom for a couple hours.  Then I can emerge from the small, 3 bunk bed room somewhat revived from a long day.  Here's what the living area looks like.  This is where we spend most of our time together :)

and here's from the other direction...

Next on the list:  Kelly, have you continued to go to church in the city?  Yes, indeed I have.  I have continued to go to Redeemer Presbyterian and have come into contact with an awesome college ministry.  In fact, this weekend I went on their retreat with them.  We took a train up to Garrison.  And to all of you who haven't ever been on a train (like me), someone actually comes by to clip your tickets still and they WILL kick you off the train if you can't pay.  I'm pretty sure we just dropped a guy off in the middle of the wilderness the other night.  "Garrison is the next stop." Ok, I thought.  2 other people and I got our stuff together and made our way to the exit.  As we approached the door, it closed.......um......what? wait, did we. miss. it? We did.  Of course.  Good thing it was only 10 minutes to the next stop.  Either way, we eventually arrived at the home.  This place is some family's second house.  So they offer it up every year for fall retreat...gorgeous by the way.

 I met a lot of really awesome people.  This trip was really important for me because I wanted to get to know more of them!  In the morning and evening, we had our lesson and quiet time,

 but in the afternoon we had over 6 hours of free time.  I will admit to having to nap because I was so exhausted from my week, but I was active the rest of the trip PROMISE!  All the girls slept either on the basement floor or the upstairs floor.  This is what madness it looked like.

This morning we caught the train (I KEEP CALLING THEM BUSES!) and I arrived safely at home.

I met someone on the retreat that's going to show me around the city! I'm super excited about it.  We're going to walk across the Brooklyn bridge next weekend. I'll take pictures!

I hope you enjoy all the pictures I'm posting.  I find it helpful when you have some context behind my story telling.  :) Hopefully I'll talk to you sooner than a week from now! :)

Work!

Alright, alright...so I'm sure you're all wondering how work is going.  Let me just say, the people so far are much nicer than I thought they would be.  At first, everyone seemed pretty intimidating...but all in all, it's working out wonderfully.  Mary-Kate and Ashley's office is 10 feet from my intern desk and they come in often (though I have yet to see them since fashion week) so maybe I'll see them and they'll tell me to take care of something.  I'll make sure to say "I'll solve any crime by dinner time!" but....I'm sure they'd fire me HAH!  This week, work has consisted mostly of running uptown to deliver fabrics and patterns, and doing technical packages.  For those of you who don't know, that means I am measuring all of their spring 2013 knits, inserting labeling instructions...etc. inputting them into an excel sheet...fun stuff really.  No, but really, it's alright.  I've been spending most of my time with an intern by the name of Jordan who is just as goofy and weird as I am.  What a RELIEF! I was afraid I was going to crack a joke and have people stare at me.  So far, all us interns are lost together.  One thing that's nice is our bosses all want us to do tasks on our own but are all willing to help us.  So I don't feel really dumb asking a question.

Note to self: learn how to use a mac computer.  Yeah yeah, CSU, I know "We told you so.." blah blah. I like PC's! What do you want me to do, go buy a mac because it's used in the industry?  I almost chopped two today because they were so slow.  What do you Mac people have to say about THAT? But, on a serious note, it's not too difficult...just different.

I have conquered the SUBWAY! huzzah!! I do still have a little issue in the morning.  No matter what time I leave, I'm just barely on time.  I left 15 minutes earlier today and what happened?  My train was behind another with "mechanical problems"...so that 15 mins was wasted sitting on a track in the dark.  Typically, it takes me about 45 minutes to get to work from home.  Today, it took an hour.

So...I've only skipped ahead 2 hours.  But it seems like so much more in the morning!  It's like waking up at 5 am :( Yesterday I was on the bus and...well, have you ever been on the edge of sleep and start to dream lightly? It was like I was hallucinating on the subway.  I remember closing my eyes and then looking up to see someone making a face at me.  Then I really opened my eyes and they were reading their book.  This happened multiple times and decided that I COULD NOT fall asleep on the subway.  Got home last night and slept from about 7:30 to 10:30pm, then again at 1:30.  I just couldn't wait until a reasonable bed time.

So overall, everything is going really well!  I really like everyone here...which I find incredibly shocking.  Thanks for all the prayers guys, they're working!

Arrival and first day

I have arrived! I made it from LaGuardia airport to my hostel in Brooklyn safe and sound.  After discussing with my parents how I could most easily get to my place with 2 suitcases and a backpack (a subway would take over an hour) I chose to bite the bullet and take a taxi there.

 It was just over 8 miles from the airport and cost me approximately $28.  Not as bad as I thought at least.  But I'm pretty sure I saw EVERY single type of person you can in 8 miles of travel.  And...this is my favorite...aggressive drivers are back!  I love you fort collins, but you got yourselves a little granny syndrome problem.

As I walked into my place, I first met 2 people.  Both around my age and from Sweden.  Soon, I'd come to realize that almost everyone in the hostel is from a different country.  Mexico, Canada, Brazil, France, Sweden, Russia.  But I really like them all!  Actually, their English is quite impressive and they're all pursuing some type of career out here: design, architecture, broadway...etc.

View from my hostel in Brooklyn

 I had an entire day to myself today.  So I planned out my subway route and head out to Manhattan for 1. a test run to my new work place 

The Row is on the 5th and 10th floors

and 2. to just walk around and see the sights.  One thing I'm finding a little difficult at the moment, is figuring out which way is north.  If i ONLY knew which way was north I could go wherever I want.  I find myself walking halfway down a block and noticing I'm going uptown instead of down.  Obviously, it can be figured out rather quickly, but it's still a pain.  After finding The Row I was off to look for food...nothing too extravagant just yet, just subway.  But I forgot to call my bank of course before I left so they put my accounts on hold for the time being.  After explaining that to the cashier, the guy next to me covered my charge! "Welcome to New York," he said...and then walked out the door.  I'm shocked.  Bryant Park was my next stop...just uptown a few blocks.  Since I had missed fashion week, I thought it appropriate that I visit.  I literally just sat there. Took it all in.  Wasn't on my phone...wasn't listening to my ipod. Just watched and listened and....sat. 

I knew that when I got here I'd want to be connected with some sort of church.  I traveled up to the west side and attended a service that was preached by Dr. Tim Keller.  Very impressive.  I loved the service, but hated the "new" feeling of being in an unknown place.  On the way back to my hostel, I had to take different subways and can I just say...if you get lost or confused, just ASK someone.  I asked 3 people today about the subway and they were all really friendly.  I even ran into a group of kids my age and they asked me if I wanted to go to church with them next week.  Where do they go you ask?  The same place I had just come from! weird...they even went to an earlier service.  So the chances of that were actually pretty slim.

I am currently safely in my hostel...made it home in one piece and can prepare myself for my first day of work tomorrow.

The day I leave on my journey...

So, I've been asked by quite a few of you to put together a blog so you can keep up with me as I spend 12 weeks in New York City.  I must warn you first off that I am not a particularly great writer but instead type as I would speak.

Currently I'm at my parents house. It's about 12:41am and I spent about the last 40 minutes trying to figure out how to set this blog up.  hah! I hope this isn't a sign of things to come...

Packing is always a tricky thing.  How do you pack for 3 months you may ask?  I have no idea.  Stuff as much in as humanly possible.  Ahhh, everything is just so weird for me today.  I've been taking mental notes all day and trying to remember my time in Fort Collins this past summer.  It's funny...when you're forced to meet new people, it amazes me how many great ones are out there sometimes.  I'm sad to be leaving all my friends behind, but I promise I'll be back! See you in December!

I'm so nervous and I have no idea what I'm even to expect.  Should I expect a really crappy hostel for the first 30 days?  (for those of you who don't know, I'm living in Brooklyn until October 15th in a hostel)  Am I going to hate my internship? Will I get lost on the subway and have to backtrack?  It would be super if I were late to work on my first day.  Will some people be scummy and creepy? Anyways, I'm sure it's going to be an interesting experience.  I've never done anything like this in my life...yay for being adventurous!

Flight is at 10:03 this morning...I'll land around 1:10 or so.  Nap time for now.

-Kelly Jo