California Dreamin'

Another weekend getaway has come and gone, but thankfully my vacation state of mind hasn't completely left. Instead of stressing to the max about tests, internships, events I need to be at and work, I've been surprisingly calm (and actually getting enough sleep!) this week.

I'm attributing this new found stress release to my quick weekend trip to L.A. and Southern California. The people, the atmosphere, the weather, and the great company I had with me made it a well relaxed weekend that was way overdue.

 {almost there!!}

 {toes in the sand will always be the best pedicure}

So excited that I got to have a quick meeting over coffee with one of my favorite bloggers, B. Jones Style! She gave the best shopping recommendations - I have to make another quick back soon to hit all the stops - advice, and insight for breaking into and being successful in the fashion industry. Such a sweet, down-to-earth lady, couldn't have asked for a better way to kick off my trip! Thanks again!

 {this place has the best vanilla chai latte I've had - if your in Costa Mesa definitely stop!}

{beautiful Corona Del Mar}

{Corona Del Mar}

But vacation is over and even though I will, luckily, get at least a month of down time before my move to NYC, interning in a huge city, the reality of graduation, getting a "real" job, and grad school are all looming overhead and I can't help but admit I'm scared! Just need to remember to take this stress-free state of mind with me through it all...

 {view of Santa Monica from the ferris wheel}

{Santa Monica Pier}

New York Photo Diary

{archaeology room at FAO Schwarz}

{Famous Big Piano at FAO Schwarz, all I would think of was Tom Hanks!}

{Mural in East Harlem}

{Buddha from the Ripley's museum}

 {View from my hotel on 31st street}

 {From atop the Empire State Building}

 {Couldn't resist a picture next to a tribute to Breakfast at Tiffany's in the Empire State Building!}

 {Spent a beautifully warm afternoon in Central Park on Friday}

 {Sweet little nephew and his strawberry gelato at Rocco's off Bleecker St.}

 {Dessert after John's Pizza, a cup of vanilla cappuccino and a slice of New York style cheesecake}

 {Mary Poppins on Broadway. No one can truly know how spectacular a Broadway musical is until you experience it in person. Definitely one of the highlights of the trip, I was beyond amazed. Magnificent.}

 {Nephew, mom and sister waiting on Mary Poppins to start}

 {Box seats at the New Amsterdam Theatre. This theatre was beyond beautiful.}

 {Candied stairs at Dylan's Candy Bar}

 {Just a small sample of the insane amount of candy found at Dylan's Candy Bar}

Today mainly consisted of watching my first Broadway play ever and eating delicious food. Needless to say, it was an amazing day. Tomorrow I'm headed to Family Jewels off 23rd street then hopping a shuttle to the airport and it's back to ATX I go! Sad and happy to be leaving this amazing place! New York City, as my friend Ashley said, has an energy unlike anywhere else.

The city is an addiction

So Wednesday was the last day of the seminar with the UT Texas Exes program and I must say I was on cloud nine the whole day. We began our day at The Museum of the City of New York and ended at the studio of the famous stylist Lori Goldstein. I felt like I've done nothing but meet celebrities all week (almost bumping into Katie Holmes and Suri totally counts, even if me and my girlfriends did walk right past them without noticing!), its been such a surreal experience.

At the beginning of fall semester I decided that I was going to apply to graduate school to get a master's of art in fashion curation. Knowing that this career would be the perfect mesh of my love of history and fashion I knew it was something I had to pursue. So, you can imagine how insanely excited I was to meet the curator for the costume collection of the Museum of the City of New York. I almost died when the curator opened a vault that revealed three original gowns designed by the House of Worth. The intricate details, the intact paniers, and beautiful fabrics, ah clothes just aren't made like that anymore! I have tons of photos but because of copyright/privacy issues I'm not sure if I can share them. However I can share some pictures I got of their current exhibit and if you are ever in New York during a fashion exhibit you must stop by!

{photos from the exhibit AIN'T NOTHING LIKE THE REAL THING: HOW THE APOLLO THEATER SHAPED AMERICAN ENTERTAINMENT}

From the museum we headed down to the Fendi offices off fifth avenue to speak with their accessories buyer and their HR director. The history of the company is amazing and shows what an awesome establishment they really are. When I left not only did I want to work there but I also wanted to forgo paying my rent so I could take home one of their peek-a-boo bags with me!

After Fendi we headed to what was my favorite stop of the whole seminar, Lori Goldstein's styling studio. We were greeted by one of Lori's personal assistants Danny. He gave us a complete tour of the studio and a run down of what goes on on a daily basis. I was so captivated by the fast paced, energetic and passionate atmosphere of the office. Below is the latest editorial that Lori styled for W magazine featuring a stunning McQueen gown. Follow Lori and her team on twitter [ @LGinstantchic @lori_goldstein and like them on facebook!

After a whirlwind of office visits the seminar concluded with a networking reception where I got to mingle with some pretty amazing people and then my vacation in NYC started! My mom, sister and nephew arrived Thursday afternoon and we have been non stop exploring the city ever since. More pictures of our adventures to come tomorrow, for now it's lights out to get rested for another big day tomorrow!

Xx.

Never say never. And no I'm not talking about the Justin Bieber song...

These past two days in New York have been a complete eye opener for me. Its reaffirmed that fact that the fashion industry is where I need to be, but it's wavered my decision of where in the country I want to end up. I always said I would never ever move to New York, basically because I never thought I was 'cutthroat' enough, creative enough, or had enough connections. Well as the title of this post says never say never, I'm actually thinking of taking the plunge and moving to the city rather than the beach.

{upside down photo I accidentally took on 34st. but it's how I feel, all upside down!}

Most of those who know me well will understand how big of a change of heart it is for me to be considering a move to the city and I'm still not sure I will actually be able to do it. There's just so much opportunity here it's insane. Just so many things to think about, definitely need a few days for some self/career evaluations. But aside from my "where to go now" dilemma we had some amazing office visits on Tuesday!

{inside Macy's MMG offices}

We got to go inside the MMG Macy's and speak with their design, merchandising, .com, and some of the inventory teams. From there we went to Macy's Herald Square and got to meet with the famous Paul Olszewski who is the Director of Window Design. This man has won tons of awards for his artistic window displays, if you haven't seen any of his work google immediately.

From Macy's we went onto FIT and explored their current exhibits: His and Hers, Japan Now, and Vivienne Westwood. They have some amazing pieces in this collection and it is definitely worth seeing. The Japan Now collection will blow your mind.

{snapshot of Japan Now exhibit}

After FIT we went over the Blue Stripe PR, a fashion PR company, and got a tour of their studios. They represent some really great lines and seem to have some of the glamorous lives in the industry.

And finally to end our day we spent some time at Joseph Abboud's studio speaking with some of the UT alum that make up the merchandising and PR.

{men's wear photographs lining the hall outside Joseph Abboud}

It was an extremely busy day but super fun and we got to meet some really great people. I will soon follow up with a post about our Wednesday activities; I have tons of pictures to share! But for now I'm off, my mom should be making it into NYC with my sister and nephew any minute now and I cant wait to see them! Whew! Now the real vacation begins!

XO

New York, New York

Spring break is finally here and I'm spending my time on a seminar/vacation in the big apple. This is my first time in New York and I've already bumped into more people and light poles than I can count because I'm constantly looking up instead of looking at what's in front of me. The city is everything I ever dreamed of and more!

The seminar part of the trip is put on by The University of Texas' Texas Exes. They allow a group of students to meet with alumni and are guided around the city making office visits to various companies in the industry of their study. My textile and apparel group will be visiting Macy's, FIT, Joseph Abboud, Blue Stripe PR, Fendi and touring Lori Goldstein's studio (omg soooooo excited, btw Lori was named one of StyleCaster's 50 Most Stylish New Yorkers!)

As excited as I am about going to all these amazing companies, I'm still in shock of the surreal guest speaker we got to meet with today. The great Iris Apfel. 

It was such a surreal experience being in the same room as Mrs. Apfel and listening to her stories and taking in all the advice she was giving us. I'm forever grateful to our leader Mrs. Prideaux for setting up this amazing opportunity and can't wait to see what New York has in store for me!

Stay tuned for more photos and updates of my trip!!

Interference

School, work, internship wrangling, and preparing for the "real world" are completely interfering with my blogging/social media world and I don't like it. I'm so behind on catching up with fashion weeks, it'll take me weeks to go through them all. Ah the problems of a college student...

However, are in the midst of London fashion week, and for those who know me I'm a sucker for anything British. You might say I suffer from a bad case of Anglomania (my historic costume professor would be so proud, using vocab in my blog posts...). So it was no surprise that I fell in love with Burberry Prorsum's Fall 2011 show. The brights colors, tartan patterns, my favorite trenches and structured silhouettes, ah who ever said fall/winter had to be muted tones and boring?!

As much as I loved the garments in this line, I was equally confused by the cow print and sheep skin beret's all the female models were wearing. I felt like it took away from the garments much of the time and I'm all for accessories but sorry BP you dropped the ball on this one...