"I've heard it said that people come into our lives for a reason, bringing something we must learn. And we are led to those who help us most to grow if we let them and we help them in return. Well, I don't know if I believe that's true, but I know I'm who I am today because I knew you."

Three months ago, my life was utterly changed. The tornado that ripped through Tuscaloosa not only destroyed my apartment, it tore a hole in me that I couldn't even begin to attempt to fix. I didn't understand how I could get so screwed up. All I lost were material items; I didn't lose friends or family members. I felt guilty for feeling so awful.

Today, I've made a lot of progress on feeling better. I understand that it's normal for me to have such a strong emotional response, and I don't feel guilty about it. I'm finally okay with the fact that I still don't feel okay. I have far too much pride in Tuscaloosa to be normal again. That town is my home. I am and always will be a Bama girl, and that sort of pride doesn't get diminished by a tornado. If anything, it intensifies it. I want more than anything to see my town restored to it's former glory, and then some.

At the beginning of the summer, I didn't know what I wanted out of my days. For the first few weeks, I hated everything. I hated being here, I hated working, and I hated that I couldn't make any damn decisions. I didn't know why I hated all of those things, but I felt those feelings so fiercely that they consumed me.

After several weeks of this, something finally flipped. It was time to stop measuring things in loving and hating them; I needed to live life and just embrace it. You can't enjoy New York City if you have a scale of love and hate on which to measure it. You have to immerse yourself in it and let your experiences make that decision for you.

I embraced my work, and I let the team I love so dearly embrace me. I worked hard at every task I was given, and I did it with pride. I connected with other interns, and I made this experience more than I could have hoped for.

The fact that tomorrow is my last day is unreal. I came through my two interviews with glowing reviews, which will hopefully lead to a full time offer with Macy's. And honestly, I thought that's what this summer was all about. Getting that offer. But I realize it's become so much more. This summer has been a growing experience, a healing one. Rather than sit and dwell on everything going on in Tuscaloosa, and agonize over how I couldn't be there to help, I let myself be swept up by the excitement that is New York City. I sat front row at a Broadway play; I ate crazy foods I'd never tried before; I walked a billion blocks; I made friends; most of all, I enjoyed my summer.

This past Saturday, I went to Paron Fabrics for at least the third time. Each time, I bought fabric. As I browsed through the Annex, one of the women working there mentioned that I had been there the previous day. I laughed and confirmed that, and she helped me to pull together some fabrics I was interested in. I decided on two of them and brought them to the counter to be cut. I began explaining to the man cutting them about Tuscaloosa, my apartment, and how our fabric stores were not only not very good, but no longer standing. We chatted for what seemed like hours about the South, tornadoes, his experience on a steamboat in the Mississippi, and how much I loved his store. He told me to continue shopping, and that he would give me a great deal on anything I wanted. I had found a fabric in the full price section that I absolutely adored, but couldn't necessarily afford, so I asked him about it. Immediately, he gave me $5 off per yard. He cut it, added it to my pile, and told me to keep looking. We continued talking, and I ended up getting all of the fabric I wanted for my senior collection, and then some. He gave me a large discount on everything I bought, and he cut extra yardage above what I had asked for when he thought I wasn't looking.

Because of his amazing customer service, and my love of connecting with people, he has made a lifelong fan and customer out of me. He gave me his business card and made sure to write his name down. He told me if I ever needed anything in Alabama to call him up and he would ship it to me. I promised to come one more time before I go home, and I made good on that promise today after work. Though I didn't buy any more fabric, he remembered me and we got to chat for a while. If I had been too consumed in making judgments on New York, I never would have had that experience. But because I decided to embrace it, I got to meet some amazing people.

This week has dragged and flown by at the same time. I've been busy busy at work, and just getting anxious about leaving. I was finally able to finish my portfolio, and I'm actually quite proud of it. I bought Christian Lacroix notes for my team, and they loved them. It made me feel good to be able to give them something nice. I am genuinely sad to be leaving Macy's. I finally have my head in the right place about it, and I would truly be honored to receive a job offer there. And I'm still praying that somehow a position opens up in Charter Club Wovens when I graduate.

So there you have it. I got a little sappy, a little nostalgic, and a lot too wordy. But that's alright. It's been a great summer.

“The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time.”

So now I'm distracted by the fact that my computer keeps making a weird clicking sound. But I'll try to focus.

This week was crazy busy. We were getting ready for our presentation, and my designers were getting ready for a big meeting. I sketched up SO much stuff in illustrator, it was insane. But I love doing that. It makes me feel useful. :)

Nagymama and I made cream cheese cookies so I could bring them in to work. Everyone went nuts over them! Haha secret family recipes are the best.

Friday was our presentation day. It went REALLY well. Everyone enjoyed it and said we had great presentation skills. They expected a lot of us because we were all returning interns, and I think we did a good job.

I decided that this weekend I wanted to stay in a hotel. I wanted time to go fabric shopping and thrifting and to Strand and yada yada and not have to lug my crap all over the place and worry about trying to get back to Jersey. So after a loooong ordeal Thursday night, mom helped me book a room for Friday and Saturday night. My internet wasn't working of course, so it was an adventure trying to relay to her what I wanted to do.

So after work yesterday Prescella, Lauren, Michelle, Lizzi and I went to Dallas BBQ in Times Square. It was madness and ridiculously large. But the food was yummy. After that I came to the hotel, checked in, reveled in my king size bed and fabulous air conditioning, then made my way to the fabric stores. I got a few yards of one I wasn't expecting to get, but I LOVE it. I'm going back today for one I had my eye on but wasn't sure of. I WILL get all my senior collection fabric here!

After that I hopped the metro down to Union Square to go to Strand. I picked up three or so books on fashion illustration because I really want to improve that, as well as a new fiction book for the train. Even though I only have one week left...oh well.

Yesterday was one of the hottest days I've ever experienced in my life. There was no escaping it. I got three shades darker from being in the sun. I know it gets hot in Alabama and Florida, but we go from air conditioned house to air conditioned car to air conditioned school/work. We're never really out IN it , unless we choose to be. Here, you don't have a choice. We walk everywhere, we take public transit, we have to get places without the use of a car. So it's HOT all the time and you can't get away from it.

But I survived, so it's all good. I went to Schnipper's to grab dinner. It was AMAZING. A bit more expensive than I was expecting, but totally worth it. After that I just snuggled in my bed and worked on my portfolio. And, for the pages I have, I FINISHED them. How exciting!! I watched some movies, explored the free tea, then went to bed.

I slept SO well. It was fabulousamazingilovedit. I got up at 8, went downstairs for free breakfast, then came back up and laid in bed for a while. It's just SO comfy, and I really needed some Theresa unwind time. Eventually, I got up, showered, and now I'm getting ready to head out to the Hell's Kitchen Flea Market, which is literally at the end of my block. Sweeeet. I'm going to try to snag some free waters from the front desk guy. =P He was super nice. I was disappointed they didn't give me a room with a view like I had reserved, but I realized he was doing me a favor. I have the corner room on the 30th floor. It is slightly larger than every other room, and it faces another building, so it's SILENT. It's amazing. So huzzah for that.

Today I'm going to the flea market, hitting up a few thrift stores, running by the fabric store again, then loungingggg. And finding the fitness room that eluded me yesterday. Haha

I didn't want to spend the money, but I'm SO glad I did. This is the perfect way to spend my last weekend in New York City. :)

Oh pictures? sure..

jk, too slow. sorry.

I keep trying to blog but Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon are distracting me. Sorry, folks, maybe later. :)

“Always remember to slow down in life; live, breathe, and learn; take a look around you whenever you have time and never forget everything and every person that has the least place within your heart.”

So last night after the beach I lounged in the hammock and relaxed. It was amazing. We had fresh clams that they had gotten from the bay (?) the day before. SO delicious! After dinner we sang happy birthday to Sara and gave her presents and cake. I got her a Ralph Lauren top from Bloomies. (I think I already mentioned that. Oh well. It was adorable.) After that, we decided to play spoons. It got INTENSE. hahaha it was so much fun though. They play it like horse where if you don't get a spoon you get a letter, which makes it a whole lot longer, but I like it better than a one and done sort of deal.

Went to bed sometime after midnight. Sleeping on the porch is amazing. I happened to wake up in time for the sunrise this morning. It was so beautiful.

After breakfast, everyone got ready for the beach. Jim was going out in the canoe, so I asked if I could tag along. I have never been in a canoe, or fished with a lure, so I was excited. We paddled around the channel/sound/creek/whatever for a little over an hour and I caught THREE blue fish! It was so cool! They were all big enough to keep, but we already had lunch planned so we threw them back. But that was so much fun. I'm pretty sure I'm going to get a canoe/kayak when I get back to Bama. Being on the water is just way too good to pass up.

I got REALLY tan over the past few days, and the canoeing helped that a lot. After that I stole the hammock again for a while, then we ate lunch, packed everything up and hit the road. I got back to Nagymama's around 5:45. I've been trying to deal with my portfolio but I really need to do laundry.

I can't believe there are only 2 weeks left. This is unreal. This week I'm in the office a lot, need to practice our presentation a lot, and then we present Friday morning! I can't believe it. But we're ready, so that is good.

Next week, I get to go volunteer with Material For the Arts for Partners in Time. I love Partners in Time and I love that they get the interns involved in it.

But anywho. PICTURES.

So this is one of the dresses I bought online at Macy's. The fabric is awful, but it's pretty. It has the nice draping pleats in the front, and it has POCKETS. Which I love. We know this. It's some random brand that I'm pretty sure they don't even bother to carry in stores. Oh well.

I put it on Thursday morning and decided it looked too dressed up for work. Really and truly, "business casual" in the fashion industry is a huuuge spectrum, and this would have been totally appropriate. Though thankfully, I opted not to wear it, because I almost died of heat stroke when I stepped out of the house that morning.

I moved on to this dress next. I like it, and I wear it on game day all the time, but for some reason I just wasn't feeling it. Of course by this point it was 7:25 so I really needed to make a decision.

Which, of course, brought me to the other dress I bought online at Macy's. It's again some obscure brand. But it's pretty and flowy and nice and light. And I could FINALLY wear my brown wedges!!

As you can see, they are ridiculous platform wedges. And I adore them. They make me SO tall and they are surprisingly comfortable. No, but really. I have awful feet so very few heels are manageable. I survived running around the office all day in these! I love them. I just don't have enough outfits that go with brown shoes.

This was my outfit for Friday. The top is from Forever 21. I'd really like to avoid shopping there again because there's just no excuse for the poor quality. Or the illogical design. This top has a side zip. There is absolutely no need for a side zip in a pull on top. Oy. But my favorite go to pants, and my love love love Toms for Neiman's lace up Toms. Ohhh those shoes are like heaven on my feet. They saved me after dealing with the slipper shoe debacle.

This is the escalator to exit the 53rd & Lex subway station. I swear it goes straight up for like 5 minutes. It's insane!

Ohh the Hampton Jitney. 1990s seats and all.

These were another online Macy's purchase! They're part of the Shop for a Better World site, and they are made by female artisans in Haiti. I love them!

And now we're on to Long Island pictures... :)

"happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence."

We are going to try to post from the phone tonight. We will see how this goes.

Thursday...I worked in the office I do believe. When I got home, Nagymama had made goulash for me. Yum! After that I packed for the weekend.

Friday was half in the office and half project time. Got color cards done and practiced our presentation. After work I went down to the Apple store on 14th. They didn't do anything I hadn't already done and said to call AT&T and if that doesn't fix it they'll replace the phone. It's gotten a bit better though.

After that I went up to the garment district and got AMAZING fabric. So happy. Grabbed lunch, then ran by Monif's just to say hey. She wasnt there but Brandon was. I'm so happy he remembered me. :) he said I was one of the best interns they had ever had. It was awesome to see him and the new boutique.

After that I headed up to Sam Flax. I found a great portfolio and spent way too much money. But it's good. After that I went to Bloomies to get Sara a birthday present then hopped on the Hampton Jitney! 2 1/2 hours later I arrived in Mattituck and after an ordeal I got off the bus.

Zoli picked me up and the weekend has been amazing so far. Beach today and lounging in s hammock and amazingness. I need to do this more often. :)

"In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"

Ohhh hump day. You can be a big pain in the butt.

Today was HOT again. Oy. I wore my puuurdy dress with my pink belt and my old Target grey shoes. I was pleased with it.

Work was good. Ran around like a crazy person for a good portion of the day, then sat in on some meetings, bought 500 pounds of Starbursts (I kid you not. Well, I kid you a little. But it was over 50 bags. YEP.) then went to Saks. OH SAKS. It wasn't too bad. Got a cab up there (ahhh the wonders of working for a corporation), made the return, and went out to 5th to try to catch a cab back. NOTHING. Everyone said no when I told them where I wanted to go. Weird. So I walked out to Madison hoping it would be less insane. Told a guy 31st & 7th, he nodded his head and I got in. As we drove off I repeated, "THIRTY FIRST AND SEVENTH." and he was like "SEVENTIETH AND FIRST" I'm like "NO NEAR PENN STATION" so he turns the corner and goes oh. I was like uh, yeah? So he stops and says, "here, you can catch one going this way." I'm like ok? So I got out, tried to catch another one, FAILED, and then got mad and walked back. ALL THE WAY BACK. IN THE HEAT. IN MY SLIPPER SHOES. Oh the joys of NYC cab drivers and their stupidness. And trying to fight tourists because OF COURSE I had to walk through Times Square. I LOVE IT SO MUCH.

Just kidding. I really do love NYC. I just hate experiences like that.

The plus side: I totally got LOTS of exercise.

I did a few things at work then left and caught the 7 o clock home. Ordered dinner cause I was tired and lazy and craving chinese. They got here really quick and it was really delicious. Happy Theresa. Happy, portion controlling Theresa. I'm VERY close to the first of my two goals and I should reach it by like, next week. YAY!

Oh yeah, to add to my rage today, the train from Penn to Secaucus was pretty full, as it usually is, so I asked a guy who had his backpack on the seat to move it so I could sit down. He grumbles a bit, but moves it. I sit down and he proceeds to jab his elbow into my side while hunt and peck texting on his stupid 2001 PDA. I was like, are you kidding me? A two passenger seat is made for TWO people. And I'm already shoving myself as far into the armrest as I can since you're being such a jerk. So yeah, that was fun to deal with.

But ohhh wells.

Let's see..

Oh, well, I'm not going to go into specifics, but I felt very compelled by God to give back lately, so I've been able to do so and it feels amazing. I know I might be stretching myself a bit, but I also know that that's the time when I get to see God working in amazing ways.

Oh yeah, the other reason I was cranky today is my phone keeps losing signal and data and yada yada. I took it to the AT&T store and they said I have to go to the Apple store, so I'm going to go to the crazy cube on 59th or the store on 14th on Friday after work and hopefully they can fix it.

Anywho. This post is a mess. I apologize.

“Learn everything you can, anytime you can, from anyone you can - there will always come a time when you will be grateful you did.”

So what did I do Sunday? A whole lot of nothing. And it was grand. The Harry Potter marathon and I were buds, even though I only saw bits and pieces of a few of them. Oh well. Did I mention last time that I sketched out what I hope will be my senior collection? I'm REALLY excited. Obviously, I'd love to share with you, but some people are CRAFTY and I'm not about to reveal my secrets. =P But in November, you'll see. :)

Monday was good. I did a lot of sketching in illustrator. If I weren't sketching for Summer 2012, I'd try to post some of the things I've done. I'm REALLY happy with how some of it has come out. However, these are still in line development, so there's no way I could post things. I'm telling you, these crafty people are CRAFTY.

Last night was nice. I sat and ate dinner and talked with Nagymama for over an hour. And it was pleasant. We talked about Nagypapa and the lake and the war and Hungary and Palco and yada yada. It was a good night.

Today I worked on the final project ALL DAY. Oh my goodness. It was intense, but SO much more pleasant than last year. We laughed A LOT which is a miracle and it shows you we actually get along. Huzzah!

At the end of the day we did a rehearsal and got really positive feedback. God bless Dr. Sharpe, all of the presentations we have to do for CBH have finally helped me get rid of the habit of not breathing when I present. so happy.

I was so pleased when I caught the 6:28 train. Love getting back earlier. Ate dinner, chatted again, and now I need to do some research for school, portfolio, life, etc etc. Tomorrow is all day in the office. Yay!

I can't believe there are only 2 1/2 weeks left.

Oh, did I tell you I did a midpoint review thing with Diane on Monday? It was fabulous. She basically said she already views me as part of the team and sometimes she forgets to direct me and she's glad that I'm able to self manage so well. AND she said she really hopes they hire me. YAY. I love her. She is absolutely amazing, and so is her team. They make me so happy.

So yeah. work work work for the rest of the week, fabric shopping/portfolio printing/buying on Friday, then Long Island for the rest of the weekend! Yaaaay beach!

Ohhh side bar. Ready? No? Yeah, I thought not.

But I've just realized lately how easy it is to take things for granted. I run up and down the basement steps like a goat, and it's really difficult for Nagymama to get down there. I have not the best vision, but I'm in a generation where it's acceptable and common to get the right eyeglasses. I didn't have to go through a war, or sleep under a table. I may not be as well off as some of the girls whose parents are paying their way through NYC, but I'm so incredibly lucky and blessed to have family that lives so close and is willing to let me stay with them for months at a time.

So yeah. Hug a grandparent. They can have the worst eating habits and talk about your messy room behind your back to your other relatives, but they're something special.

Fun fact: I saw a Lamborghini driving down the road last night. What on earth was it doing in Passaic??

OH also. I haven't been doing outfits! Shame on me. Here you go!

My outfit from Friday. Jeans and my looovely Elle top from Kohl's. With a cami underneath from...Lane Bryant, I think?

My outfit from today. I couldn't decide what to wear. This skirt is actually really big on me now, so I kept having to hike it up all day. Which was kind of nice. :) I got it a while ago, and I don't remember where. The top is a mystery too. But the cami is the same LB one. haha

Oh Calvin. There's a reason we're BFF. This dress is one of them. It's got the ridiculously full skirt and the flattering darts. The only thing I don't like is the extra godet at the back. I look like I have a tail way too often. But I'll forgive you, CK.

"You know you've read a good book when you turn the last page and feel a little as if you have lost a friend.”

Oh, hey.

So Summer Fridays are fabulous. Though I've told you that several times. Do you believe me now?

Yesterday, I worked on the final project all day. We went to several meetings and we're FINALLY on the right track. so Huzzah for that. After work, seven of us Macy's interns (Let me try naming...myself, Lauren, Prescella, Michelle, Andy, Jameel, Lizzi...success!) went to Haru Hana, a place in Koreatown. It was really yummy and a lot of fun. :)

After that I was going to go get a portfolio, but I decided to just come back to Jersey. Turns out, that was a great idea. Somebody jumped in front of one of the trains somewhere between Penn and Trenton, which caused mass chaos and delays of well over an hour. Good grief. It's SO sad that someone committed suicide. And I feel bad for the people who were on the train they jumped in front of.

So yesterday afternoon I just lounged. I watched parts of the first two Harry Potter films (I haven't seen any of them...I plan to watch them all when I get back to Bama. haha.) and Nagymama caught me. She started yelling about how it was evil witchcraft, terrible, yada yada. Oh dear. That wasn't good. So after a while I just went to bed. I think I went to sleep around 1030. It was aaaawesome!

Today I got up at 7:30, said NO WAY, and went back to bed til around 9:30. Mmmmm 11 hours of sleep. When I got up, I called Kristi and she and the girlies came over. We swam and ate lunch then they left for naptime. I borrowed Nagymama's car and came to B&N. I love free wifi and bookstores. So this is fantastic.

I got a lot done on my portfolio, sent emails I needed to send, etc etc. Yay productivity! Tonight is laundry and cleaning. Oh boy. But first, to stop & shop for fresh fruits and veggies. so excited.

pictures? okay.

"Above all, be true to yourself, and if you cannot put your heart in it, take yourself out of it.”

Let's see here..

Yesterday was work work work, sprint to the train, pass out early.

Today work was pretty great since I spent the majority of my time sketching things in Illustrator, something I know how to do. It makes me feel like I'm legitimately contributing. After work, Lauren and I headed over to HSQ so I could style some outfits to enter the Marie Claire Front Row Challenge. Huzzah! That was a lot of fun.

After work, I reeeeally wanted a salad, so when I got to Secaucus I got the crappiest tiny little salad from Sbarro. It was fantastic. I love greens!

In other news, I'm pursuing my interest in costume design by contacting every theatre department in Tuscaloosa.

Roll Tide.

“You've got to get up every morning with determination if you're going to go to bed with satisfaction.”

OY yesterday.

I got up at 6, lugged my suitcase through the metro to HSQ, then down the street to Penn. Waited for 30 or so minutes for a train, then caught them to Secaucus then Passaic. Unloaded my stuff, took a shower, laid down for 45 minutes, then was up and on my way out again.

Caught another train to Secaucus then Penn to meet up with Erin, who would be in NYC for an hour and a half. I found her, took her to some pizza, then we made a mad dash through Macy's since she had never been. Let her take advantage of my employee discount to get a new purse, then sent her on her merry way to Virginia.

Then, I took ANOTHER train to Secaucus, then Passaic, so I could do some laundry. Ended up in a 2 1/2 hour lunch event with Nagymama and my great aunt and uncle? I think that's what they are. Anyway. That was an adventure. Somewhere in the middle I was able to get my laundry done. Around 5:30 I caught YET ANOTHER train to Secaucus, then Penn. I met Heather and we walked over to Lizzi's. She grilled, we sat, ate and chatted, then around 8:10 we walked towards the Hudson.

Good grief was it crowded. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but it was hot and pushy, and I wasn't all that impressed.

It's definitely something I needed to do at least once in my life, but I wouldn't do it again. Next time, I'll find a roof top or a big tv. It's just not the same with no music and just standing in a crowd.

Soon, I will post pictures, though. I promise!

So after the fireworks, we, along with 5 billion other New Yorkers, made our way back towards Penn. I made it there around 10:20 and was so happy to see it wasn't that packed. But then I looked at the timetable. The next train to Secaucus didn't leave until 11:07. UGHHHH.

So I grabbed a spot on the floor and waited. It finally came and luckily I got on. The train out of Secaucus didn't come until 11:48, so I got home sometime after midnight. Then it was a quick shower, 5ish hours of sleep, and exhaustion this morning.

So, in all, I took TEN trains yesterday. TEN. In a roughly 16 hour period. Ridiculous.

Ah, but such is life.

I got up, got ready, then laid back in bed for 20 minutes. Haha. Somehow I pulled myself upright and got myself to the train. Today was all-intern Tuesday. We learned a lot about private brands, had the shortest lunch break in the history of forever, then ran around the city like crazy people. All the interns from last year were put on the "all-star" team and we had to find double what everyone else did. Oh year, it was a scavenger hunt. Sorry, forgot that part. But we ended up finding everything AND getting back before every team but one. You know, we're kind of a big deal. Haha.

After that I went to my team and found out Lauren and I had been moved from our office. Ooookay. So I grabbed all my stuff and set up my new desk. By that time I only had like 30 minutes left of the day, so I just did some filing then went home. Caught the 5:58 just barely out of Secaucus. Got home, made lunches for the week, ate dinner, and now it's 7:17 and I am about to go to sleep. I'm tiiiiired.

OH but here's my outfit for today! I call this my Robin Hood dress....I guess because it's green? Haha I don't know but I LOVE it. It has fabulous draping on the hips and a huge cowl neck. LOVE. IT.

"In dealing with those who are undergoing great suffering, if you feel burnout setting in, if you feel demoralized and exhausted, it is best, for the sake of everyone, to withdraw and restore yourself. The point is to have a long-term perspective."

Woke up this morning and went to Kitchenette for brunch. Meh. Rude people, gloomy day, and not very good food. Oh well. Walked back in the rain, packed up my stuff and headed for Union Square.

Met Heather and we headed to her dorm to drop my stuff off. We went to the Coffeeshop and grabbed lunch. It was yummy. I got french toast since my brunch was not breakfast food. From there, we walked to Strand, then over to Nordstrom Rack. I love shopping for other people. We didn't get anything, but it was fun.

I took us the super roundabout way, but we made our way to the movie theater to see Cars 2. Hehe we both wanted to see it. It was pretty good. After that we walked a bit, then decided we would explore Chinatown. Hopped a bus downtown and went to Dim Sum Go Go for dinner. It was really yummy. Then we walked a while and eventually made our way on the R back uptown.

Tomorrow, I'm going suuuper early back to Jersey to drop my stuff off, coming back to meet Erin at Penn, then relaxing in the park. Heading to Lizzie's to watch the fireworks at night, then back to Jersey. Yay 4th of July!

Soon I'll add some pictures. I've been pretty pleased with my outfits lately, I just haven't had a chance to take pictures!

Me in front of the Manhattan Bridge. :)

"No, I am not seasick. Yes, I've always been green. No, I didn't eat grass as a child."

Ohhhh today. You were aaaaawesome.

Got up entirely too early, got ready, and headed over to Williamsburg. We went to Smorgasburg, which is essentially a small farmer's market. meh. not too impressed. From there, we headed to Beacon's Closet, a faaaaabulous thrift/vintage store. I loved it. SO excited about what I got. :) From there, we went to another farmer's market, then Junk, Buffalo Exchange, and Monk. I got the tackiest purse ever, but it'll be PERFECT for my sewing stuff. Huzzah! After that, we walked to Vinnie's Pizza, because we hadn't eaten all day, and they have vegetarian and vegan pizza. I got yummy bbq chicken pizza and she got some vegan pizza. It was amaaaazing. From there, we went to Herald Square and went to Macy's for a bit. I got the cutest Michael Kors sweater for like, $20 when it was originally $120. BARGAIN! We sat in HSQ for a bit, then we headed back up Broadway to try our hand at the Wicked lottery again.

We met some nice girls in line and I commented on how I liked her Chacos. It turns out one of them was from Alabama and had just graduated from Auburn. Hahaha. So we chatted a while. We were first in line to sign up, so we did that, grabbed money from the ATM then came back.

At 6, the cutie bearded man (in his Bouncing Souls t-shirt...lol he was a cutie..) came out and started announcing names. GUESS WHO GOT CALLED FIRST?!!? We were SOOOO excited! We got our tickets, freaked out a bit, then went to Pax to grab dinner. We headed back to the Gershwin Theatre around 7:15, I got a souvenir cup for $5 and we went inside. We were FRONT ROW. FRONT. ROW. FOR $26.25. Unbelievable. The show was absolutely AMAZING. The orchestra was incredible, and everything about the show was impeccable. The costumes were jaw droppingly impressive.

After that, I just continued my happy daze down the subway back uptown.

For my first Broadway experience, I got to sit FRONT ROW at Wicked for $26.25.

UNREAL.

“The human race has only one really effective weapon and that is laughter.”

So we didn't get in to see Comedy Central Park. The line literally went for at least a 1/4 of a mile. They let 6,000 people in and there were still probably 2,000 in line. SUUUUUCKS. I was so mad.

So we walked...and walked...and walked until we decided Planet Sushi looked good for dinner.

I got a seaweed salad and spicy tuna roll. It was yummy. I made the waiter leave a pitcher of water. We were both SO thirsty. haha. They took forever to bring us the check, but once they finally did we went back to her place. We also stopped at Pinkberry, which was fruity and yummy.

I ended up sleeping on the floor, but I slept surprisingly well.

I woke up Thursday morning SO nauseous. It was awful. I took a zantac to try to make it better but it didn't get better. I got on the 1 to get to work hoping it would just resolve itself. Around 103 street, I got that watery mouth shaky feeling like I was going to puke. I was like OH NO I am not going to be that girl that pukes on the subway. So I got out at 96th Street and just prayed that it would pass. I was going to go up and get a taxi, because the swaying of the train made it worse, but the 2 express came and I figured I could handle it. I made it to work, but I felt awful the rest of the morning.

I don't really know what caused it, because I got better by the afternoon. But it was AWFUL. I'm thinking maybe I got really dehydrated and tired and mixed that with sleeping on the floor. Not good.

So anyway. Work on Thursday was busy, but then we went to the parade studio in the afternoon. We actually got to take charter busses this year. Very exciting. I love the parade studio. Everyone that works there LOVES their job. It's so cool to see.

Thursday night I went back to Jersey and packed up for the weekend.

Today I had to be THAT girl with the suitcase on the train. I succeeded fairly well. Work was good. I went to Kmart after work with Prescella and....another intern whose name I can't remember. But she's really nice! So we got a little twin air mattress and a hand pump because it was cheap. Haha oh boy. We parted ways and I grabbed the 1 up there. Ohhh the subway was a bit of an adventure with the suitcase.

I made it up here and just hung out in their "quad" til she got off work. I use quotes because it's a tiny patch of grass surrounded by benches and concrete. Heh. Then we put my stuff up and headed down to Broadway to try our luck at Wicked lottery tickets. We put our names in, but unfortunately we didn't win. Boooo. So we took the metro down to Union Square to walk around. Then we spotted the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck!! We have both always wanted to try it, so we got in a MASSIVE line. We both got Monday Sundaes, and they were amazing. Totally worth the wait.

After that we walked around for a while, then headed towards Benny's Burritos for dinner. It was PACKED. but I love Benny's. We got our food and ridiculously strong margaritas. I couldn't even finish it it was too strong. It just made both of us REALLY giggly. hahaha. We walked a bit then headed back uptown. Went to the store and got a fan.

Tomorrow, we're going to explore Brooklyn a bit and go to the flea market. YAY!