The End is Near

Julia and I on the Met Rooftop Garden

This past weekend was my second to last weekend in NYC. On Friday I finally made it to the Prada and Schiaparelli exhibit titled Impossible Conversations, at the Met. I didn't really know what to expect after the McQueen exhibit last summer which was so impeccably put together and beautiful--definitely hard to top. The thing is that Elsa Schiaparelli and Miuccia Prada lived in completely different eras, yet their inspirations and designs share many similarities and fit quite well together and the exhibit did an excellent job of showing how each designer reflected the other. Because Schiaparelli focused on the waist up, and Prada on the waist down, their pieces could be shown together as a whole. I especially liked where they contrasted Schiaparelli's hats with Prada's shoes. Throughout the entire exhibit was a running video of a simulated conversation between Prada and Schiparelli. As an art history major, I found it particularly interesting to learn that Schiaparelli was active in the Surrealist movement, specifically working with Dali on many of her designs. I love Dali and had no idea he had influenced fashion! If I had the money I would certainly invest in one of her pieces that Dali influenced...

Sunset on the East River

After the Met I went to the gym to finish my lifting for the week. For some reason I have an intense obsession with not falling out of my lifting cycle because I know once the next week rolls around, I have a whole new set of exercises to do. I would much rather miss a swim practice that my lifting because I know that the practice can be changed where as I always feel the need to complete my lifting... its weird. After lifting I ate dinner and then went to a friends rooftop to enjoy the views of the city and good company.

The main reading room

Saturday morning Ash and I took a tour of the New York Public Library. I had never been inside before and I am so so glad I went. The library gives free tours to the public Monday through Saturday at 11am and 2pm, and at 2pm on Sunday. The inside of the library is even more glorious than the exterior and some of the facts that our tour guide threw out were mind boggling. For example, the library has an annual budget of 320 million dollars, and 75 miles of bookshelves... insane. After the tour I ran to Magnolia Bakery to pick up Caroline's birthday cake, and then hailed a cab to Penn Station. I had 11 minutes to make my train and I sprinted from the cab, to the ticket kiosk, to the train, like the crazy person that I am. I am a LIRR champ and so I obviously made it, but I was also drenched in sweat...

I took the train out to Cold Spring Harbor where Caroline threw a great 21st birthday party at her house and we hit up the bars of Huntington. On Sunday I hung out with Caroline at her friends pool, eating delicious food and just relaxing. I can see why New Yorkers love to get out of the city in the summer if they have a nice pool or beach to relax at...

Wardrobe Malfunction

  Everyone has seen in a movie or heard about from a friend that embarrassing story where one's clothing article rips, and thus they are stuck in a very uncomfortable situation. Unfortunately for me, I got to live one of those moments last Friday. During the year I had purchased this great brown leather skirt from one of my favorite stores, Anthropologie. It is fitted at the waist and flows out from there, and is comprised of vertical panels. Well, as I sat down on the train to Penn Station, the skirt caught on the arm of the chair, and ripped a nice 6 inch size tear into a side panel.
  I sat in shock/horror as the train pulled away, not quite sure of what to do. Luckily,the skirt is very well made and has a liner underneath so nothing was showing. Nonetheless, I had a hole in my $300 skirt. I frantically called my mom and she advised that I stop somewhere in Penn Station and pick up either pins or tape. I explained to her that this skirt was beyond the repair of the everyday sewing kit, and so I went on to shop at the only store open at 8 AM: Kmart.
  I had never been inside of a the Penn Station Kmart, much less any Kmart in my entire life. The closest I have been to shopping in a similar store I guess would be Walmart, but then again, that is when I am shopping for mixer outfits...
  After 20 minutes of frantically running around the 3 story Kmart, I had picked out 3 dresses. I settled on a simple watercolor patterned red/blue/purple shift that cost $25 and sprinted out of there to catch my E train to work. I arrived at work by 9, changed in the bathroom and proceeded to my desk.
  That day I was complimented 4 times on my bargain buy and have now fallen in love with my purchase. I guess I should start shopping at Kmart from now on...
  I am taking my skirt to a leather repair shop tomorrow morning to see what they can do; I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

I just went online to get this image, and the dress is now on sale for 18.74...

Commuter Problems

  This morning, as the guy was coming around to check everyone's tickets, a man in the row in front of me had an off-peak ticket, and at 7:47, it is clearly peak. In these situations (when a passenger either doesn't have a ticket or doesn't have the right kind), they pay cash and receive a paper slip as their ticket. Well this man did not have any cash on him and they don't take credit card. The ticket agent (I guess that's what you call them?) pulled out a slip and asked for his ID--clearly writing him a ticket to be paid at a later time. The cash-less man was clearly upset and asked how much he was being charged--$3! Haha. The passenger then became more upset by the fact that he was going to recieve a ticket for such a small amount and cursed out loud for the entire train to hear, "This is f-ing rediculous, are you kidding me?!"
  Um, excuse me Mr. I-bought-the-wrong-ticket-and-don't-carry-any-cash, but in case you haven't noticed, everyone else on the train pays the fare! I was perplexed as to why this man thought that he shouldn't be charged for his wrong ticket when everyone else is expected to do the same. Some people...

Circle of Life

  Yesterday, I witnessed what my mom referred to that night, as "the circle of life."  As a huge Lion King fan, I understand this concept, yet seeing it in action was heart-breaking for me.  As I stood at the Great Neck train station, waiting for my 7:47 to arrive, I heard a persistent chirping coming from below. I discovered that the noise was coming from the tracks as I starred at a little baby bird sitting in between the two rails. The little guy was old enough to jump around and had a nice plumage, but he couldn't quite fly yet. As it cried out for help, I looked around to see if anyone else was noticing this tragedy; but true to New-Yorker persona, everyone had their headphones in and couldn't care less. I strongly considered jumping in and rescuing him, but with the train arriving in 3 minutes and my mom texting me that she would kill me if I did, I had no choice but to stand there and watch him flutter his wings in attempt to escape the confines of the rail. His mother flew back and forth a few times to feed him and show him how to jump over the rails to at least get out of the way of the LIRR, but it was to no avail. He just wasn't quite big enough to jump that high and could not fly.
  I closed my eyes as the train arrived and almost shed a tear. When I got home that night there was no sight or sound of him, and I can old hope that he stayed in the middle and avoided the wheels of the evil LIRR... If only he had some help!

To the Point of Frustration

 

 For those of you who follow my blog, sorry I have not updated in a while. I promise a full re-cap of my past super-gay weekend. But tonight I am just too tired to write more than a paragraph. This whole 9-5 job is really starting to take its tole on me; I wake up at 6:15 every morning in order to catch the 7:47 train into the city, and then after work I either go to swim practice or come home to the gym. My days don't end until at least 8:00, at the earliest. And I know that some people have jobs that require them to work until 7 or 8, or even 9, but working all day in the office, and then having to work out in the pool or gym is just exhausting.  

  But anyways, so today after work I went to John Jay for swimming--tonight I also needed to go to the gym and lift because I will be gone most of the weekend for festivities (and coach wants me lifting 3 times a week and swimming 3 days a week). I looked up before practice the subway schedule, and in order for me to make my LIRR train home leaving at 8:19, I would have to catch the #1 leaving at 8:00. So just as the clock struck 7:45 and practice ended, I sprinted to the locker room, stripped, and threw on my gym clothes, still soaking wet. I then proceeded to run the 4 blocks to Columbus Circle and literally swiped my metro card just as the subway arrived. So there I am drenched in sweat on the subway, panting, but happy that I would make my 8:19 train home. I arrive at Penn with a few minutes to spare and snag a good seat on the train. I have my backpack and purse in my lap, and on the train I usually close my eyes and doze in and out of a light sleep, always waking up when they announce the stops. Well tonight, I just so happened to enter into my freaking REM cycle as we passed by my stop for Great Neck and I woke up in Manhasset. I guess it could have been worse, I could have fallen asleep on the weekend when the train only runs every hour and I could have ended up all the way at Kings Point, but still, I missed my stop. If I had only woken up 2 minutes earlier, I would have made it!

  So now it is 10:50 and I am beyond ready for sleep. Thank god we have a 3 day weekend coming up...