I Am Meant for a Southern Life.

After being in NYC for 3 weeks I have finally gotten the swing of things and realized I MISS THE SOUTH! I miss driving my car, the lake and summertime, the slow-paced life, sweet southern people, not taking the Subway 82 blocks to go grocery shopping at Trader Joes, and of course my sweet family.  I truly am blessed to have had this experience (and thank my parents A LOT for all the money they forked over for me to be able to do this), and I truly have learned a lot about myself, other people and their lifestyles, and the way businesses work, but I have really realized I am meant for a slow southern lifestyle and not being so far away from friends and family. Funny how we all wish to go far away and experience something new, but end up wanting to come back home-back to where we were raised and are comfortable.  Skype is a blessing but I like to see everyone's beautiful faces in real life!

I got to attend an event on top of the Empire Hotel with my boss and it was the most gorgeous view I have ever seen! We were scoping out the hotel for one of our style shoots while enjoying some free cocktails, Hawaiian dancers, and appetizers!

I was blessed this weekend to have one of my best friends come in town for a visit! Boy, did we have fun! Andrea really came at a perfect time and helped me get my mind off some of the frustrations, internship life, and missing home.  It was such a blessing having her here! Thursday we shopped around, walked around the city and then hung out at a local bar that night with a few of my friends and listened to some good music.  Friday we went to the Chinatown and bargained with the Asians, ate lunch in Little Italy (YUM!), and went to the World Trade Center memorial and wow what an eye-opener that was.  My dad and I went to the site about a year and a half after the tragedy when it was still large piles of debris and a huge mess.  Now, there is a beautiful memorial where the towers were and they are currently building the Freedom Tower right by the site.  It was amazing to look at pictures and videos of September 11, 2011 and see how many innocent people lost their lives that day.

That night one of my friends in the building was turning 21 and her parents reserved us a VIP room at the top of the Gansevoort Hotel (where Kim and Kourtney Kardashian lived while in NYC!) and boy did we have a little too much fun! Saturday we relaxed and went to get pedicures and that night got dinner at my favorite Southern restaurant in the city, Brother Jimmy's BBQ! Sunday we went to Times Square and Magnolia Bakery to get some of the best cupcakes ever!! Devil's Food is by far my favorite cupcake there. Big thanks again to Andrea for coming and it truly means a lot to have friends come up for visits!! 

My internship hasn't taken nearly as much of my time as expected so today I reached out to a florist to try and gain some experience with her! It's important for a wedding planner to know every aspect of a wedding (catering, floral, photography, venues, etc.) and I know nothing about flowers! In the future, I want to be an independent wedding planner and own my own business.  When a bride comes to me, it is important that I am skilled in each area and I want to know about flowers so I can help with suggestions and bouquet styles and floral arrangements.  I am currently working on Style Shoots for my internship, which means we are pretty much photographing "fake weddings." We have picked out some of our favorite venues around the city and i have been working on inspiration boards for what type of wedding I see at these venues.  Next week we are meeting with a florists to see how we can create these types of styles for each venue then in a few weeks we will do the shoot! (below is my first Style board for the Trump Soho hotel.)

Wednesday we are having another venue meeting for the style shoot and Thursday, Diana Warner is having a "Mustache and Martini" party for the birthday celebration of her store! Me and some of the girls are going to attend and I am looking forward to this!

I am coming home June 27th and I am thrilled! I obviously talk to my mom throughout the day everyday and have talked to my dad several times, but I can't wait to hug my their necks! :)

The Little Things

It has definitely been a fun-filled week for me in the city! I've realized it's the little things that have made this big move a little easier.  Things like Skype, packages from home, friends planning trips to visit, and texts from sweet friends honestly make my day!  Not to say I am not loving the city, but things have been hard and this has definitely been a change for me! Mom sent me a down feather mattress pad for my bed and oh my gosh that just made sleeping in this noisy place so much easier! One of the things I was most excited to receive was pictures of friends! I pinned them up on my desk and now I won't forget what you all look like! :)

Tuesday I ventured down to Union Square and went to see my sweet friend, Diana Warner. Her sweet spirit and positive attitude made my day 100x better! Also purchased my first Tory Burch shoes! Now I'm craving the handbag I've had my eye on for months! (sorry, mom!)

Tuesday night some of us girls scored free tickets to a rooftop bar party on top of a hotel! It was the launch of a new creative marketing blog and we went for some free drinks and to network with people.

Wednesday morning I attempted laundry for the first time. Needless to say it was a chore. You have to buy a laundry card which shouldn't be that hard but you must use a $5 ONLY to purchase it. If you know me, I never have cash. Luckily, mom had given me some cash before she left the city, but of course all I had were $20's. And no one in this building had change, so I had to borrow my sweet friend Katrina's laundry card since I already had loaded my clothes into the washer. In the mean time I went to the grocery store and had to buy some water, just so I could get cash back...in all $5's. An hour later I finally had paid Katrina back and purchased my first laundry card. (The machines aren't so simple to use either!) While my clothes were in the wash I went for a run in Central Park which is one of my new favorite things to do! I just love this view...

Wednesday night we had taco night in the building then ventured wayyyy on the other side of the city for a comedy club (one of the boys ideas of course) and boy was that the least funny thing I've ever listened to. Don't ever go to a $5 comedy club, it's probably not going to be funny!

Since Katrina and I haven't really started work yet, we have the days to explore the city, run errands, paint our nails, and watch movies on lazy days. Thursday we walked 60 blocks to Sephora and Lululemon! I needed some new makeup at Sephora and bought my first pair of Lululemon's! I am obsessed! Best workout gear ever...and best workout walking 60 blocks!! Received a surprise package from home today and what a blessing it was to receive homemade cookies, chocolate, and some other goodies from mom! (we all know my chocolate obsession!)

Thursday night I got to attend my first event! (finally!!!) I was so excited all week! My boss and I attended a cake tasting (and a little free champagne of course!) at Sugar Flower Cake Shop on the West side. Amy makes the most amazing wedding cakes! Some of her wedding cakes cost $5,000!! wow! I felt like I shouldn't even eat them they were so expensive!

We heard Chris Brown was going to be performing on the Today Show on Friday morning so the three bravest souls in 1760 decided to campout outside Rockefeller Plaza on Thursday night in order to attempt to see Chris Brown Friday morning at 6am...and be on TV of course! None of us are huge Chris Brown fans, we honestly just wanted to be on the Today Show. And we were successful! We ventured out around 9pm and had to wait in line outside Rockefeller Plaza until they let us in at about 6:00am. The Today Show started at 7:00 and Chris Brown came on around 8:30am. Needless to say, it was quite the long night/morning! BUT we got to be on TV and it was so awesome! We got free tshirts, Vitamin Water, microphones, and other goodies. Ann Curry told us we were beautiful and we touched Al Roker. How cool! I feel so famous!!

 (We might have told a little lie on our sign-we just wanted to be on TV!)

Some people have asked for my address so here it is! (I gladly accept letters and packages :) )

Emily Arnett
Room #804
EHS Residence
1760 3rd Avenue
NY, NY 10029

Pizza & Starbucks

 

 If you like pizza and Starbucks, New York is your city! It is everywhere! Normally I'm not a huge pizza person but my gosh the pizza here is SO good! Saturday they had a free pizza party in our building and by free pizza they do not mean that Papa Johns crap! I'm still getting adjusted to this fast-paced life, no ChickfilA or lake days, and taking the subway everywhere but its definitely gotten better. I'm so glad I've made so many friends and we have been so busy exploring, going to events, going out, and shopping!

Friday I explored the city a little by myself and did some errands and shopping so it was a good confidence booster to know I can conquer the subway by myself and it definitely made me feel more independent! I went to the Apple store to get my iPad looked at (it's underground!), strolled down 5th Avenue and made my way to Rockefeller Plaza!

Saturday my friend Katrina and I woke up early to go to the Union Square market. They have it every Wednesday and Saturday and oh my gosh it's wonderful. Tons of fresh vegetables, fruit, flowers, bread, and other goodies. I bought some apples, bread and carrots and they are delicious! Later that day my friends and I went to the infamous Serendipity for some frozen hot chocolate! (on Oprah's favorite things!) and it was delishhhh.

We did a little shopping and then later that night was the free pizza party in our building! They hold lots of events in our building for people to get to know each other and meet people and that sounds like those dumb things they have for us freshman year at UT that no one goes to, but here, everyone goes and they are actually fun! I met so many people last night and a huge group of us decided to go out afterwards! We ventured down to 77th street where there are lots of shops, bars, and restaurants. We went to a bar called The Stumble Inn and it was so much fun! This bar really made me feel just like i was at Tin Roof on the strip because it was filled with people ages 21-24. Definitely a place to go back to! We all took the Subway home and were amazed at the amount of people on the subway at 1:00 in the morning. Crazy!

Yesterday (Sunday), Sally and I got up and went to Redeemer Church (a Tim Keller church) and it was great. We plan to try out a few different churches throughout our summer here and I am very excited to attend Times Square church soon. We went there my senior year of high school for a service and it was awesome! We walked around Central Park today and it is beautiful! Lots of people running, riding bikes, playing in the park, and laying on blankets-definitely reminds me of the South.
Last night about 9 of us attended a fashion show/dance show at the Broadway Dance Center and it was awesome! Definitely made me wish my white-self could dance!

This morning I went for a run and this was my view... perfection. My roommate told me a lot of people go run through Central Park and then lay out. I will definitely be doing this, I am not used to being so pale in June!

We have a lot more fun things planned for this week and I can't wait! 

First Week in NYC

Here goes my first blog EVER!

After settling into my closet of a room in the big city, I've learned a few things about this busy place.

1. I have never been so thankful to have my mom fly up here with me and help me move in and explore the city. WHAT a blessing she is! 

2. Everyone is in a hurry. if you hold the door for someone, do not expect them to say thank you or even nod in your direction

3. Nike shorts and big t-shirts are no longer acceptable to even run to the local CVS to get one item. 

4. sleeping is quite the challenge when the sun rises at 5:30 a.m. and you live off of Lexington Avenue (a main street in NYC). it is very loud! 

5.  The 6-train is my new best friend.  I live a little too close to Harlem and there isn't much around my building so I ride the 6-train to get everywhere! I've almost mastered the Subway already! (well, the 6-train...there are a million others i will have to encounter later.)

6. I miss my friends a lot. I have made some new ones which is SO wonderful, but i do miss my friends and family at home! It's hard to move to a new city where you know less than 4 people.

 Here's the butt load of luggage i packed and
my tiny closet i got to fit everything into! (that was hard!)

 7. New York pizza was of course our first meal here in the city-SOO yummy! beats Papa Johns any day!

8. The local street vendors that sell flowers and fresh fruit are wonderful! My mom bought me some beautiful sunflowers before she left and I hope to keep replacing them over the next few months! (only $5!)

I start work soon and am exploring the city some more today and this weekend so hopefully my blogs get a little more exciting!! Miss you Knoxville!