no sleep til brooklyn

DAY 36

Wednesday was another day at the office. For some reason this week at the office was just not fairing too well for me. I always look forward to coming into the office because it is so warm and sunny, not just the office physically, but the people are kind of the same; always pretty cheery and helpful. I just have a feeling that everyone was on edge this week and had to get a lot done, so they weren't like the people I had come to know.

I have just been working on the same photo archiving project. I thought it would get kind of old, but honestly, I really don't mind doing it because I get to look at gorgeous pictures all day. I also get to see how some of these things are done in the store that I have always found myself wondering how they were made. It really gives me a boost of creativity and a plethora of new ideas. Everything done with Anthropolgie is just so creative in every way. They always go the extra mile.

DAY 37

Thursdays are days at the store. This was the first time that I took the train/subway system in Philadelphia by myself! I was kind of nervous at first, but my mom reminded me that this is what I wanted, to be independent. And it's true, but I guess everything for the first time can be nerve racking. Besides, Philadelphia public transportation is nothing compared to NYC public transportation... which I will get to in a little bit.

So my train ride wasn't bad at all. I got to the store right on time and went right back to collaging. I thought that it would be really, really fun, because hey a whole day of collaging does not sound bad at all, but I did find myself getting really bored of it after 7 hours. I also felt sort of guilty that there was other harder work being done that day by other people but I was just leisurely cutting out pictures. So I finally asked my mentor type girl at the store, Annalily, if I should help out but she reassured me that this job had to be done just like all the others did. I felt better about that because I wasn't just doing busy work.

DAY 38

Friday!! TGIF, FOR REAL!!

Today I was back at the store, but I didn't work on the archiving of the photos too much. Although I'm not totally bored with doing that, it was a nice break to concentrate on something else. What I did instead was work on this big reorganization project. There are these HUGE shelves called rolling racks which the different departments keep their supplies on. Well the visual team practically has the whole rolling rack on one end of the building (I think the art department has 2 shelves out of like 10 columns, haha). Well some supplies are still in cardboard boxes and the others are neatly in clear bins. Some don;t have labels and some do. So it was my job to reorganize, find out which bins needed labels, needed to be relocated, and which things needed to be moved out of their boxes into clear bins. I thought it would be a huge pain in the ass at first, but it was actually kind of fun as the day went on. I liked figuring what was where and I liked getting a sense of what the department has. Also, we needed more bins so Katie and I went to Ikea to go get more.

It was really interesting to see and interact with someone outside of the office. Not that we acted too differently than we normally do, but it was quite different. We went to this big fabric place called Jomar too. That place was sort of janky and strange, but it has soooo much fabric. So we got some things for the opening of the Chelsea store in Manhattan. I'm loving being apart of the team and being apart of this whole planning part. I like to see what is going on with new stores and in the company as a whole.

I was so excited it was friday today because I was very much looking forward to visiting Brendan Box in Brooklyn! Wow! It had been so long since I last saw him in person. But at the same time, I felt like I still knew what was going on his life a lot that we didn't have to rehash everything that has happened since January when we finally met up.

Brendan met me at the train station with his friend LeighAnn, who is so nice and sweet, and staying in New York until next year, so hopefully I will have a friend when I come back! We walked around for a little bit and Brendan showed me around Brooklyn around where he lived. I liked being introduced to all of his loftstel friends. It is so crazy to see where all these people come from and what they're doing now! I think it's great the Brendan is staying there because it such a good way to meet new friends and to meet new personalities and learn so many different things.

Brendan took me back to my aunt's house in Manhattan later that night, which was so nice of him. I really can't thank him enough for being so helpful and accommodating this weekend!

DAY 39

On Saturday I was so tired and sore from running around the day before, but I still got up bright and early to head back to Brooklkyn to see Brendan. We went to this AMAZING bagel place for breakfast (it is very true that NY bagels are so much better than anywhere else). Then we went back to his loftstel and hung out on his balcony, it was such a beautiful weekend!

Then I met up with my other aunt and my grandmother and cousin. We went out to lunch and shopped til we dropped (which I ended up dropping way before them)! I was happy to get back to my aunt's place so I could take a nice nap. :)

My aunt and I just ended up going out to a late dinner and walking around the city that night.

DAY 40

Brendan and LeighAnn came over to my aunt's in Manhattan and dropped off my backpack which I had left there like the whole weekend unfortunately, which makes me kind of wonder why I even packed at all haha. Oh well. But that was incredibly nice of them to make the trip over, I'm glad I have such sweet and helpful friends. I hope I can learn the ropes of NYC transit quickly so I don't have to stick in one place for too long or end up getting lost all the time haha.

Then we walked around the west side and went to Central Park for HOURS! But it was really fun because it was so unbelievably nice outside! We saw this huge Alice in Wonderland statue and went up on the roof of Belvedere Castle in Central Park. It was really great.

Then later I made the trip back home. I was happy to sleep in my own comfy bed, and man was I so sore! Good thing I have off on Mondays!

DAY 41

Ah Monday, my day of rest. I am so glad I have today off because I feel so weak and lazy. But the weekend was definitely well worth the pain, ha!

I am really happy I got to see one of my closest friends, and I'm glad that we can still be great friends no matter where we live. It also really makes me want to see my other friends in Ohio more. But I've realized who my good friends are, and who I want to keep around for a while. It is a two way street with communicating, and the people who I have been in contact with the most are definitely the ones who I'd like to be in contact with for a while.

I've also learned that I'm not sure if the city is for me. I am probably going to regret saying that once I move there, but this weekend made me realize some things about myself. While it will get better once I move there, I am so terrible with directions right now that it makes me worry how I will be when I am actually independent in nyc. I know I have always, always, always wanted to live in the city, like since I was four, something inside of me thinks that I would be better suited for somehwere more relaxed and calming. Like California... on the beach... haha, well I'm sure a lot of people think that about themselves. But again, who knows I could totally be back on the city track once I've been up there for a few weeks.

It is crazy how time has gone by so fast.