3 Things To Know About Interning in NYC

Two weeks ago marked the beginning of my summer internship in NYC, and since I live in Westchester County, I've been saving rent money by doing the MetroNorth commute. I started my internship a bit earlier than most, so I decided to do a post on this right as a lot of interns are starting.


For those of you who are just moving to NYC, welcome, and good luck with your internships! Before you start, here are some things you might like to know:


1. Flats are your best friend. For some reason, I've always had a hard time with flats - they rub my feet in the wrong place, my heel slips out of them, whatever. But working in NYC (especially when you need to take the MetroNorth to Grand Central to the 7 to the A) means you need to find a pair or two of flats that are comfortable. Trust me, they will make your life a hell of a lot easier, because NYC means walking. I have always had one trusty pair of red patent leather Jessica Simpson flats that I love, and I recently bought two pairs of inexpensive, super comfy Charlotte Rousse flats in both charcoal and tan - practical colors, and cute!

 2. First Day = First Impression. Dress to...ahem...impress. Seriously. I happen to be working for a company where the attire is pretty casual. Granted, my only interview was a phone interview so I was going into work on my first day blindly, but even if I had been to the office before, I wouldn't have changed my first day outfit. It's important that on your first day, you show that you care about your internship (or job), and the easiest and fastest way to do so is by dressing professionally. I wore black pants, a fitted pinstripe button down, my red flats, and a chunky necklace for accent. I've dressed it down every day since then, but not by much. Remember - you're an intern. You need to prove yourself every single day, so even if you're dressing casually, make sure you look neat and put-together (AKA no chipped nail polish!)


3. What To Bring? Great question. There are some things you must schlep to work every day, no matter where you work (and even though you may not need them daily). 
a) Always have a copy of your resume, cover letter, and list of references on you. (The copy of your cover letter should be a general one geared toward your field, but shouldn't mention any specific company. You never know who you might meet!) 
b) A notepad and pens. Pens, plural. You will have to take notes. 
c) A small healthy snack to get you through the day. Some days are busy, and you might not have time to run down the street for a snack. Bring something to help boost your energy; I suggest a power bar, a bag of almonds, or a yogurt (if you have a fridge). And a water bottle.

I hope these tips help you with your internship! I'd love to hear about it, so always feel free to leave a comment about how your internship is going, or if there's anything else you always remember to bring!

Television Tuesdays

Hey all!


Today's Television Tuesdays post is going to focus on a fashion-oriented  program, and one of my favorite shows of all time: Project Runway. Instead of presenting the fashion of a single character on a TV show, this week I'm going to post my favorite garments throughout all of the Project Runway seasons.

[Chloe, season 2]

[Santino, season 2]

[Jeffrey, season 3]

*For the record, I desperately searched for a photo of Alison Kelly's "Waste Not, Want Not" episode dress. She got eliminated for it (UNFAIR!), but it was one of my favorite looks throughout the show.

[Rami, season 4]

[Christian Siriano & Chris March, season 4: one of my top 3 favorite looks of all time!]

[Kelli, season 5]

[Kenley, season 5]

Unfortunately, I couldn't find photos from seasons 6-8. Christian Siriano was my favorite designer, period, but I've also been in love with Daniel Vosovic, Alison Kelly, and Mondo (whose Project Runway final collection - Spring 2011 RTW was unbelievable.)

Summer Goals

One thing that has been brought to my attention that I tend to do is set up goals for myself over a certain period of time. I never really noticed that this was such a positive thing to do, until it was pointed out that I actually fulfilled several of my New Years resolutions without even realizing it - simply because I had set them for myself.


This year, I took full advantage of my MacBook Pro by color-coding my life (AKA my Stickies feature) into categories, and my blue Stickies, labeled as "To Do," currently feature my long -term and short-term summer goals. They are:


Short Term:
-UNPACK

-Make freshman year scrapbook page

("Unpack" is in all caps because I have now been home for 17 days and have yet to move everything out of my garage.)

Long Term:

-Build relationships within TBG; learn about PR

-Work out several times a week

-Eat healthy

-Fulfill summer reading list

*If You Have to Cry Go Outside: And Other Things Your Mother Never Taught You by Kelly Cutrone

*Normal Gets You Nowhere by Kelly Cutrone

*Putting the Public Back in Public Relations: How Social Media is Reinventing the Aging Business of PR by Brian Solis

*The Help

-Learn to cook (AKA watch lots of Barefoot Contessa)

-If possible, work a fashion show

-Visit DC (July 4th?)

-Visit friends from AU

-Become comfortable wearing heels (often!)

I can say with confidence that these goals are not out of my reach, and I've already sort-of fulfilled one of them! I'll explain. This weekend was my uncle's wedding, and since my family had theater tickets to see a production of Curtains nearby, we decided to stay in a hotel overnight and make a little family vacation out of it. This morning I simultaneously carried two suitcases down a 3-floor walk-up hotel staircase in high heels. I'd consider that a goal I can cross off my list.

Alexander McQueen: True Royalty

On Tuesday, my friend and I went to see the Alexander McQueen exhibit at the Met, and let me just say in advance that this post will not do it justice. If you live within a reasonable distance from NYC, you absolutely must go see this exhibit.


When we walked upstairs, the line stretched all the way into the farthest gallery toward the back. They told us the wait would be about 45 minutes to an hour, but it actually went much faster than that. 


The first room is pretty bare, with some of his more ready-to-wear looks, but as soon as you step into the second room of the exhibit, it's like entering another world. The garments are beyond unbelievable, and it was all I could do not to take out my camera and begin snapping illegal photos of every single dress. A lot of his collections/pieces are pretty dark, in a gorgeous way, and there were so many that I, of course, wanted to steal off the mannequin for my own closet.


One room was filled with shelves, and on all of the shelves were different shoes, headdresses, and other accessories. It was simply unbelievable.


The only complaint I had about the exhibit was that there were so many people squeezed into the space, and I wish that we could have waited in line longer for a more easygoing and less crowded experience in the gallery. But that is literally the only thing that disappointed me.


The lighting, architecture and music of the exhibit highlighted the garments in the perfect way, and everything really surpassed my very, very high expectations.


Here are a couple of photos from NY Magazine of the exhibit. If you have the chance, it is an NYC must-see (and it's closing July 31st!)

"Yeah I'm Out That Brooklyn, Now I'm Down in Tribeca"

My internship is in Tribeca...that's why Jay-Z inspired my post title. Next.


So I know I've posted a lot leading up to the start of my internship without having gone into much detail, but never fear! This post will be smushed full of detail. Not too much detail since I signed a non-disclosure form, but let's be honest - I've been there for 2 days. I don't have too many secrets to disclose.


I'll start off by telling you about the company. It's a full service digital agency, which basically means they do a lot of interactive marketing - websites, apps, events, everything. Digital. I'm the PR Intern, so my job is (/will be) a lot of tracking press coverage and event planning, for the most part.


Let's start at the beginning. What did I wear, you ask? Well, I'll show you.

It's a little hard to see in the photo, so I'll describe, from the bottom up: 

-Red patent leather Jessica Simpson flats

-Black suit-type wide-leg pants (but more casual) 

-Brown thin braided belt (H&M)

-White button down with thin blue double pinstripes, cuffed (H&M)

-Black beaded multi-strand necklace 

Since I interviewed over the phone, the most I had to go by in terms of attire was what they had told me: business casual, heavy on the casual. For the first day though, in my opinion, it's always better to dress it up. Look professional as hell, and then once you're comfortable you can dress it down. (On my second day I wore dark jeans, a black top with a black blazer over it, a chunky brown and green beaded necklace, and brown sandals - a little more casual, but still professional.) The office attire is very casual. I can definitely still wear all of the business attire clothes I bought, as long as I dress the outfits down a bit, which is fine.

On my first day, the first thing I did was get a tour of the office. This place is awesome. They have chalkboard walls for brainstorming, an espresso machine, tons of couches and posters, and the best part? A room with videogames and a ping-pong table. And all of the conference rooms are named after classic rock songs.

Next, I went out to lunch with two women who work in Account Services, and the other intern who was starting that day. It was a lot of fun, but I can't wait to meet my boss! (She's out of the office this week, so I'll be meeting her Monday.) It's awesome though, because since the company is so digital, I've been IMing with her constantly to keep in contact. After lunch, the IT guy set up my computer, gave me access to all of the servers, databases, set up my company email address, etc. Then we got a presentation on the history of the company, and I spent the rest of the day completing my "missions" (one of which included emailing an embarrassing photo of myself to the entire company - company policy!)

There were a couple things about my first day that made me realize I was going to love working here. (Besides the fact that everybody is so chill and witty.) First, I had some downtime on my first day, and I was sitting at my boss's desk, and she had a copy of Putting the Public Back in Public Relations: How Social Media Is Reinventing the Aging Business of PR by Brian Solis, which is one of the books I'm currently reading! The other thing was this: as some of you know, I have a Snow White decal on my MacBook Pro. One of the employees saw me on my computer and asked if I was borrowing my boss's laptop while she was gone. I said that this was my computer, and they told me that my boss has the same decal! It's going to be an awesome summer.

Today was my second day (I'll be working Mondays through Wednesdays, with the occasional Thursday). I spent most of the day working on a Press Coverage spreadsheet for a bunch of the company projects. The newest one, which is getting a lot of awesome press, is called Screenstagram: a Mac screensaver of the best Instagram pictures (popular ones, or your own!) I downloaded it to my laptop, and you should too!


Anyway, that took forever, but I was excited to get into the swing of things. I can't wait to see what the summer brings!

New Content!

I'm finally finished moving all of my original-content Tumblr posts over to Blogger, which means...new posts! And I've got so much to blog about. Stay tuned for posts about the Alexander McQueen exhibit at the Met, the first day of my internship, and more!

Television Tuesdays (5/10/11)

Tuesday is here again (and so quickly), which means it’s time for Television Tuesdays! Today we’re going to focus on a male character with suave style -Neal Caffrey from White Collar.

Caffrey plays a former white collar criminal who now assists the FBI as a consultant - and always looks professional and put-together while doing so.

The keys to Caffrey’s style are suits, slim ties, and his signature fedoras. Here are some of his classic outfits:

  

  

Love his style? You’re not alone. The exclusive online shopping website, Gilt Groupe, created a White Collar clothing collection inspired by the show’s characters.

And if you can’t get enough White Collar fashion, check out “A Conversation with White Collar Costume Designer, Stephanie Maslansky” here!

Thoughts? Tell me your opinion on Caffrey’s style, or let me know which characters or TV shows you’d like to see featured!

[Originally posted on my previous blog on 5/10/11]

Steal Her Style: Kate Hudson

On Tuesday I went to an advanced screening of the new movie Something Borrowed starring Kate Hudson and Ginnifer Goodwin. The movie was fabulous, and since I love Kate Hudson so much, I decided to do a style post about her.

Wondering how you can dress like Kate Hudson? Check out these outfits!

Outfit #1:

Kate Hudson - Outfit 1 by itsactuallycerulean featuring platform heels

Outfit #2:

Kate Hudson - Outfit 2 by itsactuallycerulean featuring sheer tunic tops

What do you think of Kate Hudson’s style?

[Originally posted on my previous blog on 5/5/11]

Television Tuesdays (5/1/11)

Time for another round of Television Tuesdays! This week we’ll be focusing on one of my favorite shows that, let’s face it, not many people watch anymore. So, if you’re one of the people that still follows One Tree Hill and knows how fabulous it is and has always been, you’ll love this post! (Even if you’ve never watched the show, you’ll love the clothes in the post!)

In the show, the character Brooke Davis (played by Sophia Bush) owns her own fashion line called Clothes Over Bros. She is feisty and fashionable; here are some of my favorite B. Davis outfits:

               

 

   

   

   

 

    

   

What do you think of Brooke Davis’s style?

[Originally posted on my previous blog on 5/1/11]