I'm Back!

I know, I know.  It has been entirely too long since I've updated.  And if I wanted to cover everything that's happened since October 28, my post would be about a mile long, so I'll just hit the most recent high points in a top-five of sorts.  

5.  Christmas in New York is extravagant.  There is nothing like walking down Fifth Avenue with a salted caramel hot chocolate and experiencing the hustle and bustle firsthand.  The Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center is absolutely glorious.  The storefront windows (especially at Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman, and Tiffany & Co.) are breathtaking, and it's nearly impossible to walk into a department store without being trampled or spun to death in the revolving doors.  Completely exhilarating.  

4.  One freezing, rainy day in December, I stumbled into the Julie Haus showroom, where I feasted my eyes upon the most glorious coat I had ever seen.  After catching my breath, I gingerly placed it around my shoulders and turned toward the mirror.  I heard a gasp from the side of the room, and a petite, blonde-haired woman ran toward me, arms outstretched.  "This coat was made for you!" she screeched.  Taken aback, I stammered, "Excuse me?"  "Oh, I'm sorry, my dear," she replied.  "I'm Julie, Julie Haus, the designer.  I made this coat, and I think it looks absolutely perfect on you."  I managed a shocked smile, and 15 minutes later, I was in the elevator with a giant garment bag, clutching my treasure.  It's amazing how affordable designer clothing becomes when it's discounted by 95%!

3.  In case I haven't described her enough before, my Marketing professor, Rose Polidoro, is

fabulous.  Case in point: Jimmy Choo 5-inch-heel zebra hair boots.  Possibly the most magnificent shoes in the world, and she wears them on a daily basis.  Anyway, on the last night of class, after our final, she treated all of us girls to dinner at Seven, a classy little establishment near school.  In addition to our succulent entrees, Rose ordered every appetizer and every dessert on the menu for us to share.  As we all gobbled down the first full meal any of us had eaten in months, Rose told us hilarious anecdotes from her years at Radio City Music Hall and we giggled about her boyfriend, who we affectionately call "the Colonel".  Definitely a highlight of the semester.

2.  Final exams were the black hole of the semester.  The last two weeks of class consisted of gallons of coffee, typing calluses, all-nighters, and unwashed hair.  Alas, I persevered, and made it home for Christmas.  Barely.  Which leads into...

1.  The Chinatown Bus Catastrophe.  After trekking to Chinatown in a blizzard which had shut down the entire city (including taxis), carrying 65 pounds of luggage, I was kicked off of the bus in a hail storm, and spent an hour under the Manhattan Bridge with some unsuspecting hobos.  I eventually collapsed in the East Village, where Christina graciously took in my frozen, feeble frame and fed me enchiladas.  I hastily recovered. 

Well, I'm home for a month.  Give or take.  I don't really know what I'm going to do with myself.  It's been a week and I'm already going crazy!  I'll probably have a lot of time to update my blog this month, but I doubt anything super exciting will be occurring!  Go figure.  Anyway,

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Black Umbrella Parade

Rainy days in the city.  Are.  Terrifying.  

It's nearly impossible to maneuver through the crowded streets on an average day, but in a torrential downpour streetwalkers must fend for their lives.  It is imperative to wear waterproof over-the-knee goulashes to keep from wading in a cold, wet soup of gasoline, sewage, and aluminum foil hot dog wrappers.  The taxi drivers have made quite a sport of full-speed swerving through curbside puddles merely with the intention of drenching innocent pedestrians.  And I've nearly had my eye poked out on more than a few occasions by some shuffler's pointy umbrella rod.  Standing at the large window of my fifteenth-floor office this morning, after no less than three near-death experiences during my commute, I looked out over the Hudson which was nearly opaque with fog.  Down below on the street, I could see thousands of black umbrellas crowding the sidewalks and shuffling here and there.  It struck me how much all of the pedestrians reminded me of little marching ants following each other up and down 25th street.  They all seemed so vulnerable and not nearly as menacing from my perspective.  I had a latte and changed my shoes, and actually felt quite triumphant at my

domination of the deluge.  Today's forecast: snow.  Now that's a different story altogether.

Now for the filling-in-on-my-life part.  Well, there was a huge flood in my dorm room so I had to move last week.  It's been interesting (to say the least), but I'm not in the room much anyway.  School and work have been moving along nicely, though I'm still bombarded with critical texts, essays, and presentations.  Midterms are over, but that just means I'm closer to finals, so no relief there.   However, there have been many very worthy distractions, such as fall festival (see cowboy photo), pirate party (see pirate photo), and my first ride in a taxi; which, as it happened, was to the emergency room.  A few Saturdays ago, out of the blue, I swelled up like Violet Beauregarde and I couldn't breathe.  Teneka threw me into a cab and we sped to the emergency room at St. Vincent's Hospital.  Saturday night + Manhattan emergency room proved to be more frightful than the haunted house next door to my gallery.  Every bed was full (mostly homeless or drug addicts) and the staff was positively negligent!  One man was moaning audibly and the nurse (the same one who was in charge of me) was mocking him, saying, "la la la la, I can't hear you!" as she rolled her eyes and rolled him through on a stretcher.  Another nurse was speaking to a male patient who had just vomited all over the floor: "Too many drugs will do that to you."  There was also the moustached man who kept removing his IV and waving at me across the room, nodding.  I felt like I was an extra in the Halloween episode of Scrubs.  Luckily, I survived.  I guess I'm either allergic to Starbucks Pumpkin Spice lattes or Central Park chrysanthemums, both impossible to avoid.

Last night, my friend Maura and I decided to go to an off-broadway show called Rock of Ages, recommended by one of our professors.  We were so proud of our savvy selves when we scored 75% off tickets at the booth right before the show.  We were even more delighted when we discovered that our seats were in the sixth row!  

The show was great, I don't think I've laughed so hard since Napoleon Dynamite or something.  It was basically a love story set in the '80s and all of the songs were rock gems, performed by brilliant actors clad in jorts, lycra bodysuits, and pleather miniskirts.  Sounds awesome, right?  The lead male role was played by Constantine from American Idol, and he was actually kind of great.  All in all, totally worth it.  

Well, I could keep going but there are quite a few volumes of required reading perched menacingly on my desk.  I'll update soon; stay tuned for Halloween pictures!

Bringing sanity to the city since 2008,

Ariel

Chill Out

Brrrrr.  4serious.  The weather has been in the 40s and 50s for the past few days and, consequently, I've been wearing more clothes in one day than I normally do in a week.  At work on Thursday, as I was peeling away layers and layers of raiment, one of my co-workers snickered and chided, "Oh, honey.  You just wait.  It's not even winter yet."  Thanks, I thought as I tried to emancipate my arm from a cardigan sleeve.  I can't wait. 

 In other news, the semester is proceeding quite fleetingly, and I'm counting down the days until my thesis topic is due.  The prospect of researching and writing one infinitely-long paper over the next two years is more than a little daunting.  I was reading Overheard in New York the other day and someone posted that they were at a party where a straggled-looking, bloodshot, twentysomething girl was stealthily swiping cupcakes from the table, wrapping them in napkins, and stuffing them into her purse.  The onlooker caught her eye and queried, "Grad student?"  The girl slowly nodded as she continued stashing cupcakes.  "Been there," responded the onlooker.  So this is what I have to look forward to: Two years of cupcake-swiping, thesis-writing, and general bloodshottedness.  Eh, so far, my caffeine intake has increased exponentially, but other than that, I'm not too worried.  Yet.

Internships are going well.  The Joan Mitchell Foundation is pretty awesome; it's on the 

fifteenth floor of the Chelsea Arts Tower (in the picture) and has a sweet office space that's all windows overlooking the Hudson, and plushy velvet cushions and artwork puzzles and huge iMacs.  They also have an espresso machine, which, I must admit, secured my affinity toward the foundation.  My tasks include but are not limited to:  anything and everything that no one else wants to do.  Occasionally, I'll get to go shopping for art supplies and last week I got to make some architectural models out of foam core which was actually kind of really fun.  The rest of the week, I'm at Sundaram Tagore which is INSANE.  I have this little desk in the corner, surrounded by boxes and stacks of paper up to the ceiling.  There's no way to tell what time of day it is outside of my paper cell, and I can't tell you how often I have to yell to get someone's attention.  It's only temporary, though.  Thank goodness.

That said, I enjoy my downtime.  I woke up early and walked around downtown in the financial district the other morning which definitely added to my stress level.  I got to take some great pictures on the water, though, in between being bludgeoned by briefcases.

Other than that, I'm trying to keep up with all of the shows at the (more than 350) galleries in Chelsea.  My favorite right now is an exhibition of Derek Buckner's Marshmallow paintings at George Billis Gallery. 

October is a busy month, and I'll keep updating.  Enjoy any glorious autumn weather you encounter, for we New Yorkers are already wearing itchy wool socks and long underwear.  (Or, we new New Yorkers, anyway.)  

Putting the 'arg' in 'argyle',

Ariel  

REL graffiti!

The Grind

It's been a busy couple of weeks...the daily grind has commenced with force.  Classes are going well (so far) although I am continuously bombarded with reading and writing.  I'm learning a lot though, and I guess that's why I'm here.  Go figure.  I finally made decisions about my 

 internships, and, indecisive as I am, I've ended up with two.  One is for Sundaram Tagore Gallery in Chelsea.  It is an art gallery that specializes in representing cross-cultural artists and has locations in Beverly Hills and Hong Kong.  The other is at the Joan Mitchell Foundation, a non-profit organization begun after the death of one of my favorite artists, Joan Mitchell.  They provide assistance to artists in need, such as those displaced by hurricane Katrina.  You can check out the links to the two places here:

www.sundaramtagore.com/

www.joanmitchellfoundation.org/

Anyway, needless to say, my life has become exponentially fuller in the past few weeks, but I'm enjoying it nonetheless.  I still find time to do New Yorkerish things, and hang out with fellow city-dwellers.  Last weekend, I went to the Guggenheim Museum

for the first time with some classmates for the Louise Bourgeois exhibition.  It was a great show, and the museum building itself was quite a  marvel.  I also went to the Whitney Museum with my San Francisco friend Kit, and caught up with him on life after the W&M Art Department.  I've found that it does exist.  

For the record, I am quite partial to spending time on the Upper East Side, not only because of the great museums and window-gawking opportunities, but also in hopes of finding my one and only source into the scandalous lives of Manhattan's elite.  XOXO, Gossip Girl.  I never had a desire to watch the show until I moved here, and I still hesitate to admit that I do, in fact, care whether Chuck Bass and Blair Waldorf end up together, but it's kind of cool to fake-shop in Bendel's and fake-gossip on the steps of the Met just like in the show.  I haven't grown up nearly as much as I thought.

 

 This weekend, Daniel came to visit, and experienced the city firsthand via THE MEGABUS.  If you're not aware of THE MEGABUS, go to www.megabus.com and check out the amazing deals on buses from DC to NYC and a bunch of other places.  If you book at the right time, you can get a round trip for $1.50!  

Anyway, the weather totally freaked this weekend and it became fall, but we managed to do some sightseeing anyway.  I must make a disclaimer that I AM NOT A TOURIST, despite my propensity to take advantage of tourist-esque photo-ops.  I'll get over it eventually.  The best discovery of the weekend was Yolato, "yogurt gelato" with toppings such as granola and fresh mangoes.  We're addicted. 

Well, there's a busy week ahead, but I'm looking forward to it.  Campus is all abuzz about the big notorious fashion show-down between FIT and Parsons School of Design (huge rivalry there).  It should be pretty cutthroat; I'll be sure to post pictures!   

Fashion Wins!

Many apologies for my brief blogging hiatus.  I am back, with stories to tell.

First of all, it was quite a busy week.  I had 5 different interviews at various galleries/arts foundations, plus classes and Fashion Week (more about this later!).  It was definitely quite  

challenging to find my way via subway all over town in heels and business attire.  But I made it to all of my interviews on time AND less people have been stopping to ask if I need directions (presumably because I generally resemble a lost tourist without the fanny pack).  A woman even asked me for directions!  Shows how much she knows about true New Yorkers.  Anyway, all of the galleries have offered me internships, but I still have 3 more interviews to go.  Wish me luck!

September is the beginning of the art season in the city.  On Friday evening, I met up with some girls from my program to go to some of the big gallery openings in Chelsea.  Let me tell you:  I know art people have this stereotype of being quirky and over-the-top and flamboyant.  But nothing, I tell you, nothing could have prepared me for my first real encounter with New York art people.  I have never seen so many fabulous yet ridiculous outfits on real people.  I have also never seen such tight trousers and manicured facial hair on men.  Picture this:  men in herringbone jumpsuits with red plastic sunglasses and women in teetering 7-inch heels and tutus, all milling about, toasting each other and chattering on about Baker Overstreet's use of acrylic versus oils and the subsequent skyrocketing of his works on the auction block.   The crowd was a bit intimidating, but the overall atmosphere of the gallery district was really fun.  We saw some great work by emerging artists and even ran into one of our professors! (I'm secretly hoping for extra credit.)  It was quite an experience, but I'm looking forward to the next opening.  Oh, and speaking of teetering 7-inch heels and herringbone jumpsuits, New York Fashion Week has just begun... 

As FIT students, we were given the opportunity to work as volunteers for Fashion Week.  At Bryant Park, just down the street from FIT, is a temporary small colony of tents, all housing the most famous designers, models, and celebrities, buzzing about the Spring/Summer 2009 collections.  Marc Jacobs, Diane von Furstenberg, Betsey Johnson, Nicole Miller, Michael Kors, and Vera Wang are just a few of the big names that are showing this week.  I was assigned to work for the Lacoste show, which is one of the largest, and was held in a gigantic tent.  My job was basically to greet guests and help them find their seats amongst the mass exodus of people moving from one show to the next.  Unfortunately, I had to sign a waiver promising that I wouldn't take any pictures or faint on any celebrities, so I used my googling skills to supplement my writing.  Among the attendees in my section were Andy Roddick (No. 1 World tennis champ; he's not that attractive in person) and his fiance Brooklyn Decker (Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model; she's much prettier in person than in the magazines)

as well

as Jay Alexander and Nigel Barker from America's Next Top Model.  

 There were so many people that it was almost impossible to see through the crowd, but it was FANTABULOUS!  The show was spectacular and the female models really are 6'3" and 100 pounds.  We were able to hang out some backstage where there was a huge array of food for the models and designers.  It was hilarious how all of the models were nibbling distractedly on one sliced carrot and the rest of us were diving into cheesecake brownies and honey-drizzled croissants.  The models really were beautiful, though.  And so young.  Some of them were only 16!  Anyway, it was a great experience.  One day maybe I'll go to Fashion Week as a guest :)

Well, I think that's all for now.  I may just switch my studying locale from Madison Square Park to Bryant Park for the time being.  No reason.

Mermaid Avenue

It's been quite a week, and let me just tell you that I am overjoyed to be chillaxing on a Saturday night.  Ahhhh.

On Wednesday, I had my first Writing About Art class.  I'd been pretty excited about it since the instructor, Martha Schwendener, writes for the New York Times.  Class was scheduled to begin at 6:00 p.m., and many of the students (including myself) arrived early in anticipation of our well-known professor.  To our collective annoyance and awe, Professor Schwendener straggled into the classroom at 6:40 p.m., sweat dripping from her brow, mumbling something about deadlines, a re-route on the metro, and Ad Reinhardt.  Not one of us knew what to make of the black-clad woman before us explaining that, not only was she 40 minutes late for our class, but she had also misplaced our class roster and syllabus.  However, I was immediately purged of my judgements when she began her lecture (however haphazardly outlined).  She is obviously a superb writer and actually has a reputation within the art world for being quite a harsh critic.  Whatever her level of organization or punctuality (or lack thereof), I am thrilled to be her student.

My last class of the week was on Thursday evening, Modern Art, with Professor Weinstein.  He's a great professor, and modern art just so happens to be my favorite subject.  However, including the readings Professor Weinstein assigned, our total number of pages to be read before next week adds up to about 800.  Hence, I've spent the past two days reading nearly non-stop.  Thank goodness for the long weekend and shady benches at Madison Square Park, or I think I would have jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge by now.

FINALLY I decided to take a break today, and met up with my long-lost friend Andy from the dear W&M.  I met him at NYU (where he's currently studying) and we hopped on a subway train bound for Coney Island!

I have always heard about Coney Island and fantasized about the world-famous roller coaster and hot dogs and so on and so forth.  When we actually arrived at the station (which was about 45 minutes outside the city) I couldn't believe how much it reminded me of Virginia Beach!

I felt so at home amongst the tourists, boardwalk festivities, and tiny swell.   Andy and I made a fabulous afternoon of riding the 1927 wooden roller coaster, walking the boardwalk, snapping

photos, listening to the Weepies on my iPod while the sand blasted our indigo denim, and eating hot dogs from the first-ever Nathan's.  (Note:  It is where they hold that ridiculous hot-dog-eating contest every year.  The current record is 66.)  One highlight of the day was a street named Mermaid Avenue.  

 Another highlight was the 1500-calorie order of chili cheese fries we shared.  We did not ride the roller coaster again after that endeavor.

I am looking forward to taking it easy for the rest of the weekend.  I still have hundreds of pages to read and a busy week ahead.  I have five interviews in the next few days, plus Fashion Week and classes to top it all off.  I couldn't be more excited

FDoC

Well, it finally came.  The First Day of Classes, or FDoC.   AND I'M OVERWHELMED!!!  First, we had graduate student orientation.  There are only 18 students in my class, all female, and they had some seriously impressing resumes (like working for Chanel, Estee Lauder, Intermix, Niehaus, Nike, etc).  I kept thinking, "Why am I here?!" but I decided to just try to learn as much from them as possible and use their experiences to my advantage.  My first class, on Monday night, was Principles of Gallery Management.  My professor, Sheri Pasquarella (Google the woman) is one of the most impressive people I've ever met.  She is 31 years old, and has written and edited over 10 books, founded 3 companies, and makes millions of dollars a year.  And I'm learning from her.  (Side note:  she was adorable, and was wearing a black sparkly Versace dress and giraffe-print stilettos.)  First thing, she passed out papers numbered 1-45 and we had a pop quiz of artwork, important people from the art world, and galleries on a slideshow that we had to identify.  I'm extremely embarrassed to say that I only scored a 20%.  But I wasn't alone.  She decided not to use the quiz for a grade, but she couldn't believe how much our class doesn't know and implored us that we had better learn them all by the end of the semester!  I'm 

 overwhelmed, but so excited to learn from her!  She continued to lecture for three more hours.  I thought my brain was going to explode.  

 After that experience, I definitely needed to wind down, so my friend Elkin and I took a sunset cruise around Manhattan.  It was absolutely beautiful, and we were able to take so many great pictures (thanks, Aunt!).  The city really is beautiful at night, especially from the water.  Unfortunately, my camera died halfway through the cruise, but Elkin took an amazing picture of the Statue of Liberty all lit up that I'll post soon.  FDoC wasn't too bad after all. 

This morning (prepare yourself)...I went to my first sample sale!  IT WAS RIDICULOUS!  It was for the boutique Intermix and was held in a huge warehouse on 19th and 6th.  There were women climbing all over more than 50 racks of clothing and shoe boxes piled up to the ceiling, all discounted up to 90% off!  everywhere I looked, there were women ripping off their clothes and pouring themselves into Chloe dresses, Missoni sweaters, and Lanvin shoes.  It was a bit exasperating, but totally worth it as I walked out two hours later with a few goodies of my own.  I can't wait for the next sale!

Tonight, I had my first class in Marketing Art for Profit and Non-Profit Organizations, which deals with advertising and business in the art world.  My professor, Rose Polidoro, was extremely friendly and I'm really excited about the class.  We already have an assignment to come up with our own business, write a business plan, and give a presentation to the class, so I have a lot to do!  My apologies if my blog posts become less frequent from here on out, but I promise I will keep updating.  I'm so excited about this semester!

By the way, I found out that I'm definitely working Fashion Week, so stay tuned.  I hope I'll have tons of fabulous stories to tell! 

The Balloon Dog and Other Adventures

Well, I made it through my first full weekend in the city.  The highlights consisted of one marathon of a stroll and my first visit to the Met.

On Saturday morning, Teneka and I decided to go for a walk.  Just a little weekend stroll around the city.  90 blocks later, we returned, with ailing feet and nearly nothing to show for our journey save a few photos in which we look sweaty and exhausted.  But it was glorious!  During our trek we saw the Empire State Building, Trump Tower, Bryant Park, the Henri Bendel, and countless other fabulous shops such as Prada, Salvatore Ferragamo, Pucci, Cartier, and Tiffany.  'Twas worth the callouses. 

Today, I visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the first time in my life.  It was extraordinary.  I saw some of my most favorite works ever in person!  

Andre Derain, Regent Street, London

There is a roof garden on the very top floor of the Met, and there were three works from Jeff Koons on display.  They were fantastic to see in person, especially on the roof of the museum with the city view all around!  This one was my favorite.  I had to let out a little giggle at the would-be art connoisseurs sipping Pellegrino with lime, babbling about Koons' aesthetic tradition.  It's a balloon dog. 

Jeff Koons, Balloon Dog

Oh, and did I mention that I navigated my way via metro to the Met and back without any trouble?  I suppose it was a bit straightforward, but I was thrilled nonetheless.  I also was able to spend some time in Central Park, which has become my new favorite hangout.  Classes start tomorrow, and I couldn't be more excited to meet my professors and dive right in.  Wish me luck!

Carnivores & Cupcakes

On Wednesday, we had a day free of meetings, etc. so Neeks and I spent a lot of time exploring the city.  I love snapping photos right and left because there is so much to see!  It's a fact: I will never master the subway system.  Every time I think I have it down, I get on the wrong train and take an hour-long detour through the Bronx.  It may take me a little longer, but I generally get where I need to go (good thing I haven't been on a schedule yet).

Don't the taxis look adorable all lined up?  Wrong.  They are the Devil.  I'm nearly plowed over at least 5 times every day by an impatient driver honking and cursing at me to get out of the way.  Hence, I brave the subway.

On Wednesday, the subway took Neeks and I to the Museum of Natural History.  It's the same one that's in the movie "Night at the Museum" with Ben Stiller (you know, where the dinosaurs 

and Pocahontas and Roosevelt all hang out at night).  The dinosaur skeletons were HUGE but I couldn't get any good pictures of them because there were dumb little kids flocking around all over the place.  Anyway, after the third hour of trekking through mazes of Trobriand Islander clay pots and miniature villages, I was ready to chill.  We crossed the street to Central Park where I was able to take some fabulous pics.  It really is an oasis in the middle of the city, and it was so relaxing!  

Of course, I couldn't be in the city for 4 days without going to Magnolia for cupcakes.  I had a glorious reunion with Giuliana over vanilla cupcakes with chocolate frosting and sprinkles.

It couldn't have been better!  On the way back to FIT, I stopped in the Marc Jacobs store and nearly fainted.  New York is wonderful.

Yesterday, Neeks and I woke up in a collective bad mood, so walked 30 blocks to go to MoMA (the Museum of Modern Art).  They had a Salvador Dali exhibition on the 6th floor that was absolutely magnificent.  We were just blown away by some of the works on display and the scope of the exhibition.  Greatly improved moods ensued.  After MoMA, we went to Century 21 (finally!!!!!).  It was insane.  I'll spare you the gory details, but Neeks and I emerged with a load of fabulous stuff (including a pair of rose gold Marc Jacobs shoes for me.  They are currently on display in my dorm room).  Needless to say, it was a productive day, until our 2-hour-long subway fiasco trying to get home.  Unimportant:  A 15-minute subway ride took us nearly two hours.  Important:  We still made it home in time to order out Taco Bandito and make outfits.  Everyone wins!

On a side note, New York Fashion Week is September 5-12 and Neeks and I both signed up to work it!  SO EXCITED!!!

I feel more like a New Yorker already.

On Broadway

I just returned from my first Broadway musical experience...The Little Mermaid.  Obvi.  It was absolutely magnificent!  The show was excellent and the costumes were just spectacular.  I can't wait to go to my next show!   I had so much fun with Aunt and Brenda while they were here.  They're ridiculously scatterbrained, and pretty much everyone thought I had two moms, but it was entertaining to say the least.  I purposely dressed to match the show tonight, but I had no idea they were both going to wear turquoise also.  We looked like a school of fish walking down Broadway.  So much so that some passersby asked if we were in the show!  

I'm still in disbelief that I'm actually here in NYC.  Walking down the street today, I was listening to "Marching Bands of Manhattan" on my iPod and it struck me that, hey!  I'm in Manhattan! 

I think I can get used to this.

FITnycFINALLY

I'm here!!!  And I must say, I've experienced city love at first sight. The noise, the crowds, the near-death experiences every time I cross the street, I HAVE ARRIVED!  I've only been here for 24 hours, and I feel more at home with myself than ever.  There is so much to learn and experience here.  I've already met so many intriguing individuals, and it is unbelievable to me how such a gigantic place with such a diverse array of people can feel so much like a community.  I love people-watching: on the street, in the subway, even on campus. Unsurprisingly, FIT students are notorious for their avant-garde ensembles, and I find myself unabashedly gawking more than just a few times a day.  I'm working on finding a way to stealthily photograph some of my favorite getups so I can post them.  I saw a girl today dressed head-to-toe in fluorescent orange (including her hair and makeup).  Now that's what I call a traffic-stopper.  I've been a bit overwhelmed, but I snapped a few (non-stalker) photos around campus.  The photo at the top of the page is my state-of-location, and this is a snapshot of street art made of recycled materials on campus:

Speaking of street art, walking down a NYC street is like walking through a gallery; not only because of the fascinating graffiti, emblazoned advertisements, and flashing lights, but also because of the people, the sounds (taxi-drivers' horns, the buzz of the metro below, chit-chat of pedestrians, sirens, music), the smells (hot dogs, perfume, exhaust, kebab, body odor), the tastes (coffee, pizza), and the sensations (asphalt beneath my feet, rushing air through the vents).  Walking in the city is an artistic experience that extends beyond aesthetics and appeals to all of my senses at once.  How could I not be inspired to create?! 

On a different note, shopping in the city is fantastic (as expected).  And I've never seen so many great outfits (and horrible ones) at one time.  When I'm on campus, it is completely exhilarating to be surrounded by so many people who are as fashion-obsessed as I am (if not even more so).  I know, it's hard to believe that anyone else is as fashion-obsessed as yours truly.  But they are.  And they are so beautiful and inspiring!  I let out a little shriek of joy when I found that my large closet and dresser provide more than enough storage space for my various and sundry pieces of fashion, and room for more!  Also, there is a sewing machine lab and spray-painting room on the bottom floor of my dorm.  How cool is that?!

Well, I think that's all for now.  I'm so, so thrilled to be here and so thankful for the many opportunities I'm going to have!  Stay tuned and plan a visit!