Behind the Scenes at Maggy London Holiday Shoot

This is probably my favorite shot - all of these people are necessary for one great shot.

Our favorite photographer, Sergio, making it work with our model.

Retro holiday shopping bags! Thanks IKEA :).

Lots of love and labor went into this wall of frames! Again thanks IKEA!

Amazingness . . .

Deep fried Oreos . . . courtesy of one my favorite places in Clinton Hill - Putnam's. Just wanted I needed and craved :).

Back to Blogging

Back in May, my loveable and monster cat, Bandit threw up on my Macbook Pro.

3 days later, I woke up to discover that my iPhone was dead. That was a great week for the technology I desperately depended on (like my alliteration?:)). 

I was freaked out to spend the $900+ to fix my machine but after my tax refund, working so much that I had no free but lots of money (mainly because the lack of free time negated my ability to spend any money) and the sharp realization that I NEED and CANNOT live without a computer - got my ass in gear and I AM SO HAPPY to have my machine up and running.

So long story short (which I often say and am crap at actually sticking to it) - I'm back to blogging.

Thank God.

I missed it.

My sanity did, too.

Bandit is Handsome

And happy in his new home!

Now What To Do

I've spent the last couple of days thinking about how much I miss blogging. How much I miss writing. How I'm looking forward to spending my first Friday night back in NYC writing.

Instead I can't decide on what the f-ck to write. I think my muse went to happy hour.

Or maybe I just don't know where to begin . . .

Ugh.

When It Rains It Pours

When I first moved to New York back in August of 2010, I spent my first month here with no job.

Thank God for my unemployment checks from Mercent! And selling my car.

I went on countless interviews. I dropped by numerous bars dropping off resumes.

Nada.

Then I had two jobs in a day.

Started working at Coach in Soho and Affair on 8th in Greenwich Village.

Then there was a drought in January 2011. No hours at Coach. No more serving shifts at Affair.

Then I had 6 jobs. Raining again.

I stepped back from working at Coach and Soho Park. I decided to work full time at Soho Park (aka I became a So Ho - inside joke :)) with the lovely Leila, Albina, Zalina, Wendy and Joy (who I can't call lovely because he is a guy but is awesome nonetheless).

After interviewing over a month earlier, I got an offer letter to be an admin at Prudential Douglas Elliman. After numerous discussions with Rebecca and my mom and my first round of negotiations, I decided to take the job.

A day later, I received a phone call about an internship at Penguin (a dream job). Raining again. I turned down going to an interview because I had just accepted my job at PDE. Scared of not being financially independent, I backed out.

Not going to lie, I often think about what would have happened if I hadn't declined.

Especially since I decided at the beginning of Spring 2012 I would love to design book covers. Moving on . . .

After a miserable 8 months at PDE - I got a job that I thought would amazing. It was not.

I realized that I never want to be a f-cking admin assistant ever again.

Upon my epiphany, I applied for numerous internships and junior designer positions via LinkedIn. To my shock and utter happiness, I got one.

Up until today, I had been hanging by a thin financial thread. I mean like spending less than $6 a day.

Nada luck with finding a restaurant besides hitting the pavement HARD. I mean dropping off like 20 resumes and applying to multiple Craig's List postings. And pimping out any and all restaurant connections.

It's raining again.

I have a training shift at Arabesque tomorrow. An interview at Fab.com for a position I applied for almost two months ago.

And I still LOVE my internship. My boss is badass. My other teammate is funny, nice and takes the time to teach and talk to me. The photo shoots alone make me happy.

New York is a tough city. It is full of endless possibilities.

Why do you think I live here ;)?

Old School Tunes at the Maggy London Photo Shoot

I am in love with my internship.

Today, I was at a photo shoot. Which I LOVE. It wasn't a great day for a number of reasons.

I lot of things went wrong. The chemistry on set wasn't as good as it should have been. There was a lot of tension. But I still enjoyed every minute.

I would be happy if I worked on a photo shoot every day of my life.

Ever changing cast of characters. You get to create something tangible.

And . . .

I can't help but to rock out to this awesome old school-ish play list:

JT: What Goes Around, Comes Around
Sublime: Santeria
BEP: Where is the Love?
Destiny's Child: Bootylicious
Ashanti Featuring Fat Joe: What's Luv?

There was more but I got too caught up to remember all of the fabulous high school style tunes :).

Best Words with Friends Score Ever!

(Well at least for me!)

And it was against the formidable G. Sartin!

Happy Independence Day!

Feels good to celebrate it in Seattle.

First up - an Apricot Ale at the Pyramid Beer Garden. Ah, memories!

The beer reminds me of the summer I lived in Greenlake and my friend Angela suggested I try an Apricot Ale. I was like, Seriously? She said, Yes. God, I love this beer. The beer garden reminds me of many, many Seattle memories.

Also - how cute does LZ look preggers?!

Batter Up: Safeco Garlic French Fries!

Just as DELICIOUS as I remember them. I think I inhaled all them in under 10 minutes. An awesome micro Pacific Northwest brew to accompany them. If I can determine my version of heaven - both of these exist in it.

Good to See You Again Safeco:

Even Bailey had his stars on:

It's not the 4th in Seattle without Gasworks Parks Fireworks:

It was a great 4th.

Exactly What I Needed to Read

“I'm selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best.”
                                                                                                                            ― Marilyn Monroe

I feel like I learned this the hard way, this confidence that says, I'm awesome and I deserve someone who will appreciate that. Sure, I'm not perfect. I get upset and I definitely have my moments of crazy, but they pass, and I'm worth it.

                                                                                                                           - Liz Norris

Via this post from Liz Norris.

I LOVE This Birthday Theme: Marc by Marc Jacobs

As per the request of my awesome parents, I waited to open my Endless box until my birthday. Although, I didn't promise the when on the day of my birth.

I decided that there was no way in hell that anyone or anything was going to ruin my birthday. I decided that I was going to do whatever I wanted when I wanted today.

My theme song today is Bulletproof by La Roux.

After I opened the office, I treated myself to opening up my long awaited and eagerly anticipated birthday gift. First thing in the morning. I can't think of a better way to start the day.

Hell yes!

It's a Marc by Marc Jacobs birthday:

Badass sunglasses. A straw tote with an awesome neon orange trim (details here). And the best: A PAIR OF MARC JACOBS MOUSE FLATS THAT I'VE WANTED FOR YEARS!

I put them on and did a happy dance all up and down the halls outside of my office. I immediately showed them to my work friends Nicole and Sabrina. 

Happy F-cking Birthday to Me!

Thanks M & D!

Links!

Caught in the act and frozen in time 50 million years. Two turtles copulating. (MSNBC)

I love this print: I black heart you. (Tim Jarosz)

Carrie Underwood makes me actually like her for supporting gay marriage. It's a nice change from her annoying me. (Celebitchy)

Go KStew and Cameron Diaz - highest paid actresses in La La Land. (Forbes)

My birthday is TOMORROW and it is the first day of summer and the longest day of the year and it looks like it's official on the east coast thanks to record high temps! I'm celebrating by laying out on my lunch break today. Seriously, I brought my swimsuit top to work to change into. (AP and The Weather Channel)

Pretty awesome retrospect of fug recoveries. I am highly entertained. (Go Fug Yourself)

I Love This Line

"The bottom line is I never had any business marrying anyone who wasn't you." - Plan B by Jonathan Tropper

Links!

In all likeliness, The Paperboy is a hot mess of the movie. The buzz is all about Nicole Kidman's golden shower. BUT my favorite part of the review, is the director's quote. (Vulture)

Okay, this doesn't sound real, more like a storyline from Grey's Anatomy. (CafeMom)

I hope Tom Hardy interviews never change. I laughed so hard and so loud. I really like him after this. (Vulture)

I am probably the only one that doesn't find this totally sick but actually pretty funny. (Harvey Nichols Summer Ad via Telegraph)

Which lead me to this hilarious and awesome Christmastime "Walk of Shame" commercial.(Guardian)

I do and do not agree with this woman's 20/20 take on casual sex. I think it comes down to motivation behind a person's action. (CNN)

The trailer for Perks of Being a Wallflower is really cute and captures those moments of high school youth. The sample chapters of the book didn't do it for unfortunately. (IMDB)

These look much cuter on H7. Also, I love what Posh is wearing. (Lainey Gossip)

I Feel Better

Thanks to Writer Man.

I finally bit the bullet about applying for an internship in my degree field - graphic design.

Lo and behold, I actually got the job!

Jumpy claps :). Actually, I had to read the email three times to believe it. Then I quietly ducked out of my office into the hallway to jump up and down as quietly as I could. There may have been some silent open mouthed screaming.

I've spent a lot of my life prioritizing making money over taking a job that may make me happy but knowing I would be financially unstable. I do value stability and a paycheck I can count on.

A part of it came from the insecurity that I wasn't good enough to get an internship. Another part of me was petrified that my unstable finances would make me CRAZY. It would always be an internship and a restaurant job. I do enjoy working at restaurants but some parts of working in the industry make me a little restless and it's not always the healthiest environment for me.

With some encouragement from my amazing mother and the realization that I need to do this for ME, I took the job of Graphic Design Intern at Maggy London.

At the age of pretty much 29, I am finally going to have a job that I will potentially love.

For the first time in my life.

THIS IS A BIG DEAL.

I'm tempted to beat myself up over the fact that it's taken me THIS LONG to do what I want. In fact, I have so many times already. There is an expectation, whether I put it on myself or it is a direct effect of societal ideals and pressures, that I should have it (life, work, love) much more figured out than I do. I've been so envious of my friends that are my age who have jobs that they love. Jobs that are careers. There is a difference.

What made me feel immeasurably better?

Writer Man told me that he didn't start writing until he was 29. Someone who I respect, have had a bit of hero worship towards and I admired isn't too different than me.

Turns out, the old saying of "better late than never" is all too true.   

Westside Highway Runner

Rainbow Book Ends

Thank you for a beautiful evening New York.

Bandit Duck Diving in Chair

He got really excited that I'm finally cleaning up the DEFCON 1 situation in my room.

For the first time since I moved in started school this chair was clean. He celebrated by writhing all over it.

Fluffy Cottony Clouds

Didn't know they could like that here in New York . . . photos from my rooftop last night.

Swoon! Sunblaze Dress at Anthropologie

If you know me, you know I love dresses.

The Sunblaze dress from Anthro is no exception. It caught my eye because it's a bold color that is slightly neon. Neon enough that it feels fresh and a little trendy but not enough that you couldn't wear after neon is no more.

It Arrived!

I had been waiting for Stefanie and Eric's wedding invitation and I'm so excited that it arrived!

Look how pretty it is:

Links!

I am liking Channing Tatum more and more. Dirty dancing with Sir Elton John is pretty awesome. I also love how British gossip is written: "Jenna, 31, wore a seductive red dress, which she paired with fishnet tight" (Daily Mail)

HOW Magazine's Top 10 Websites for Designers. (HOW Magazine)

The 25 Most Beautiful Public Libraries. New York, Seattle and LA made the list! (Flavorwire)

A Case for JK Rowling to Win the Nobel Prize. (Atlantic Wire)

This makes me happy - Buffy and Freddie Prinze Jr. are still together and pregnant! (Celebitchy)

Bandit Likes My Paper Expo Project

Hmmm . . . I need to sniff you out just like I do to Mom's face

I'm thinking, I'm thinking . . . I think I approve

You dare attack?! I'm going to get you, accordion fold book!

Add caption

Excuse me, Mom - why are you interrupting me?!

Yes, yes I approve

I'm done with you. Time to jump back on the bed.