A week down. 9 more to go.

I haven't blogged in a few days because I had Tuesday and Wednesday off work, and therefore, didn't have much to blog about. But now that I've had two days to galavant throughout NYC and two days at the SI offices, get ready for a decent-sized blog post.

Tuesday---

I met up with my friend Liz, who lives in Jersey, at the Met (Metropolitan Museum of Art) with the intentions of seeing the much-talked about Alexander McQueen exhibit. Now, I wouldn't consider myself really into fashion or that knowledgeable about designers, but McQueen is a GENIUS! His designs, from the ornate headpieces to dresses made of flowers, were incredible. I was literally hypnotized! And the exhibit itself had this whole dark, mysterious, magical vibe to it which really added to the whole experience. I will gladly be making my way back to that exhibit again this summer. And I have to see the rest of the Met! I didn't feel like it Tuesday, after having been at the Brooklyn Museum and MoMa days prior. Too many museums for that short of time.

Afterwards we found a little restaurant and grabbed a late lunch. But that turned into a huge fiasco when the waiter decided to charge me for a drink refill and for the fries that I thought came with the sandwich, but indeed, did not. The waiter then proceeded to tell me that because I ate the fries, they couldn't do anything about the extra $3 charge. But that they could take off the $ 0.50 for the tomato that I didn't eat.  Give me a break. Needless to say, I'm not going back to that place.

Later Tuesday I met up with a group of ASME interns and we went to an Ed2010 welcome to NYC event down by the Hudson. It was pretty casual and we had a chance to meet other NYC summer interns, including the cool kids who were working at Prada this summer, but who we all knew were probably just working in the storage closet. Ed2010 is a company/website/group that sets media interns up with potential jobs, and connects them with employers. They have a constantly updated website with the latest in internships, jobs, co-ops, etc.

Wednesday--

After a much needed workout at NYU's stunning and sparkling athletic center, I met up with one of my favorite people: Jackie, who studied abroad and traveled around Europe with me! She lives right outside the city, so I'll get to see her a lot this summer!! Jackie and I walked around Chinatown, practically dying in the 100 degree heat and humidity. NYC summer is one of a kind, that's for sure. We met up with her family for dinner at a Chinese restaurant, and I had an authentic Chinese meal! None of that food court Chinese food :)

First up was shrimp. The whole body. I had to rip off the head and peel off the shell in order to get to the shrimp. Thankfully it was delicious, because that is a lot of work to get to one little piece of fish. Next up: lobster. Potentially my second time eating lobster, first time eating it out of its shell. Also delicious. Then came the snails. Before dinner I told Jackie that in no way did I want to eat snails. But I found myself trying one... it was good, actually! Tasted more like the sauces it was in than anything else. I can't say I'd order it again, but it was fun to break out of my no-snail eating shell. We also had some barbeque steak, fried pork, egg-something or other, and Chinese broccoli. For "dessert" we were given this sweet red bean soup, which was actually sooo delicious! Anyway, the dinner was quite out of my element but I was pleasantly surprised. And of course, it was so good to see Jackie!!! :)

Thursday---

Day 2 of work at SI!

Lucky me got to ride the elevator with Larry Hackett, editor of People. Did I work up the courage to say hi? Absolutely not. Was I absolutely star struck (still)? Absolutely. Next time...

The day started off by the interns sitting in on the start of the week meeting, where the whole team threw around ideas, discussed the next week's issue, made decisions, did important things, you know.. the usual. It was all so fast-moving and for a new little intern, it was pretty darn cool.

Then I headed off to an ASME weekly lunch at Scientific American.... all the way across town... where we enjoyed some of the best pizza I've ever had, and listened to the editor (of the oldest magazine in the country) talk about her responsibilities, journalistic experience, etc. It's so great we get to meet with all of these editors of various magazines. Next week we are meeting with the editor of Parents magazine.

After some training back at the SI offices, I was given my first fact checking assignment, which was pretty straight forward, but a little overwhelming considering sports statistics needs to be exact and 100% infallible. Thankfully I have so many resources at my hands to use when fact checking, and the writers usually give fact-checkers the sources, websites, contact phone numbers they used when writing the story. Saving us a lot of time and effort.

Then there came the time in the day when I ventured to a different SI floor with the internal staircase, and didn't bring my ID card. I didn't realize all the doors had ID activated lock systems. So there I am, stuck in the Time & Life staircase. I try knocking at the door. No answer. I try again... no answer. A few minutes pass, I realize it's pretty warm in that staircase, so I bang on the door a little bit louder. And finally, someone hears me and opens it up. Phew. That could've been bad.

Friday/today---

It was a pretty easy going day, and I didn't have much of anything to do beside finishing up yesterday's fact checking assignment. I think things will pick up come Sunday and Monday... our busiest days, but today was pretty boring. Womp womp wompppppp.

BUT! Ray Lewis, a football player, was in the office today filming a documentary. I actually had no idea who this guy was until I google'd him. The whole convicted of murder thing was really reassuring... ahh! But he seemed like a nice guy. Actually, I wouldn't know. I don't know what our policy is with athletes in the office and if I can make eye contact/say hello/ask for a photo/autograph/ask on a date/etc.

So that's that. Week 1, complete. I have Saturday off and start up again on Sunday. Then in exactly one week from today, two of my best friends are coming into town for my birthday weekend!! I am so excited for next weekend, I can't even explain it. I haven't seen these girls in 7 months. WAY TOO LONG.

alright. sayonara everyone!