I've been in NYC for about a month now. And it's been an interesting month to say the least. I have such a weird mindset about this summer. On my days off, I do a little exploring.. but not usually. I just don't have the energy. I work at least 9 hours, 4 days a week... not that I mind being in the office because I love my internship and all... but when I do have a day off, all I want to do is chill. I want to sleep in, catch up with friends online, run some errands.. but mainly just veg out. 

So much of me says Jen! Go explore the city! But the other part of me says "Why go outside in the humid weather and crowded streets when I can sit in my air conditioned apartment?"

I know, I know... it's a horrible way to think. I can't really explain this post-abroad feeling of being worn out and adventure-filled. I love adventures, but I just had a 4 month adventure and I am completely fine with sitting around. Don't get me wrong, I jump at the chance to go somewhere I haven't been. But I'm definitely not waking up at 8 a.m. to get in a full day of activities. 

After 4 months of no responsibilities, I am so thrilled and eager to finally have a huge responsibility: WORK! And especially when it involves something I'm so passionate about and interested in. All I want to do is work, work, work... meet people in the industry.. do journalism related things.. plan out my life after college. I had my fun in Europe, and not that I can't have it here, because believe me, I do, but I am more motivated to work than I am to explore a new area of Manhattan. Does this make sense? 

Let's see... this past week the ASME interns had another event, this time at the CUNY grad school of journalism. It was a reception/reunion of the sorts, so a bunch of former ASME interns were there. It was so funny to watch them all reunite since leaving their ASME summer.. I told a few of our interns "That's going to be us in a few years!" I talked with last year's ASME Sports Illustrated intern, as well as a former ASME intern who now works at Psychology Today aka one of my favorite magazines. I don't know why I like it so much.. maybe it's because it appeals to more than psychology nerds... anyone can read it and understand it. It's so great to see past ASME interns with successful jobs in the city. Very comforting.

The most exciting part of this week was Thursday, when the new issue of Sports Illustrated came out.. the issue with my first ever SI byline!!! It's on page 55 :) I am so so so excited! An unexpected part of my internship, but a great one nonetheless.

Also exciting: I met with the editor of SI on Friday afternoon, just to introduce myself. He was very nice and we had a short, but great conversation about Marquette's magazine (the Journal, for which I will be EIC of next year), as well as what I've been up to at SI.

Saturday was my lazy day off, the awkward day in between work days, in which I just want to sit around and not feel guilty about it. So I did that for awhile, then Rosie and I went over to Chinatown for a little bit and I was able to snap some photos with my new SLR. Nothing too exciting, but it was fun to get out for a little bit. Saturdays are hectic in the city. So many people who don't know how to walk correctly (yes, you must walk like a New Yorker when in New York), so much trash on the streets, dirty-ness, gross smells, hot/humid weather. I do love NYC, really, but I miss less-congested cities, and I miss... green things. Like grass and trees. I think it's about time I visit Central Park...

I need to move to the city once I graduate, and I can see myself living here for a few years... but this is not a forever type of place. At least not for me. In the grand scheme of things, I don't want to raise a family here. For the time being though, my newly 21-year-old self can keep up with this exciting and fast paced lifestyle.

birthday weekend!

Long time no talk! And not because I haven't had anything to say... I've been super busy and have had one of the best birthday weekends ever. 

Let's start with Friday morning. I treated myself to a pedicure at a salon nearby and at around lunchtime met up with my parents who so nicely drove down from home just for the day. They came bearing gifts, too!

Yummy cupcakes from a bakery back home... and drum roll, my birthday present: a new Nikon SLR camera!!! YAY. I am so, so excited to take it around NYC with me (although how cool would it have been in Europe!). I need to read the manual and figure this guy out. I've used an SLR before, but I would still consider myself a beginner... can't wait to learn!

For lunch, me, mom and dad went to the British restaurant nearby (I've mentioned it in my blog before) and I got bangers, toast and beans. It was like a taste of "home." Oh, what I would give to be back in London... 

It was raining cats and dogs at this point so we rescued Marie (who took the bus into town from D.C.) from some pizza shop nearby she had been taking cover under. Then we headed to the airport to pick up Lauren, only to hear that her plane had been grounded in Pennsylvania due to lack of fuel. Well, thanks a lot, plane! After she waited 3 hours in the airport, her plane was finally boarded and she headed to NYC. But really, why they gotta take away 3 hours of time away from Lauren/Jen/Marie bonding??!

In the meantime, Marie, my mom, dad and I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (again) where I wanted to check out some European paintings and reunite with my main men: Degas, Monet, Picasso, and Van Gogh. Oh, it was so nice to see them again. I will have to go back and spend some more time there because I was too distracted with plane fiasco frustration! (again, thanks plane!)

Afterward, we went to South Street Seaport I think it's called? Which is way downtown and is this big waterfront area with shops, restaurants, bars, etc. Basically it was pretty hoppin' on a Friday evening. I ordered fish/chips for dinner... it was good, but not as good as British fish/chips! Even with the malt vinegar on it.

I said adieu to my parents, and then Marie and I quickly got ready and went to meet Lauren at her shuttle stop in Times Square. 

Heading back to the apartment, and even just being with both Marie and Lauren all weekend, was SOOOO GREAT. I haven't seen them in 7 months and I literally felt like a little kid on Christmas morning... I was just so happy to be with them. (And now they've both left nyc and I'm all depressed and alone and wishing time didn't fly by!)

On Friday night we had a bunch of interns over at the apartment for some birthday celebrations. For those of you reading this, thank you so much for coming over!! :)

Here's a picture of Lauren, me and Marie :) reunited at last!

On Saturday, we grabbed a late brunch and finally rolled out the door at around 2 p.m. to go do some nyc things. Starting with the Chelsea Market in.. Chelsea of course. Such a great market! After Milwaukee's Public Market and European markets, I had high market standards and Chelsea definitely delivered. And so many dessert places there... NYC loves its dessert. Cupcake and bakery places galore.

We made our way to the High Line, which is an above ground park on an old railroad track. I went last summer too and just loved it... had to show the girls.

We made our way to midtown, so I could show Marie and Lauren where I work! Then, how convenient, we went to Magnolia Bakery so I could introduce them to the best banana pudding in the entire world. And I think they agreed with me. Yum. Birthday banana pudding.

After grabbing a quick dinner nearby.. we didn't want to do anything fancy since we had already spent a lot of money... we hung out with some girls in the apartment, listening to music, dancing.. having a grand ol' time. Then it was out for the night!

On Sunday, I unfortunately said goodbye to Marie but thankfully, I'll be visiting her in D.C. in a few weeks! I won't have to wait too much longer to see my curly-haired beauty again :)

Also unfortunately... I had to work Sunday. BOOOOO! not fair. not fun. especially when my dear Lauren was wandering around NYC and I so desperately wanted to be with her. My editor let me out of work early, though, and I was able to meet with Lauren at a reasonable hour and grab dinner! We ate at a Chinese restaurant in the Village. so. good. and so filling.

After walking around for a bit and catching up, we went back to the apartment. Our plans for the Empire State Building were a no go because I was feeling really sick. A mix of no sleep and some weird virus I think I caught a few days ago... meh, not a good feeling and not fun to have to cancel our much-anticipated empire state building plans.

Dear Lauren, if you are reading this, we will be back to the Empire State Building :)

That brings me to this morning, when I had to say bye to Lauren and bye to my great weekend! Ugh.. it flew by. But it was so much fun and I am so glad both of them came to see me. It made my birthday one to remember that's for sure. Thanks girls!!! <33

.......

On a work related note, please pick up a copy of Sports Illustrated at the end of this week because I have a byline. Yes, my name is in the actual magazine under a story I worked on. This is pure magic, people. YAY!

That's all for now.. I'll update in a few days.

xxx

Sometimes I wish I was still blogging about my Europe adventures. Everything I had to talk about was always way more exciting.. and I had something to say basically every day. Even though NYC has been great, it takes at least 3 days for me to have events worthwhile to blog about.

4 months in Europe before NYC set me up for somewhat of a letdown. Gone are the beautiful landscapes, different cultural experiences, 3-day trips to wherever we felt like.... that whole semester seems like a blur now actually. Did it really happen? I'm still sad it's over. Why can't I study abroad every semester?! wahhhhh.

I can't get this travel bug out of my system. I'm thinking that come graduation next May, I need a few weeks to travel. I don't picture myself settling down in a career just yet. Part of me says oh I would love to go to new places, see South America for example, or revisit Spain... but part of me knows that if I was to sit down to buy a plane ticket today, to anywhere in the world, it would without a doubt be London. I have three "homes", or three points of comfort in this world. Shrewsbury, where I'm from and where my family is, Milwaukee, where I go to school and have spent 3 years of college... and London, a temporary home at the time but a home nonetheless.

Maybe if my internship leads to a job.... I could report on the Olympics next fall.... which are in London.... :)

Anyway. The past few days have been pretty busy. Saturday was my day off, so I did some errands with Lizzie, a fellow ASME intern, and then I met up with Priya, Greg and Linda for dinner at a Thai restaurant right around the corner. At about this time last year, when I came to NYC for my birthday, I was with the same group! It was so good to see all of them (we went to high school together), and the thai food itself was pretty delicious. Then Greg, Linda and I walked around a little bit, ending up at the ice cream shop we went to last year... also delicious. NYC prides itself on dessert stores. From millions of cupcake places, to gelato and ice cream stores, bake shops, yada yada... they have it all.

On Sunday/Monday, it was our two busiest days at the SI offices. Although I can't really speak about what I worked on, I can say that I did a lot of fact checking and now know so many random sports stats. By the end of this summer I'll be able to spit off so many facts... although sports wasn't something I dreamed of accumulating massive amounts of knowledge in, it's always fun to learn. And hey, if interning at Sports Illustrated isn't a great pick up line, I don't know what is. haha

Since we're in the office pretty late on Sundays, they cater breakfast and dinner for us. Breakfast was New York bagels and cream cheese, and dinner was mushroom chicken, buttered noodles, salad, grilled squash/zucchini, bread. It was SO good. I was not expecting it to be that good, but it was. They also bring in pizza for us on Monday nights, so that was my dinner last night.

Alsoooo, if we work past 9 p.m. on Sundays, we get taxi vouchers so we don't have to take the subway/walk home. So nice of them to do that... something I didn't even think about. I thought it was going to be a yellow taxi, but no, it was a black car service cab thing... boy did I feel super professional and Devil Wears Prada-like. I can get used to this.

So Sunday and Monday both kind of ran into each other, lots of fact checking... but I was assigned my first "story," which I think will have a byline (along with the two other girls working on the story with me!) Yay, how exciting!!

Funny story. On Monday night, after a lot of people had already left, several of the younger editors in cubicles/offices around me decided to play a pick-up game of mini golf on a long strip of carpet in the office. They had a putter and golf balls, and set up two obstacles (books in a tee-pee shape). The goal was to putt the ball through both sets of books and hit a standing highlighter at the end. I wasn't paying attention to the game, but a few of them kept putting and getting very close, but never hit the final highlighter. So they ask me, the little quiet new intern minding her own business, to give it a try. Although my putting skills are a little rusty, I have golfed before and think myself to be a pretty decent putter. (thank you Dad).

I putt the first of two golf balls, it goes through both book obstacles, and narrowly misses the highlighter. Well, that was a close one. But I had one more try. So I putt the second ball....

through one obstacle

through the second obstacle

heading toward the highlighter

knocks over the highlighter!!!!!!

Thank God. My editor emerged from his office to tell me I had been relieved of all my duties. Although he was joking, it was a nice little situation to be in. And how fun is it to play mini golf in the office? Where else is that ok to do?!?

Even though I was in the office for 12 hours on Sunday and 9 hours on Monday, I never minded being there. It was never "boring" or a hassle, or I never wished I was somewhere else. As uncomfortable as I felt at first, not knowing sports that well, not really knowing the editing system, or computer edit programs...I'm quickly learning, and it's all becoming quite fun. I actually never even left for a real break those days.. I was too caught up in my work and preferred to eat my sandwich while at my desk.

So after those hectic days, I now have two days off. What to do, what to do. Sleep! And I'm thinking about going for a window shopping walk, in the search for a birthday outfit. because my birthday is SATURDAY!!!  :)) so excited. My family is coming into town Friday for some day activities and dinner, then Marie and Lauren will be in town Friday afternoon and are staying through the end of Sunday. While I did get Friday off of work, I do work Sunday... which kinda stinks since I wanted to spend it with the girls. :( boo, oh well. I can meet up with them for dinner, I hope!

well that's all for now.. happy Tuesday!

xxx

p.s. here are some pictures!

^this is my view from the SI offices!

 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!

Brooklyn Museum

Washington Square

International street fair

I love New York!!

This weekend has been both relaxing and adventurous, just how I like it. On Friday night a few of us under-agers explored the West Village, which ended up being so fun! There are so many bars, restaurants, shops, etc... a never ending supply of things to do and see. And best part? It's only a few blocks away. I live in such a great location. 5th Ave on one side, Chelsea on another, West Village down below, and Times Square is about a half hour walk. There are subway stations all around, too, so getting to work will be as easy as hopping on the F train for 10 minutes.

On Saturday, I slept in :) Then Lizzie and I headed to an international street fair in midtown. There were food stands with crepes, kebabs, thai, grilled corn, smoothies, chocolate.. anything you could ever want. Some aspects of the fair were certainly international, but some stands we had to question. Scarves? Backpacks? Cellphone cases? Not so international.

We had a difficult time deciding what food we wanted, but finally and gladly settled with the New England Clam Chowda, straight from Boston (aka the best clam chowder). Our stomachs thanked us. Some of the best clam chowder I've ever had!

After exploring a bit more, we headed back toward our neck of the woods, stopping at the Union Square market. There were stands selling fruits, honey, flowers, veggies, fresh bread, apple juice, granola... also anything you could ever want. Europe got me hooked on markets, so I'm glad I live a few blocks away from a NYC market! I also live near this cupcake bakery, Crumbs, which has a reputation for phenomenal cupcakes. Clearly, I had to try one for myself. Peanut butter cup flavored. Not the best cupcake I've ever had actually, but it was pretty good. And it was big enough to last me three separate servings. Also nearby... Jamba Juice. I'm a sucker for Jamba Juice's smoothies. I might be taking detours to the subway station so I can get a smoothie before work sometimes! And for a few extra cents you can throw in some vitamins... there, all the more reason to get one.

Saturday night, a group of us went to the Brooklyn Museum for an event they have the first Saturday of the month. Live music, a dance party in the parking lot, late-night gallery walks... all so cool! And it was hoppin'. I wasn't in the mood to look around the museum... I think the MoMa museum-ed me out, but then toward the end of the night I finally made my way around. And thank God I did because I came across a Monet <333 of London, at that. Made my night!

Today (Sunday), the interns went over to Brooklyn for a BBQ at Matt's house. It was fun to get a lot of us together before our first day of work (tomorrow).

FIRST DAY! AHHHH! Super nervous, super excited, so many emotions!!

Wish me luck!

Check out this time-lapse video of NYC!


http://gawker.com/5808360/yet-another-amazing-time+lapse-video-of-new-york-city