jam.packed.week

this has been the busiest week yet.

we have gotten so busy at the office,

which means i have gotten to dig my hands into alot more things,

and its been SO fun.

i have learned so many things this week, something new everyday.

monday was just tons of office work.

after work i met up with the rest of the crew and we all went to a new venue called the highline.

basically, its old railroad tracks and station, that has been renovated, only 2 phases are done so far, but it looks amazing. one was a reflection type park, and the other is an interpretation of mario nintendo world. i couldn't believe just HOW quiet it was. i kept thinking, are we still in the city?

tons of developers have also renovated previous apartment buildings, and built new ones to accomodate for the area. its a thriving place for real estate right now, i can't imagine how much something like that would cost. the apartments looked amazing from what we could see.

tuesday i had more materials to deliver back to the D&D. that took a good 3 hours. i got some pretty funny looks riding the subway with a tote the size of me, jam packed with tons of fabrics..

what was even funnier, was me actually trying to carry it. but i got the job done. all 18 floors. then i had to shop around for some new fabrics for a new project katie got. and then susannah took me to a project that they had literally just finished an hour before we got there. they have been working on it since october. located right on madison avenue, a jewelry store. i have never seen anything like it in my life. i seriously think my jaw hit the floor once or twice. the company has been around for years, but they had decided to move locations, and step up their esthetics a notch. we arrived just as they were getting final touches ready for the cocktail party later that night for the reopening. as you walk in the main retail area, all 4 walls are covered in white leathered tiles ($$$$), finished off with bronze nail heads. you can tell so much detail was put into it. this was a project that both katie, and her husband peter did together. so classy, sleek, chic, but modern at the same time. the pictures below REALLY DO NOT DO JUSTICE. as you walk in, it seriously just looks like a retail space, BUT low and behold, there is actually a hidden entrance/exit. through the exit it leads to a small vestibule, on the left hand side is a secretary's desk, and to the right are two fancy doors, which is acutally an elevator.

upstairs was unbelievable.

as you enter the floor you are in a huge foyer, lined with doors on both sides, located within are the accountants offices, owner's, and corporate offices. at the very end of the hall are two HUGE french doors. behind those doors was a huge room, kind of like a VIP room, its a room used for their BIG MEGA customers, the room was awesome.

a fireplace, a huge shiny conference table, and eventually, there would be rows and rows of more jewelry cases for their EXTREME jewelry that was too hott for downstairs.

haha. and just when i thought i had seen it all, susannah asked the owner if i could see the rest. what??? THERE'S MORE??

the owner takes me back into the hall and opens one of the doors, which then leads to a trap door looking thing, he opens it and we go inside.

literally,

i am not even kidding when i describe what i saw next.

it was like a mini santa's workshop. around 15 men at little workdesks lined the room.

all holding little tools. all wearing glasses with magnifying lenses flipped up, all working so meticulously. some were carving REAL LEGIT DIAMONDS, RUBIES, and EMERALDS.

seriously the coolest place ever.

i didn't know things like this even existed. the room was quiet. the owner said these were 15 of the nation's finest craftsmen that had been working for him for years. it seriously was insane.

COOLEST PLACE EVER.

i can't even imagine how much the jewelry cost. i felt scared even just looking at it. haha. but this visit probably made the top 5 list of things i've done so far in the city.

here are a few pictures we snapped, i'll get more and BETTER ONES.

today was an early, long, but FUN day. i hopped on the train with nathalie this morning bright and early, 7 am to be exact. grand central station is quite the place that early in the morning. so much hustle and bustle, everyone scurrying to work. we headed to connecticut to a project. oh my goodness. so freaking pretty. i had forgotten what it feels like to not be in the city. the house was adorable. located in the hills, SO GREEN, with no neighbors. reminded me of home. cute shutters, tons of windows, huge white colonial columns, and old with TONS of character. the house had like six porches.

we pulled up and they had gardeners all over the property, pruning and trimming the yard.

it was gorgeous. we were there to supervise a carpet installation and go over some final design decisions with the client before she has her baby. basically i followed around nathalie and the client with a notebook, jotting down every word they said, and then took tons and tons of photographs of the antiques and paintings she wants to keep and where we wanted to place them. i got to use a sweet camera, so i felt pretty nifty. then i vacuumed the carpet after the installers left. honestly, the house was unreal. i'll see if i can get some pictures. it was so quaint and cozy. i loved it. i get to head back out in a few weeks. our final installation will be on july 19. can't wait for that.

a few more things..

remember how i said i could eat nyc pizza for every meal?

yeah, i'm seriously not kidding.

i.cannot.get.enough.

this one by far has been my favorite.

a cute little place called vezzo.

bbq chicken, fresh mozzerella, jack, and cilantro.

yummy. my stomach just growled.

after a month in the city, i have come up with a few theories:

theory one:

all things in the city either

a) build character

and/or

b) build calve muscles

haha :)

literally, people are a whole different kind over here. you have to be pushy, bold, and have a backbone to get things accomplished here. seriously EVERYTHING & EVERYWHERE. no one has patience and they are constantly in a hurry. never slowing down. i never thought i'd be like that. here in new york they have this thing called "pedestrian rage" i literally didn't realize i participate in this until today. i caught myself darting across the street, regardless of it not being my turn, i ran anyways. seriously, do i really not have an extra 30 seconds to swear until the next light change, that i was stupid enough to run in front of like 4 taxi's and a street vendor?

HAHAHA OH LISH.

constantly...

i find myself multitasking even more than i am already use too.

and gee whiz, i wish you could see my calves. they are HUGE. like literally i put on my jeans the other day, and it was almost a struggle, haven't ran into that problem before.

which leads me to another random thing,

first time i had worn jeans since being here.

i have never felt so strapped down. most days i just wear a skirt or shorts to the office. i don't know what im going to do when winter rolls around in logan, and i'm trapped underneath 9 layers and boots.

also...

i have decided that i really cannot go one subway ride without having a story.

people are so funny. there's actually a website that has tons and tons of pictures of what people have seen on the subways, its updated daily, i checked it out yesterday and i really couldn't stop laughing.

the other day as i was riding, a man entered the train, you can always tell when a preacher or a person wanting money is going to start talking, because they all have this same look on their face, and then they take this huge deep breath and just start talking.

i'm always interested in what they have to say...

anyways this man goes to the middle of the subway and holds onto the pole..

"people of uptown train 6, i am not a bum, i am not a begger, i repeat i am not a bum, i am not a begger. i am simply a man asking for money."

(haha k guys, i dont know if you heard him, he's not a bum, he is not a begger, BUT he is asking for money...)

then he continues

"i am not homeless, but i am jobless. people may say i have "lost" all four of my jobs.

BUT PEOPLE OF UPTOWN TRAIN 6,

i do not look at it that way.

i have not "lost" four jobs, because i KNOW where they are.

Those four jobs lost me, they have no clue where i am!"

the whole train busts up laughing.

he did make a very valid point...

so funny.

oh my heavens this post is getting extremely long.. and its like 1:12 am. and i need sleep. so we will continue this later.

peace.