scatter-brained.

goodness gracious. i don't know what my deal is, but my brain hasn't been with me at all this week. i've had a nasty cold all week and i think the cold medicine has gotten to me, oh and i sound like a man. but that's ok, my weekend has officially began. and its a super super long one. thank you independence day. :)

things at the office this week were INSANE, to say the least. we were so extremely busy. phones were ringing off the hook with the spread of the wallpaper and fabric line in new showrooms and a few new projects. they had me start answering phones. ha the phones we use in the office have about 903 buttons on them, and after hanging up instead of transferring callers...

i gladly resigned from that job.

since the beginning of my internship i have been the sole organizer of getting things ready for KR's book launch. as part of this launch, she will be sending out 500 signed copies to her clients, closest acquaintances, family, and people she has come in contact over the years. i've gradually worked on compiling the list and finding the addresses. well this week.. we talked about how we would go about getting labels, packaging, and also each book will be accompanied with a personal letter from KR. well during our discussion, we talked about how tacky the labels we ordered would look if we printed the address on them because the printers used a special font that we didn't have access to. a few ideas were thrown around. we wanted them to look different from your everyday mail. someone said we should use a typewriter. haha that got shot out the door. then, one of the designers popped up and said

"OH MY GOSH, HAVE YOU GUYS SEEN LISH'S HANDWRITING? SERIOUSLY, HOW GOOD WOULD IT LOOK TO HAVE THE ADDRESS LABELS ALL HAND LETTERED?"

(they all turn to me.)

i thought they were kidding, so naturally, i laughed.

ha nope. not a joke. i guess the 40 required hours of learning architectural lettering for steve's class my sophomore year has more than paid off.

(i don't know if i'm being serious or sarcastic with my last comment..)

anyways i started doing that today, and i actually enjoyed it! i only made it through page 1. haha but i have 4 weeks to get it done, so i should be alright.

tonight, we hit up times square.

that place is crazy at every time of the day.

random things:

one:

the team had a "welcome alisha lunch" yesterday at ABC kitchen.

so delicious. so cute. so expensive.

here's a little look into the restaurant.

the menu changes daily, based on what they buy at the farmer's market each morning.

kinda neat.

basically the only thing i could pronounce on the menu was ravioli.. so thats what i ordered.

and it was delicious.

in the same building is ABC Home. a 6 level store. i went up and down every floor. couldn't pick my favorite because every floor was freaking sweet. mix of modern with vintage. furniture, lighting, bedding, accessories, dishes, you name it, it was there.

and i LOVED their displays.

two:

janna and i weren't quite willing to dish out $18 for a stinkin' toilet bowl brush at the grocery store. so we googled dollar stores in nyc. ha and... we found one. mapped it out and found it.

HOLY CRAP! SO SKETCHY! hahaha like really. i can't even begin to explain to you how hilarious this dollar store was. 3 floors of random stuff located on korea street. no one spoke a lick of english. at times, i thought someone may or may not whip out a gun. all the cashiers were women with scarfs around their faces. and i swear i could literally feel the grime on the floor crawling up my legs, BUT we found a toilet brush. mission accomplished.

three:

our tv, is now officially showing picture in shades of blue and green only.

i don't know what happened, but i don't like it.

haha.

four:

a couple of weeks ago after work, i came home to my apartment door wide open. a little shocked. of course i thought of the worst case scenerio. scenes of CSI ran through my head. expecting to find all my stuff missing, a bum eating my food, or a dead person on the floor, i hesitantly walked into my apartment. luckily, all i found was a man, who looked JUST like the scary homeless guy off of the movie dennis the menace. i walked in, i think he could tell i was scared. he was like do you live here? i replied that i did. long story short, his name is carlos and he's our maitenance guy. he was just fixing our fire alarm. but holy heck did he scare the crap out of me....

i've actually became pretty good friends with the guy.

everytime he sees me he calls me "little blondie."

truth be told, i'll actually miss the guy when i leave.

just another day at the office...

KR: "would you mind writing martha a quick letter regarding next week for me? i'm in a hurry!"

lish: "martha? like are we talking THE martha?"

(giggles)

KR: "yes alisha, the martha."

(i walk over to my computer, trying not to freak out.)

as i repeat in my head...

"HOLY HECK, I'M WRITING MARTHA A LETTER!"

i just pinched myself.

i totally wrote martha stewart a letter today.

i wrote it like 989.3478 times and kept erasing.

she should get the letter tomorrow.

i think we're gonna be BFF's now.

no big deal.

oh, i love my job. :)

these guys got soul!

ok so i don't donate money to bums, because they scare me.

however, i did give these fella's a few dollars.

i could have listened to them all night.

they sure had soul!

most random post ever.

so this weekend janna and i took a lovely little adventure downtown.

first stop.

canal street.

you here all the stories of how sketchy people are.

LITERALLY SO SKETCHY.

but so fun.

bargaining. my new favorite thing.

(ok not really but it was an adrenaline rush.)

first shop we went to was a perfume store.

these two oriental guys start spraying me and janna with all this perfume.

headache instantly.

i saw ed hardy perfume, usually back at home its $90 for the set.

i asked the little man how much, he said "60 dolla!"

i shake my head and walk away.

he grabs my arm.

"how much you pay, i go down to thiddy ($30)"

me: "i'll come back."

him: "you buy now, i give it fo ten dolla, ten dolla!"

me: "SOLD!"

AND THAT'S HOW ITS DONE FOLKS.

haha, wait a week from now, i'll be posting on here saying i got some skin disease from this awesome perfume...

hopefully that doesn't happen.

knock on wood ;)

second stop: BLEEKER STREET

ohhhhh bleeker street. how much i love you.

back in october, when i came out here with my parents, we did a walking tour. our tour guide introduced to us this lovely little pizza parlor, i've dreamed about it ever since i left. so it was about time for a reunion. seriously one of the best pizza places you'll ever find. the crust is super thin and oh my heavens, DIVINE. its was also voted food network's best pizza.

soooo delicious.

third stop: greenwich village & soho.

two of my favorite little districts.

i think i leave half my heart here everytime i visit.

the aparments are so stinking cute. and theres so many cute little restauraunts and fun places to see. we found the apartment that the TV show "friends" is based from. so of course, we had to take a few pictures.

oh sidenote: can i just say, where the heck would i be without an iPhone?

like literally i'd probably be in kansas or somewhere, lost and out of my mind.

because i use this baby for everything. google maps, map quest, and hopstop have been the most useful apps ever. yesterday i think i googled about 90 times, and used the maps three times as much. i get so turned around so easily here, its INSANE.

the subway was crazzzzy this weekend. so many people all shoved into such a small space. never before has my head been shoved into so many armpits. so gross. i got a little queezy at moments.

not a good thing. won't miss that.

today after church we hit up central park. gosh i love that place. it seriously is gorgeous, no matter what the season.

funny story.

so today as we're sitting on one of the benches in the park, trying to figure out if we were on the west or east side of the park, a lady on the bench across from us shouted, "you girls live here." me:" for the summer, yes!"

she hops on our bench, slides over all creepily.

"you girls interested in buying clothes while you here?"

at first i was a little taken back, cuz for a second i thought she was insulting my apparel.

hahha

then she said, "cuz i can give ya'll the inside scoop on the clothes in jersey!"

(her accent was SOOOO heavy. and SOOO funny)

"ya'll know where port authority is?"

i nodded yes, but really i had no idea where it was.

"well what you do is hop on such and such bus..."

and then she starts describing all sorts of directions, she must have known i wasn't listening.

"ya'll have a notebook!"

i hand her my notebook and pen.

she draws this map.

i just nod my head like its making sense.

it really wasn't.

"now up on the left will be a strip mall, they have all the good stuff. leather jackets for $100, you know the ones that are $3000 here. and they also have tommy figahill (tommy hilfiger) and juicy cutoora. (juicy couture)"

at this point i was really really really DOING MY BEST NOT TO LAUGH. i look at janna and she was trying not to do the same. it was hilarious. bless the ladies heart for wanting to help the girls out with the best shopping places though. she was a hoot!

then her husband walks by.

he shouts,"honey i found my helmet, lets go."

she stands up, "girls i wish you the best this summer. enjoy the east!"

as she runs sluggishly after her husband we hear her say, "honey those girls are from utahhhhhhh."

he just looks at her like what the heck!

oh people are characters here.

central park is filled with so many of these characters and free spirits.

i kept telling janna i need to be more like them, and just let loose and not care what people think.

i took my own advice on the way home.

after we got off the subway, we were headed towards our apartment. we live on a pretty calm street, so we were surprised to see a bunch of cars lined up. the light was a little slow. so as were walking, one of the cars was bumping so pretty sweet music. i'd never heard anything like it. so as were walking the sidewalk behind some trees, i just start busting out dancing. janna starts giggling. then i start giggling. no big deal right? just lish, being a free spirit, letting go of some energy. no harm done right?

WRONG.

the guy in the land rover leans his head out the window.

"Yeaaaaaahhhhh! Girl! Yeah!"

oh my heck i was so embarassed. i start laughing harder. janna starts laughing harder. we start walking super fast. we were like good grief we need to make it to our apartment before the light changes and this guy sees us again.

bad timing. SUPER bad timing.

we enter the cross walk just as he pulls towards it.

he shouts "keep it going baby, keep those moves going!"

i literally was so embarassed. i shake my head, wave, laugh, and then dart in the opposite direction so he wouldn't follow us home.

i think i learned my lesson.

lish, no more free spirits.

ok so another thing i've noticed myself doing, is here in new york, if you're talking to a new yorker, and they agree with what you're saying they will say ," aw ya ya ya!"

ya i say that now.

i didn't even realize it until the other day when one of the girls was asking if i liked the new rug pattern and i replied,

"aw ya ya ya!"

goodness.

funny.

oh and hey i also ventured out and found a laundry mat.

best $40 i've ever spent.

(sarcasm)

each load costs 24 quarters, and the dryers cost a quarter for every 6 minutes.

however, i did feel pretty cool when i put that 20 dollar bill into the change machine and it started shooting out tons and tons of quarters.

i felt like i had won the lottery.

you guys are gonna kill me, BUT i have to post about more food.

but by now, this shouldn't surprise you. ha :)

but there's this great little place in madison park called the shake shack.

the burgers are delicious, and so are the fries.

for you burley people, its like AC Drive-In, but on steroids.

seriously so so delicious.

we also have gone to a little italian place down on the corner that has the best crepes.

(actually averi's are better, but these will do for now.)

and the guy that works there speaks zero english. its hilarious. because we are pretty much regulars there now and is always smiling when he sees us two blondes walk in.

the other night, with all the humidity from the rain, the sky looked SO CREEPY.

gotham city at night.

just waiting on batman ;)

GUESS WHAT?

today i met my halfway mark. :)

can you believe it?

i am so happy.

4 more weeks and then i'm homeward bound.

i'm kinda getting excited if you couldn't tell...

xoxo

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.

missing this guy.

just a few reasons why i love my dad:

he's got one of those smiles that becomes contagious,

accompanied by the most comforting distinctive laugh.

he always has the best advice.

he's hardworking.

actually, hardworking is probably an understatement,

because he is constantly working.

he builds me up and inspires me to strive to be a better person.

he likes:

burnt brownies,

coke,

really really green grass,

shania twain,

and clean vehicles.

his phone calls and text messages are completely random,

but they always seem to occur when i need them.

he looks out for me.

he cares so much about my family and i.

he continues to love me unconditionally,

despite my circumstances.

he is one of the most unjudging individuals you will ever meet.

he gives everyone a chance.

and isn't afraid to be friends with anyone.

he loves everyone despite their past or their flaws.

he sees hope in everyone.

he loves my mom and treats her with respect.

he has one of the most outgoing personalities.

he enjoys serving others.

hands down, he makes THE best

steak & potatoes, chili tacos, and dutch oven anything.

he has never asked me to do anything that he wasn't already willing to do himself.

he has never let me down, or given me reason to be disappointed.

i think every year, i become even more grateful for my dad.

he's helped me overcome a lot of hurdles.

thank you dad, for always being the person i need you to be.

happy father's day.

i love you.

mission organization

MISSION organization

so this weeks project

was to FINISH organizing the materials library.

about 80 bins (give or take a few)

filled with around 150-200 pieces of fabric samples per bin..

all sorted by color and/or pattern.

all new labels.

(my eyes kept playing tricks on me. i'd look away from the fabric, but i'd still be seeing patterns.)

the picture above is the final product of

to say the least,

a lot of folding.

three walls of shelves just like this.

i've got to say it looks SO good now.

walking into the office isn't quite so overwhelming.

katie was SO happy.

thursday she had a photoshoot for her new book and

she asked to have her pictures taken in front of my lovely bins and wallpaper display.

i was flattered. :)

so.

in november, when her book is published,

ya'll can see
her nice clean organized office in the background.

this week i got to take quite a few field trips with the senior designer.

we went to a place called 1st dibs.

its a whole level of a building, seperated into about 40 booths, strictly dedicated to antique vendors. most of the furniture katie uses on projects are antiques. so i got to help pick out a few for a current project.

this week i have been using excel alot to do spread sheets for purchase orders and proposals. i never realized just HOW MUCH goes into design projects. you have to stay so organized and put a lot of thought into all the things that happen before you get to the actual design phase. crazy stuff.

meet eloise.

my classy co-worker.

she is so funny.

she just prances around the office.

today however,

she stole my chair.

she wouldn't move.

it was hilarious.

last night, all of us ladies walked the brooklyn bridge.

its definitely one of my favorite places.

SO pretty to see the city lit up at night.

its always so funny when all of us girls meet up.

a) there's 9 of us. so its like this huge cluster.

b) we are never quiet. especially on the subway.

c) most of the time, we're the only white girls.

random thoughts about this week:

1. i wish i spoke a second language.

i don't care which one,

i just want people to think i'm foreign sometimes. haha.

or actually i just wish i had an accent.

that would be fine too.

2. dad this one is for you.

i know how concerned you were when you left me here, about me getting lost.

because let's be honest. i have no sense of direction.

(sidenote: i kept getting confused when he told me how to get places. so we came up with ways for me to remember where to go. example: go RIGHT to work. when you have no food LEFT, go LEFT. hahahaha. oh my gosh now that i am writing this i understand why he just kept shaking his head at me when i'd ask where to go...)

BUT

some tourist's on the street today asked me for directions

AND

(drumroll)

i ACTUALLY knew how to point them in the right direction.

i know my way around this crazy city now. yay!

3. advice: any man, in any van, is just creepy.

4. there are good people out there.

random stranger

thank you

for letting me use metro card last night,

when mine wouldn't work, and i started to panic!

5. as much as i love it here, i miss the mountains. and grass. and land.

6. i could eat new york pizza for every meal, every day. i love it, i love it, i love it.

7. i've beat my bad habit of biting my nails.

ha only because i'm terrified of germs in this city.

i wash my hands non stop.

but hey at least now i have super long nails. thats the first.

8. happy birthday to my dear friend regan.

you're birthday was wednesday. thanks for being my bestie.

you're everything a friend should be and so much more.

we've laughed, we've cried, sometimes we've laughed so hard we've cried.

you're always up as late as me, always there to listen.

we creep me out sometimes, when we text each other at the same time,

or do the same thing at the same time.

our jokes are stupid, but im glad you understand them.

can't wait to see you're sweet face in august.

love you.

and lastly...

it honestly amazes me,

i know i've said this before, but seriously time flies like no other here.

sometimes i just walk around and feel like it isn't real and that it's a dream haha.

i'm entering week number 4. how crazy is that?

i've already learned so much, not only about the design industry, but also about myself.

i've come to appreciate a lot as well.