One word describes this day…surreal and exhausting, ok so two words. My mom and I took the red eye into JFK and couldn’t check into our hotel until 3 in the afternoon! We got in around six and then dropped our bags off at our hotel. What is there to do at seven in the morning in NYC? I’ll tell you…eat bagels. I had been hungry before I got on the plane the night before; the Sprite and pretzels on the plane at three in the morning helped a little, but not much. So off we went down Park Avenue in search of some breakfast. A few blocks down we saw a little diner/café thing and decided to stop. We walked in and sat at a tiny table, which was right by the giant window that served as the front wall of the restaurant. I ordered my hot chocolate and checked out the menu. Then I glanced out the window and saw this old man walking down the sidewalk. He smiled and waved to my mom and I as if we were old friends. He came in to where we were eating, ordered some sort of pastry and asked if we minded if he sat down (not at our table, but one close enough so that he could talk to us). We said of course we didn’t mind. He then proceeded to tell us all about how he is a singer/entertainer on cruise ships, that he has been retired since 1994 from 35 years at the Postal Service, and about all of the friends he made on his last cruise (he got back on Sunday from the Caribbean with his friend who had never been on a cruise before. They met a couple months ago and are best friends. He showed us the picture they took together on the cruise. He was carrying it around in his bag because he was going to show it to someone at his eye doctor that day). He told us about his wife(who passed away about 2 years ago), how she was a model and how everyone loved her and that they met when he was 47 and it was the third marriage for both of them…. Long, long, long story short, his name is Lenny, he is 81 years old, has lived in New York basically all his life, we took a picture together, I have his address to send it to him and he gave me his phone number to keep in touch. Oh, and he also said if he ever ran into me in the city he would love to take me to lunch. So there you have it. My first New York friend.
From there, we walked down to 12th street between 3rd and 4th. This is where my apartment is and there is a Trader Joe’s right around the corner…score!!! We walked the two-ish blocks up to the Union Square subway station, bought my unlimited pass and hopped on the train. We were trying to figure out how I am going to get to school every day. We got a little turned around when we got out of the subway on 42nd and ended up in Bryant Park. It was sunny and warm, so we sat and soaked it in. I saw a sign for “Yoga in the Park”. They are offering free yoga classes there on the lawn on Mondays and Thursdays. I am definitely going. After our quick rest we went and found where I would be going to school! The other programs have their classes in the Parson’s buildings that are down by where my apartment is, but the Fashion program students have all their classes up in the Fashion district. My building is on 40th and 7th. It is about two blocks south of Times Square, and yes, it is where they film Project Runway (which, let’s be honest, has not been that impressive the past few seasons. No one can top Christian Siriano. The end). I am really hoping to run into Tim Gunn in the hallway. I would probably tree hug him. He’d love it.
The rest of the day was spent basically stalking people. We took the subway back down to Union Square and headed west on foot until we got to the river. We turned left, walked past the meat packing factory things….yeeeeeaaahhhh kind of gross and smelled even worse. We were determined to find something, so we kept going. Walking walking walking….then…..YES! It was the modern, 25 million dollar house from 9 by Design (my new favorite show on Bravo). The lights were on in the kitchen and their table and chairs were in there, so apparently they haven’t sold it yet. We thought about leaving a note, but we didn’t, that would have been creepy.
Down we went, wandering through Greenwich Village, which is absolute perfection by the way. I am kind of in love with it. We were on our way to find People’s Revolution (Kelly Cutrone’s office for her PR company, which is often featured on The City and Kell on Earth… obviously) and had to stop for food and to buy me flip-flops. We stopped at this little Italian café thing and sat outside at a table on the sidewalk. This place was the real deal. The owner took our order and his accent was so incredibly thick that we knew we were in for a treat. We were right, our salad and pizza were fantastico. While we were still deciding what to order, there was this 18-ish year old kid walking down the sidewalk with two girls. He passed us and said to my mom, “hey! If you’re rich, I’m single!”. We just laughed and continued on with lunch. A while later, we were still sitting at our table and this same kid was on his way back down the sidewalk. As he passed he said, “still single!”. We just kind of laughed again. He was too far away when I came up with a brilliant response…”still rich!”. It was too late. I wish I was quicker on my feet. Maybe they will teach me that at Parson’s. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
We found People’s Revolution and decided to check in to our hotel. We were walking to the subway station on Canal and stumbled upon an art supply store. I have recently gotten some of my supply lists for school, so we decided to stop and see if they had anything I needed. They did, but I still have lots of things I need to get, like Caran d’Arche crayons (they are French, and water soluble), a clear 18” ruler and vine charcoal to name a few. I have three different pads of paper, one is all purpose, one is to be used as my Croquis book (when I figure out what this is I will let you know), and another is tracing paper.
Lots of people have been asking me what exactly my program will entail. I have had no idea up until today. I have received emails from two of my professors. So the classes I know I am taking as of now are Design Concepts, Fashion Drawing and Model drawing. I will be learning how to draw different fabrics (I have these cool markers and water color paint brushes and India ink…yeah it’s going to be fun). I also have to get muslin, sewing pins, a needle and thread and various trims, fabrics, etc. We are going to Mood to get those items J.
I never thought I would be taking classes where the selected resources would include Vogue.com, vintagefashionguild.org and the Tuesday/Thursday Style Section of the New York Times. My mom told me today as we were waiting for the subway that you sometimes just need to follow your North Star. This is mine and I am so happy to be here doing what I love. That sounds dumb and cheesy, but whatever.
***more pictures to come when i have a better internet connection
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