hurricane Sandy

Update as of 12:52pm EST – Nothing in midtown is happening. No rain. Barely wind. Officially have been waiting for 24 hours. We did eat cinnamon rolls and eggs, so it felt like a Snow Day, or Christmas. But with no presents, or snow. More updates to follow!

One thing you never learn in the midwest, is what to do during a hurricane. Recently, as I’m sure any who watches the news is aware, Hurricane Sandy is on its’ way to the east coast. My friend, Mallory, happened to come this weekend, so she is stuck here for a bit longer, which selfishly I’m really excited about! We woke up this morning to find out the subways were shutting down at 7pm, so of course we rushed out to stock up on water. We read this article on Thought Catalog as basic ‘research’ for what to do during these times. We ended up getting 12 bottles of water, cereal, nuts, and chips (basic Hurricane food apparently), but no raft. Then went to the hardware store to get a lighter and tea lights. We had our ‘last meal’ at Johns, which was amazing as always.

However, nothing has happened yet. I think we thought Sandy was on the way immediately, and we had to rush, much like you would for a tornado. But this is not a tornado. As of 10:24pm EST, there has been no rain and only slightly windy. Since the Subway is closed though, the streets are eerily quite with barely any tourists people and cars.

The good news is there is no work Monday or Tuesday! The bad news is there is no more bread, or water at the grocery stores. Good thing we stocked up! It’s like a grownup Snowday, complete with grownup drinks!

Will keep you posted!

fashion week

One of the best things of any job is of course the perks. My job just happens to be tied to the fashion industry, which inevitably warrants a field trip to Fashion Week. This year, Maybelline sponsored the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week 2013 Spring/Summer collections. We had lots of great activations throughout fashion week at Fashion’s Night Out, the Style Awards, and ELLE Fashion NEXT, just to name a few.

Fashion week officially kicked off on September 6 at Fashion’s Night Out. However, the night before, I was lucky enough to snag an invitation to the Style Awards. A coworker ended up not feeling well and offered me her spot. I definitely didn’t know what to expect, but any awards show is alright with me! It was hosted at Lincoln Center. When we arrived, there was a beautiful activation for Maybelline that had a very lounge feel to it. There was a huge red carpet area lined up, and who did I see first? Katherine McPhee. Star shocked? Of course! She was beautiful! She later said “excuse me” and walked by me. Nothing but nice things to say about her! So graceful on stage, so humble. After getting some wine, we stood around for awhile chatting away. I look over, and who do I see? Ed Westwick! Very handsome and charming. We finally get to take our seats, and the stage was nothing like any award show I’ve seen (on TV of course). It looked similar to a runway (this is fashion week after all), with the tables of 6-8 seated along the sides. I had a great view of the stage, and a direct line view of Ed Westwick himself. This was the first time the Style Awards were going to be televised. Some major stars that presented or accepted awards were: Katie Holmes (her first public ‘job’ since her divorce), Carolina Herrara (Designer of the Year), Ed Westwick, Katherine McPhee, Nicole Richie, Amy Adams, Allison Williams, Iman, Adrienne Bailon and many models. I’m always humbled by celebs as you watch them through a screen multiple times, and to see them in person actually makes you go “wow, so they are real”. And of course, I’m always giddy to see them in person as well.

On Thursday, fashion week officially started. We had teamed up with YouTube to do a program called Live From the Runway, where we streamed all the fashion shows live on YouTube. This year, our amazing team decided to also broadcast our LFTR channel in Times Square. Starting at 10am, our team took a field trip to Times Square to watch the BCBG fashion show. So crazy to see your channel and branding literally covering Times Square, from the highest part to the buses. We also walked to the mobile glass truck activation, which would be appearing in different parts of the city throughout the week. Thursday night was also Fashion’s Night Out. Our team worked really hard to put together a great activation. For those who stood in line, we had free manis, a makeup makeover, and you could walk the runway to get your photo taken. It was hosted in the Meatpacking District, right by Dos Caminos. Our team sat at Dos Caminos to eat and enjoy the atmosphere of FNO. Later during the night, our main boss, Carolyn Holba, met with Anna Wintour, so we got to see her and her famous bob and sunglasses combo.  As the night wore on, more and more people came out to FNO.  I walked around a bit in the Meatpacking District to see the other activations around. And who did I walk right by? Darren Criss! A little shorter than I originally thought, still dashingly handsome. FNO was such a great hit, full of energy and passion from all who attended.

On Friday, work obviously didn’t feel real after the last two days. That Friday night was ELLE Fashion NEXT. For the third year in a row, we partnered with ELLE to sponsor the show. There are 3 scholarships given out: $25,000 ELLE Scholarshiop, $25,000 Maybelline Scholarship, and a $10,000 people’s choice scholarship. Around 5, myself and another intern were able to take out last year’s winner of ELLE Fashion NEXT, Lindsey Hopkins. We took her out for a light dinner before the show. She was nice enough to bring me her collections book, and it is seriously amazing! Her color palette is full of beautiful deep plums, incorporating both solids and prints. At the time of designing her collection, she was one of the first to start the mirrored prints that designers like BCBG are now using. Truly great, great work. And she is such a sweetheart. If anyone needs some decently priced designer clothes, turn to Lindsey.
After dinner with Lindsey, we went to the show. The backdrop was great, with cut outs for models to pose before the show started. The whole show was amazing. Seriously. The music, the lighting, the clothes. All were just spot on. The theme was New York inspired, which couldn’t have worked out better. The school of choice was the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, Maybelline New York sponsored it, and it was hosted in New York. The clothes were amazing. Some I would never wear, but there were more than I expected that I actually would wear. After the show was over, there was a cocktail mingle hour, and then ELLE took us out to dinner, which was so nice! Who did we see in the elevator? Gabrielle Union!

It was a serious fashion and celebrity filled week. I feel so lucky to work with an amazing team of seriously devoted individuals. It’s weeks like this where working at L’Oreal definitely pays off. All the long hours, headaches, annoyances are all put to the side when you see how your brand comes across to others on all different platforms. Digital is just one component, but add in the social, experiential, and all other elements, and it’s magic.

dad comes to new york city

About 3 weeks ago, dad came to see my in New York! It all happened out of the blue. I was having a hard time in NY, called mom, his trip to Tulsa got cancelled, and before I knew it mom had instructed him to come to NY. And it was the best timing ever! We had so. much. fun! We honestly didn’t do much touristy stuff, as we had both seen it before, so we just talked and talked and talked.

Thursday dad flew into the city. I met him at the apartment on my lunch break, and then he walked me back to work. After I got off, we went to McGee’s to grab some beers and talk before dinner. Well, we never made it to dinner. Little did we realize, it was 6 hours later when we were ready to leave, and it was past both of our bedtimes. We honestly had the best conversations that night then I think we have ever had. Thank you, dad.

Friday after work, our plan was to go to the Brooklyn Aquarium, since we both love aquariums. The aquarium is “pay what you will” after 3pm on Fridays, so naturally we figured we should go then. Well, so did the rest of New Yorkers. After getting lost coming out of the sketchy Subway station (do not get off here at night along), we showed up and the line was literally 2 hours long. So we decided to skip that and just go straight to the Coney Island Boardwalk. We walked up and down and looked at the rides and ocean. I always forget New York has an ocean and thousands of beaches (I think that’s the permanent midwestern in me). We stopped for a beer, then went over to Nathan’s Famous hotdogs, and had some hotdogs, diet pop, and shared some fries. We stayed in Coney Island for awhile, then decided to head back to the city. When we finally got back, we went to a local favorite bar, The Pony Bar, and had some great local wheat beers. We were so exhausted that we went home at 9pm. However, I suggested we should watch The Newsroom. And dad was hooked! Seriously, if I ever recommend a series to you (besides LOST), it would be The Newsroom. Intelligent, hilarious, and so spot on with where we are in today’s society.

Saturday dad got up early and I slept in (go figure!). Around 11ish, we headed over to the Irish Rogue to watch the Nebraska game. The Irish Rogue is the Nebraska bar in NYC, but it’s going through an identity change, so it’s now called Harley’s. Not as great. But still, great people, so that’s all that matters in the end. We drank at the bar, which was a good choice as we never had to wait for a drink (thank you bartender!). It was so fun to watch the game, drink, and meet new strangers with dad. After the game, I needed to go home and rest for awhile (oops). So we ended up watching more The Newsroom. We decided we should probably go to dinner, since we only had nachos all day (oops). So we went to this Italian place around the corner from my apartment, called Rino Trattoria. I thought it may not be as great as the italian food in Little Italy, but it was almost better! The noodles were handmade (delicious), fat, and covered with tomato-vodka sauce. Pair with wine and a salad, it was one of the best meals I’ve had. We came back after dinner to watch more The Newsroom.

Sunday dad got up early again and went to read his book down at the corner bagel place. We headed uptown around 10:30am to go to the Yankees game. We left early to get the free aprons that were handed out, just for mom (your welcome!). Our seats were great! High enough to see, but not at the top tiered level. There was also no one sitting to the right of me, so we had clear access to the aisle (always a plus). It was great weather. The only thing that was not good was the Yankees lost 😦 Again, we did more talking and eating. It was great! After the game, we came back, got ready, watched another episode of The Newsroom, and then left for dinner at Seaport. We ate at The Sequoia. Lucy’s mom took us there before, and I loved their food and location, so we ate there. The drinks are delicious! The food is tasty! And the view is so beautiful! You can see downtown NYC and Brooklyn. After Seaport, we got off the Subway early so we could do some people watching in Times Square. We grabbed some diet pops and parked it on the red chairs in the middle of Time Square. Lots of funny tourists, lots of performers, lots of lights, and lots of great conversations. When we went home, we watch more of The Newsroom. During one of the episodes, we heard this squeaky weird noise. Dad went over to look where it was coming from. Turns out, we had a mouse. Thank goodness dad was there! He was able to catch it with a cup and throw it outside.

Monday was the first day we had no set plans. So naturally, I slept in. Someday I will learn to actually wake up before noon on days off, but clearly not now. We went to John’s Pizzeria for lunch, which was obviously so good (thanks Lucy!). After lunch, we went to Barnes and Noble to get another book for dad, and then walked back to my place. On the way, we stopped at the hardware store to get mouse traps (see above!) and some other handy things. Dad then turned into handyman when we got home. He installed a corner shelf, some insulation around our door, hung a mirror, and taught me how to set a mousetrap. Such a cool dad. Thank you again Dad! After fixing up the place, we got ready and headed down to Meatpacking district for dinner reservations. We stopped several blocks north of the Meatpacking district to walk The High Line. I’ve never walked it, but have heard such great things about it. It was absolutely beautiful and very well kept! I can’t wait to go back. We made reservations at The Standard Grill, due to my boss’s recommendation, for one final splurge. Though we didn’t see any celebs, it was so good! I had the Standard Waldorf Salad, the Flash Seared Lamb Chops a la Plancha and many glasses of wine. We had the best dessert. We asked the waiter what his favorite dessert was and he said it was the Banoffee Pie. One of the most delicious, and light desserts ever. I capped it off with a French Martini (obviously). Seriously, one of the best restaurants I’ve ever been to. Dad really enjoyed the Meatpacking district, so we’ll be coming back again for sure (get ready mom!). It was such a great meal, day and night to end dad’s trip.

Dad, I can’t thank you enough for coming. It was seriously one of the best weeks I’ve had with you.