"God Done You Good" -- #homelessmanquotes

Walking around New York, especially my hood, you hear the most interesting compliments. The quote from above was said to me by a gentleman on my walk home last night around midnight. He followed it up by telling me about how he would need to follow me eight (yes, 8!!) whole blocks in order to list all the ways God has done me good. Yes, indeed, God has blessed me with my body, mister, thanks for noticing! Now please don't follow me home because I clearly don't have enough to feed myself, let alone you.

In other news, I had a song dedicated to me at a concert Monday. I'm so happy I had the chance to catch two of my favorite bands live. I mentioned States, a band formed from Lydia and Copeland, before on this blog but this is my first time mentioning my great love for the Scene Aesthetic. Although I've seen both live before it was still amazing to be able to see them again. Especially back to back. My day was nothing short of miserable but being able to see the three people below really had a way of uplifting my day before I ultimately crashed at home.

I feel like I talk about how inspired or uplifted I am by music way too often. In high school going to concerts was one of my few obsessions-I'm sure I have well over 100 band teeshirts hiding in my basement in Colorado. Concerts reminds me I'm alive and I fell into a bit of a crisis when I started college because my tastes had shifted off course as well as my income. The Scene Aesthetic (the two fellows above) was one of the few bands I left my dorm-cave to see that year-I even brought Andrew De Torres a bottle of Musinex. And States just brings back memories of the beginning of sophomore year.

As for my story about having a song dedicated to me....Well, States was the opener and everybody was kind of cheering but not really during their set. The lead singer, Mindy, was doing the normal lead singer jibber-jabber introducing a song and after "Captivating Me", one of my favorite songs, left her lips I screamed my usual howl. But, no one else did. Awkward. A good deal of people turned around to look at me. That loud and out of place. And so Mindy just went along and was like "this song goes out to that person!"

I'm that person. God done me good.

Vacation...A(bridge)d

Living in such a tourist-centric city is very funny because you quickly learn to hate tourists. I've seen some of the darker parts of living in the city and it's funny how cynical I've found myself after only being here, off and on, for 2 years. Thus, I've concluded that being in Brooklyn for an extended period of time is unhealthy and needs to be broken up with at least a few out-of-normal-city-life experiences.

This weekend was the perfect escape. Although I missed the mermaid parade at Coney Island (barf), I got to spend time at one of my good friends' homes in Connecticut (can you say "homemade meal"?!) with a handful of my favorite people. Although it was just a two day and two night trip, I've come back feeling insanely refreshed.

My homestate of Colorado, although known for it's wildlife, is very brown compared to the lushness of the east. It's always a treat to drive around seeing trees, trees, and houses encased in trees; it's like something out of an old book of fables. And besides the trees that, as one friend so eloquently described them, "don't smell like dog piss", we had the pleasure of relaxing in a private family friend's pool and watching old home movies. It was a perfect way of taking our collective minds off interning, city life, homeless people, and above all else, dog piss.

Thank you for being such a kind and caring host, Anna!!

Move Along

The other day I was in a pretty bad mood and thus could barely get out of bed. The only time I left my apartment that day was to pick up some comfort food at the local grocery store. It's funny to me because after perusing for a little this song came on, instantly conjuring up middle school memories. This has gotten me through so much and it's funny that it came back into the light at that instant. I think it still will always be one of my favorite songs.

And to make this post a little more interesting, here's a picture I made is middle school........yeahhhh

Moving Along.

When I decided to become a Pratt Peer Advisor last year I didn't know what I was in for. It's funny to think that I was one of the 7 first to test pilot the new baby program from Pratt's Office of Student Involvement. Last August we had the most awkward training imaginable; none of us were very familiar with each other and training consisted of us sharing our opinions on vague topics such as "leadership" and "ethics" and "bullshit." It was kind of a train wreck... But since then I've made some of the most amazing friends.

June 2nd (last Saturday!) was one of the most fun days I've had this summer. Four of us spent the whole day  eating waffles, exploring central park, eating candy from FAO Schwarts and burgers from popburger, trying on perfumes that smelled like "funeral home" and "leather" (mmm), swinging, and complaining about our food babies.

It's rare that I have such a close group of friends so it's been really crazy the way things have turned out. I'm so excited to have the rest of the summer to enjoy everyone's company before another semester is upon us.

"They're in the Tubes"

The Bottle Cap Coat

Francis Studio, waddup

So, I kind of really love my boss and what he does...if you haven't figured that out already. So when I received this jacket in the mail from my mom I was absolutely delighted. Of course, it's a little too late 80s shoulderpaded and not hot pink enough for my taste, but it's fuckin beautiful and fun to wear. And, surprisingly, I fit into a size 6!


Anyway, funny story: I wore it to work a few days ago. He didn't notice. I was kinda bummed and embarrassed so I didn't bring it up.

So, on Monday we were talking about motifs we could use in the upcoming S/S collection and he mentioned something about bottle caps and then said "oh, I've done a jacket with that before, let me show you a picture" and I stated "I have that jacket" to which he replied "you don't know what you're talking about, let me show you." I subsiquently brought out my iphone to prove him wrong, to which he argued with me about how I could not have worn that to work. "I would have NOTICED if someone wore that jacket to the studio!" ...wrong.

So anyway, I wore the jacket Wednesday to which he relived the memories of his couture days. Apparently the jacket retailed for about $1,500 and only 40 or 50 were made. Crazy. He complimented the way I styled myself (which, honestly, was much better than my first attempt. Also, Diane von Furstenburg belt, heeyyyy)


I'm an awesome intern, what can I say?

Fashionable Summer

So, school has been over for a whole four weeks now! That means I've been interning for a month now and have achieved "rockstar intern" status (though I thought an Iron Maiden song was by Blondie...Yeah, I lost a few brownie points). Time has really been flying this summer but I'm so happy I still have so much to look forward to.

Recently we've been wrapping up what remains to be done with the Fall/Winter 2012 collection and starting on Spring/Summer. The other interns and I have let our imagination kind of run free within the guidelines that is Francis. I never realized how tricky it is to nail down someone else's customer. In school we're taught how to bullshit, internships are our chance to actually find out what does and doesn't work in a real life situation. I feel like a complete idiot when it comes to this because my eyes are complete virgins to what real fashion encompasses. Trying to nail down a simple color palette is nearly impossible; I've been asked to compare color dips that all look the same. I feel like it's that part of The Devil Wears Prada where Anne Hathaway's character is giggling at the two almost-identical blue belts. I put my fist to my chin, grimace, squint, and make  my life-or-death color decision.

But, honestly, I've found a way to laugh at everything. Even when times get tense someone comes up with something to joke about. Christian has a very school-boy sense of humor that I can appreciate.

Memorial Day weekend, Christian invited the other intern and me over to his house for a BBQ. It's really awesome knowing that he trusts me enough to invite me over to a casual-ish dinner. And I got to meet his little stinker. Who thought skunks could be household pets?!