Let's Call it a Tie

It's a hectic week around here. I'll start working at this new job on Friday, but until then, I'm finalizing my apartment hunt and interviewing for internships to fill my Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Not to mention guests coming in on Thursday and Friday.

With all that on the menu, it's nice to walk outside and have the comforts of a vibrant neighborhood to distract me from the craziness everywhere else. Since last week, there's been a guy showing an art installation right around the corner, and it's almost like a mini-museum on my doorstep.


He's done something that I really admire--taking something everyday and entirely ordinary and turning it into art. There are some connections in that idea to blogging, and maybe that's part of why I really liked his installation. However, I also like that he's using ties. These are the one main mode of self-expression for menswear, and I think it's interesting to use a statement piece like a tie and turn it into a statement piece like installation art. Anyway, I leave you with some photos as I return to my overwhelmingly hectic day.

Indulging My Sweet Tooth, Street Cart Style

This weekend, I had the pleasure of hosting a friend of mine who I hardly ever get to see. Since her time in the city was limited, we crammed in a lot of inexpensive fun to maximize our productivity. With that mindset, I took her to one of my favorite spots: Dessert Truck.


Generally, I like foods that come out of trucks. They're made with heart, and they have to be fresh because there's nowhere to store uneaten goods in a truck. Street carts usually serve things like tacos or Halal food, but Dessert Truck was one of the first carts to one-up standard street food by spinning it gourmet-style.

Jerome Chang, the chef behind Dessert Truck--and a former pastry chef at Le Cirque--really knows what he's doing, and he'll serve you quality desserts for $5 a piece out of his cute little truck. The chocolate bread pudding is a sure-fire winner, but I decided to be daring this weekend and try the goat cheese cheesecake that's been received mixed attention from DT fans.


To be honest, I found it far too goat-y and not sufficiently cake-y, but I appreciated the attempt regardless. Savory desserts are tough to pull off, so I was glad that we also ordered the Molten Chocolate Cake. A much more successful pairing of savory and sweet, this dessert is topped with a sprinkle of sea salt and pistachios to contrast the richness of the oozing chocolate.


In case you're wondering why I'm posting about Dessert Truck and not any of the other great things that caught my eye this weekend, I bear some interesting news. Starting today, Dessert Truck is operating during daytime hours in Midtown East, parking at Park Ave somewhere between 51st and 53rd streets. For all you Midtown-ers, this is huge news! Now you can get award-winning sweets whenever the office stress warrants sugar therapy (and don't deny that it happens all the time!). Enjoy!

Celebration!

My roommate and I are both celebrating this week--not only did I get a job offer, but so did she! And to top things off, we're on the verge of signing a new apartment!

Both of us are really excited about finally furnishing our own space, and we've been exercising our creative drive in anticipation of the Sept. 1 move-in date.

After finding these gold doilies in the 99-cent bin at Gristedes, we knew we'd find some good purpose for them eventually. Here's a great DIY project that my roomie came up with: Doily Placemats!


1. Cut doilies into halves or shapes that you think look cool.
2. Glue them onto heavy-duty paper (any size works!)
3. Round the edges (if desired) to form a nice, chic shape.
4. Laminate!

Onto Chapter Two...

Good news!

After almost 10 weeks of trying, I've finally gotten my first real magazine job! Starting next Friday, I'll be a Research Editor for one of those crazy celebrity gossip magazines... looking into whether or not Jennifer Aniston and Angelina Jolie actually hate each other and deciding whether it's too damaging to report that Lindsay Lohan has been seen drinking "too much Red Bull" again. It's not the New Yorker, but it's going to be tons of fun.

The Pros: Great pay, health benefits through my freelance company, a chill boss, and will give me exposure to things other than food. Definitely a resume builder!

The Cons: Only two days a week (M/F), still freelance, and a far commute.

The Pros to the Cons? Perhaps I can take an internship that will lead to a full time position eventually. With money to pay the bills, I now know I can work for free on some days.

Hence, the life of a girl breaking into magazines Part 1 has ended.

Part 2--moving from PT to FT and from gossip to substance, has yet to come.

Stress toys 2.0

It's been a hectic week, to say the least. Both my freelance jobs have sprung massive amounts of work on me, and my deadlines are fast approaching. I haven't been this swamped in a long time, and it's easy for me to forget I'm unemployed! Honestly, with this much work and this many interviews, I haven't had time to send out a job application all week. To make things worse, I'm apartment hunting, and I've never had so many things on my plate all at once. Good thing I handle stress pretty well.

But since even I'm getting ready to explode already, I've found something to make everything better.

Meet Sweety, the newest de-stressing gadget by Yanko Design.

Yanko does all sorts of cool stuff, like weights that double as water bottles, or flying alarm clocks that can't easily be snoozed.

Sweety has got to be their coolest gadget to date though. He (she?) sits on your desk and listens to you vent about your troubles, analyzes your worries and decides on graphic patterns that will best soothe you depending on what you've shared. Sometimes, it will even invite you to play interactive games. But if you need more than pretty colors and games, Yanko says you can "squeeze and beat the hell out of it." That's my kind of stress toy.

Back to the beginning, sort of.

Those of you who've been reading from the start may remember the reason why I got stuck in this job-hunting predicament: the lack of openings at the wonderful company where I'd interned and been basically promised a job. It's been exactly two months since I got that blow of bad news, and it seems fitting that today is the day I go back for an interview.

Oh no, it's not exactly what you'd expect.

See, nobody helped me score this interview--I did it on my own. I've used none of my HR strings, as HR had nothing to do with hiring for this job. It's proof of one thing I've learned about myself--I like knowing that I am getting what I want for the right reason. I didn't want to play up my minority status applying to college because I wanted to be accepted for me and not my ethnicity. Similarly, getting snubbed for jobs that first time has let me figure out what I'm worth on my own accord. It's a valuable lesson and I've been happy to learn it.

So, that interview.

Let's put it this way: I've been a subscriber to nearly all of this company's magazines at some point or another. But there are three whose issues I've never been able to toss. Consequently, I lug a big box of magazines from one apartment to the next whenever I move, and someone (usually the person carrying the box) gives me grief about it. But I can't help it--I can't part from these issues, I love them too much! They're too filled with useful information! They're so pretty to look at!

And so I have a strange relationship with my favorite magazines. And some people laugh at me. And others--their editors--invite me for interviews.

Wish me luck!

White Coats Galore

Today is a very exciting day, because it is the day that the wonderful boyfriend officially starts medical school! The first day involves standard orientation activities and getting-to-know-you's, but it also includes something far more exciting: the White Coat ceremony, where he will receive his crisp new medical jacket emblazoned with his name and school crest. It's a moment I know he's been waiting for forever, and I'm so proud of him for reaching it.

In honor of today's white coat ceremony, which I sadly could not attend, I've decided to bring you a White Coat roundup just in time for the fall season. It might take the scientific edge off of the thing, but none of you readers were really interested in that anyway... or were you?

I think white coats are actually a wonderful transitional trend, pairing the ubiquitous summer color with a chic look for fall. This 3/4 sleeve version from Victoria's Secret is especially summery, but with a rich brown belt, it would pair beautifully with knee-high boots way into next season.

I'm also loving this lightweight trench by Bloomingdale's. I never realized the value of a trench until I finally caved and bought a wonderful sage green one two years ago, but trench coats in bright colors always work well for fall and spring.
Finally, I found this beautiful jacket by Milly--although it's a total splurge item that I could never afford, the boucle ruffle trim and round neckline make it so sophisticated, unique, and stylish that I can't resist including it here.


But please, remember, none of these are meant to be worn into the operating room!