So I just finished my third week of my internship. Time is really passing by fast! It is a little sad. I want to do so much during my time in the city. One of the drawbacks I face here is coming home after work and being exhausted. It is not a physical exhaustion, instead I am mentally exhausted. In between, meeting new people each day, going to vendor appointments all around the city, and the tons of new information I am learning about reports, trends, and vendor personalities I feel like I am going 1000 miles an hour. I will say I appreciate NEVER having a dull moment on the job. There are interns working for other companies that count the minutes until the end of the day and are bored, but for me I do not face that dilemma at all. Instead I am trying to figure out how to get everything accomplished before the end of the day. Time seems to fly by so fast that I blink and it is lunchtime. I blink again and it is already 4pm and I am in crunch mode to finish running and formatting reports that I have not finished in the morning before getting away from my desk.
I attended a shoe vendor show in New Jersey Monday morning, and as GLAMOROUS as it may sound, it was exhausting. Yes do not get me wrong looking at shoes is never a bad thing, but I have been going to see shoes for three weeks and the styles get old. There are only so many ways to style a mens loafer or a girls combat boot. I have caught on to the lingo of the shoe business "there is nothing fresh". Anyways that day was long, and I couldn't wait to get back to the city and back to my apartment. The following day came a change to my routine, which was very much needed. I went to market with another buyer. I got to experience the world of clothes buying while accompanying the little girls clothing buyer. We went to three appointments, one for leggings, dresses, and denim shorts. What I took away from that day was that clothing vendors are totally different than shoe vendors. Whether of not the vendors we met were a good representation of clothing vendors, it is too soon to tell, but I found they were refreshing to the shoe vendors I usually encounter. Every side of the business is so different, and I learned that. Maybe I have found my calling, kids clothing!
Finally after three weeks, I am starting to get the hang of how to be of help to the buyer. With the assistant buyer on vacation the latter half of the week, I was forced to step up to the plate and perform tasks she normally does. My buyer expressed to me how impressed she was with my fast learning, and it made me finally feel like I was apart of the team. I ended Friday being proud of myself for a job well done.
I will be sure to blog about my weekend affairs soon, including pics!
Monday, June 24, 2013
Sunday, June 23, 2013
Jessica's View of NYC
Last weekend my very best friend, Jessica came to New York City to visit me. It was her first time in the Big Apple and I wanted to show it all to her. Over the course of the weekend, we saw a good amount of stuff that every tourist should see, as well as some hidden gems of the city. I usually recap the adventure, but I am going to let my dear friend Jessica take the reins this time and let her share her experience in the city with y'all!
Take it away Jess!
Pictures courtesy of J.Estrada herself
Take it away Jess!
Hey
everyone, this is Kyla’s best friend – Jessica! Aka Jess, Crystal, JoJo,
Shorty, etc. Yeah…I have a lot of different names people call me. So not this
weekend but LAST weekend (specifically June 14-17), I had the privilege of
going to New York City for the first time to visit Kyla. Before I left for NYC,
it sort of felt unreal that I would be going to the Big Apple because for
starters, I have never traveled that far by myself. I go to school in Oklahoma
City, but I’m from Dallas. So of course, it is only about three and a half hours
away. Not too far at all. Since my parents trust Kyla so much and have known
her for a while, they let me visit her in NYC. So this is how my mini journey
to the city that never sleeps begins!
Early
morning of Friday, June 14, I left to New York from Dallas. I was supposed to
arrive in NYC by 1:10 in the afternoon, but I didn’t arrive until 2:30 due to delays
at the airport. I got off the plane at LaGuardia airport (which is so much
smaller than I thought it would be) and caught a cab to go to mid-Manhattan,
where Kyla’s apartment is located. Since it was my first time in a cab, I was
excited and nervous because I was in a huge city by myself! I didn’t have much
time to feel nervous though because the taxi driver talked my ear off; I was so
glad when I arrived at her apartmen.t Let me tell you, the walk to her job was SO awesome!! It was my first time
on the streets of NYC, and I was taking in as much as I could. Just by walking
on 34th street from her apartment, I saw so much – The
Empire State Building, Madison Square Garden, and the Manhattan Center! People
were walking in every direction, so many cars were driving by, music was
playing in different shops, and I was just in awe of the city.We met at a Starbucks next to
her building and were SO excited to start doing things around the city. We took
care of business first though…we ATE DINNER at
this place called Cosi. It reminded me of Panera, but better! We tried this
Tucson chicken sandwich with raspberry mojito lemonade that was delicious! After
dinner, we strolled around Garment District for a while and then to Macy’s at
Herald Square. Then, we took the subway to go to the MOMA because it’s free on
Fridays 4-8 pm. I was even in shock when I went on my first subway ride. I
totally stood out from all of the locals in the subway because I was taking
pictures. By the time we made it to the MOMA, they were closing in fifteen
minutes. That didn’t stop Kyla and I from looking around though. Afterwards we walked around Rockefeller Center where NBC Studios is located, and
we even met some people from Henderson, Texas. YAY TEXAS! The last thing we did was…TIMES SQUARE. As we walked down 42nd street, it
wasn’t hard to notice because of all the lights and commotion. It
was AWESOME!!! I was in the same spot where they filmed Disney’s Enchanted (I’m
a little obsessed with Disney movies by the way)! Needless to say, I had a great
time seeing everything in that area like the Broadway theatres, the New Year’s Ball (which
is NOT that big by the way), the M&Ms store, the ginormous Toys ‘R Us, and so much more. Kyla was tired from work, and I was tired from being at the
airport all morning, so we got back to get some sleep for Saturday!
Saturday
was A LOT of fun, but it was also very tiring because of all of the walking we
did. We left in the morning and took the subway to the Upper East
Side where all of the fancy places are at like the St. Regis Hotel, the Trump
Tower, Henri Bendel, Tiffany’s, and Bergdorf Goodman.After another five minute walk, we were crossing
the street from the Plaza Hotel to Central Park. I LOVED Central Park! Kyla and
I were listing off the MANY different movies that we have seen that were filmed at the
park.We took a bunch of pictures, too! It was so cool to see
where they filmed that famous “That’s How You Know” song and dance number in
the movie, Enchanted. Then, we walked over to the MET to
take pictures on the steps like the infamous lunch scenes on Gossip Girl with Blair and Serena.
We asked a girl to take a couple of pictures of us “acting normal,” which
wasn’t a total fail because we got a decent picture out of it. We also tried
our first NY hotdog on the MET steps. I am not a big fan of hotdogs, but
the ones from NY are pretty good! It was about noon, and we took a taxi to
Brooklyn because Kyla bought us tickets for a Hipster food tour. We went to
Williamsburg, which was totally awesome because of all the shops and
restaurants. Before the food tour started, we walked around for a restroom because
Kyla had to pee so bad! Another thing I learned from Kyla about NY was that it
is VERY hard to find a public restroom. We finally found one in a local food
market. Soon after, we ate some macaroons at a cute bakery, and THEN met up
with our tour guide and the rest of our group for the food tour. Oh my
goodness, the food tour was YUMMY. We tried a slice of brick oven pizza, a
bagel with some really good spread, some cheese (the cow cheese was FUNKY
because it smelled and tasted so bad, but the goat cheese was alright), some
Oklahoma-style BBQ (Kyla kept asking me if I thought the BBQ was good since I
go to school in Oklahoma but I had no idea haha), a piece of peanut brittle at
a candy shop, and some rich chocolate at Mast Brothers. Our last stop was at a
Hipster winery, which was pretty cool! We didn’t try any wine though. If you
know Kyla and me, you know we’re not about that life! The food tour was an
awesome choice, and I am so glad Kyla choose an awesome one to go to. Our Italian
tour guide was even Hipster! As Kyla put it, he looked like a more put together
Russell Brand. I thought he looked like Jesus, too. Too bad we didn’t take a
picture with him. Anyways, after the food tour, we went down to a pier and saw
the Manhattan skyline. It was so beautiful! The Williamsburg Bridge wasn’t too
far either. We then took the subway to lower Manhattan to meet up with Kyla’s
other friend named Jessica. Before we met up with her, I got to see that famous
bull in Financial District, as well as the World Trade Center. We met up with
Jessica at the 9/11 Memorial Site, but it was closed! Instead, we took the
Staten Island Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty. Since it was nighttime, Lady
Liberty was lit up as well as all of the buildings, which looked incredible. I
actually got a pretty decent picture of the Statue of Liberty! Once we arrived
back in Manhattan, we took the subway back to their apartment. We were SO tired
and hungry! We stopped at this diner, Tick Tock, to pick up food. Kyla and I grabbed our food
and ate in one of the cute study rooms in the building and talked till almost
two in the morning! It was some good girl time.
Sunday
was another full day. My feet hurt throughout the day, but not as bad as
Saturday. If it were possible to change my feet like changing my shoes, I totally would have done it. Sunday morning, Kyla and I had tickets
for the NBC Studios Tour at 9:45. We couldn’t take pictures though, which was
lame! We got to see the studio where Brian Williams does the Nightly News and where
Jimmy Fallon does his Late Night show (which used to be the studio of Late
Night host, Johnny Carson). We also saw some other floors of the building,
which was awesome and even took an awkward picture at a news desk! Yeah…we
didn’t buy the picture at the news desk. Anyways, after the tour, we went to
Times Square to get tickets for a Broadway musical. After searching for the
best deal for a show, we got tickets to see Annie starring Jane Lynch as Miss
Hannigan. The show was so much fun!!! Everybody laughed at Jane Lynch, even when
she wasn’t trying to be funny. It was great! When we left the musical, we had
Annie songs in our head for the rest of the day. I still do even now! After the
show, we took the subway to China Town. Kyla had never been before either, so I
was glad she was able to go somewhere she hadn’t been to in New York yet. Literally,
we walked out of the subway and Chinese people were EVERYWHERE! I felt like we
were in a different country, but it was an awesome feeling. If you ever go to
New York, and you want to buy stuff for cheap, China Town is for you! While we
were in Chinatown, we grabbed some delicious bubble tea and some food from this
place called Prosperity Dumpling. I got four dumplings for one dollar! They
weren’t my favorite, but the price wasn’t too bad. This pancake thing Kyla got for
two bucks was really good! After China Town, we took the subway to check out
Grand Central Station. This train station is HUGE and really beautiful, so we
took a bunch of photos! At the station, we stopped at a bakery so I could try
the famous NY black & white cookie. It was so yummy! It was almost ten in
the evening, so we made our way back to Webster. Before we got ready for bed, Kyla
took me on the roof of Webster, which has a spectacular view of the city. I
couldn’t stop taking pictures! We called Sunday a night, and Kyla kept
convincing me that I really wasn’t leaving New York the next day – I was only
going back to Dallas for vacation.
Well
Monday came, and I ate breakfast with Kyla and her friends before they left for
work. Kyla was leaving to the Penn Station for New Jersey, so I was able to
walk her as far as I could. I didn’t want to say goodbye to her! Since we talk
all the time, I knew we would hear from her soon. My flight didn’t leave until
3:55 in the afternoon, so I decided to go to Times Square one last time before
I left. If you haven’t been to NYC yet, you’ll find out that it actually is pretty
safe walking on the streets because there are people everywhere. Especially in
Times Square, there is pretty much nothing but tourists so I felt completely
fine walking by myself. After Times Square, I grabbed some lunch from this
place called Café Bistro and ate on the roof of the apartment. It was such a
nice feeling to eat on a NYC roof while listening to some worship songs. I
didn’t want to leave the city! I imagined that I would stay there for a couple
more days, and that I would wait for Kyla to get off of work and we would
continue to have a blast in NYC. But, it was time for me to make my way to
LaGuardia airport. I caught a cab on 34th street, and made it an
hour and a half early before my flight had to leave. God had other plans for me
that day though! My flight back home was supposed to leave at 3:55, but I
didn’t leave until 6:30. I was supposed to arrive back in Dallas at 8:45, but I
didn’t make it back home until midnight! It was a super long day for me just
because I was at the airport for forever, but I was just so thankful that I had
been in NYC for a few days.
My
dream to visit New York City came true because my bestie, Kyla! If it wasn’t
for her, I would not have been able to go. This girl is already like a local up
in NY! Even if we got lost on the subway a couple times, she knew where to go
for the most part and she showed me a great time. Kyla and I even made a bet on
Saturday night. Here it is: Whoever gets married first, owes the other girl
$100. So now I’m hoping Kyla meets a guy up in NYC. She said it won’t happen,
but anything is possible, right? Anyways, this NYC trip is definitely the
highlight of my summer! Thanks to Kyla for being the greatest friend anyone
could ask for by making it possible. LOVE YA, girl!
And
thank YOU for reading! You are awesome. You know why? Because this blog post is
super long, so God bless your little eyes for reading. Until next time…deuces
everyone!!
Pictures courtesy of J.Estrada herself
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Every Good Thing
Sharing my experiences with you I want to take a moment and introduce a song. It has been in my head constantly and I have even gotten my friend Nicole hooked to it. I am hoping to maybe do the same to you!
The Afters came out with this song earlier this year "EVERY GOOD THING" and I heard it on the radio a few times thinking how catchy it was. Once I saw on XM Radio who the artist was I had to acquire the song and share it. Joshua Havens and Matt Fuqua share in the first short clip the meaning behind writing the song. I suggest watching it before listening to the song because it gives a great understanding of where they were coming from in writing. (BTW Havens and Fuqua formed the band while working together at a Starbucks in Mesquite, Texas!!! Yay Texans for awesome music!!!)
I am so grateful to be able to go different places and have many new and exciting experiences. God has made all of these things possible and I give him all the credit for bringing good fortune to those who believe and trust in his Word. His greater gifts are not tangibles of this Earth but are the gifts such righteousness and His everlasting Grace make I am so very grateful for as well. Because he is the reason for every good thing!
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
James 1:17
The Afters came out with this song earlier this year "EVERY GOOD THING" and I heard it on the radio a few times thinking how catchy it was. Once I saw on XM Radio who the artist was I had to acquire the song and share it. Joshua Havens and Matt Fuqua share in the first short clip the meaning behind writing the song. I suggest watching it before listening to the song because it gives a great understanding of where they were coming from in writing. (BTW Havens and Fuqua formed the band while working together at a Starbucks in Mesquite, Texas!!! Yay Texans for awesome music!!!)
I am so grateful to be able to go different places and have many new and exciting experiences. God has made all of these things possible and I give him all the credit for bringing good fortune to those who believe and trust in his Word. His greater gifts are not tangibles of this Earth but are the gifts such righteousness and His everlasting Grace make I am so very grateful for as well. Because he is the reason for every good thing!
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
James 1:17
Story Behind the Song
The AWESOME song!!!
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Exploring NYC 1
I sit at one of the 50 plus Starbucks that are near me in this grand city on Manhattan Island. The internet at my apartment is almost impossible to use during peak hours, so I am forced out of the apartment to blog and people watch. The people in NYC are so eccentric, especially the people that sit around me here at this moment. They are so engaged in their conversations; I absolutely love it!
Well anyway I am here to share about my weekend of wandering through the city. The Lord was good to us because the weather was wonderful Saturday and Sunday. Today, well the rain here is a different story. I finally had enough energy to go out and explore the city.
SATURDAY
My new friends Ashley and Jessica, from work/apartment building ventured past the Financial District over to South Street Seaport. Amongst the bustle of the area, there were storefronts boarded up from popular shops such as American Eagle and The Body Shop. Even though Hurricane Sandy came through and left it mark on the area, most of the shops were open for business. There were also plenty of street vendors selling local items.. It was there we found the cutest store, Christmas in New York, where it is always the most wonderful time of the year. We made a reservation to eat out on the deck at a restaurant, Cabana Nuevo Latina. It probably wasn't the best thing because it was a bit windy near the water, but hey it's New York! Do as the locals do. Rain or Shine! Speaking of locals, I saw the plate of the man sitting next to me and didn't care what the dish was, I knew I wanted it! It was a good choice too, Coco Cabana Pollo, which consisted of chicken breast, potatoes, green peas, broccoli, carrots, spinach, yuca, calabaza, coconut milk, curry, and peppers topped with rice. Oh gosh it was delicious. I think I may start ordering like that more often. See what a local is eating and literally point it out the waiter and order. The only problem with that is I might be afraid when I get the check!
Our next stop: CENTRAL PARK! This is byfar one of my favorite places in New York City! It is the perfect place to take in the city in a relaxing manner. It is so breezy and lush from the trees. The people that linger in this humungous place are so interesting, whether it's the guy guarding the memorial for John Lennon in Strawberry Fields (btw there are no strawberries there, I know how unfortunate) to an improv salsa class or a group of college students picnicking in the grass, there is so much to see and do here. While at this beautiful place, we met up with my friend Tanya (she works with us and we go to school together). On our way out of the park we even stopped to watch a group of street performers (or should I say "park performers". Not only did they put on a good little acrobatic dance show, they were crazy funny! We ended the evening on the rooftop of our apartment building where we get an awesome panoramic view of the inner city including the One World Trade Center, the Empire State Building, and East River.
SUNDAY
Jessica and I decided to venture over to the piers of East River where we saw the cutest dog park! We are both obsessed with dogs, and any dog person is good in my book. We made our way back up and ended up in Chelsea neighborhood where we found the most awesome street market. The vendors set up shot each weekend and it is basically like an outdoor thrift store. I saw some awesome finds: vintage pillbox hats, actual 90s Dr Martens, fur coats and tons of turquoise jewelry. I am definitely going to check this place out more often and buy something in the future, after a paycheck or too.
Well anyway I am here to share about my weekend of wandering through the city. The Lord was good to us because the weather was wonderful Saturday and Sunday. Today, well the rain here is a different story. I finally had enough energy to go out and explore the city.
SATURDAY
My new friends Ashley and Jessica, from work/apartment building ventured past the Financial District over to South Street Seaport. Amongst the bustle of the area, there were storefronts boarded up from popular shops such as American Eagle and The Body Shop. Even though Hurricane Sandy came through and left it mark on the area, most of the shops were open for business. There were also plenty of street vendors selling local items.. It was there we found the cutest store, Christmas in New York, where it is always the most wonderful time of the year. We made a reservation to eat out on the deck at a restaurant, Cabana Nuevo Latina. It probably wasn't the best thing because it was a bit windy near the water, but hey it's New York! Do as the locals do. Rain or Shine! Speaking of locals, I saw the plate of the man sitting next to me and didn't care what the dish was, I knew I wanted it! It was a good choice too, Coco Cabana Pollo, which consisted of chicken breast, potatoes, green peas, broccoli, carrots, spinach, yuca, calabaza, coconut milk, curry, and peppers topped with rice. Oh gosh it was delicious. I think I may start ordering like that more often. See what a local is eating and literally point it out the waiter and order. The only problem with that is I might be afraid when I get the check!
Our next stop: CENTRAL PARK! This is byfar one of my favorite places in New York City! It is the perfect place to take in the city in a relaxing manner. It is so breezy and lush from the trees. The people that linger in this humungous place are so interesting, whether it's the guy guarding the memorial for John Lennon in Strawberry Fields (btw there are no strawberries there, I know how unfortunate) to an improv salsa class or a group of college students picnicking in the grass, there is so much to see and do here. While at this beautiful place, we met up with my friend Tanya (she works with us and we go to school together). On our way out of the park we even stopped to watch a group of street performers (or should I say "park performers". Not only did they put on a good little acrobatic dance show, they were crazy funny! We ended the evening on the rooftop of our apartment building where we get an awesome panoramic view of the inner city including the One World Trade Center, the Empire State Building, and East River.
Jessica and I decided to venture over to the piers of East River where we saw the cutest dog park! We are both obsessed with dogs, and any dog person is good in my book. We made our way back up and ended up in Chelsea neighborhood where we found the most awesome street market. The vendors set up shot each weekend and it is basically like an outdoor thrift store. I saw some awesome finds: vintage pillbox hats, actual 90s Dr Martens, fur coats and tons of turquoise jewelry. I am definitely going to check this place out more often and buy something in the future, after a paycheck or too.
We met up with Ashley later in the evening to attempt to get a glimpse at stars on the red carpet of the Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall. Jessica swore she saw Neil Patrick Harris; moments like that I curse my short height. There was not much to see other than the tons of non-famous people walking past us in beautiful gowns and tuxedos making their way to the ceremony. Since we could not see the Broadway stars, we went to the next best place, Ellen's Stardust Diner, the place where Broadway wannabes work! We got a great show at a fraction of a Broadway ticket cost. Plus I got a huge plate of food.
Saturday, June 8, 2013
First Week as an Intern
So it's officially been a full work week as an intern for Ross, and it has by far been one of the best work experiences of my life. I am one of 98 interns for the company's New York Buying Office that employs around 900 people. We just increased the size of the office by 10%; we definitely make a presence!
This definitely isn't the type of internship where you are in charge of bringing coffee; people are bringing it to you! I go to appointments with the buyer and assistant and I am treated like a equal as I sit in on meetings with vendors. As an assistant buyer intern, I have not sat at my desk for more than about 30 minutes at a time. I am paired with a buyer and her assistant for men and children shoes. The best part about working in shoes is the shoe vendor shows and going around the city to go to different showrooms. The office is on the edge of the Garment District (think Project Runway area) so buyers working in the clothing departments are walking distance to their vendors. In the past week I have travelled to Queens as well as up and down the streets of Manhattan in the Flatiron District and Union Square area. FFaNY (Fashion Footwear Association of New York) held a shoe show the latter part this week, so I jumped right into appointments.
MONDAY:
For my first day we spent the first half of the workday in orientation as one big group getting all sorts of information needed from the fabulously Human Resource team. After 4 hours of orientation, our mentors came to pick us up. It literally felt like kindergarten where you sit and wait for your parent to pick you up from school as each person's name is called out. Our mentors took each of the interns out to lunch around the city. My mentor and her assistant treated me to lunch at a Butterfield 8, a local place that takes pride in being the place "where business professional meets the social scene". With that in mind, my pesto chicken sandwich and side salad ran at $16, a little steep of a price, but for that place, the price came from its location.
http://www.butterfield8nyc.com/
After lunch and back in the office, I got settled into my desk. By the way I love the location of my desk because it is in a training room converted into a large intern office. The room houses computer desks for about 12 interns in total and I feel we can really help each other out being together we are all working under buyers and doing around the same type of work. Good move on Ross's part. I spent the afternoon between my desk setting up calendar meetings and shadowing my mentor and her assistant at their desks. Before I knew it the day was over and was off the clock at exactly 5:30.
I met up with my new friend and co-worker, Ashley and made our way back to our apartment in the rain for dinner in the dining hall. With the rain outside, and exhaustion waning our bodies we stayed inside for the rest of the evening.
TUESDAY:
I was excited for my second day of work because I was already going on my first shoe vendor appointment so soon. I have to admit when I was told we were being picked up by car to go out to the showroom in Queens, there was a bit of excitement. How exciting to be an intern getting to ride through the city chauffeured in a Lincoln Towncar that waited for us until we also finished the appointment. This definitely was not your average taxi service. We went to a mens work boot showroom where I learned there were so many options to make a mens work boot different. To the common eye all the boots looked the same, but there were slight details that made each shoe different, from the material of the sole to the height of the actual boot.
After my lunch break, I spent most of the afternoon in a training class with other interns about computer programs. The little time left, I shadowed and learned the basics of some of the reports used. I was surely thankful for the Merchandising Math class I took this past semester because terms used throughout the reports made sense to me.
WEDNESDAY:
The morning was spent in another training class for interns. My teacher for the class was an amazing man who also just happens to be featured on a new show on Bravo, Princesses of Long Island, where his daughter is one of the main characters. I have not gotten a chance to watch it because I never watch TV.
After lunch I got to go the the first day of FFaNY shoe show. After meeting a group of vendors we headed to an appointment at Nina, a company that specializes in womens and girls shoes. The showroom was absolutely adorable as well as their staff, a great group of people. This trip even featured pastries and coffee which is always a plus in my book.
This was the first time I had been exposed to childrens shoe buying. The little girls shoes for Spring 2014 are just precious. Unfortunately I cannot go into detail about what I saw but let's just say little girls are going to have foot candy basically.
Our next appointment was another showroom that makes shoes for licensed characters such as Spiderman, Batman, and Disney. I had never seen Spiderman on so many different shoe styles! There were blue and red canvas shoes, boat shoes, sneakers, flip flops, and clogs, oh my! And for every hot cartoon character around. I met the nicest man there from Texas and we had a moment sharing stories about our home. It highlighted my day, being so far from home and meeting people that know where you are from. We were not too far from work, so we walked it back to the office and called it a day.
THURSDAY:
This is was best shoe show day. I literally spent the entire day at FFaNY. I had never seen so many shoes at one time in my life. I was exposed to thousands of shoes on three floors of convention center space. Even though we went searching for children and mens shoes, the majority of shoes at these shows are womens. The market for womens shoes is extremely vast with tons of options.
Our first official meeting for the day was nearby for Rachels Shoes. They specialize in little girls shoes, especially the really cutesy play sandals that feature little flowers and butterflies with velcro straps, those types of shoes. The room had a few hundred styles of shoes, each shoe being an open toe sandal for young girls.
Afterwards we headed over Vida Group, which is a company houses 15 different shoe brands including Carters and OshKosh for kids, Unionbay and Sag Harbour. We met with Carters and OshKosh. During the meeting a younger gentleman came into the room and sat his chair right next to me. Richard, was the head shoe designer for the two kids brands. I was a little starstruck, even though he was a regular person. He walked us through the story line for the Spring 2014 collection and he was really able to express to us what he was going for with each shoe color and print. It was a great moment being able to listen to him express about his designs. We stopped by Unionbay for a bit and I saw the design team for Kohls, a large group by the way of about 10 people, at work picking, choosing and discussing shoes for their stores. What I found interesting was that they had a model who would try on shoes for them. She would be handed a shoe, try it on, and do a few posses, then again with the next shoe. That was very interesting.
Our last formal appointment was with mens showroom for Giorgio Brutini, GBX, and Bass Shoes. I had noticed throughout the past few days, but it was during this meeting that I realized the shoe business was run by men. Liked stated before this place was no exception. I really appreciated the craftsmanship in shoes at this company that specializes in men dress shoes. Leather is a business they know very well.
We ended the day back at the FFaNY floors where I got to meet 2 shoe buyers from Ross's Buying Office in Los Angeles and our womens shoe buyer. We accompanied them to a few different vendors to see how they did business and saw what they were looking for. Again womens shoes is like a whole new world as far as options. There was just a plethora of shoe styles and colors.
That was a long day and ended the day at the shows.
FRIDAY:
The tropical storm had began to make its way to the city as it rained the entire day. Today was team building activities for the interns which was more fun than team building sounds. I think at this age we have the idea of not appreciating team building activities because they take us out of our comfort zone, which in fact is the point of these things. I think the rain was what also put a damper on the idea.
Overall though I thought the day was fun, plus getting paid for these types of activities was fine in my book. We were instructed to not go to our desks at all today. Our first challenge was a scavenger hunt around the city. We were broken up into groups of ten and sent out into the cold steady rain. For about 4 hours we made our way as far as 60th St and 3rd and all around getting total strangers to take group photos of us for the hunt. Our team only got 17 points out of 49. We were not too upset about it since the objective of the day was to get to know each other. At one point we made our way into Saks Fifth Ave to dry off for a bit and had major bonding time with browsing. On the way out though a girl and I totally spotted an NBA basketball player with his entourage of 4. Unfortunately neither of us knew who he was or what team he played for. They walked right past us and he totally looked back at us because he knew we recognized him. If only we knew who he was we could have gotten his picture with us for 5 extra points to our total. Some of the places we checked off our list where: Gershwin Theatre (home of the Broadway Musical Wicked; great show btw), Carnegie Hall, Rockefeller Center, Plaza Hotel (Home Alone), and Tiffany & Co.
We were treated to pizza back at the office and got to dry off for a bit before the afternoon of more team building. We had a team t-shirt contest, and played the name game in groups of about 20. That was a huge challenge since I was the third to last to go! Our final game was 2 truths and a lie and I must say it was during this game that people obviously forgot that they were in a work environment. Some of the truths told you would have wished were lies! The day was ended overall with a great laugh and a better acquaintance to more interns. Despite the downpouring rain the day was a success.
This definitely isn't the type of internship where you are in charge of bringing coffee; people are bringing it to you! I go to appointments with the buyer and assistant and I am treated like a equal as I sit in on meetings with vendors. As an assistant buyer intern, I have not sat at my desk for more than about 30 minutes at a time. I am paired with a buyer and her assistant for men and children shoes. The best part about working in shoes is the shoe vendor shows and going around the city to go to different showrooms. The office is on the edge of the Garment District (think Project Runway area) so buyers working in the clothing departments are walking distance to their vendors. In the past week I have travelled to Queens as well as up and down the streets of Manhattan in the Flatiron District and Union Square area. FFaNY (Fashion Footwear Association of New York) held a shoe show the latter part this week, so I jumped right into appointments.
MONDAY:
For my first day we spent the first half of the workday in orientation as one big group getting all sorts of information needed from the fabulously Human Resource team. After 4 hours of orientation, our mentors came to pick us up. It literally felt like kindergarten where you sit and wait for your parent to pick you up from school as each person's name is called out. Our mentors took each of the interns out to lunch around the city. My mentor and her assistant treated me to lunch at a Butterfield 8, a local place that takes pride in being the place "where business professional meets the social scene". With that in mind, my pesto chicken sandwich and side salad ran at $16, a little steep of a price, but for that place, the price came from its location.
http://www.butterfield8nyc.com/
After lunch and back in the office, I got settled into my desk. By the way I love the location of my desk because it is in a training room converted into a large intern office. The room houses computer desks for about 12 interns in total and I feel we can really help each other out being together we are all working under buyers and doing around the same type of work. Good move on Ross's part. I spent the afternoon between my desk setting up calendar meetings and shadowing my mentor and her assistant at their desks. Before I knew it the day was over and was off the clock at exactly 5:30.
I met up with my new friend and co-worker, Ashley and made our way back to our apartment in the rain for dinner in the dining hall. With the rain outside, and exhaustion waning our bodies we stayed inside for the rest of the evening.
TUESDAY:
I was excited for my second day of work because I was already going on my first shoe vendor appointment so soon. I have to admit when I was told we were being picked up by car to go out to the showroom in Queens, there was a bit of excitement. How exciting to be an intern getting to ride through the city chauffeured in a Lincoln Towncar that waited for us until we also finished the appointment. This definitely was not your average taxi service. We went to a mens work boot showroom where I learned there were so many options to make a mens work boot different. To the common eye all the boots looked the same, but there were slight details that made each shoe different, from the material of the sole to the height of the actual boot.
After my lunch break, I spent most of the afternoon in a training class with other interns about computer programs. The little time left, I shadowed and learned the basics of some of the reports used. I was surely thankful for the Merchandising Math class I took this past semester because terms used throughout the reports made sense to me.
WEDNESDAY:
The morning was spent in another training class for interns. My teacher for the class was an amazing man who also just happens to be featured on a new show on Bravo, Princesses of Long Island, where his daughter is one of the main characters. I have not gotten a chance to watch it because I never watch TV.
After lunch I got to go the the first day of FFaNY shoe show. After meeting a group of vendors we headed to an appointment at Nina, a company that specializes in womens and girls shoes. The showroom was absolutely adorable as well as their staff, a great group of people. This trip even featured pastries and coffee which is always a plus in my book.
This was the first time I had been exposed to childrens shoe buying. The little girls shoes for Spring 2014 are just precious. Unfortunately I cannot go into detail about what I saw but let's just say little girls are going to have foot candy basically.
Our next appointment was another showroom that makes shoes for licensed characters such as Spiderman, Batman, and Disney. I had never seen Spiderman on so many different shoe styles! There were blue and red canvas shoes, boat shoes, sneakers, flip flops, and clogs, oh my! And for every hot cartoon character around. I met the nicest man there from Texas and we had a moment sharing stories about our home. It highlighted my day, being so far from home and meeting people that know where you are from. We were not too far from work, so we walked it back to the office and called it a day.
THURSDAY:
This is was best shoe show day. I literally spent the entire day at FFaNY. I had never seen so many shoes at one time in my life. I was exposed to thousands of shoes on three floors of convention center space. Even though we went searching for children and mens shoes, the majority of shoes at these shows are womens. The market for womens shoes is extremely vast with tons of options.
Our first official meeting for the day was nearby for Rachels Shoes. They specialize in little girls shoes, especially the really cutesy play sandals that feature little flowers and butterflies with velcro straps, those types of shoes. The room had a few hundred styles of shoes, each shoe being an open toe sandal for young girls.
Afterwards we headed over Vida Group, which is a company houses 15 different shoe brands including Carters and OshKosh for kids, Unionbay and Sag Harbour. We met with Carters and OshKosh. During the meeting a younger gentleman came into the room and sat his chair right next to me. Richard, was the head shoe designer for the two kids brands. I was a little starstruck, even though he was a regular person. He walked us through the story line for the Spring 2014 collection and he was really able to express to us what he was going for with each shoe color and print. It was a great moment being able to listen to him express about his designs. We stopped by Unionbay for a bit and I saw the design team for Kohls, a large group by the way of about 10 people, at work picking, choosing and discussing shoes for their stores. What I found interesting was that they had a model who would try on shoes for them. She would be handed a shoe, try it on, and do a few posses, then again with the next shoe. That was very interesting.
Our last formal appointment was with mens showroom for Giorgio Brutini, GBX, and Bass Shoes. I had noticed throughout the past few days, but it was during this meeting that I realized the shoe business was run by men. Liked stated before this place was no exception. I really appreciated the craftsmanship in shoes at this company that specializes in men dress shoes. Leather is a business they know very well.
We ended the day back at the FFaNY floors where I got to meet 2 shoe buyers from Ross's Buying Office in Los Angeles and our womens shoe buyer. We accompanied them to a few different vendors to see how they did business and saw what they were looking for. Again womens shoes is like a whole new world as far as options. There was just a plethora of shoe styles and colors.
That was a long day and ended the day at the shows.
FRIDAY:
The tropical storm had began to make its way to the city as it rained the entire day. Today was team building activities for the interns which was more fun than team building sounds. I think at this age we have the idea of not appreciating team building activities because they take us out of our comfort zone, which in fact is the point of these things. I think the rain was what also put a damper on the idea.
Overall though I thought the day was fun, plus getting paid for these types of activities was fine in my book. We were instructed to not go to our desks at all today. Our first challenge was a scavenger hunt around the city. We were broken up into groups of ten and sent out into the cold steady rain. For about 4 hours we made our way as far as 60th St and 3rd and all around getting total strangers to take group photos of us for the hunt. Our team only got 17 points out of 49. We were not too upset about it since the objective of the day was to get to know each other. At one point we made our way into Saks Fifth Ave to dry off for a bit and had major bonding time with browsing. On the way out though a girl and I totally spotted an NBA basketball player with his entourage of 4. Unfortunately neither of us knew who he was or what team he played for. They walked right past us and he totally looked back at us because he knew we recognized him. If only we knew who he was we could have gotten his picture with us for 5 extra points to our total. Some of the places we checked off our list where: Gershwin Theatre (home of the Broadway Musical Wicked; great show btw), Carnegie Hall, Rockefeller Center, Plaza Hotel (Home Alone), and Tiffany & Co.
We were treated to pizza back at the office and got to dry off for a bit before the afternoon of more team building. We had a team t-shirt contest, and played the name game in groups of about 20. That was a huge challenge since I was the third to last to go! Our final game was 2 truths and a lie and I must say it was during this game that people obviously forgot that they were in a work environment. Some of the truths told you would have wished were lies! The day was ended overall with a great laugh and a better acquaintance to more interns. Despite the downpouring rain the day was a success.
Monday, June 3, 2013
New York State of Mind
It is a stormy Sunday night as I sit at my desk in my small New York room listening to the sweet melodies of Ella Fitzgerald, a fitting choice since she got her start in this very city! So I have officially moved into my new place for the summer as of Saturday evening. With my internship starting tomorrow morning, I am excited and anxious for what is in store for me with Ross Stores. It is like a dream come true, a summer internship in New York City.
After missing my first flight, US Airways was very accommodating and put me on a noon flight. I changed planes in Charlotte, North Carolina, and was in New York City by 6pm. Even though I missed my 8:30am flight, the day went pretty smoothly. I had even better seats on the plane this time around with seats at the front of the plane, SCORE! I headed straight to where I am living for the summer, at Webster Apartments, which sits on the outskirts of the Garment District. The location of this building is absolutely fabulous! I am walking distance from Ross's office which is also situated in the Garment District 12 minutes away. The Piers on Hudson River, Chelsea Neighborhood, and even Times Square is all super close to me!
I have not done any exploring of the city yet since I got in later in the evening last night. Today I had lunch in our building in the dining hall with a fellow co-worker/resident Ashley. We connected through LinkedIn of all social media networks! Ashley is from Pennsylvania and is doing a planning internship for Ross. Her room also just happens to be 4 floors directly below me. How oddly funny. After lunch we ventured on into the streets of Manhattan so that I could run a few errands. Our first stop was to the closest tattoo shop, not to get a tattoo though. I needed to get a nose stud to replace my nose ring for work. Infinity Tattoo NYC was where we ended up. The storefront can be seen from the street but to get inside you must taken a semi-hidden staircase from the the street up to the second floor of the building. They were very nice and professional and even put my stud in for me. Plus the stud was not pricey at all, only 10 bucks!
The location is 614 8th Ave #203 New York, NY 10018
http://infinitytattoo1.com/home.html
Our next stop was at a nearby Kmart for some snacks for the room. Word to the wise, do not shop at Kmart on a Sunday afternoon because everyone is there! With a small case of water with me we headed back to Webster and I rested for a bit.
The evening came around and I met up with a classmate staying at Webster who is also interning with Ashley and I, Hahna. We quenched our thirst at one of the plethora of Starbucks cafes near us and headed to see where Ross's Buying Office was located. We would be walking to work so we wanted to time it out. Food was our next objective, so we stopped at a nearby eatery, Bravo Kosher Pizza, where a slice of pizza will run between $2.99-4.50. Also try the garlic knots, they are knotted garlic bread rolls and cost $1 for 3. There are few locations around the city. Post dinner was a quick exploration of Times Square before heading back home for the night.
http://www.bravokosherpizza.com/Welcome.tpl
New York City will be my playing ground for the summer and I want to take advantage of every bit the city has to offer! I also plan to take away tons of beneficial knowledge through my internship. My entire college career has led to this Buyer internship. My dream job is to be a retail buyer, and I will officially have my foot in the door starting this summer.
This next piece is a thanks to Jesus Christ because through him all things are possible. He is my rod and my comfort and he provides me the strength to go out and seek opportunities that are outside my comforts of my hometown. I want to thank the Lord for him believing in me and seeing a great achiever inside myself, that I sometimes struggle to see. People ask me how do I get to do the things I do and see the places I have seen and I am here with one answer: I serve a Great Lord who never leaves my side wherever I go or whatever I do. It is through God's strength that I am not alone in my decisions to travel and seek new knowledge. I challenge those who feel they cannot be "as bold as me" to trust in the Lord with life decisions. God would never mislead or forsake you in life. So my answer is: TRUST!
After missing my first flight, US Airways was very accommodating and put me on a noon flight. I changed planes in Charlotte, North Carolina, and was in New York City by 6pm. Even though I missed my 8:30am flight, the day went pretty smoothly. I had even better seats on the plane this time around with seats at the front of the plane, SCORE! I headed straight to where I am living for the summer, at Webster Apartments, which sits on the outskirts of the Garment District. The location of this building is absolutely fabulous! I am walking distance from Ross's office which is also situated in the Garment District 12 minutes away. The Piers on Hudson River, Chelsea Neighborhood, and even Times Square is all super close to me!
I have not done any exploring of the city yet since I got in later in the evening last night. Today I had lunch in our building in the dining hall with a fellow co-worker/resident Ashley. We connected through LinkedIn of all social media networks! Ashley is from Pennsylvania and is doing a planning internship for Ross. Her room also just happens to be 4 floors directly below me. How oddly funny. After lunch we ventured on into the streets of Manhattan so that I could run a few errands. Our first stop was to the closest tattoo shop, not to get a tattoo though. I needed to get a nose stud to replace my nose ring for work. Infinity Tattoo NYC was where we ended up. The storefront can be seen from the street but to get inside you must taken a semi-hidden staircase from the the street up to the second floor of the building. They were very nice and professional and even put my stud in for me. Plus the stud was not pricey at all, only 10 bucks!
The location is 614 8th Ave #203 New York, NY 10018
http://infinitytattoo1.com/home.html
Our next stop was at a nearby Kmart for some snacks for the room. Word to the wise, do not shop at Kmart on a Sunday afternoon because everyone is there! With a small case of water with me we headed back to Webster and I rested for a bit.
The evening came around and I met up with a classmate staying at Webster who is also interning with Ashley and I, Hahna. We quenched our thirst at one of the plethora of Starbucks cafes near us and headed to see where Ross's Buying Office was located. We would be walking to work so we wanted to time it out. Food was our next objective, so we stopped at a nearby eatery, Bravo Kosher Pizza, where a slice of pizza will run between $2.99-4.50. Also try the garlic knots, they are knotted garlic bread rolls and cost $1 for 3. There are few locations around the city. Post dinner was a quick exploration of Times Square before heading back home for the night.
http://www.bravokosherpizza.com/Welcome.tpl
New York City will be my playing ground for the summer and I want to take advantage of every bit the city has to offer! I also plan to take away tons of beneficial knowledge through my internship. My entire college career has led to this Buyer internship. My dream job is to be a retail buyer, and I will officially have my foot in the door starting this summer.
This next piece is a thanks to Jesus Christ because through him all things are possible. He is my rod and my comfort and he provides me the strength to go out and seek opportunities that are outside my comforts of my hometown. I want to thank the Lord for him believing in me and seeing a great achiever inside myself, that I sometimes struggle to see. People ask me how do I get to do the things I do and see the places I have seen and I am here with one answer: I serve a Great Lord who never leaves my side wherever I go or whatever I do. It is through God's strength that I am not alone in my decisions to travel and seek new knowledge. I challenge those who feel they cannot be "as bold as me" to trust in the Lord with life decisions. God would never mislead or forsake you in life. So my answer is: TRUST!
Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation." Isaiah 12:22
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