Guess Who's Going To NYU

It's only been a week back on campus and already so much has happened. I was accepted to NYU on Wednesday for graduate school and I've been celebrating ever since. I've wanted to go to NYU since I was a child and my mom attended. Speaking of my mom, she may be the only person more excited than I am. She wanted to me to attend her alma mater for undergraduate study but I knew Penn State was the right choice. Now I get the best of both worlds.

Now that the week is over and I'm done celebrating,I think it may be time to go back to concentrating on this last semester. It would be a damn shame if with everything I have going for me after graduation, I lose focus and don't graduate. We're not having that.

P.S. Ariana Grande also followed me on Twitter this week (check earlier posts to see how much I love her). I freaked out for about 6 hours before I could finally pull myself together.

Categories: Ariana Grande, New York City

Womans Day Week 1

I recently wrapped up my first week working for WomansDay.com. Working for a magazine is the final thing in college I wanted to do before I graduate. It's exciting to know that within my first week I can already say I've been published. You can read my articles every day as part of the Woman's Day Daily Buzz blog. The articles listed below are what I've written this week.

Winners of 'The X Factor' Season 3 Announced

Credit Card Breach Could Affect Nearly 40 Million Target Customers

Students Evacuated Due to Bomb Threat at Harvard University

Man Shot and Killed At Short Hills Mall While Defending Wife

Be sure to leave any feedback. I greatly appreciate it.

Categories: Fashion, Hearst, Internships, Magazines, New York City

Black Friday

I love shopping I find it as one of the best forms of therapy. But there's one day a year when I stay as far away from it as possible and that's Black Friday. The amount of people willing to trample and hurt each other just to save $50 has become pathetic. Look at this line at Macys...
 

This is absolutely ridiculous. There was once a time when Black Friday was actually enjoyable. My mom and I used to travel to Woodbury Commons together. The stores would have deals that were actually worth it and it was never as crowded as they are now. But now, Black Friday has completely taken over Thanksgiving. There is no reason for you to open your store at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving. We're eating dinner. So while the crazies are outside killing each other for a TV. I'll be shopping from my computer anticipating the better deals that will be available on Cyber Monday. Seriously people the best deals are online. Join us in the 21st century.

Categories: Fashion, New York City

iParty with Ariana Grande

Today I attended a holiday party for one of my favorite singers Ariana Grande. I shall not explain who she is, because you should really know by now. She held her holiday party at Roseland Ballroom in New York City for a few fans. Well actually a few is an understatement.

In case you're wondering why the invite says Best Buy Theatre instead of Roseland Ballroom, that's because the party had to be relocated to hold all of the Arianators. I don't think they anticipated how many of her fans were going to come out. I met people who traveled all the way from Memphis...

I know this line looks bad, but it was actually much worst. And yes it was raining. But it was worth it. I ran into Frankie J (Ariana's brother) outside. When we finally got inside Frankie started the party by twerking for us. And I don't mean Miley Cyrus twerking. His butt actually moved. 

It wasn't long until the girl of the hour came out. Ariana looked cute as ever. Can we have a doll made after her? Ariana had a quick Q&A with her brother about everything she's doing now and of course winning that Best New Artist category from the American Music Awards.

Even though it wasn't a concert, she still sung for us (because lets face it, she can't help it). She sung her new Christmas song Last Christmas from her upcoming Christmas EP. Here's a snippet of her singing. After you fall in love with her voice, buy the full song from iTunes.

While I had a blast, I have to admit it was a bit unorganized. And unfortunately some of the guests acted as if they had no home-training or common sense. But Ariana Grande is such a sweetheart. She answered as many questions as possible from the audience and it was great to finally hear her live and shake her hand. I'm already waiting for whenever the next tour dates arrive so that I can buy tickets. But that's for a future post.

Categories: Ariana Grande, Music, New York City

Teen Vogue Fashion University

This past weekend I had the time of my life at Teen Vogue Fashion University. I spent the weekend learning about the ins and outs of the fashion industry from top designers, stylists, editors and entrepreneurs. The weekend was also filled with fun social events like a kick off party at Express and shopping event at Topshop.



I actually missed the kickoff event that Friday at Express because I was on the 5 hour bus ride from Penn State to New York (womp, womp). Of course I attended the actual day-long event on Saturday filled with classes and seminars . The day kicked off with a panel led by editors from Teen Vogue. This is where I met the amazing Amy Astley, editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue. The editors talked alot about what it takes to survive in the magazine industry and how you really have to be ambitious and driven to succeed. As "fabulous" as the industry looks on the outside, it's actually really cut-throat and without being persistent you won't get far.


After the Teen Vogue editors panel, each "Fashion U" student then attended their own schedule of classes led by leaders in the industry. My first seminar was led by DanniJo.


I actually didn't know much about DanniJo before TVFU but I'm so happy I went to this seminar and had the opportunity to meet them. They're sisters who didn't even have a background in fashion and one day decided they wanted to start their own jewelry accessories company and now their products are worn by top celebrities and has become an international brand. I was just amazed by that because I don't have a background in fashion or much experience either. My experience is in entertainment. But it's encouraging to know that as long as I'm willing to put forth the work I can be just as successful as the next person even if they have more experience in the industry than me.

In between classes Teen Vogue had fun activities for us to take part in like getting our hair done by stylists, signing up to be a Teen Vogue It Girl, getting our "aura" future told (much more fun than it sounds) and of course a photo booth set up for us to take pictures.



Other speakers at TVFU included Coco Rocha, Christian Siriano, Alexa Chung, Oscar PR Girl and editors from Vogue.
 

After the seminars on Saturday we went shopping at Topshop with a 15% discount off the entire store just for us! Oh and mind you, freaking Jourdan Dunn was there! I shopped with a top fashion model! Can we just digest that information for a minute because I'm still kind of freaking out.



So what did I get out of Teen Vogue Fashion University? Other than an awesome swag bag filled with goodies like Bvlgari perfume and hearing from top professionals, I ended up meeting a PR rep from Express at the Express seminar I attended on Saturday and I gave him my information. He loved my online portfolio so much he invited me for an interview later this year which could lead to an internship. I attended this event hoping to get my foot in the door for Fashion PR and I ended up getting a foot, arm and leg in the room.

We kicked off the last day of TVFU with a seminar led by editors from Vogue and a movie from Vogue called The Editor's Eye. It all ended with graduation. We received our diplomas and Amy Astley signed them herself which was such a big deal to me because she's one of my inspirations and I hope to follow in her footsteps.

Oh and Teen Vogue commented on my graduation photo and I just can't hide my excitement about that either.

All in all, it was an amazing successful event and I am definitely applying to attend next year! #FashionU #ClassOf2013

If you have any questions about TVFU feel free to comment and I'll to do my best to answer :)

Categories: Fashion, Magazines, New York City, Teen Vogue

Internships 101 with Seventeen Magazine

I am going to make a more conscious effort to update my blog at least once a week. It can be really hard to do when you're juggling a full schedule of classes as well as an internship but I will do my best. As for what I've been up to...

                             

This past weekend I attended Internships 101, an event hosted by Seventeen Magazine. It was held at the Hearst building where Seventeen resides in New York. Even though I rsvp'd for the event, it was still first come first served which meant there was a chance I wouldn't get in. My plan was to get there by at least 11 a.m. since it started at 1 p.m. My slow behind never made it there until around 12:20 p.m. When I got there the line was ridiculous but I had a good feeling I would make it in. 20 minutes later the line became even longer and wrapped around the building. I later found out they were only taking 150 people. Luckily I was one of those 150.

                          

We were escorted (with cameras following us...yikes!) upstairs to a conference room. Actually it felt more like a cinema. There we met Ann Shoket, the editor-in-chief of Seventeen Magazine. She hosted the beginning of the event and gave some great advice about acing the internship interview. Next we met Howard Grier, the Associate Publisher of Marketing at Seventeen. He gave great advice about how to construct a resume and cover letter to catch the eye of employers. I got to talk to him after the presentation and he helped me polish up my resume. The presentation also featured a mini fashion show by the Seventeen Style Pros of some of the things you can wear to various jobs regardless of whether it's in the fashion industry or just a normal office setting. Some other amazing people that shared a few words were Amy Levin, Founder of Collegefashionista.com and Lauren Berger, Founder of Intern Queen.

                               

After the panel we got to talk to some of the speakers as well as enjoy a few snacks. I browsed some of the clothing options because I still need to figure out what I'm wearing to Teen Vogue Fashion University. I also met an alumni who works there in sales (can you say connection?!). I even made some new friends who seem to be geared toward the same path as me.

                                             

Overall the event was amazing. I was interviewed by Seventeen following the event so hopefully I end up on the website. I would definitely go again if they do it next year. It's a great way to network. I even walked away with a goodie bag and won a prize filled with internship essentials.

                                   

Categories: Fashion, Hearst, Internships, New York City, Seventeen Magazine

Yours Truly Ariana Grande

Just wanted to post this video of one of my favorite singers, Ariana Grande. In honor of her new album Yours Truly coming out today, I wanted to share her performance this morning of her singing The Way live. She has an amazing voice and her album is superb. I also love her because she's doesn't act out or wear crazy outfits for attention or to get her album to sell. She relies solely on her talent and that's become seldom now a days. I do hope this album leads to her winning a Grammy because I think she deserves it. It's currently #1 in 30 countries so no matter what awards she wins she's already a success and the whole world knows it.

Categories: Ariana Grande, Movies, Music, New York City

The Great Gatsby Review

The fourth adaptation of F.Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel has given Iron Man a run for it's money this past weekend. But while the movie is doing financially well many critics say the film just does not live up to expectation.

Overall, the film isn't bad. It's not spectacular. I wouldn't blame anyone for waiting until the movie came to TV screens. But it's decent. Many of the actors just weren't believable. You have to understand, when you bring a book to the big screen it is crucial to make those characters come to life. Fans of the book have visions of these characters and if you don't deliver you'll fail in their eyes.

I believe that's what made the movie fall. However, one actor in this movie that delivered and successfully brought their character to the big screen is Leonardo DiCaprio. In his role, DiCaprio embraced everything Gatsby was. Even I, after over 10 years of having a crush on DiCaprio, forgot about the actor behind the character. On that screen, he was only Gatsby.

It's unfortunate that even with Leonardo DiCaprio's amazing performance the overall film failed to deliver. I really want DiCaprio to win his Oscar and I hope even with the lackluster performance of the film, people will still see the brilliance of DiCaprio's acting.

So in conclusion, the overall film was okay but failed to live up to the hype. The only person who rose to the occasion was the one and only Leonardo DiCaprio.  It's worth seeing for any fan of the novel or any fan of DiCaprio's.

Categories: Movies, New York City