week 9 & 10

Week 9 was spent mostly in anticipation of my mum

coming to visit!

Thursday night=the weekend so we headed on down to

Chito's where the night ended up spiralling into

going to a rooftop party at the Empire Hotel looking

over Central Park and Manhattan, which was incredible!

But Friday Jools (my mum) arrived and I couldn't of been

happier to see a familiar face :)

The weekend was a haze of sights, shopping and good

food and drink!

We went on the Staten Island Ferry, went to the top

of the Rockefeller centre, went the Hard Rock Cafe...

too many too mention, here are some photos...

We managed to get to the top of the rock at sunset

which was truly amazing! I am most definitely in love

with this city...

On Sunday I took mum to Central Park, my favourite

on a Sunday and she loved it just as much as I do :)

Monday we went shopping on 5th avenue and i was very spoilt,

(thanks Jools!) then we went up the Empire State building...

That night we went to Cafeteria had a fabulous meal and of

course cosmopolitans! Later I took Jools to my second home

that it Chitos and we hung out with all my friends. It was so nice

for Jools to meet everyone and I realised how much I love my life

out here, I'm so lucky!

Tuesday we headed to the Boathouse in Central Park overlooking

the lake and had another fantastic meal, it was the perfect way to say

goodbye, sadly Jools left that afternoon, it broke my heart to see her leave

and made me miss home more than you can imagine but I had a fantastic

time with her, it was Perfect!

That night Katie and Jed cheered me up by taking me

to see Florence and the machine at Bowery Ballroom,

Jed had a Photo pass and took some amazing photos!

Alas, me and Katie weren't so lucky we had to queue for

two hours in the rain to get a ticket, and we'd missed a

few songs but I landed on my feet again and got in for FREE!

The set was amazing and the American crowd loved her,

I think shell be a big hit here,

here's a video of my favourite song

a cover of You Got the Love by The Source....

The rest of the week was spent frantically Halloween costume

shopping, the city was insane every costume store had

lines wrapped round the block and it didn't help that

I couldn't decide on a costume! But I settled on Cruella Devil,

went all out and even sprayed half my hair white...

Lets just say I didn't look too pretty the next day!

The night was actually the best and weirdest night of life,

we had tickets to "Halloween on the green" at the infamous

Tavern on the Green venue in Central Park, we arrive and there

are thousands of people everywhere outside the venue

with police telling everyone there's no party, everyone was so

confused, in particular with who to talk to as there where a LOT

of people dressed in police and firemen costumes, which proved

very funny, after a long very funny story, which included

breaking into the wrong party, we finally got in and it was amazing!

The venue itself is fantastic but every single person had a

full costume on, the Americans really know how to celebrate Halloween!...

Sunday we recovered and I got to meet my roommate Holly's

grandparents, they invited us over to there hotel for pizza, beer

and Sunday football, a relaxing end to a hectic week!

Week 7 & 8

Week 7 & 8

I had officially had it with bland american cafeteria food so

Tuesday me and Katie went for a slap up curry,

which oddly I really miss and isn't such a big thing over here!

Wednesday I had a "field trip" (translation day out)

with my advertising class to the Guggenheim to see the

Kandinsky exhibition, as we producing work for the national

colo(u)r test in Japan.

I know i mentioned the Guggenheim in an earlier post,

but the inside structure is phenomenal...

I really enjoyed the exhibition, it helped a lot with my project,

We have to express the sensations of sweet and savoury

only through colo(u)r and shape, which is rather difficult!

None the less very interesting.

Friday was John Lennon's birthday, and the city was full

of Beatlemania, I felt like i was at home!

In the evening we went to strawberry fields in Central Park

where they were holding a memorial concert for him,

with a tribute band. There where hundreds of people there

all singing Beatles and Lennon songs, it was incredible!

I didn't realise how influential he was to America.

I had a brilliant night, a great way to start the weekend...

Saturday was definitely a turning point for me in America,

as i went to my first official Red Cup college Party!

It was AMAZING a very strange party in this massive

New York brownstone town house, a very good night

resulting in a very funny story about a pumpkin!

Sunday was fantastic weather so we headed to the park

to catch some rays while we still can as it is starting to

get chillier. I love the park on Sundays its filled with such

a wide variety of people, families, friends, young, old,

tourists...

We stumbled upon a part of the park they close off on Sundays

for a Roller disco which was fascinating to watch...

Week 8 began with me receiving some excellent news,

Nathalie who I had spoke to at W magazine had passed my

details onto a graphic designer at W magazine who was

interested in meeting with me about a possible intern

role at the magazine, which I was ecstatic about!

So the week went pretty slow with me waiting for Fridays

interview but I had work to do in the mean time!

I completed my design for Advertising, its a piece to

advertise a colo(u)r test in Japan, representing sweet and savoury.

I also got more good marks from my book binding class,

and three more books to show for it....

This ones my favourite, its called a flower book...

Ive also been learning a lot from Dark room Photography,

we covered a lot in such a short space of time

my photography has definitely improved, even digital

I actually know what I'm doing now instead of just twiddling knobs

and crossing my fingers.

I'm going to scan in some images Ive been taking on 35mm

and ones Ive processed myself, so watch this space!!!

Friday came and i was in bits the morning of my interview!

Nothing ever goes right when it needs to! I was running all over

trying to get last min things printed then I finally hailed a cab

in a frantic hurry as it was raining (perfect!) only to rip the bottom

of my dress when I got in the cab!!!

Alas i turned up at Conde Nast on the upper east side in one piece

and walked in with my portfolio tucked under my arm,

I gave my name in at reception and they said

"good morning miss O'Neil we've been expecting you"

which was literally the coolest thing in the world, but i kept

my excitement under wraps was given a pass to the building

and was taken up to the W offices in the elevator.

I was greeted by Gina, who showed me into the W board room

where there were racks and racks and racks of designer clothes for the shoot

they were doing that day, I couldn't keep my eyes of them!

The interview went really well, she particularly liked my

typography work but sadly I wasn't able to take the opportunity!

Due to a million reasons mainly to do with the Visa I have to

live in America I cant earn money or work unpaid or earn

college credit blah blah blah BUT I had a fantastic experience

and have gained some contacts and I was told I am very welcome

to come back at another time!!!

To be honest i think its a little early for my dreams to come true,

but its defiantly a reason to come back to New York!

xxx

Week 6

I've been incredibly bad at keeping up with this...

so here goes on the the last few weeks!

Week 6 began with me going to the "movie theatre"

to see The September issue, a documentary film 

about Anna Wintour (who i seen at NY Fashion 

Night out!) The film showed the process of how the

September issue of a magazine is the most important 

and how the begin to put things together, it was a really

good time for me to see this film as well, what with

the SPD tour i had participated in the week previous.

I feel like I am actually working my way towards 

something these days!

A lot of work was done this week handing in numerous 

projects, including me getting 4 As in my first 4 books

in book binding! Its quite an annoying subject, Ive 

nearly stabbed my tutor a few times with my "pin tool"

as I don't have much patience after three hours with my 

fingers bleeding but you a do get satisfaction from it

in the end.

I also finished of a woodcarving of a skyline drawing 

of NY in printmaking and got some really good prints

from it...

Friday meant out on the town again in NY and

we headed down to Tribeca to the basement of

the Tribeca Grand Hotel where Britain's finest

Annie Mac was putting on a set, she was very

flattered that fellow Brits had come to support her,

A lovely lady!

We also met lots of other Brits out that night,

friends through friends that are living out here

bit like ex pats night to be honest, but a wicked

night none the less!

A little homesickness overcame me this week

with a teary eyed call home to mum on her birthday :(

I was so sad I wasn't there, but I know I'm not forgotten

as I received a lovely parcel from Jess who sent me 

a lovely pocket watch that was set to English time

so I can carry a little piece of England round with me!

Whats even nicer is she has a matching one set to

American time so Im not so alone :)

Later that day I cheered myself up with a visit

to Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn, probably my 

favourite place outside the city, its a really cool

street lined with vintage shops, cafes and bars

a lot like my beloved Brick Lane in London!

I took some wicked pictures too, some for a 

publication I'm working on

TRENDnY in my indesign class, about street style.

I made a fantastic purchase at a store called Beacons Closet

(a must for anyone who enjoys vintage shopping)

a Michael Kors coat for $40!!!!

Amazing!

Then we had lunch & beers on a rooftop in the

sunshine, things couldn't really get any sweeter :)