LAST DAY OF MY INTERNSHIP

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Y'all, I feel like it was just yesterday I was posting about coming to New York for the summer and what I wore on my first day at my internship.  And yet, here we are, August 15th, and my official last day of work.  This summer has gone by so fast.

I'm so thankful to have had such a cool fashion PR job, to work with great girls ( interns and actual employees), and to get to experience some of the magic that goes in to the fashion industry.  I will say that it wasn't glamourous. Some days it was long hours doing stupid stuff, some days you sat there doing nothing, some days I wanted to kill somebody, and some days I felt like I was literally tossing my education out the window because you needed maybe all of two brain cells to do what I did. But I will say that I'm so grateful for the people I met and the experience it gave me - and of course, spending summer in New York City with my friends.

I'm not positive I want to do fashion PR (or at least in house) and I'm not positive I want to live in NYC after graduation. If anything, this summer has raised more questions than it has answered. But is has been an experience, and I'm so grateful I got the chance to take it - to work in fashion, to have an internship, to meet new people, to live in the city, and to take it all in.

It's been a wild ride, y'all!

20 THINGS FOR 20 SOMETHINGS

Stumbled across this article over on Forbes, and as a current twenty-something, found it super interesting.  This summer - living in New York, having an internship, about to start my senior year of college - has really gotten me thinking more about the future. My friends and I have had some pretty deep discussion about what we want to do with our lives and where we want to be (alright - more like how we don't know what we want to do with our lives and where we want to be).  This article has some great advice from a successful thirty-something about how to not suck it up in your twenties, because it is an defining part of your life (this book is on my reading list). One of his pieces of advice is to read more books and less tweets, and though this is just an article and not a book, I think that it's a good start!

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

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My sentiments regarding this blog. 

Look out for some good posts this week - I'm back in action! 

(at least for the moment...)

WORK/LIFE LACK OF BALANCE

How do y'all handle this? Yesterday was the only day this week I was home before 11, and I used it to write a post and catch up on  a TV show. And now it's Thursday night, and I find myself home past 11 again.  So many things to do, so little time. How do y'all balance it all? Between working a nine to "five" (more like six thirty at the earliest) and trying to juggle both a routine and a social life?  WAHHHHH this all makes me want to go back to college with only two classes a day and ample time for sitting around drinking beer on a front porch. 

Lesson of the week: Real life mostly sucks, and if it doesn't suck, it's really busy.

image via. whining via me. but mostly i'm just being dramatic. i'm so thankful, i swear. 

AH!

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AH! That's what I feel like right now. Haven't had a free night since last Wednesday - birthday celebrations and my mom in town and dinner and drinks and brunch and bars and Broadway shows and baseball games and plans with old friends and new friends and shopping and sunshine and rain and work and all the things that make New York in the summer so fun - and so exhausting. Currently trying to pull my life back together / get back on track.  Hopefully will be back to regularly scheduled posting - more pretty pictures and some updates about my life - SOON!

HAPPY WEEKEND

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Friends, Romans, countrymen - have a great weekend.

 Eat lots of chocolate and drink lots of wine and spend lots of time with good people and sleep in late and just own it.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Sometimes, the future freaks me out. 

Sometimes, even questions about the future freak me out.

Sometimes, growing up sucks.

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HAPPY JULY!

Happy first day of the best month of the year!

July 4th, smack dab in the middle of summer, beach days, barbecues, popsicles, and my birthday (!!!!).... 

What more could a girl ask for?

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INSTALIFE

Just a day in the life, ya dig?

01. The view of the early morning sun over the East River on my run this morning.  

(Yes, I dragged myself out of a bed at 6 am to go on a quick 25 minute run.  

Still not sure where the willpower came from. Will now accept applause, and extra servings of dessert.)

02. My new jeans, thanks to the Current/Elliot sample sale.  

These are more coral-ly in person (Instagram filter changed it a bit), but they're simple and skinny and summery 

- and marked down to $40! Booyah!

03. Today's (Wednesday) NY Times' crossword puzzle, all filled out 

(with only a minimal amount of cheating...)

all photos via yours truly and my handy dandy iphone.

TGIF

I had a long day at work and it's painfully hot outside, but it's Friday afternoon and nice out and a lot of my friends are finally in town and I was so excited about it all that I was grinning like a fool on the subway ride home.  There's just something about a warm summer Friday evening, the whole weekend stretching ahead of you, ready to be filled with friends and sunshine and laughter and adventures. Bring it on!

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BLOG LOVE: MY MORNING ROUTINE

Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day.  

Actually, to be technical, brunch is - it's got all the yumminess of breakfast foods but at a more reasonable hour. (Plus, mimosas are usually involved).  But even on those days of early class or work, I always eat breakfast. As much as I love sleep, I'd rather get up 20 minutes earlier to have time to sit and enjoy breakfast and take a moment to myself - drink some tea or OJ, eat some eggs or cereal, check my email, the news, etc.  It's my little routine, and without it I always feel like I'm starting the day off rushed and flustered.

So it's part celebrity voyeurism, part breakfast inspiration, part thank-god-other-people-like-their-morning-routines-as-much-as-i-do that make me enjoy Bon Appetite's MY MORNING ROUTINE feature so much.  They talk to famous people - everyone from models to singers to athletes - about their morning routines, and specifically their breakfasts.  So even if you don't have a AM ritual, you can read all about what others do - and maybe get inspired for a little morning routine of your own!

TONY HAWK

KARLIE KLOSS

SUMMER IN THE CITY

In just a few hours, I'm boarding a plane heading straight for NYC.  (Newark, actually, but let's not get picky.)  That's right kids: this girl's going to New York for the summer.  Why? Because I've got myself an internship.  Come Monday, I'll be getting coffee and making copies and whatever else they make me do at my super sweet PR internship.

And of course, I'll let y'all in on the action.  Prepare yourself for lots of posts on cool NYC stuff, clothes to wear to work, and what a PR internship in the city actually is like. (Though don't get too excited - considering I'm a poor college student/intern, all of this will be more like Girls than Sex and the City). Anyway, so excited for what the summer will bring, and let me know if anyone has any tips or suggestions for New York City!!

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YOU GOTTA REGATTA

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Today is our yacht club's annual Opening Day regatta, and the whole family 

is battening down the hatches for a day on the water.  See you on the finish line!

HAPPY MAY

Happy May (one day late)!

I've been conspicuously absent lately, due to a whirlwind trip back to school for the weekend to tie up loose ends and see good friends before they descend into the pit of hell known as exam week. 

As for me, I'm now back in sunny California, soaking up some vitamin D and doing some much needed spring cleaning - including here on SPECTACLE!

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

"There's nothing half so pleasant as coming home again."
Margaret Elizabeth Sangster

As amazing as it is to travel the world and meet new people and speak new languages, 

there's nothing quite like being home. Greetings from sunny Southern California!

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HASTA LUEGO BARCELONA

I can't believe that I'm writing this post already, but it's true - tomorrow morning I'll be on a flight back to the States, and it's so unbelievable.  While I am extremely glad to see my family and sleep in my own bed and drink a Diet Coke (not a Coca Light), it's going to be weird to not be here in BCN. I've been here since Jan. 6th - I can still remember the awkward introduction to my host family that very first afternoon.  I seen so many cool things, been so many amazing places, and met so many awesome people. I have my own routine here - which metro I take, the places I eat, the stores I shop at.  They warn you about re-entry shock (the opposite of culture shock), so we'll have to see if I experience it at all.  I had an amazingly perfect last day, with a Bo de B sandwiches, all my best friends, sangria on the beach, one last sangria-and-tapas feast for dinner, and one last dance-all-night night out on the town.  Despite the three (three!) suitcases stacked up in the corner and my now-empty room, it still hasn't really hit me yet. All I know is that this has been an amazing experience, and I plan to come back to this city any chance I get.

For now, adios mis amigas, and next time I post it'll be from the good ol' US of A!

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FUN IN THE SUN

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It's officially spring break! I'm still in Barcelona, but since Thursday I've been in "spring break mode".  Which means that I've been celebrating with bellinis and yummy sandwiches at the beach for lunch on Friday, a delicious tapas dinner with sangria out with friends, and a to-die-for brunch this morning (also with a bellini).  Sensing a theme here?

Anyway, tomorrow morning I head to the Canary Islands for some sun, and then we're off to Mallorca for the end of the week.  I'll be back in Barcelona on Sunday - hopefully rested and tan!

Hope everyone has a fabulous week!

AN AMERICAN IN PARIS

I had such a wonderful time in Paris this past weekend! It was my first time in the City of Lights, and I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked it.  I feel like there was so much hype about Paree that it would be a letdown, but I loved the city!

We stayed in the Hotel Du Crillon, which made me feel like a princess.  I had a big bed and a thick fluffy robe and pretended that I was there for the Ball du Crillon and was wearing a haute couture gown.  Since I had never been before, we hit all the big sights - the Louvre, Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, Champs Elysees, the Arc de Triomphe, etc.  It was gorgeous on Saturday and not-so-much on Sunday, but it worked out.   I ate crepes and frogs' legs and macarons and drank lots of champagne and loved every minute of it.

My only two requests for the weekend were Laduree and Colette.  Laduree was easy enough - there was one right by our hotel, and my Mom and I stood in line for about 20 minutes to get a box, but they were worth it. I then dragged them to Colette, where I felt infinitely uncool.  My Dad felt very out of place.  Luckily, I couldn't feel too out of place because the store was less Parisians-actually-shopping and more people-from-out-of-town-who-were-dying-to-see-it.  Plus, my mom was feeling generous and bought me Carven's new perfume.  It's light and flowery and makes me feel graceful and French - an excellent souvenir, if I do say so!  Paris has definitely been the most fashionable city that I've been in.  Walking down the streets, especially on the Rue Saint-Honoré where all the shops are, was like a fashion show of tall skinny girls in cool outfits.  I felt inadequate.

But it was a fabulous weekend trip and so nice to do it with my parents.  

My new goal in life: become a chic skinny French girl. ( I'll let you know how that one goes.)

louvre + lauduree by me; colette image via; carven le parfum

ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT

ONE + TWO

Sorry for the lack of posting, but exciting things have been happening IRL, dudes!

Here's the biggest news: my parents came to Europe!  

After being in a foreign country with so many strange things and experiences for so long, it was beyond nice to see them.  I showed them around Barcelona for a few days, and then we jetted off to Paris together.  Let me tell you - after traveling as a poor college student, taking the cheapest flights and staying in hostels and packing all my belongings for a weekend in just a backpack, it was so. incredibly. nice to travel with my parents.  I'm talking nice hotel, fancy dinners, taking actual taxi cabs as opposed to public transportation - the works!  I just got back today, and it's definitely going to be a shock to reenter the real world.  Class today was brutal enough.  

Anyway, look for a post on Paris to come!

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Just got back from Prague last night, so today feels like a Monday.  

Currently having a bit of a crisis in which I'm realizing that while my Spanish is improving, my sense of responsibility seems to be going in the opposite direction.  Hit my allotted number of skipped classes with more trips planned, no summer internship in sight, and can't remember the last time I got more than 6 or 7 hours of sleep.Hopefully looking at this pic of JT will make it all better, and I'll be back with regularly scheduled programming tomorrow. Cheers!