Last Times

omg I'm so sad. To think that this is the last time that I'll walk down Eighth Avenue to work and stop off for my fruit salad and coffee; that this is the last time I'll use my visitor card to get into Hearst Tower; the last time I'll tell the doorman to have a nice day; the last time that I'll be corrected for calling 'beets' 'beetroot' whilst ordering my salad at Balduccios; the last time that I'll suddenly catch sight of the view out of the glass walls and be totally awed.

It's so strange; I'm so comfortable here now. In the morning I greet Lisa and settle down at my desk and check my emails, and I know where everything is and how everything works and more or less who everyone is. Compared to the nervous and unsure new girl who arrived last Monday I feel so different!    

I left slightly earlier than normal so that I could buy flowers from the stall near work and Rain and I spent ages last night dithering over what to write in our thank you cards. Lisa was so sweet when I gave it all to her; all 'Ohh don't be silly you didn't have to!' and gave me a hug. I really like her, she's laid back and cool but also really on everything so she should be intimidating, but she's not, she's really sweet and has made this whole experience so worthwhile and fun for me when it could easily have been awful. 

Today her friend came in to show her some clothes from her resort collection from a design called Isola Isabella and she let me sit in. It was so exciting and they were all lovely! 

She lives on a boat because her and her husband sail those massive yachts that rich people hire out, so she's sailed the world. I'm pretty sure I'm not describing this properly, but her life sounded so exciting! I now want to go  on a boat to track wales for six weeks straight after university and then basically never get off. What a way to see the world! We had quite a long chat about my trip round Europe, with Rome apparently being her favourite city after New York. 

So her designs stemmed from watching women on these yachts and what they pack and what they actually wear, and how 'vacation' clothes need to work better. Apparently, the idea was not just 'beach to bar or day to night, but day to night and then home too'. So all the clothes were beautiful blues and corals and pinks, inspired by the cobbled streets and roof tiles of Italy, all in gorgeously soft silk fabrics. I'm not a fashion writer so I don't know how to properly describe the beautiful draping of the skirts or the perfect pleats of the silk drawstring waist shorts or the high necked low scoop back blouse which perfectly fulfilled my backless garment fantasies, but trust me, they were lovely. Lisa put on a blue maxi with a waterfall skirt over her clothes and then just kept it on for the rest of the meeting, which I loved. And I wanted to steal the silk shorts, they were so impractical and lovely that I just adored them. Thankfully, I didn't need to steal anything. They gave me a lilac silk 'romper' (which I thiiiink means playsuit) that Lisa said I had to take because I would look super cute in it and it would brighten up rainy London. And after that reasoning, how could I refuse. I'm so excited to try it on! 

'Cute Jump'

I'm such a New Yorker these days.
When I leave work I 'grab' an iced coffee from Pick a Bagel and then I meander through Central Park back to my hostel, whist for breakfast I get a fruit salad or a croissant from one of the tiny stalls on Collumbus Circle. Then, in my lunch hour, I go to Balducci's, where they make the best salads of your choice (who knew dried cranberries would ever be nice in a salad?! Only in New York) and I sit on a high wooden stall in the window and watch the world hurry by and read a book.

I also love how everyone says good morning to each other! At first I was all suspicious and didn't reply other than a mumbled greeting to be read as 'stay away you perv I totally have pepper spray in my bag' but now that I've realised that it's just what's done I'm practically singing my good morning responses. This should seriously be taken up in London. Although maybe it's only successful in the sunshine. Gee that Biblical rain must really be getting y'all down...

Today I wore my Topshop jumpsuit with a pattern that looks like spaceships and Lisa said 'Cute Jump' and I was just thrilled.
It was crazy this morning with the final bits of the September Issue (capitals definitely required) being done so this afternoon I think everyone was on a bit of a comedown; I was sent out to get 5 dozen doughnuts so I think everyone was definitely in celebration mode
There's a very fabulous gay guy who waltzes about the place and who everyone clearly adores and is maybe a litttttle bit useless but kept on for his pure entertainment value, as a sort of pet.

The weather is almost as crazy as the whole September Issue debacle; it's really really reallyyyy hot but also really windy, which should be a relief but the wind is also really hot so it just feels like there is a giant breathing really heavily on the whole of New York.
Very strange.

Off for a swim... I'm itching to go for a run in Central Park to really cement my New Yorker status, but that might have to wait for tomorrow.