Rockin' the Times Square Suite.

Due for an update.
Sad thing is I've gotten pretty lazy. I've had the craziest weekend, and its not in the party sense (unfortunately).

I just got a manicure, so I will stick with my "brief" style of blogging.

FRIDAY
+Didn't go to my own Benny Benassi birthday bash because Joe, Annabelle, and I stayed at work until 8 pm getting ready for the conference.
+Headed to Annabelle's place on the UES and her bf made dinner and we popped open two bottles of wine.

SATURDAY
+It was so nice outside that I was able to wear my summer dress.
+Picked up my business cards at Kinko's after waiting in line for 15 minutes...I was the second in line.
+Met up with Kelly to go to work, yes I worked on Saturday. Ugh. Thank goodness we finished up everything in less than 2 hours.
+Kelly, Fara, and I had dinner at the Crooked Knife on my street. AMAZING FOOD! I was really impressed with their linguini and clams. I will definitely go back.
+Headed to Times Square to move into our hotel suite in the Marriott Marquis. Kelly invited me to stay in her suite on the 43rd floor, looking out over Times Square. To top it off, we had a complimentary bottle of Grey Goose!!
+Fell asleep to Sigourney Weaver on SNL.

SUNDAY
+Woke up at 9 am to start unpacking boxes for the conference. There must have been over 50 boxes full of books/papers/registration. Kelly, Zena, Simone, and I sorted and moved everything within 2-3 hours. I was so impressed that we didn't have help.
+LOVE THE OTHER INTERNS. We stuffed 2000+ goody bags in a few hours. We're amazing, what can I say. Of course towards the end we had help, but we needed it.
+The expo set up was pretty intense too, all the ARF colors of black, white and teal.

Entrance to the EXPO

Reg. Oh joy.

+Attended the network reception hosted by comScore and met a lot of great people from all different advertising firms. Didn't hurt to have free champagne either.
+ Had dinner with Kelly, Fara, and Simone. Haha. Of course this included 4 molten chocolate cakes with vanilla ice cream. Great way to end day one.

MONDAY
+Yay, woke up at 7am to start the real day one of the conference. Just ran errands and did anything Kelly needed me to do.
+Went shopping to find a new dress for the Ogilvy Awards, since apparently mine was way too short.
+President's reception sponsored by MillwardBrown and ESPN on the 8th floor atrium overlooking Times Square
+Thank goodness Kathryn made me work the door because I ran into a really attractive guy, and I mean really. So long ex-lover boy. I gotta get over this one too though.
+Open bar, free sushi, cute guy...love. I even introduced myself to him. ESPN cocktails were serious liquid courage..
+Since Kelly ditched me and the rest of the interns, except Joe, had to go home, Joe and I contemplated where to eat. We were directed to Juniors across the street. CHEESECAKE! While we planned on getting food to go, guess who was there?? Uh yes, the really cute guy. Not only that, he was sitting with an ARF co-worker who invited us to come sit with them...So guess who I sat next to...yes. YES! 
+Well, heres the complicated part, my manager knows this guy...yeah. So when she texted me where I was, I told her I was sitting next to him so she hurried over with Simone and she sat in-between! -__-;; Oh well. I was too shy to say anything anyway and I got to enjoy some red velvet cake with Simone.

TUESDAY
+OMG. 6am wakeup call. This was the longest day of my life.
+As the events intern I did not have as many posts and door duty as others since I had to follow Kelly around, but she disappeared throughout the day so I visited the EXPO often ;)  Sadly, it closed at 4.
+Got changed with Annabelle and Anneken for the awards dinner. Wore my new royal blue Calvin Klein dress and had help with my hair, assistance = bump it.

The interns!

Cigar girl, to go with the attempted 60's theme.

+Didn't really get to enjoy the cocktail reception or awards dinner as I was running around the entire time! I had to assist the presenter's with the trophies, and practically missed dinner. On an even worse note, eye candy was def not there. Had people screaming at me left and right, just didn't enjoy the night as much as I expected to.
+ However, I was on stage with Daniel Merriweather. I don't find him attractive at all, but I do like his music.

Blurry photo of the set-up. Was unimpressed with the "60's" attempt, but it was still beautiful.

+Ended up really getting to know a co-worker and finding out we have a lot more in common than realized, which made me really happy. We enjoyed cocktails overlooking times square with a few other people.


WEDNESDAY
+LAST DAY! Still had to get up at 7.
+Highlight of the day = Great Mind Awards, better lunch than usual.
+ended the day at 5!! and was home by 5:30! I pretty much vegetated the rest of the evening. I was pissed though...all of my recorded shows were deleted. Hmph. There's always the internet.


TODAY
+My managers took the day off so I didn't really have much to do, which is funny because I did most of the running in high-heels. They can be mentally drained, but I'm both! Interns- they better love us.
+Just got a mani-pedi and was pretty dissapointed. People always say "you get what you pay for". In this case it was far from the truth. I can't wait to go back to California in June and get my real mani-pedi for $12 and have it look amazing.


TOMORROW
+I'm taking a half-day so that I can head to Washington DC!
+Couch surfing with a 25 year old asian girl who loves hello kitty and Matt Damon. She worked in the Bay Area too...I think I'm about to meet my Doppelganger.

Jude Law.

Somewhat too tired to post.

My week in short:

Thursday:
Decided to apply for a Fulbright. Me = crazy? Yes.

Friday:
Two couch surfers (CSers) from DC came to surf my couch, in my case, air mattress.
Both really cool, going to couch surf at their apartment in DC, March 26 - 28. Bolt bus!
Night didn't go as planned = art show had a line around the corner.
Ended up at Woorijip! Yay for k-town.

Saturday:
Pouring Rain + no umbrella + no waterproof jacket = me, dumb!
Dim Sum with Smithies and CSers in Chinatown.
Bubble tea soon followed at Ten Ren.
Genevieve showed up, since Smith is on spring break.
CSers and I took the subway to Union Square for free manicures + free bottle of "essie" nail polish.
Kirstie Alley's "Big Life" promotion. Nail polish color = "life. lick it" (PulseJFK alert!)
Ran through the rain back home, CSers went to buy broadway tickets from TKTS.

SAW JUDE LAW + Pearl Jam! My CEO got me SNL tickets for my birthday.
Anneken, the intern that was supposed to accompany me, never showed (MTA sucks, flooded!).
Lesson learned = SNL dress rehearsal is much better than what is shown on TV + take a cab.

Sunday:
CSers left early morning.
Still raining. Did nothing except watch movies and vegetate.
The Pacific premiered on HBO. No Dick Winters, but still enjoyed it!

This week:
Starting to feel stressed.
Why?
My company's convention, expo, david ogilvy awards, great mind awards....is coming up on Sunday.
Just started a 100 hour TEFL certification course today (1/20th done already!)
Fulbright application.
Skipped St. Patty's day due to the amount of work I must accomplish.
Trying to stop drinking.
Trying to work out.
Emphasized word: trying.



Until next...thursday, maybe?
There you have it. My week in short.

Upcoming:
March 19: Benny Benassi
March 20-24: ARF Annual Convention + Expo, living at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square
March 26-28: DC

Best YEAR Ever.

I think for the sake of entertainment, I will write this entry in reverse chronological order.
Another year gone by... full of laughs, tears, and memories.  After celebrating my 22nd birthday today, I couldn't help but reminisce about the past year that has gone by way too quickly. I truly had the best year of my life. (If I nix the 4 months of boredom at Smith- well the homework and classes part)  It was but only a year ago that the Shanghai group sat in Blue Frog burger joint in Shanghai to celebrate my birthday.

My 21st Birthday.

While I definitely enjoyed the big group for my birthday, and dearly wish they were here again, but tonight I had a quaint dinner at Heartland Brewery for 7 people. We sat in the basement of the Empire State Building enjoying....burgers! It seems to be a common trend for my birthday these years. I think I will want to go back to the TexMex birthday tradition. 

My managers took me out for lunch today at a Thai restaurant across the street from work. It was my manager's first time eating Thai food, so she was a "Thai virgin" as she put it. Wow, it sounds so much worse than when she said it. But, thankfully, she loved it! After some Pad Thai and Basil Chicken we had to rush back to the insanity of our workplace. 

This morning, the CEO came up to me and gave me a long schpeel about how difficult it was to get SNL tickets, but he "got them just for me". So I have to go through this long process of e-mailing and receiving directions from his contact at NBC. BUT, I get to see Jude Law and Pearl Jam at SNL this Saturday! No more waiting in line for 4 hours in the freezing cold, no more colds, no more hobo-esque photos! Maybe I'll get better seats this time too?...I dare to dream.

On Sunday, Kelley, Brittany, Ashley and I met up for brunch at the Sunburnt Cow. We had to wait an hour an a half until we got seated, but it was definitely worth the wait.  Their aussie burgers and bottomless mimosas oh and the cute bartender with the lip ring (only got cuter with the additional glass of mimosa), yes, worth the wait. I probably had one mimosa too many, or it was the fact that I forgot I took DayQuil earlier, so that didn't sit too well with me the rest of the day. We sat in the restaurant for about 3.5 hours until we decided to roam around Alphabet City.  We walked through the dog park where we saw some X-rated activities >.< .  but I had to head home around 6 from a splitting headache, but also to watch the Oscars!  

Stacked with a beef patty, pineapple, beets, red onions, egg, lettuce, tomato, and cheese. MMM!

Raunchy... -___-;;

So...where are Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie at the Oscars? Hiding away in their French chateau I guess... However, I did stare at Matt Damon the entire time, still can't believe I touched his face. Yes, you will hear about this for the rest of my life.  Also, I think it's funny that James Cameron's ex-wife won "Best Director" and "Best Picture". Oh, you should have stayed married Jim. 

On Saturday, us four took the Path train to Hoboken for the city's annual St. Paddy's day parade, but we didn't really go to see the parade. I bought a green hoodie from Urban Outfitters before we headed out since I was not wearing ANYTHING green, nor do I own anything green. So I figured that I could wear this at least one more time, on St. Patrick's day! This was one of the first beautiful days of Spring at 52 degrees F. I'm sorry, us New Yorkers get happy when it is above the 40s. It has only gotten more beautiful, at a whopping 60 degrees F yesterday (well, Monday...it gets confusing when I write backwards)!  The stupid bars of Hoboken were capitalizing on their special day of the year by charging $40 covers! Are they insane?! Why would you charge so much to go INDOORS on such a beautiful day?? Crazy talk I say. So I departed my friends after a few hours. Walked to the train and passed by Carlos' bakery (the one on TLC's Cake Boss)!  Sadly, it was packed so I just walked past it dreaming of their cannoli. I guess its a sign I should wait for their 25 cent cannoli day!

Beautiful weather!

That night, I went to see Alice in Wonderland 3D with Annabelle and Yaniv. I absolutely LOVED it, and I didn't really expect to. I am in love with Chesire Cat, even though he is a different color than in the storybook. I recommend everyone to see it!  Just FYI, I watch movies for ENTERTAINMENT, and don't expect a whole lot except for the pure entertainment factor. So, if you don't like it, don't blame me, you expect too much. :)

Maybe I just like big-headed cats.

On Friday...Work. But four of us walked to Grand Central to see the filming of GG. We saw Rufus, Dan, Jenny, Jonathan, and Lily! My pics aren't too clear though. Thanks PulseJFK!

My clearest photo. Yes, I hate my camera you don't have to tell me.

I don't think I have anything else to update. Til next time! I'll post my birthday pics in the next post.

Bye, from South Africa! Jk. I wish.

This post is a tribute to all of you who have affected my life in the past year: I appreciate your spirit, vibrance, and character as I will continue to remember you in my heart. You have made my past year, and outlook of the future a very bright and glorious adventure. I only hope that we meet again and that we can celebrate the amazing times we have had while creating new memories.

UPCOMING:

March 13: SNL with Jude Law and Pearl Jam

March 19: Benny Benassi Birthday Bash at Pacha

March 21-23: Convention at the Marriott Marquis

April 3-10: Family road trip to Canada :)

Best Week EVER.

This past week has been so amazing, I can't even begin to describe the chaos that has gone on these past 6 days. While I think this week has been amazing, people can believe my happiness is based on superficiality, such as being star struck. But, I don't really care. I've been elated all week.

WEDNESDAY

After work ended, I went home to take a looooong nap, aka until 11pm because DAVID GUETTA was in town, and there was a chance that Will.I.am was going to be there. I met up with Annabelle, Yaniv, Ali (a Smithie!), and her friends who lived right next to Pacha. One of her friends was SO eager to go that we walked over at 12:30 and surprisingly only stood in line for 5 minutes! Fortunately and amazingly, Will.I.am just started DJing once we got in; Guetta joined in around 1 AM. THEN, Swizz Beatz showed up on stage...followed by Estelle who cameo-ed when her song "American Boy" started playing. Around 3 am, the rest of the Black Eyed Peas showed up and Fergie sang to "Imma Be".

Since the place was more packed than I have ever seen it (3xs), we all got split up, but I stuck with Ali and we attempted to get up on a few stages, and we did! Of course, drama ensued at first, aka cat fight with a drugged up girl who thought she was a dancer, but by the end of the night, we were rocking the stage! We didn't leave until 6 am..and only got 2 hours of sleep before work began...

FRIDAY

Casual Fridays at work, but work is never memorable compared to what happened later this day. I was notified by PulseJFK that Matt Damon and Director Paul Greengrass were going to be at the Apple Soho store discussing their new movie "Green Zone". I figured since I need to buy applecare for my mac (expired today!) and some headphones to replace the ones Cat chewed, I might as well see Matt Damon. After listening to him, more like staring at him, for an hour from the 3rd row, I built the courage to go up to ask him for a photograph.

Me: Hi Matt, can I get a photo with you?

Matt: Sure! You have a camera ready?

Me: Yeah!

*Matt takes the camera and snaps a photo*

I might have forgotten to say thank you, but I knew I was shaking for the next hour.

I was one happy girl! That night, with more pulses from PulseJFK, Kelley and I headed to Butterfield 8 for an hour of free open bar! We PLANNED on leaving at 11pm so we could get some rest before we woke up to wait for SNL tickets. But of course as life goes, nothing goes as planned! Some people introduced themselves to us and bought us a round of drinks, and by the end of the night, we hit up 3 bars and I finally rode a mechanical bull! It left me some nasty brusies, but it was fun to say the least.

SATURDAY

3:30am. After enough bar hopping, bull riding and dancing, Kelley and I headed to 30 rock, outside of NBC studios to wait for standby SNL tickets. We met up with two of her friends, all of us looking like hobos throughout the night. We borrowed my roommates fur jackets to keep us warm, but it didn't keep me from getting sick! I napped for 20 minutes that night, but after we got our tickets at 7 am (#s 13,14,15,16) we all crashed at home.

After doing NOTHING all of Saturday, I met up with Kel at 1030pm outside of 30 rock to see if we would even get in. Not all standby tickets get in, since it depends on how many people show. Apparently, they only let 20 of the 100+ people in standby. All of our hours spent in the freezing cold was worth it! Mind you, this was the same weekend we had a snowstorm. We got to see JLo perform, and the night went well.

SUNDAY

Since my Saturday was spent sleeping, my original plans to go to the travel expo at the Javits center were cancelled. So, Kel and I went early Sunday afternoon. I was looking for a program/tour/guide to help me plan a trip for the month of november in SE Asia. While I didn't get too much help, I was given some advice about which cities to hit up first.

At 3, the most epic game of the Olympics started: Team USA vs Canada hockey! Kel and I met up with others at a bar in BFE, well actually LES, but really bum fck egypt, but of course MIKE MEYERS AND SETH GREEN ARE THERE! What are the chances? I guess that balanced out the fact that USA lost, even with such a good save in the last minutes of the 3rd period.

Did a Trader Joe's run right afterward and had a nice sleep for Monday.

MONDAY

I had SO much work to do yesterday, I didn't take my lunch break until 2:15, and only took 15 minutes. I love the feeling of pressure from event planning! I left at 4:30 to attempt getting an ID from the DMV. Since I was too late, I headed to Paris Theater, where PulseJFK told me that the movie premiere of "Remember Me" was going to be there. I just wanted to snap a pic of Pierce Brosnan for my mom, but it turned out to be so much more than that! I got a wristband and stood within the barriers the security guards pointed me to. While waiting, I made friends with two of the security guards, and they told me they would do whatever they could to get me into a better spot to see the celebs. Well, they did- they got me on the red carpet.

THAT'S ME IN THE YELLOW JACKET! HAHA.

I later heard from the security guards that where I was originally did not see anything! Wow! I stood around for a little bit longer and chitchatted with security and asked if there were any tickets left. One of the guards told me to wait around even though over his headset they said there were no tickets left. He walks out of the theater and said "go with him" pointing to one of the PR reps. The PR rep escorts ME, THE LAST PERSON IN THE THEATER, into a seat. They confiscated everyone's phones and cameras, oh well. The film had JUST started when I sat down and the theater was packed! I was so elated that I GOT INTO A MOVIE PREMIERE!

Towards the end of the movie, Emilie de Ravin (Ali in the movie, Claire from lost) walked up the aisle, I whispered to her and shook her hand telling her that she was amazing in the film. She later remembered me at the after party, but I'll get to that later.

Remember Me is not my genre of movies but it was insightful and caught me by surprise. I had not heard much about the movie, nor seen any trailers, and wasn't expecting to see it, but I was really taken aback. The ending was depressing, or so I thought.

Once the movie ended, I was walking out, and someone handed me their envelope. Inside was the premiere ticket that I did not receive since someone escorted me AND THE AFTER PARTY TICKET! The after party was held at The Plaza, across the street from the theater. I almost fainted. Who knew?!? 

The Grand Ballroom was set up beautifully! There was open bar, food set up everywhere and the cast of the movie - Rob Pattinson, Emilie de Ravin, Pierce Brosnan - but other actors as well - Kristen Stewart, Chris Cooper, etc... Emilie recognized me from the theater and I got to take a pic with her. At the end of my night, I was walking out while Rob and Kristen walked out and I got to snag a pic with Kristen too. Nobody got pics with Rob and Pierce inside, since their body guards were so protective, but I was able to pat both of them on the arm to say congrats.I started conversations with random people, and ended up meeting Allen Coulter, the director of the movie! Too bad I didn't talk longer with him, I'm sure I could've learned some interesting things about the industry.

Well if that doesn't sum up my weekend, I don't know what would. It's time for me to recover...even though I know where Brooklyn's Finest after party is. Nah. I think I've had enough for the rest of the month. One thing I've learned, or maybe two: patience IS a virtue and being in the right place at the right time can work miracles. BEST WEEK EVER!

UPCOMING:

March 9: Double Deuce Birthday dinner at Blockheads
March 13: Jude Law on SNL (my CEO is trying to get me tix *cross fingers*)

March 19: Benny Benassi Birthday Bash. Message me to get on the guest list (I'm closing it this Friday March 5)