President's Ball and Homecoming!

This weekend was President's Ball and Homecoming!


President's Ball is a semi-formal school dance that is technically thrown by Father McShane (president of Fordham), for the students. It's free, but in actuality is probably included in tuition. Anyways, it's always been a lot of fun and it's really great because hundreds of students attend. This year they moved the location to a bigger venue on campus because last year there just wasn't enough room for everyone. I had to wait in line for at least a half hour to get in. 


The dance starts at 9 pm and goes until 1 am, but we didn't arrive until around 10. Prior to arriving, us girls got ready in our apartment together. 

Watching Lisa and Eileen getting ready!

Courtney and I

Courtney, me, Eileen, Liz, and Dani!

With Amy, my roommate from freshman year

The next day was homecoming, which is a huge event because hundreds of Fordham alumni return to campus for the festivities and football game. A few minutes after each metro north stopped at Fordham, I could look out our apartment window and see the alumni returning in droves, all headed to Eddie's. At 11 am Courtney and I headed there too, to meet up with her parents and enter into the homecoming tent. 

The tent!

The tent is only open to Fordham alumni and Fordham seniors who are 21+ (because they serve alcohol inside). So, this was the first year that I actually got to go in! Before we headed in, Courtney and I took our picture in front of the 'Little Ram Fun Park,' which is a play area set up for the alumni's kids. 

Anyways, the tent was awesome! Lots of chairs and tables, with a free buffet of delicious pasta salad, hamburgers, hot dogs, and pork. Mmmmm. Not to mention the dessert of cookies, apple cobbler, and ice cream. I had lunch with Courtney and her parents before they headed back to CT. From there I met up with some other friends and we watched the Fordham band and cheerleader performance inside the tent. Lots of energy, lots of happy alumni. 

Saturday was also a big day because Mario Gabelli, a Fordham alumni from '65, was being honored in a special ceremony. Prior this week he gave Fordham $25 million! (Maybe someday I'll be that successful, haha) Fordham is renaming our College of Business Administration (CBA) to Gabelli School of Business. 

Unfortunately only a select few were allowed into his special brunch ceremony, which was here:

After the homecoming tent, I headed over to the football game with my roommate, Dani. Fordham was playing Assumption, and unfortunately we lost. After our stellar quarterback John Skelton graduated last year, Fordham football isn't much to brag about. 

All-in-all, a very good weekend, quite busy as usual!

Lunch Break

 Wednesday afternoon, 1:00-2:00 pm, absolutely gorgeous out. Sunny and in the high 70's. This is the view from my lunch spot in Columbus Circle, across from the fountains. I can keep an eye on the Hearst Building from here. 

Another view, more of Columbus Circle. The short building on the right with all the glass is where the Shops at Columbus Circle are.

I didn't take this picture (courtesy of wallyg on Flickr), but I wanted you to be able to see exactly where I sit. This is a view from inside the Shops at Columbus Circle, probably the third floor. In the upper left corner of the picture, in front of Central Park, is a grey stone monument (it's actually a fountain!) with the gold statue on top. I sit right at the base! 

GH, Storms, Happy Hour, VIP Service, and Parties on a Boat!

This past week was quite busy for me, with class, interning, work, celebrating birthdays and studying over the weekend.  


Interning on Thursday was exciting because we were filming in the building. We were on the 29th floor and I was able observe the camera crew, product researchers, as well as the producer and producer's assistant. It was also a little torturous though because we were filming a cooking segment and I could smell the delicious dishes, but unlike at Martha, I never got to eat any of it. Anyways, near the end of the day the producer's assistant (my supervisor) told me that we needed to film someone in the next segment, and essentially volunteered me! 


We headed to the lobby downstairs, where I sat at a table with the lights set up and the camera pointing at me. For about ten minutes the camera man shot me sipping on a Fuze drink while I talked to my supervisor. It was really relaxed and pretty funny. I'll let you know if after editing I end up on the show!


I also found out Thursday that the producer really liked a filming location that I had found, and we're now in the process of trying to book it! The spot is the entrance to Top of the Rock, at Rockefeller Center. (Go here to check it out!) 


Thursday evening, around 6 pm when I was about to leave the office, it started thundering and lightening. Looking out the glass windows up on the 28th floor, it truly felt like we were inside the storm. I could see the lightening flash right outside the window, and the rain was so dense that I couldn't even see the street below. 


I had to leave the office then though because I had plans to meet up at a bar where a friend of mine was bartending that night. Luckily, to get to the subway station I didn't even have to step out into the rain. I just walked out of the Hearst building and directly to my left. Underneath the overhang of the Hearst building is the subway entrance! So convenient. 


I made it to the bar, Rathbones (88th St and 2nd Ave), where I met up with Courtney, Lindsay (my friend and old roommate), and Lindsay's boyfriend, John. 

At the bar. Business casual after work! (Lindsay, Courtney, and I)

Friday I worked and had class, and spent the remainder of my afternoon at the post office on campus. In the beginning of the semester the post office gets completely swamped and the lines are ridiculous. (Thanks for the brownies Mom!)

Once back at the dorm, my friends and I had dinner and then got ready to head into the city for a girl's night out. All of us haven't had a chance to really catch up since being back at school, and there was a nice rooftop bar that we've been wanting to check out while the weather is still nice. 

Courtney, Liz, Dani, Lisa, Eileen, and I took the train into the city and then walked to Sutton Place. It turned out to be really awesome! The view was only from five flights up, but it was a beautiful night to be outside - not too chilly yet. 

Eileen, Dani, Liz, Courtney, Lisa, and I. 

The rooftop of Sutton Place was pretty small and we talked to a lot of new people. I always like meeting people in New York because you never know who you're going to end up meeting and what their story is. I actually ended up talking to the owner of a nearby bar/lounge, who invited us all to come on over after we were done at Sutton Place. 

We decided to, and walked the few blocks to Nikki Beach's. There was an enormous line snaking along the block, complete with velvet rope and bouncers. However, as we walked up we ran into the owner who we had just met. He ushered us past the line and into small foyer, complete with more bouncers and a guest list. From there, he waved us past those bouncers and right inside. VIP treatment! 

The first room was an enormous bar. The next room was the lounge/dance area, complete with a catwalk down the middle of the room, and couches and tables along the walls. On the catwalk there was a woman playing an electric violin! Bizarre, but she was really incredible. After exploring the place, we hung out at Nikki B's for a while before deciding to grab the last Metro North back to the Bronx.

Saturday night was Cody's birthday celebration at a bar that I've had my eye on for a while. It's called the Frying Pan and is actually a salvaged lightship that was built in 1929. She's 133 feet and all her rooms are open for exploration. She's now docked just north of Chelsea Piers. 

On board you have a terrific view of Manhattan, and even Jersey looks pretty sparkling across the Hudson. We bought some food and ate on deck, where a bunch of chairs and tables are spread out. There's even a stage set up at the front of the boat, where there was a band playing. 


After eating, we walked up to the top deck, which is a bit quieter and has truly beautiful views of the city and Hudson. You'd forget that you were on a boat, except for the occasional rocking. On our way back down from up top, I ran into the owner of Nikki B's, who I had met last night on the other side of Manhattan! Millions of people and thousands of bars, NYC really isn't so big after all.   

Me, Cody, Amy, and Courtney on the top deck, with Manhattan behind us. 

Anyways, we spent the rest of the night exploring the ship, going down under the deck. There are random rooms where people were just hanging out and mingling. One of the larger rooms is converted into a dance area, music blasting and everything. 

Dance party!

Cody and friends inside the ship. You can see how rusty everything is. After being sunken for three years, they cleaned out the silt and barnacles, but not much else. 

After exploring the entire place, we decided to head back up to Lincoln Center. We took a cab partway there and walked the last few blocks. During those blocks a friend of mine from Fordham spotted us through a bar window and came running out! This city is so small! I always see someone I know!

So, the weekend was fun, but I had to spend all day Sunday in the library catching up on homework. I'm looking forward to this week though because there's going to be more filming at GH, this weekend is Fordham's President Ball, Homecoming, and there's more than one guest lecture at Fordham that I want to check out. 

Goodbye Martha, Hello Good Housekeeping!

I know this is the post you've all been waiting for...the Good Housekeeping update! Pictures and all!

Well, the first amazing thing about the internship is how conveniently close it is to Fordham's Lincoln Center campus. About a five minute walk away, maybe 7, if I'm wearing heels. All I do is hop on the RamVan at Rose Hill, relax during the 30 minute ride, get off at Lincoln Center, and walk those few blocks. 

For Martha I had to take a 20 minute Metro North ride, take the subway to Times Square, then transfer to the 1 train to 28th St., then walk two blocks South and one Avenue East. 

So commuting to GH is a breeze! And free! Fordham gives me free RamVan passes since I'm using the van to get to an internship. 

So, besides the amazing commute, I also am completely in love with the Hearst Building. It is so beautiful. Today I made sure to take some pictures of the outside of it. 

This is standing on the north corner of 57th and 8th Ave, looking south. That white arrow is the entrance to the Hearst Building. It was originally completed in 1928 as a six floor International Magazine Building. Hence the brownish cast stone base. 

Later, the diagonal grid structure of glass and steel were added, making the building soar to 46 stories high. The first and second floors are used for mail and I think technical purposes. The third floor is the amazing lobby, and the fourth through 46th are all offices of the Hearst Corporation. That includes almost 200 magazines (Cosmopolitan, Oprah Magazine, Good Housekeeping, Veranda, etc), daily newspapers (Houston Chronicle, San Francisco Chronicle, etc), television stations (Lifetime, A&E, History, ESPN, etc), business publishing, internet businesses, tv production, and real estate. Whooo! This is a busy place!

Here's my view of it! All that glass makes for such a beautiful view of the city on every floor! Good Housekeeping has offices on the 27th, 28th, and 29th floor. 

The 28th floor is where I'll be at most of the time. The 29th floor is where the GH Research Institute is located. The Research floor consists entirely of separate, temperature controlled rooms where machines, toys, and all sorts of products are repeatedly tested. As well as where the kitchens are located! 

I tried to locate my floor, but it's hard to tell from the outside. 

You can walk around the entire perimeter of the 28th floor and have a consistent view of the city! Central Park and the Hudson! All the walls are entirely glass, so it truly is bright and beautiful up there. There are light censors that control the amount of artificial light on each floor, based on how much natural light is coming in. No fluorescent lighting here!

This is the first thing I see when I walk in. That's a waterfall behind the escalators. According to the pamphlet I picked up, the waterfall circulates filtered rainwater that's been collected on the roof of the building. The waterfall actually helps cool the building in the summer and humidifies it in the winter! 

No one can get to the escalators unless they have an ID card. Since I don't have one yet, I've had to check in at security each time I've gone. They check my state ID, call up to my supervisor to make sure that I'm expected, and then issue me a visitor's pass. I hand that to one of the two security guards, who swipes me in. 

At the top of the escalators is the beautiful third floor lobby. There's a cafe with 380 seats and tables spread out along the glass walls, a 168 seat theater where they premiere Hearst productions, and about fifteen or so elevators. 

At the entrance to the elevators is keypad and security personnel. You tell security what floor you're going to, they type it in and then tell you what elevator to go to (they're all labeled alphabetically). Intense!

Once at the 28th floor, I exit the elevator and am in an enclosed glass area. The doors to my left are for Good Housekeeping, and the doors to my right are to Veranda magazine. Employees swipe their ID card to open the GH doors, but I have to use a small phone outside the doors to call my supervisor, who then walks over to open the doors for me. 

The entire floor consists of cubicles, where all the editors, writers, designers, etc., sit in front of Mac computer screens. There are conference rooms along the perimeter of the floor. The walls to the conference rooms are glass, so you can see right through them to the city below. I have a nice little cubicle all to myself. 

We have a great little kitchen area, where I can have free tea (or coffee) to my heart's content. Also, there is a counter where all the free stuff is at, that anyone is welcome to. Books, plants, and other random products. 

I am quite in love with the entire building, especially my floor. It's very different from Martha. Everything is so quiet in the Hearst Building, especially on my floor. At Martha there were always TV's going, people running around, walkie talkies squawking, and phones ringing. At GH, everyone is sitting quietly at their desks with headphones, or speaking quietly into their phones. I guess that's the difference between a magazine and a daily tv program. 

Anyways, my first day was quite exciting because they were filming. Unfortunately I missed the off-set filming, which was down in SoHo, with the host of Shear Talent (Bravo). I did get to help out with the filming on the 29th floor. At the end of the segment I ended up taking the elevator back down with another intern and the editor of Good Housekeeping! She was incredibly nice!

Also, the October issue features Jamie Lee Curtis, who was in the office on Tuesday, the day before I started. I won't be seeing as many celebrities as I did at Martha, but I will see a few. 

I'm looking forward to learning as much as I can about Good Housekeeping, Hearst, and what it takes to run a magazine!


Check out these websites!
The Hearst Website - has a great video of the building.
What I'm doing at Good Housekeeping!

Jersey Shore

This Sunday Lindsay (my roommate from sophomore and junior year, who now lives across the hall from me), invited me to take a day trip with her to her home in Red Bank, New Jersey. 


Lindsay, Kate (one of Lindsay's roommates), and I took an early Metro North into Grand Central, which was surprisingly uncrowded for labor day weekend. From there, we walked to Penn Station, where we caught a train to Lindsay's town. Her mom picked us up at the train station, and within the hour we were at the beach!


On the east coast it seems that everyone belongs to a beach club, with private access to only a specific part of the beach...bizarre as compared to California, where nearly all the beaches are free and open to the public. 


I did enjoy the beach club scene though! Lindsay's club has prime parking, tennis courts, a ballroom, an Olympic sized swimming pool, cabanas, showers, chairs and umbrellas all set up on the beach for you, a beach side snack bar, and a tasty restaurant with beautiful views from its outside patio. 

The club! Through the center archway is the pool. The snack bar is on the left there.

Us three girls met up with Lindsay's sister for lunch at the restaurant, which was delicious. We then spent the next 5 hours basking in the sun with Lindsay's parents. Kate and I went for a swim in the Atlantic, which was a bit chilly, but not bad. 

Relaxing on the beach! Lindsay is on the left and Kate on the right. 

In front of the Atlantic. No surfers here! 

Kate lounging. That's the lifeguard tower behind her. You can't tell in the picture, but if you look straight ahead, you can see Manhattan, Coney Island, and Brooklyn!!! As we were leaving, Lindsay's dad pointed out a cruise ship leaving the New York Harbor! Apparently it's a little less than 20 miles from this spot to NYC. 

On the way back to Lindsay's house we drove through the town of Rumson...this is Bruce Springsteen's house! His kids go to school right across the street, and apparently people see him around town often. 


Back at Lindsay's her parents cooked us dinner before we caught a train back to Penn, a cab to Lincoln Center, and then the RamVan to Rose Hill. All in all, a very perfect way to spend my Sunday. Thank you Lindsay!!! :)

Apartment Tour

Now that we've been in the apartment for a week, things have finally started to look put together. I'm still organizing my stuff, but overall, everything is in it's place. 

Our front door. My only complaint is that we don't have a doorbell this year!

What you see when you first come in. We've got our TV on the right and our table next to the window. We get great morning light through those two windows!

Another view of the living room. 

The view out of the living room, looking towards the right. You can't tell because of the trees, but that path leads straight to the library. Work is literally 2 minutes away!

The kitchen! Kind of small...hardly any drawer space, and nowhere to put our silverware. But beautiful appliances! 

You can see all my coats hanging there by the door. 

The hallway. The bathroom is straight ahead. Courtney and I's room is the first door on the right, and Dani and Liz's is the last door on the right. 

A peek into Courtney and I's bedroom! It's still in the works; we haven't put up posters yet. Courtney's desk is there on the left, and those are her drawers in the middle. 

That's my desk right in front of the window...dream come true! I love the view. 

Check it out! You can't tell in the picture, but right now there are people lounging in the grass down there, playing frisbee, and there's always students walking back and forth with their bookbags...it's almost sickeningly a picture perfect college scene. But I love it!

My desk nook. When I'm sitting at my desk with my feet on the floor, every once in a while I can feel the floor rumbling. It's the Metro North going by Fordham! The station is literally on the other side of our new dorm buildings. I can't hear it, but it's funny to be able to feel it. 

My armoire...I think I'm going to have a problem! Not enough space for all my clothes. 

The sinks, which are conveniently outside the bathroom. It gets a little hard sharing between four girls, so two sinks separate from the shower help out!

Our bathroom. Industrial toilet and all. Also, the light is a motion light...I noticed that ten minutes into a shower it automatically shuts off and I have to wave my arm outside the curtain to get it back on. 

Liz and Dani's room! They hid the moment I walked in with the camera haha. Very cute room though. 

So, that's my apartment tour! Sixth floor, two bedroom, one bath, living room and kitchen...this is the best that I'll probably ever be living in New York City!

FU BX NY

FU : Fordham University  
BX: Bronx
NY : New York

 Driving back on campus! So green. 

 

The view out my living room window. Those are sophomore dorms on the left. It's out of sight, but on the right is the library. Literally a one minute walk away!

                                            The living room!

                             The sixth floor common lounge area. 


This fall new dorm buildings opened on campus. They were built essentially for the seniors, and they turned out amazing. They are built apartment style, with each apartment housing either four or five people, with either one or two bathrooms. I'm living in a quad, which has a living room, kitchen, two bedrooms, and bathroom. 


I'll be posting more pictures soon of my apartment, once it's fully decorated and organized. The new dorms are absolutely beautiful - air conditioning (helps when it's 90 degrees and humid out), brand new appliances, including a built in microwave and dishwasher, and decent sized rooms. Sharing a room with Courtney has been perfect, as it has been for the past two years. Liz and Dani share a room right next door to us, and I love living with them as well. We're on the sixth floor and all of our rooms in the apartment have beautiful views of the lawns, library, and adjacent dorms. 


Today I used the washers and dryers, which are located on the first floor. They're great, fast and efficient! 


We also have a cafe built into our dorm building. I haven't eaten there yet, but the food looks good. Plus, they serve Starbucks! I can also drop off dry cleaning in the lobby of my building, where it gets taken to be cleaned and then brought right back to the dorm for pick up. 


My only complaint is that for some reason I barely get cell phone service in my apartment...I've been to other apartments in the building, even right across the hall, and I get full service. Not sure what it is, but I'll be calling T-mobile about it. 


Anyways, hi from the Bronx, and I'll be posting more pictures and updates soon!