New York City!!! Neeeeewww York City...

you remember the Pace commercials, right?

I'm all giddy right now, guys! Like, teenage girl, can't stop talking about it, completely and utterly in crush with.... a city! Who knew little ol' southern girl, me, would become absolutely smitten with New York in all of two days.

So once again, I trecked my happy behind away from DC for a 2-day travel (Wednesday night to Friday night to be exact). I wanted to stay longer, I mean who leaves NY on a Friday night, but alas as luck would have it, I couldnt. No thanks to New York actually trying to keep me there another night, (we'll get there), I made it home safe and sound at the wonderful hour of 2 am. Sound great, right?

Anyway, so this trip was for a couple reasons. 1) I wanted (scratch that, needed) to attend the MPA Conference on Thursday. It was supposed to be from 8 am to about 3:45 with a mix and mingle to 4:30; so following the advice of one wise Phi Sig member, I decided to take the bus up to NY Wednesday night instead of Thursday morning. The conference was great! I met some pretty cool people; higher up professionals as well as some great upcomings (thats what I'm going to call us now). Highlights of the conference: hanging out with Nakisha, Charreah, and Latoya!; talking with one of the HR women from Hearst and having her tell me she would shop my clip package around; meeting Shaunice Hawkins, head of diversity at MPA and having her tell me that her daughter loves me because of the green dress I wore at the Cover 2 Cover Conference (hey, at least 11 yr olds think I'm fashion forward!) and that she would definitely shop my clip package around as well; laughing at some of the ridiculous questions people had at the conference. C'mon guys... please know what a masthead is before you come to a MAGAZINE CONFERENCE!!!!


Afterwards, Charreah, Nakisha, and I played around downtown for a little while... pretended like we were going shopping and damn near had me lose all sense of willpower at the H&M on 5th Street. Charreah and I got lunch, and headed back to the train. Oh SIDE NOTE: I took the train Thursday morning/evening and Friday morning and didnt get lost! Granted Charreah was with me for 80% of my train rides on Thursday, but still!!!! Could have been all bad...

2) As you may remember for a previous post, I had an informational interview with Danyel Smith on Friday at 3:30pm. What time did I actually end up seeing her? Oh, 6:45 pm. Yeah, you read right. Anyway, I had these great plans that I was going to leave Harlem and make it to the VIBE offices around 2:45/3:00, hang out with my girl, Chauncie (who I hadnt seen since Homecoming, and that doesnt count cuz I was drunk... oops!) for a little while then go see Danyel, get played for about 15 minutes, and catch the 5:30 bus back to DC. Hmm, well let's see the first part went as planned... Chauncie was great! But apparently, Danyel was in a very importante meeting that she couldnt leave, so as I started leaving (after rescheduling with her uberly nice assistant), guess who comes walking through the door?! The lady herself. And there I was with a decision to make... catch the 7:30 bus or meet with Danyel... clearly I decided to meet with Danyel.

And it was great! She's even more amazing than I thought!!!! And guess what? I was still a groupie in my head, but not outside... I mean not to toot my own horn, but I was flowing... and she introduced me and Vanessa (an HU student who was also waiting to speak with her) to pretty much everyone in the office that we hadnt met already while waiting for her. So all in all, I think it went pretty well, but she gave me some real stuff to think about... like, how willing am I take the chance on taking an unpaid internship with them on the hopes that I'll be like one girl she introduced me to who interned with them for 4 months until they did everything they could to make a job for her. We'll see; I'll keep you updated.

3) I wanted to experience the city! As much as I talk about how NY worries me, I'd never been there. I kept saying I was going to go. There were opportunities to go over the years, and something always happened where it didnt work out. So I figured that I couldnt let June or whatever (if I end up there) be the first time I step foot in the city... Can I tell you that I felt like a very independent, sexy, sophisticated lady... I could see it guys! I could soo see it! And I've already found a great place to eat... Amy Ruth's is the truth! It's expensive but what in NY isnt? But it's soooo good!

4) I needed to prove something to myself, personal wise, that is indirectly related to NY... but more related to my psyche and my last post (lol). And guess what? I was right. It may be a hollow victory, but it was my victory... and somehow it's more than relieving to know that things dont bother me or give me false hopes anymore. Here's to moving on! CHEERS!