Sunday, October 25, 2009

"I hear your name in certain circles, and it always makes me smile."

Today is such a nice morning.  I have been working at Armani Exchange learning the details of running a retail shop.  This experience is more beneficial than I initially expected.  My game plan, pending my current and future "retail employers" aren't reading this... is to learn from one chain and then switch to another retail chain and learn from them and then switch again... this way I can learn from several companies on how they do things differently or the same and what works out the best.  I am also working for a vendor at the California Market Center.  With this opportunity I am able to see the process of how retail shops obtain the products that they sell within their own shops.  I'm learning more about different demographics and what types of clothing, fabrics, styles, etc. are popular for each specific group. 

Within school itself, I'm loving FIDM.  Whenever I put my white FIDM totebag on my shoulder it makes me smile, well depending on how heavy it is for the day ;)  My favorite part of this experience are my classes. 

LA itself is still crazy, seriously there are some weirdos in this city!!!  I thought Washington DC had some characters, well LA's crazies are different but may even be crazier!  I was going to tell some stories about the "crazies", but I'd rather not have that info listed on my blog...  I will say that generally speaking, the general population in LA is tremendously more fashion forward than the DC'ers (sorry guys, but it's true - straight up).  I joke and say that even the homeless people rock better style then the average individual walking the streets of DC (some homeless guys even have designer jeans, they are dirty, but they are designer haha).  That is not to say there aren't your fashionistas in DC, because they absolutely exist - so a shout out to you!

Now I just need to get all of my projects finished and get my work schedule(s) in order to enable me to get back to watching Project Runway.  I love that show and cannot believe I am missing this season since it was filmed in the very same school I am currently attending.  I have classes in the same rooms that the designers occupied. 

Alas, that is the current update.  My advice to those who are thinking about taking a leap for their dreams, do it!  Things are never going to line up completely; those ducks are never going to be in a row.  You just have to go for it.  That is part of what life is about - if you aren't pursuing your dreams, you are already dead!

Monday, October 19, 2009

Life Changes and Peanut Butter

Hmmm... peanut butter is one of the best things in life.  It is my ultimate comfort food.  No matter how much I eat it, I never get tired of it.  You can put peanut butter on almost anything to make it taste better.  As for me, a new starving/broke graduate student, this glorious peanut butter has made a huge improvement of the slightly stale bread I must consume in order to have lunch on a budget.  Peanut butter is a substance that I do not want missing in my life.

Now as for the life changes part... now that I'm entirely on my own in a brand new city I've had some time to think about my life and what I want.  I'm pursuing my dream, which honestly has been a lot of ups and downs already and the process just started.  I do believe with a lot more patience and time, the ride will become smoother and I will be more equipped to enjoy it!  However, there is still something missing.  I am now going to let go of my brain constantly controlling my life and listen to my heart.  My heart is telling me that I am missing something in my life.  I want to achieve balance and my life appears to be on the "a-symmetrical" side currently.  I think I know what I am missing, let's just see if I can now let go of my pride and seek it out.  In the end, my most important goal is to be happy.  Oh and be happy with a plentiful amount of peanut butter!

Right now I am off to the California Market Center to meet with a manufacturer and learn more about their business.  Cross your fingers that a good opportunity or at least a learning experience will come out of this for me.  After my meeting that I individually arranged by chance meeting this group of people in a restaurant, I will head on to my second class of the day - History of Costume.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Armani Baby!

Wahoo... just got a job with Armani Exchange.  So if anyone wants to look extra sophisticated and sexy with an urban edge come and see me!  I'm excited for this opportunity...

Friday, October 9, 2009

The LA Update

Well I'm officially here in LALA Land.  I went for a run on the treadmill this morning and was staring at about ten different highrise financial buildings.  I love this!  I've officially had one class so far - Fashion Sketching.  Now I get to practice the fashion figure as we now call it - the "crouquix", by sketching 20 of them for homework.  I have also already had several interviews for employment opportunities, nothing serious, but definitely a step in the beginning direction of a new career path.  I will announce where I have interviewed if I actually get the positions ;) 

Next week for classes, I will have an array of business fashion, history of costume, color theory, and a fabulous sewing class (sewing is my fav, hopefully it stays that way!). 

As for the social scene, it's not bad here, people are either very friendly or super stuck up so it's easy to quickly tell who you don't want to associate with.  I have met a couple of super sweet friends from school who I'm thinking may just be friends for life.  It's nice to know there are really awesome people here!

This will have to suffice for the basic update for now.  I will have more to report later, but for now I actually feel like this decision has been a very good fit for me.  I can say - I'm happy :)