approaching joy

#AJFW :: Recap - The Street Style Photographs

If you follow me on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook, you've most likely already saw how I was featured on the street style blog Social Bliss. (Insert "Are you seriously serious?!?!" excited screams here.)  
Here's the behind the scenes story:

I had thought about wearing it at the beginning of the second day but after realizing I didn't have a slip (what was I thinking not bringing a slip to Fashion Week?!?!) I decided against it. I changed outfits when I realized my time at Lincoln Center and the fashion shows was coming to a close and I needed an outfit to walk in around town unit dinner that night. I decided I would chance the whole "possibly sheer" aspect of the outfit and wear it as a dress to the last show of the day and then slip on a pair of leggings and wear it as a tunic for the rest of the evening. I was cutting it close to being on time to that last show so I grabbed a cab and headed straight for the Lincoln Center.

When I arrived I quickly took the stairs that lead up to the main plaza. I caught a glimpse of a photographer taking a picture at me from about 50 yards away but decided to put on my best imitation of "fashion face", the slight smile that seems both serious, confident, and sexy in equal parts. I had been immersed in this expression throughout the previous two days but I don't "do" a serious face so I figured the photographer caught something that resembled more of duck face and bravely kept walking. As I got closer to the main building, I noticed there were more photographers training their cameras on me.
Seriously ya'll: All I could think of was, "Oh. My. Gracious. Theycanseemyunderwearandimgonnalandinthefashiondontcolumn!!!"

I was bordering on paranoia when I walked into the main building. Out of the direct sunlight (and with the clock telling me I didn't have any time to stress out), my nerves soon got back to normal. Those same nerves went directly went back to "freak out" mode when I left the Lincoln Center for the last time and again saw the cameras directed my way. I kept walking until someone actually asked me to stop for a photo at which time four photographers clicked away to their collective hearts' content. I simply sighed and resigned myself to the "infamous/ outrageous/ see-through-dress " column of Fashion Week attendees and finally made my way past the photographers.

Once I got out of "range" (i.e. I didn't feel any lens turned on me) I stopped behind a large concrete column and took a breath.
"Am I really okay with showing up on some bad horrible gossip rag? Is that really how I want my grandmother to see me as she strolled up to checkout at the grocery store? Oh gosh- This is the age of Facebook- Every best friend and worst enemy I've made since I started kindergarten in 1989 will see this picture by tomorrow evening at the latest and I have nothing to look forward to at home other than the paper bag I'm going to have to grow accustomed to wearing around town."

With all these thoughts running through my head I did what any, negatively self-conscious girl vaguely fashion paranoid girl would do: I asked a cop if he could see my underwear. Yep, I took a deep breath and turned to the fashion neutral, defender of good, and protector of tourists (even those that forget to pack slips) policeman standing a few feet away from my haven of a concrete column and said, "Serious question: I need to know if you can see my underwear."
He gave a quizzical looked that turned into disbelief and I pressed the issue, "If you can, it's not intentional and I have to hide. If not, I can at least take a breath."
"Are you serious right now?" he asked with more than a hint of skepticism.  Now I'm sure this gentlemen had just spent hours observing throngs of women try to have attention of any kind turned their way. The fact that I was standing in front of him asking for direct validation was probably blowing his mind with the lengths that women were willing to go to get noticed.
"Yes,I really need to know," I replied in the most sincere and genuine way possible.
"Why is he stalling?!?! Oh gosh- This is horrible!!"
"Wow. Okay, whatever. You're fine."

And with those five words, relief washed over me. He hadn't said, "You're fine!" like some disrespectful teenager but, "You're fine," like a pissed off big brother who was about to miss the school bus if you kept fussing unnecessarily with your jewelry. I thanked him and asked if I could take his picture. Again, he shot me his most quizzical look and answered, "Well, I guess I can't stop you." I clicked and crossed the street thinking at least I would have a good story.

It was only after I crossed the street the last photographer (the one from Social Bliss) asked to take my picture and then handed me her card. I'd like to think that my attempt at "fashion face" worked because of "all the practice" I'd had in the preceding hour but I really know that any beauty I portrayed in the shot came from the ever so slightly condescending but super confidence inducing comment given by one of New York's best.

#AJFW :: Recap - NYC and Fashion Week, The Awesome

Yesterday was a recap of the things to keep in mind for next time; this is a very short list of the good things I hope I don't forget.

• Crisp
  The weather could not have been more perfect.  There is something utterly indescribably amazing about the first cool breathe of Autumn that causes everyone to grin as they walk out their front door and keep a good attitude throughout that full first day.  The fact that I arrived at this beautiful city the exact day this happened was nothing short of awesome.
• Peaceful
  Central Park was just how I imagined it: large, lovely, and a remarkable place of calm in the middle of the city.  I visited on a Sunday afternoon on an aforementioned perfect early Autumn day and this made it even more perfect.
• Friendly
  Just like I mentioned last week, every New Yorker I happened across, from the talkative cab drivers, to the flattering bellman at my hotel, to the friendly servers at each [amazing] restaurant which I ate, to the helpful/ informative subway riders (and lord knows I needed their help)- everyone I encountered totally exceeded my mental image of the "brusque New Yorker".  Maybe it was the nice weather or maybe it was the fact that I simply looked like I really needed every ounce of help they could provide, but whatever the reason I am totally grateful.
• Exhillarating
  After being terribly intimidated by the first "standing line" that I described yesterday, I didn't know what to expect at an actual fashion show.  I won't go into crazy detail here (because I plan to write a whole post about a "typical" fashion show), but suffice it to say that "exhilarating" is just short hand for "the craziest,most unexpected rush of adrenaline I have ever experienced.
• Delicious
  I seriously have a full post about food coming guys!
• Restful
  Yes, this is "the city that never sleeps" and yes, I just added "restful" to the list.
  Have you ever not been able to sleep for two weeks because you were so excited (and consequentially: planning and worry and scheming) about something?  So excited that you would go to bed after midnight knowing you would only sleep three hours and then spring out of bed with eagerness to get the day started?  So excited that 20 hours later and a time zone later the only sign that you need to head to bed is the quick math that tells you that tomorrow morning may not happen so quickly?
  That's how excited I was preceding the trip and that's how tired I was as I fell in to bed that first night.  Because of all those factors it seriously tops the list as the best night of sleep that I have gotten in my memorable history.  That, ladies and gentlemen, is a feat worthy of high praise.

Any one else out there in the business of busting of stereotypes?  NYC: Peaceful, restful, and nice?!?! Surely, I'm not the only one.

#AJFW :: Recap - NYC and Fashion Week, The... Not-so-Good

Hey guys!!  I have heard the requests for a full run down of Fashion Week and am prepared to fully answer them.  
To start off, I have a list of things I encountered in the city that were less than stellar.  If you've been around the blog for any length of time, you know I like to keep it positive, but look at this as "hard lessons learned" and look forward to the positive sides (of which there were many) tomorrow and throughout the week!

In my 72 hours there, New York City was:

• Painful
  I had walked approximately two blocks when I realized my lovely metallic leather boat shoes were rubbing blisters into the back of my feet.  I stubbornly tried to shake it off in the name of "breaking them in", but a few short hours later my feet were screaming in pain.  Next time: Make sure shoes won't rub BEFORE I hop on the plane.
• Frustrating
  It was my own fault but I arrived without knowing how to read a NYC subway map despite the fact that I knew that the subway was going to main mode of transportation. This left me standing outside a subway station for a full hour my first afternoon there under the guise of "taking photos" when really I was attempting to decide whether I could walk the ten blocks to the hotel to get another pair of shoes (too painful), attempt to work the subway after a super unsuccessful second attempt (too confusing), or grab a cab (too expensive).  At the end of my "photo session", the cab finally won out.
  I grabbed a cab to the best noodle place in New York (details later this week!) and then cabbed it back to the hotel to learn the ins and outs of of a successful subway ride via the interweb.
• Intimidating
  As frustrating as that first afternoon was there was a bright side: I could always blend into the crowd.  That first day I wasn't a fashionista at Fashion Week but simply a girl in the city.
  That all changed when I arrived for my first show on Monday morning.  There were literally droves of people with cameras of every size staked out in front of the Lincoln Center waiting to capture the next big fashion thing.  Despite all the positive thoughts from my friends (and you guys!!) I was not (and will most likely never be) the next big fashion thing.
  Walking around in the midst of the professional photographers and the genuine fashionistas I felt like I was in Fashion Week limbo: I wasn't cool enough to occupy either space fully and felt out of place in both realms.
• Crowded
  This, at first, seems like a given but during my Fashion Week experience, it was more of a surprise.  Other than one lovely show, I was relegated to the despised "standing" section of each show.  Explanation: For each fashion show there are two lines- the sitting line and the standing line.  The folks that have an assigned seat breeze easily into the tent where the show is being held and daintily find their seat.  The lucky few on the very front rows almost always score fashion goodies of some sort (maybe the designer's new line of perfume or an up and coming makeup line who's creators wanted to put their product in front of the movers and shakers of fashion).
  According to the people who I spoke to, the closer to the front you are assigned the more influential you are considered.  The buyers at Macy's, the editors of Vogue, and the latest hottie of your favorite reality show all get first dibs at prime real estate.  As for the rest of us, we are herded into what seems like an impossibly long, impossibility crowded, impossibly chaotic line. "How the heck will I see anything if I'm behind all these people?!?!" was my very first thought.  Lucky for me (and everyone else in this lovey line), twenty minutes after the show has supposed to have started, this line is allowed to enter and there are always seats that go unfilled.  From there it's simply a matter of looking and acting important enough to deserve a seat.  Sometimes it happened and sometimes it didn't.
• Lonely
  Despite the fact that it seemed as if I was constantly surrounded by fabulous people, there was hardly any time that I actually spent with anyone.  
  Three notable exceptions: Whitney of A La Ladywolf, Lindsay of Black and Blonde, and Brittany of Itty Bitty Bomb (who I also featured here)
  All three of these ladies were genuinely nice.  They were all even sweet enough that none of them seemed to mind as I asked them approximately a trillion questions about the ins and outs of both the Fashion Week proceedings and about the city itself.  Go visit these ladies' blogs and know that you supporting good people!!

At the end of my few days there in the city, I was grateful that I had such an awesome place to return home to as well as the fact that I could come back to visit on a non-work, much more relaxing trip.

Any other "good trip gone bad" stories out there?  Surely I'm not the only one who has been attacked by a stylish pair of shoes!

#AJFW Giveaway - Reminder

You guys!
I'm home and insanely happy about that fact.

 

Just wanted to give you a quick reminder that you still have the chance to sign up for my two giveaways:

• The Moxy Ox photobook (Totally free!! Just sign up!)
• The Country Outfitters boots (One person will win and it might as well be you!!)

Tomorrow I'll be back with my follow up from this post and next week starts my real Fashion Week recap: the clothes, the crowds, and of course the city.  I'm also going to be headed out to tailgate to support the home team, shooting weddings for these guys, keeping up with the lovely fall foliage that is on its way, oh... and I'm getting married in under six weeks.
Ready, set, go! 

#AJFW :: 9/11 Memorial NYC

Sculpture made by an artist who salvaged pieces of the WTC after 9.11.  It is housed in the 9.11 Memorial ticket office.

I was laying in bed sometime last week when I realized I was going to be in New York on September 11. Immediately, my stomach seized up and a minute layer I realized I was still holding my breath. As I exhaled I thought, "That was ten, no eleven, years ago. Being worried is ridiculous. But people are crazy. But I'm being paranoid.  But you never know what can happen!!" This was one thought that was both continuous instantanious.  It took my normal "big city" worries and elevated them beyond that which I was ready to deal. I quickly told myself I would go on Monday and that there was no sense in worrying.  Once the decision was made it was much less stressful.

When I stepped up and out of the subway it was an absolutely glorious early fall day just like I remember it being eleven years ago. There was a crisp breeze, a blue sky, and construction guys sipping coffee all in a row while the traffic cop was blowing a whistle and yelling indiscernible directions.  It was all beautiful and very New York-esque.

The ticket office serves as a mini museum of sorts.  This was great with my schedule (packed) and my timeline (short).  Though I didn't see the actual Memorial, this acted as a perfect in-between step.  In short, it made me grateful for my country, the people who serve it, and the fact that I had a camera to hide the tears that kept welling up after reading and hearing about people's experiences that day back in 2001.
I am ready to go back again and see the full Memorial and thankful that I saw what I did.

Have a great Patriot Day and tell your loved ones what they mean to you.  Hope to see you tomorrow!