Adios Hearst...

Today was my last day at work!! Without much sadness, I said adios to the Hearst building, never to enter again. Overall, I am very excited to be done because it means I'm that much closer to being home. Lauren (middle sis) is arriving tomorrow at around noon to spend the weekend here and help me move out. Sadly, our other sister Lindsey isn't able to come because she has the swine flu! We will miss her so much and it's so frustrating that she can't come, but we will get to spend the week together in Little Rock when I get home and we are really excited about that!!

I honestly can't believe how fast the summer has gone by. I feel like just a few days ago I was sitting on the floor of my apartment when I first arrived wondering what in the world I had gotten myself into. There have been hard times, but I have gotten to do amazing things and things I could definitely only do in New York City. There are many girls who wish to do a summer in NYC, and I feel lucky to have been able to do just that. Do I wish to move here ever you ask? Probably not. I have learned that the South is where I probably belong, and while it was fun for a summer, I don't know that I could handle all the hustle, bustle, and generally mean people all year round.

So here's a recap of what I've seen... Empire State building (which is literally my next door neighbor), Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Yankees game, Times Square, The Met, Broadway Shows- The Lion King, In The Heights, and 9 to 5, picnics in Central Park, Bryant Park and Washington Square Park, riding bikes in Central Park, Times Square, concert on Bowery Street with my friends Heather and Jill, the Black Eyed Peas on the Today show, Brad Paisley on Good Morning America, a taping of The View, a taping of It's On with Alexa Chung, Rockefeller Center, Saturday morning Famer's market in Union Square, stalking the set of Gossip Girl (and seeing them!), St. Patrick's Cathedral, 4th of July fireworks on the Hudson River, Ground Zero, Beyonce concert at Madison Square Garden, art galleries in Chelsea, walking the Brooklyn bridge and eating amazing ice cream on Fulton Landing, watching Tina Fey and Steve Carrell film a movie, a BBQ Festival in Madison Square Park (where I also met Billy Mays.. RIP), Chinatown, South Street Seaport, ate at a lot of amazing restaurants, had 4 of the greatest people come visit, and basically lots of walking around and seeing many different parts of the city.

Celebrity sightings: Gayle King (Oprah's BFF), Black Eyed Peas, Penn Badgley, Jessica Szhor, Leighton Meester, Joanna Garcia (Cheyenne on Reba), Will Arnett (Amy Poehler's husband), Dina Lohan, all of The View hosts, Minnie Driver, Alexa Vega, Tina Fey, Steve Carrell, Brad Paisley, Kelly Rowland (Destiny's Child), Kellan Lutz (Twilight), and almost President Obama if the glass wasn't so thick and dark but I saw his limo.

I have learned a lot about myself and a lot about life while I have been here. I think the number one thing I have learned is that (and this might sound very cheesy) the Lord is definitely our strength and the giver of peace when we have no strength left and no peace in our hearts on our own. He has shaped me into something I couldn't imagine before I got here, and I can't wait to continue this process. I am so thankful for the fact that He promises us He is our hope, our strength, and our comforter. At the beginning of the summer I went through verses to kind of make a list of verses to live by this summer and this one is one of my favorites... "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trials and sorrow. But take heart, I have OVERCOME this world." (John 16:33) What an amazing reminder that the one who lives in me has overcome this whole world of tragedy, sadness, worry, anger, fear, and heartbreak. So while I might be frustrated or fearful of what's happening in my life, I know that He has overcome that already and I just need to trust in Him. It's just the remembering part that's key.

Thank you so much for your prayers this summer. I honestly don't think I could've gotten through anything here without the support of my family and friends and those who have continually encouraged me. I'm glad I've gotten to share a little of my summer with you through this blog!

My days at Seventeen...

So, I realized today that the title of my blog is "Life of a Seventeen Intern." And actually all I have really talked about is my life in NYC. So, I will update you on my actual intern experience. This picture was taken in the fashion closet (where I spend about every hour of my work day)... and no, I didn't wear that hat to be serious. Brooke and I, the other girl in the pic, were playing around trying to make light of a work day. Day to day can be pretty monotonous. We do pick ups from different companies (getting out of the closet which is great), returns to different companies through Dynamex (messenger), on foot, or through UPS. We sort through jewelry, organize jewelry, sort through shoes, organize shoes, organize some more shoes, etc. Then we get the occasional email noise... which we now have learned to HATE that is usually titled: "URGENT MISSING FIND NOW MUST BE BACK HOURS AGO" or something like that, maybe not that intense but that's how it feels. Because we have companies send us an email saying, "Hey I got your return of 500 necklaces, but we are missing 1. Could we get that back this afternoon for a shoot? It's urgent." And most likely, those people gave us their stuff in like February. I hope you are getting the picture... so then we have to rummage through every drawer, every shelf, every closet, every tray of jewelry. And sometimes we find it, sometimes we don't. And we have been told "I can't find it" isn't an option for an answer. So, it can get pretty ugly there in the fashion closet from time to time.

Those responsibilities are more tedious and less fun. The fun things we get to do are what I love about the job. The past few weeks we have been getting ready for the November covershoot and story. Although I can't reveal who's on the cover (because I signed a contract that threatens to sue us for $20 million), we have been getting to work with the stylists that will be at the shoots. It is a cool process because my boss makes requests for jewelry, shoes, belts, scarves, etc, the stuff comes in, we edit through it, lay it out for the stylist, then the stylist comes in and makes the outfits of what she thinks they will use. And helping the stylist means she's asking us our opinion and seeing what we like. It has made me very interested in styling... something to look into for jobs I suppose. We also get to pick stuff out for stories. Like my boss does the "super shopper" which is inexpensive looks. Today, she told me to pick all the jewelry and she would edit out what she wanted. So, essentially, I picked out the stuff for that story which is really cool.

Today is probably the coolest thing I've done yet... Me and Brooke (another intern, in the photo with me) went with our boss to do marketing appointments. Basically, we go to different showrooms and she looks at their upcoming lines for future issues. We just sat and listened. We went to Bendel's and the showroom for BCBG. It was really cool... and it was cool to get on a more personal level with our boss. We had a conversation on the subway and let's just say after a lot of really hard work, it feels good to be acknowledged and hints of a future with Seventeen. That's all I'm sayin...

It has really been a good experience. Hard, but any internship is hard because you are at the bottom of the hill, and things roll down and just hit us all the time. But I have met a lot of really cool people and gotten to do a lot of cool things. I only have Monday and Tuesday left of work, then my sisters will come and I head home Sunday!! Have a great weekend.

The View

So, my friend heather and I decided to get up REALLY early yesterday morning to go see about getting standby tickets for The View. Really early meaning before 6 am, and they don't even give the standby tickets until 8, for your number in line. Then, you don't find out if you get in until 10... And we didn't get in for the first taping, but have no fear because they were doing an afternoon show. So we got some hot chocolate (yes, those of you in the 100 degree weather can be a little jealous that it was so chilly that hot chocolate was required), and said in Riverside park for a little while and headed back at noon. We stood in line for forever waiting anxiously to find out if we were gonna get in, we were numbers 8 and 9... and one of the production assistants walked by us and said, "Good luck getting in. See that line? No chance." Well we proved him wrong because we definitely got in!! And we were so excited. We were probably the youngest ones there, and our excitement was felt by everyone around us, even the man who took our tickets who then said, "Are you girls camera shy?" And we obviously replied, "ABSOLUTELY NOT!" So he puts a blue M on the back of our ticket, but we had no idea what it meant. So we are almost 200 people back to get in the studio and a person says, "Raise your hand if you have a blue M on the back of your ticket!" We raise our hand and they say come with us and so we did! We were like some of the first few people in and got great seats! Then Heather was the one who got to bring the show back from commercial break and Whoopi Goldberg was like a foot away from me! It was so fun, and so worth getting up early. And the show was on this morning and I saw me and Heather on it! Here are a few pictures... Enjoy!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELIANA!!!

Eliana, HAPPY SECOND BIRTHDAY!!! I love you so much and you are such a blessing to our family. We don't know what we would do without you!! I hope you had a very fun cupcake birthday party, I wish I could have been there! See you soon.

Love,
Tia Leah
This picture is from one of the first times I met Eliana when I went to visit Guatemala last summer! She couldn't have been happier at McDonald's with some french fries.

Now she is so old!! I miss her so much!!

the boyfriend's first time to NYC...

So, the boyfriend came to town. It was a really fun weekend! We saw everything: the met (lunch was hot dogs on the steps... probably exactly where the gossip girls sit), ellis island and the statue of liberty, battery park, union square, times square (when the news broke about michael jackson... absolute craziness), transformers the movie... (i fell asleep), rockefeller center, columbus circle, hanging out at central park, world trade center, south street seaport, max brenners, in the heights broadway show (awesome!!), and just a lot of hanging out. It was the best thing. Here are a few pics from the trip...

And last night, I went to a yankees game with a few friends that came in town! I really have gotten to do SO many fun things. I only have a few weeks left, and I am trying to soak up every moment! I am looking forward to a restful weekend, including some fireworks on the Hudson river! Thanks so much for continuing to pray for me. As much fun as I am having, it's still easy to get burdened with hurt for people here in the city and miss home. But, I really feel like the Lord is my strength here and I am being taught a LOT about myself and my relationship with Him. I will try and post more soon about what I am learning! Have a great 4th of July!!

A full weekend...

Here are a few pictures from the weekend! Maggie came to visit and we had such a great time. We saw basically everything there was to see in the city... the statue of liberty, the brooklyn bridge, fulton landing, union square, tribeca, soho, the lion king on broadway, the met, carriage ride in central park, and much much more! We ate at a lot of really amazing places too! Thanks so much for coming, mags.

Then, on Sunday night, I went with my friend to the Beyonce concert at Madison Square Garden. IT WAS AMAZING!

Tomorrow, mr. michael jacobs will be here and I could not be more excited. i'll put up pictures from his trip too! Thanks for your continued prayers... I love knowing I have people supporting me through this crazy time!

Star Sightings... add 3.

First of all, I hope you had a wonderful weekend! My roommates and I did some exploring, some resting from hectic work, and enjoyed being in the city! Here's something fun for you... Tonight my roommate was on a run and she called us and said, "get to times square immediately!" so we went and who do we see?? TINA FEY and STEVE CARELL about 20 feet away from us filming scenes for their new movie called Date Night. Seriously, I could have yelled and they would have heard me. Actually, I probably could have semi-shouted, and they still would have heard me. Basically, we met. Anyways, so we're standing there staring with star struck eyes and there are people from the movie asking us not to take pictures with flashes, thus the not so good pictures. However, I got a few! Also featured in this film for all the Gossip Girl fan is LEIGHTON MEESTER (aka blair)!!! And I was staring at her thinking I knew who she was and then i realized it and actually got more excited to see her than the other two! It's so surreal to see people like that. Then you realize you're staring at people and it made me think, what if thousands of people were standing in Times Square which is always busy moving, just to see me? Obviously I would daydream of people stopping just to see the famous Leah. At any rate, here are a few pictures!