the lasts...

whoa-the last time i posted was about 13 days ago! oops :)

so much has happened since then! i have made about a billion butterfly necklaces at work (so exciting, i know), won the second intern contest, finished beading the bodice of a dress i have been working on forever, and started another contest. we also went to las vegas!

the newest (and last) contest at work was to design and create a necklace. right up my alley ;) it was so fun, and i got to help the other interns learn how to put theirs together. i should put up a bunch of pictures of all of the stuff we have done, maybe i will do that next friday when i am anxiously awaiting my flight for saturday :) meghan comes back to the office on monday, so i am looking forward to that. i'm also a little nervous, because i have gotten so used to being around christen (the design assistant, my boss for the last 7 weeks) and doing things her way that i am afraid it will be a complete 180 when meghan gets back. i am looking forward to spending the last week with her though. i can't believe i only have 4 days of work left!

tomorrow we have the going away dinner for the program at the geisha house. it's the same restaurant that kameron and i went to when he was here. i am glad we're going there again, it was delicious! other than that, i plan on doing a lot of "lasts" this weekend. for example, i just put my last load of laundry in :) i'm hoping to go shopping or something to pass a little time and get out and around LA for my last weekend. we shall see!

vegas was interesting. but fun mostly. it was so HOT. i could not believe it. at 10 pm we walked around the strip and it was still like 90 degrees. what the heck! i guess that's what you get in a desert though. i am proud to report that i went into three tiffany's stores! i wish i was a billionaire though. i also gambled for the first time and won $30.62! and i only gambled $10 :)

i am done rambling, but here is my list (sequel to my list from italy) of things i will miss and not miss!

things i'll miss in LA:

1. santa monica beach-love this place. it's so relaxing and cute

2. the coffee bean-maybe they have these in iowa? i don't think so. but either way, i'll miss the red velvet cupcakes & chai tea until we are reunited :)

3. christen & karina at meg fab-taught me almost everything i've learned this summer. they're so fun to work with and always helped me get through the days

4. kristina-though our end was a bit of a struggle, i know it's not the end of being friends! i learned a lot from her (coffee bean!), and had a lot of fun too :)

things i will not miss in LA:

1. the public busses-so dumb. but definitely a character builder

2. frozen yogurt-its good, but where the heck is dairy queen? and coldstone? i want real ice cream!

3. the joke of a shower i have in my apartment...i literally have to squat a little to wash my hair.

4. the "bed" in my apartment-is this a concrete slab? and is my pillow honestly made of plastic? yes to all the above.

5. my apartment in general, obviously

6. being 898776098980 miles away from home. that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but thats what it feels like.

well i think i'll keep that as a running list, just in case i think of more between now and next friday. stay tuned ;)

see you in ONE WEEK!

xoxo-e

three weeks...

3 weeks from today i'll be home! i can't wait.

today we went to the dodgers vs. cubs game. it was fun :) the cubs won-i don't watch baseball enough to have a team, but i was glad they won since they're closer to home. i also won the bet kameron & i made :)

at work this week we finally finished up the shipment that we are sending out of all of the old & (repaired) damaged garments. it's a huge relief because that means i'll be done sewing on care/content labels and random things like that. i'm sure i'll still have to do some but at least it won't be days and days of it! i won the first contest we did too! we had to design the straps of a dress, and it'll get put on the website and named after me. maybe i'll post the link to it on here when it goes up! we started a second contest as well, with bead layouts for a top. i think the plan is to do one every week! i'm glad because they're fun. wish me luck :) on friday we also got taken out to lunch by our boss's business partner for doing so well! we went to this cool ramen noodle place that's been on the show man vs. food. it was delicious!

next weekend we are going to vegas! just for an overnight from saturday to sunday, but i'm really excited. then the weekend after that is our going away dinner, and the weekend after that i'll be home!

love love love

e

happy birthday to me :)

it's my birthday! wahooo!

this weekend was amazing. i wish it could just continue until the end of july. wouldn't that be nice. i didn't have to work on friday so kristina & i ran a few errands. she left for home around 1, and the waiting began. i literally did everything i could possibly think of to make time go faster. painted my nails, did laundry, took a really long shower, packed for the weekend, etc. finally i left for the airport. only to do more waiting once i got there! but luckily i brought a great book, and time went quickly. it was so exciting to see kameron finally! since it was so late, we just went to the hotel and slept. saturday we got up & came to my apartment. i gave him a little tour, and then we took the bus (haha-had have him get the experience) to my work so he could see my building. then we shopped around a little and headed to rodeo drive to check it out. since we couldn't afford anything there we didn't stay for long :) we went to hollywood blvd next to look at the walk of fame and go through madame tussaud's wax museum. it was so fun :) we finished our day with dinner at the geisha house. it was soo good-sushi, lobster tempura, and these weird (but good) little peppers. for the 4th, we decided to go to santa monica beach. it was really discouraging to get up to an overcast sky! that's how it usually is here in the mornings, so we weren't too worried. it made for a chilly start to our day, but the sun ended up coming out and it was beautiful. we both got a little sunburned but it was worth it! after the beach we went and cleaned up a little at the hotel and watched some fireworks. then we went to the saddle ranch chop house to eat and wait for it to turn midnight! i had a pretty epic first drink, but i don't think i would drink it again! it was sad for him to leave today, but only 4 more weeks until i'm home! oh and i forgot to mention how much i LOVE my new camera that kameron got me for my birthday. (thanks again babe!)

well now that i've typed a giant run-on paragraph, i think i'll let your eyes rest! i'll update again later this week.

miss you!

e

halfway??

i am starting my 4th week of work...crazy! at the end of this week i'll be halfway done. it's definitely starting to feel more like i work there now, rather than just being a visitor or something! we have been sewing care/content labels into a lot of pieces for most of last week & today. at first i was less than thrilled about doing that, but now i kind of like it. it seems to make the day go quickly.

this past weekend we went to santa monica beach-it was awesome :) i cannot wait to take kameron there this weekend. i also tried surfing while we were there. so hard!! i didn't even make it to the standing position. the water was freezing though, so i wimped out pretty fast. i know why all the surfers you see on tv are so ripped now though, it's definitely a workout. we also went to this delicious little restaurant in santa monica, and then walked around the 3rd street promenade. there were a ton of fun shops, and we even got to watch a dance crew perform in the middle of the street! yesterday we went out for breakfast and to the grove. its a huge outdoor shopping center. for breakfast we went to a vegan restaurant (kristina is vegan, and there are a ton of vegan places around here). it was reallllly good :) and i even got brave and tried her "bacon" that looked like a cracker. it tasted just like the real thing, so weird.

i am beginning to wonder where los angeles gets all of these crazy people from? riding the bus to and from work everyday is definitely building character haha. every day i see something different or have a different experience. and the people walking around are something else too. almost everyone has been nice so far though, so i am thankful for that :)

this may not be my last post for the week! i doubt i'll have anything too exciting to report (if anyone even reads this anymore!), but i am trying to keep myself busy this week, so that i don't think too much about kameron getting here on friday! i cannot waaaait! and also, my birthday is monday...so if you are reading this, feel free to send gifts! just kidding :)

later gators!

xoxo-e

beginning week 3

wow i can't believe that tomorrow i'll be starting my third week of work! last week went by really quickly, and i am hoping the rest will go by quickly too! i really miss home.

at work this week, we started to go through our damaged items to see if we could fix them and sell them at a lower price. it's kind of fun! we get to do whatever we want to the clothes to fix them, and it's fun to see the end result. i think we are going to continue doing that this week, and then we'll see what else happens!

yesterday kristina, her friend, and i went to laguna beach. it was so fun! the beaches were gorgeous and the town of laguna beach was adorable! i thought it would be a big town, but it was actually very small and artsy. there were a bunch of little shops and people playing live music outside. we spent almost the whole day outside in the beautiful weather. unfortunately i got sunburnt, but luckily it's mostly better today :)

this coming weekend the program is going to santa monica. i am really excited, because i have heard awesome things about it and seen some really good pictures. they're offering surfing lessons while we are there, so maybe i'll try that out too.

other than that, i don't really have anything to share! i am anxiously awaiting kameron's arrival, but that's still almost 2 weeks away! so in the mean time, i will have to find something else to focus on.

love :)

e

the first week is over!

well it sure has been a tiring week! but i am glad that it's over and it's the weekend.

like i said before, i am working on a necklace at work, which is what i did for most of the rest of the week. supposedly when it's done, we are sending it to china to be put into production! that would be really cool. i also got to sit in on a fit session, where a model tried on all the samples to see if there were any issues with how the garments fit. it was very interesting, and showed me how much more work goes into clothes than what people think. i also was asked to go out and run errands in my boss's porsche. lets just say that i am terrified of driving in los angeles, because they have the worst traffic in the country (fact), and it was even more terrifying to be driving my boss's expensive car. i panicked and had to go back early because i got lost, but luckily she wasn't mad. at the end of the week we had a meeting to review my performance, and she said i was great! and then she let me pick out a garment to take off of the rack :) so i officially own a meghan fabulous dress!

last night, my roommate kristina took me to a comedy club called the laugh factory. apparently dane cook is a regular there (he wasn't there last night, dang!), and it was pretty fun. i was glad to be able to get in bed though! unfortunately i didn't get to sleep in this morning, because i had to run in to work quick, and then we boarded a double decker bus for a tour of los angeles & hollywood. we learned some really interesting stuff! we stopped at grauman's chinese theater to check out the area. i took a few pictures on the walk of the stars, and got the #1 most photographed star (michael jackson), and the #2 (marilyn monroe). that was pretty cool. cindy crawford also happened to be there handing out lemonade, which was weird. we ate lunch at a restaurant called ketchup, and it was very cool. the inside is all white and red, and very modern.

tomorrow i plan on sleeping in a little and doing some laundry. i have to recharge myself for the next week of work!

miss you :)

e

ps-kameron is coming to visit! wahooo!

almost friday!

i have finished my third day as an intern! and it's almost friday-wahoo! i am so exhausted from working, and i have no idea why. but i'll be able to get some sleep soon enough!

tuesday was my first day at meghan fabulous. i was a little discouraged at first, because we mainly just hung up clothes from the trunk show and counted beads. thousands and millions of beads. there is one other girl from the program that is an intern with me, so it's nice to have someone to work alongside.

wednesday i got to have a one on one meeting with meghan about goals and things i would like to do throughout my internship. i told her i'm really interested in jewelry, and the next thing i know, she has assigned me a project. so currently i am working on the worlds coolest necklace :) we also got to go out into downtown with the design assistant and see the showroom and some of the places where meghan gets trims and beads. it was pretty cool!

today i mostly worked on my fabulous necklace. we had a fit session for fall samples, and it was awesome to see how that works.

apart from actually working, i haven't gotten a chance to see LA yet! i leave around 8 for work (i have to ride the public bus-yikes!), and then by the time i get home i run to the cafeteria and eat, and then just relax because i am so worn out! this weekend we are getting a tour of hollywood though, and some girls and i are talking about going to a beach on sunday. also-there are some freaks here. i guess i should have expected that, but some people are just crazy!

i will update again soon :) love from LA!

xoxo

e

arrival in los angeles

Well I am finally here. I feel like I have been up for days traveling, but really I've only been up since 3. I am already counting the days until I come home. I think I will get used to it more, but I'm feeling basically the same way I did when I got to Italy-already homesick. Probably because I have never been away from Kameron for longer than like 10 days. Pathetic, I know. But oh well, I will figure it out.

So far all I have done is unpack my stuff (into my nasty apartment), go to lunch, and grocery shop a little bit. We have a "welcome dinner" later on tonight, and then tomorrow is orientation. I start my internship on Tuesday, and just found out I have to ride the bus there. I should not be trusted to figure out a bus route in Ames, let alone Los Angeles. It'll be interesting. Let's hope that I make it to work and back safely & without getting lost.

That's all the lovely details I have for now, I'll probably write again after I have my first day at work :)

xoxo

e

the in between

I have decided to bring back the blog for los angeles :)

Check back on/after June 6th :)