Summary.

School & Fashion: Five hours until my last final of the quarter is over with. And the project has been finished since late last night, so that's awesome. What else is awesome is my draping IV final is over with (see pics below). What isn't awesome is my BRAND NEW black VS bra (and incidentally best bra I've ever owned) has gone MIA. I bought it, wore it once, and have not been able to find it since. I did several weeks worth of laundry today, and it's not in there. I stripped my bed and it wasn't lost in my comforter. I emptied my car. Nope. I even called my tanning salon, which is a pretty weird phone call to make: "Hi, do you have my bra? Because I like to take it off in public places and then leave without realizing I don't have it." They didn't have it either. WTF.

Draping IV dresses:

Entertainment: S05E02 of Entourage was fab. 88 Minutes has one of the most disturbing opening scenes I've seen in a mainstream movie in years. Blockbuster has a shitty collection of classic movies--no 3 Days of the Condor OR the original The Women OR An Affair to Remember (and the kid working the counter made me feel like I was 50 years old since he'd never heard of ANY of them). SATC: The Movie comes out in 5 days. The new Rise Against CD comes out October 7 (and was apparently influenced by their touring with MCR....meh).

Halloween: I want to be a subtle but realistic vampire. Time to find some badass fangs.

I'm home from my NYC trip, slowly unpacking and getting back to my life in Tampa. I'll have some design updates once this quarter ends, but right now I'm in a New York state of mind.

So day one, Tyler picks me up from La Guardia and we drive into the city.



Yes, he brought a car to New York. After about 7 hours (ok, like 1) of trying to find a spot, we got one that allowed us time to unload our stuff before we'd have to move it again. Yes, he brought a CAR to New York. Noone was there to let us into the Penington, but we MacGyvered our way in and found our key to room 22--the Edith Darlington room. Uh, cool. No, seriously, it was a pretty cool room.





We ventured out to get some food during rush hour on the streets then scurried back to relax. Went out and met the Russian that night who showed us a good time at a few bars.

Day two we hit Broadway for some shopping--Macy's (world's biggest store did not disappoint but it was really crowded), H&M, Zara, all of NY's staples. Unfortunately TopShop wasn't open yet. Then Tyler left me at Mood to fondle fabric to my heart's content. You know when there are TOO many choices and you end up being so overwhelmed you just want to leave empty handed? That was my initial reaction at Mood, but after a couple trips through the emporium, I grasped their organization and found some cool stuff.

This was one of many, many aisles at Mood, on ONE of the floors:



Some of my silk chiffon picks:



We went out and met some of Tyler's crazy foreign friends for drinks near Central Park, which was a blast, then went home and crashed.



Day three we tried to stay close to our neighborhood and hit Urban Outfitters, American Apparel, etc., but we ended up back near Broadway and did some more damage. Prada is definitely a store not to be missed. AMAZING design, breathtaking architectural details...and hot sunglasses to boot. I didn't get any pics of inside the store because I didn't want to be THAT girl.



Lounge was also a really great store, awesome designer selection and floor layout. Live DJ during the day, can't beat that. Walked around for hours, taking in the city.

Ducati dealership love:



Had brunch at a French brasserie, brunch on a Saturday! Loves it. Then we went back and took cat naps before braving the rain to get to Tokio 7 (thanks to the cab driver who drove us three blocks PAST our destination and then sheepishly pulled over and showed us the curb as it started to rain harder). Tokio 7 is an experience if nothing else. Helmut Lang, Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, Chanel, it's all there in this tiny vintage resale shop. Tyler scored a Marc Jacobs military jacket and these killer shoes:


Unfortunately, all the Manolos and Choos (like, six pairs of boots for under $100 each!) were too big for me, as was the Prada pale blue leather jacket. Definitely worth a trip, though.

I do love New York but I'm not sure I want to move there. It's the fashion capitol of the US, yes, but it's dirty, crowded, and full of rude and indifferent people. I can get used to anything, but I don't want to become so hardened I can't flash a stranger a smile on the street or apologize for bumping into someone. Maybe I'll spend a couple years there, but I don't know if I'm a lifer. Next stop: LA.