my life, last week

so honestly, i shouldn't complain. i realize and understand hard work comes with any job. i also understand that you have to go through the shit to get to the dream job. when i got back from spring break i was completely ready for the school year to be over, and with that, the feelings of frustration of going to 3 full days of work at an unpaid internship. it isn't that the work i am doing is too hard, or too much, but typically when you are asked (or sometimes ordered) to do something at a job the compensation is money - it is hard to see the long term compensation on a regular basis when you are just feeling "over it." last week was for sure a hard one. I was asked not once, not twice, but three times to run around manhattan and pick up garment bags from publications that have recently cut back on expenditures (meaning they wont pay for messenger services to return theyclothing they borrowed from our showroom. My issue isn't running the errand, it is the culmination of annoyances that come along with the task. For example: using my own money to get on a subway (which is only $2.50 but times that by 6 (the way there and the way back comes to a couple meals or a bunch of drinks or even a cheap item of clothing... not that i can even afford that) or thinking I am only brining one bag back to the showroom and they load my arms up with 6 (and these things are HEAVY). To make things worse, as I was standing outside of Teen Vogues messenger center another (paid) messenger looked at me, laughs and says "you go to school to carry those bags?" I wanted to cry. i don't go to school for that - it makes the task i am doing seem so unimportant and labor driven rather than lesson driven. 

But after two full days of work shlepping bags around ny and checking clothes in and out of the closet (really this is all i did for two days) i was rewarded with someth

ing so great. Audrey, my boss asked me if I would like to assist her and May at an Elle Magazine photo shoot. I've been on the sets of shoots before due to my awesomely talented brother Joel but that was purely observation. To assist w

as such an incredible opportunity and learning

 experience. Yes I had to carry the garment bag to the location and unpack the bag but I also was asked my opinion for outfitting the model, I was to accessorize the shoot and 

I was to asked to help with prop styling. The

 location was so crazy. The photographe

r, Aliya Naumoff (who is also the

 girlfriend to Nick of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs) suggested shooting at her brother's tenant apartment. From the outside this place looked like some lower east side apt above a small taco shack with a Supreme advertisement on the side. We walked up three flights of stairs to get to Adam (the brother's) crazy apartment. First of all, background on Adam - super out-there, corky guy who has had many past jobs in costume design (you can imagine the type of clothing laying around this place), prop styling (offering props throughout the photoshoot such as large swords, umbrellas and various animal heads and skulls) and now does set design (even contributing to Macy's annual flower show this giant tree...I can't find a picture of it online but believe me- it was incredible) 

Adam has painted his entire apartment to look or

 "feel" like cuba, thus bright pink, orange, and green walls. Large plants. Exotic animal heads

 hanging around, a giant beach umbrella and various cuban paintings. This place was wild. We were all a little confused why Aliya had recommended this cramped, outrageous apartment to shoot our April 77 story at but then she explained we would be shooting downstairs in the abandoned apartments.

As we went downstairs Adam explained the history behind the abandonment. Within two months of moving into his apartment it became evident that the super who lived below him and his next door neighbors had something going

 on. The super was an elderly rabi who 

hardly ever left his apartment. Next to him lived the rabi's

 prostitute and her brother (who

 had been incarcerated for murder for 20 years). The prostitute and brother were extreme heroine addicts and also acted as landlords of the complex. Basically, these three lived in

 absolute filth and decaying situations for about 15 years. There was no upkeep to their

 apartment what so ever. We are talking paint chipping, graffiti, needles laying around, exposed wood hanging from the ceiling; this was creepy to the extreme. AND made for a killer photo shoot.  (This picture is Audrey, the owner of archetype on the left, May reacting to the story about the murderer/rabi/prostitute, women's PR and the makeup artist)

We were photographing April 77 collection wear on Apache Beat's Ilirjana Alushaj. It was an awesome experience and rewardin

g to get out of the showroom for a day. It makes the two days of hell worth it all. It also helps to keep me appreciating the

 experience and educational value to my internship. I am extremely blessed to have such an awesome place to work and learn 3 days a week. My bosses are so knowledgeable and experienced and treat me as a friend. I would love to work at Archetype one day or in a similar working environment. Below are pictures from the photoshoot and one of the showroom too. :) 4 more weeks of classes before I graduate and return t

o Chicago. It's been a wild year.

some tings to please the eye... more lata.