My last day at MSW :(

My fellow Martha Stewart Weddings interns and I gave our staff an Edible Arrangement to say "thanks!" It was the least was could do! My wonderful editors gave me a beautiful carafe I had been OBSESSING over for weeks from ABC Carpet and Home. I miss MSW!

So it had to happen eventually... my last day at MSW was August 5. The summer was absolutely incredible, and I cannot wait until the Fall and Travel issues hit newsstands so I can see all the wonderful things the staff and I worked on during my internship. The fall issue is going to be AMAZING. Look for it in the beginning of September. And be sure to skim the bylines in Travel! ;)

My last day at Martha Stewart was filled with fun heart-felt goodbyes. The day started with a rooftop farewell breakfast of fruit and pastries with the Weddings staff. It was great to have time to talk with my lovely editors. I miss them all so much!

Later that day the interns were treated to a delicious lunch from 'Wichcraft and a phone Q and A with Martha Stewart! She gave us lots of advice on life, creative living and our future careers. All the intern were given signed copies of Martha's new book, Pies and Tarts!

I spent the rest of the day finishing a few things and begging my editors to give me more work. I was also fortunate enough to have an informational interview with our editor-in-cheif! She gave me some of the best advice ever! Seriously.

Then my dad and I spent hours upon hours packing my room; I don't know how we got everything home! Dad's a wizard, obvi. About halfway through the packing marathon, we had a fun, coal oven pizza dinner at Arturo's. There was live jazz and delicious food. It was a blast!

My last few weeks in NYC went by so quickly, and I have a massive of things left to blog about. I cannot believe it's been almost a month since I've posted! Be prepared for upcoming posts on all the exciting things I experienced this summer.

I learned an unbelievable amount at MSW this summer! I got to blog, copy-edit, fact check, research and a million other things that have prepared me to work for a magazine.

Right now I've just moved into my apartment in Lawrence, started copy-editing for the University Daily Kansas (my internship really prepared me for this!) got hired at Bloom Bath and Body on Mass Street, and start classes on Monday. I can already tell that senior year is going to be fantastic!

A wondrous weekend...part 1

Is my Martha showing?

I made Drew a Welcome To NYC banner out of a Subway

map and a provided a few treats and vino from Trader Joe's.

Last weekend I had the pleasure of seeing some of my favorite people: my dad, aunt Carol Ann, grandma Carol, Drew and all my NYC relatives! Sadly, what brought us together was my great grandma Rachel's funeral, but because her life was so long and filled with love and good memories, it was much more of a celebration of life. That part of the long weekend consisted of a scrumptious seven course Italian meal at Chianti's in White Plains, a shopping spree with my partner in crime, Carol Ann; and a fun night enjoying half shell clams, chowder and tuna sashimi at Legal Seafood.

Saying goodbye to my family was a bummer, but by Saturday I was ready for my weekend with Drew to begin! (Drew was originally arriving Friday night, but flew in a day early to be with me at the funeral, isn't he sweet?)

My weekend with Drew began Saturday afternoon at Ramen Setegaya on St. Marks, New York Magazine's choice for the city's best ramen. My boyfriend, along with most college students, is a big fan of the 18 cents a pack, microwaveable stuff, so when I told him we had the real deal here, he had to try it...first thing. And we agree with NY Mag, Setegaya is fantastic. We suggest completing your meal with the green tea mochi. You won't be disappointed.

Of course, the big bowl is mine.

Our next stop was Trader Joe's! After hearing me rave about it, Drew had to see it for himself. Then we ventured to Central Park, where Drew had his very first Sabrett hot dog. We enjoyed views of the city from the Belvedere Castle, saw lots of couples taking wedding photos at the Bethesda Fountain (DREAM!) and Drew fell in love with the Imagine mosaic in Strawberry fields.

Fun at Belvedere Castle

After taking many round-about routes to get to the sites in Central Park, Drew and I really got to know The Lake.

After the park we headed back to the dorm to hang out and enjoy Drew's welcome goodies! Later we went to the Famous Cozy Soup n' Burger, a delectable 24 hour diner right by my dorm. Drew got a munster burger and I got a vanilla milkshake and a reuben.

Sunday was grey and rainy, so we woke up early to visit the American Museum of Natural History. The line to get in was insane, and it looked too packed to enjoy, so we decided to switch it up and go to Rockefeller Center and the lovely, less busy attractions around it.

We lit a candle for my grandma Rachel and Papa Gene and enjoyed the architecture at St Patrick's Cathedral...

We built lego people at the Lego Store...

Lego Rockefeller!

Unleash the dragon.

We obsessed over the Psych merch at the NBC Store and met Pikachu at the nintendo store!

The cutest couple.

So while in New York, Drew wanted to try something he'd never eaten before, which is difficult because he's consumed things like rattlesnake and kangaroo. But luckily, my internship has introduced me to many real New Yorkers with insider tips, so we followed an MSW editor's perfect advice and had a wonderful dinner at Cafe Mogador, a lovely Moroccan restaurant on the same street as Setegaya! This could not have been a more fitting suggestion, we both fell in love with Mogador. For Drew to try something new, we ate Merguez, which is a mutton sausage. I got Merguez with salad, grilled vegetables and rice and Drew tried Merguez couscous. The slightly spicy and slightly sweet sausage was to die for. We both also tried the Moroccan tea, which is green tea with mint and sugar. I had mine hot and Drew's was cold. It was one of the most flavorful and aromatic teas I have ever tried!

Merguez...yummm.

After our meal, we traveled to the Whitehall terminal at sunset to take the Staten Island Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty. Although it doesn't take you as close as the official Statue of Liberty Tours, it's gets the job done and offers beautiful views of the city...and it's free! The foggy night made for a beautiful and unique viewing, and some great pictures! It was a very romantic evening.

The ferry we rode was epically called Spirit of America.

Hello, Lady Liberty!

Finally, Drew and I ended day two in Times Square, which was BEYOND crowded. We both decided that this tourist trap isn't out favorite part of they city, and missed the cool, laid back parts of East Village where Setegaya, Mogador and my dorm are. But we still had fun be being tourists and had a blast at the Hershey Store, where we invested in extra long twizzlers and a giant Mr. Goodbar. YUM. Drew is so relaxed and go with the flow, he is the best travel buddy!

Before we got to Times Square, Drew kept talking about the Coca-Cola sign.

Check in tomorrow for part two of my weekend with Drew, including scenes from the fabulous rooftop Martha Stewart 4th of July party!

SNEAK PEEK:

Pinching myself on a daily basis.

I can't even begin to count the number of times I asked myself "is this real life?" in the last two days. The MSLO office is a magical place full of crazy, random, beautiful and wonder things like test kitchens, dogs, prop rooms, staff kitchens (aka pantries) stocked with delicious Twinning's tea, wedding dresses, eggs from Martha's farm and some of the nicest people you'll ever meet. It couldn't be more perfect.

On Monday morning I met AJ (bff from high school who has a digital photography internship, I am SO happy we are experiencing this together!) at the Starrett-Lehigh building in Chelsea to start our first day. The day started with meeting the super nice HR people, gift bags filled with sweet Martha swag like a mug and a rain slicker that I'm going to have to incorporate into a Martha Stewart Halloween costume. Then we ate a yummy breakfast of bagels, fruit and yogurt. After a tour of the beautiful office, we took to the even more beautiful rooftop for a pizza party. The building is right on the Hudson, and the weather was perfect, so I got to watch sail boats as I ate some delicious pizza. After lunch I met Senior Editor Kelly, who gave me a much more in depth tour, and then met Deputy Editor Cara who gave me my first project, which was to make up names to be put on place cards in an upcoming issue. They told me to mix and match friends first and last names, so be on the look out for part of you name in MSW!

My second day was even better than the first. I started the day with a project from Assistant Managing Editor Lindsay, whom I sit next to. (On the other side of me is Managing Editor Talley--sitting between these two has been beyond helpful, and fun!) I helped Lindsey fact check the Gown Gallery, which consisted of emailing PR people from dress design companies. Needless to say, it was very exciting seeing names like Oscar De La Renta in my inbox!

The last project I did was write a charming little piece on something that has to do with the groom's attire (don't want to give too much away!) that will appear in Good Things and online.

I also finally got to try Wichcraft (the pressed ham and cheese is to die for) and spend some quality time with Cara. I can tell we are going to get along great and I am going to learn a lot from her!

I can tell this is going to be such an educational experience because I am doing real editorial work with an amazing magazine. Every day is so much fun and I have already learned a ton. I haven't fetched any coffee, or made single copy, although I really wouldn't mind doing any of that because everyone is so welcoming and kind to me. I already feel like a part of the group.

I feel so at home here. My desk is down the hall from the test kitchen, so I get to smell delicious things cooking all day. The building is in such a fantastic location, the Empire State Building in on one side, and the Stature of Liberty is on the other! It's inspiring.

To make the day even more perfect, AJ and I got invited to go to a super exclusive Melissa sample sale with some other Martha staff members. And yes, it was just like Confessions of a Shop-a-holic. This is not real life.

So I've decided I am never leaving. Sorry Kansas!

My bad ass Martha rain slicker!

We we we so excited! (understatement)

Something AMAZING has happened! I have achieved one of my biggest and wildest goals. I have been hired as an editorial intern for MARTHA STEWART WEDDINGS...IN NYC! (scream) Since I found out, my week has been filled with planning, celebrating and pinching myself.

The Spring 2011 issue of Martha Stewart Weddings, which I read cover to cover in preparation for my internship interview. During the interview an editor said, "Just face it, you have a Martha obsession!" How'd she know? ;)

I'll be spending my summer working at one of my favorite publications and helping create the Travel and Winter issues. MSW has a pretty small staff, so I am looking forward to a more individualized experience. The staff I've spoken with so far, Deputy Editor Cara Sullivan, Senior Editor Kelly Lack and Human Resources Associate Generalist Danielle Frizziola, have been extremely nice and helpful. I cannot wait to meet them and the rest of the staff in person. I know I will learn so unbelievably much and make the most amazing memories. It will be the experience of a lifetime!

Luckily, a friend from the J-School and my Jayplay editor will also be in NYC this summer (one interning at Shape and the other taking a publishing course at NYU) so we are all going to live in the NYU apartments, hopefully together.

I will be blogging the experience from today, as I begin preparing and planning, and throughout my internship and time in my beloved city. My internship starts on June 13, and I will be moving into NYU the week of June 5. My last day at MSW is August 5 and I'll probably be leaving on the 6th. Then back to reality! KU classes start on August 22.

Getting through the last four weeks of classes will be difficult. All I can thinks about is New York and my internship. I need to start putting together my professional wardrobe and making a list of everything I want to do. I'll also be studying the magazine, of course! My supervisor at Corbin has an entire folder of MSW clips she's saved, so I'll be reading those so I can go into my internship well prepared!

A welcome packet is on it's way, and I cannot wait until it gets here so I can start learning about what is in store for me this summer!

A Perfect Little Party!

I am in college, therefore I am poor!

This is my, and many of my friends, mantra, which is why we find that although we LOVE the holidays, the amount of spending can be a little scary. But we also live by another mantra:

I am in college, therefore, I LOVE to party!

So we had to get creative and to something fab on the cheap.

The evening started with an amazing thrifting experience with MB and AJ at Savers, which is like a Goodwill, but 100 times trendier and cheaper, with 100 times more stuff. We all had great successes and highly suggest it. My highlight pieces? An crazy printed electric blue blouse with gold buttons, a cream beaded, super soft granny sweater, a fab golden feathers pin and some
adorable vintage knick-nacks! Everything is SO affordable! Not a thing I bought was over $10!




MB and AJ bought blazers, and I was wearing one already (vintage JCrew, to be exact!) so we made it a blazer party! LOVE.

Next we went home to decorate the yule log AJ had prepared, recipie from The Joy of Cooking!



We used this DELISH cream cheese and coco frosting, cranberries and some pine tree clippings.
There are tons of traditions attached to the Yule log. My favorite is that the hosts of the holliday parties put together a bundle of sticks and twing bound with greens. They place it on the fire and when it burst, the unburnt twigs from the center are given to next year's hosts to put in their Yule log.

Instead of spending money on gifts for each other, we did a traditonal white elephant gift exchange, where we all found things around our houses to give. I scored a Disney Princess I Spy book. Be jealous!

We ended the evening ejoying the delicious Yule log with AJ's homemade Chex Mix and this amazing cranberry punch from the Junior League cookbook, Beyond Parsley.


Our friends had a fabulous time. Not only did we provide decadent holiday treats, but we also we were surrounded by our best friends, who we hadn't seen since Thanksgiving Break. What a night!


Enjoy the low quality IPhone pic of the hosts! (R to L: Me, AJ and MB)

Weather in Kansas is gray and rainy, but WORTH IT, because, we're supposed to have a white Christmas! Fingers crossed!

Love, AE

P.S. I PROMISE I will post the details, recipies and photos of Drew and I's gift making experience. Finals CONSUMED my life that week! I just need to get the pics from my roomie!