Fried Amanda

This is going to be a short post because I am exhausted and sunburnt.  

Things I learned today:

1. My hair + convertible = me looking like I had been placed in a wind tunnel.  Those movies where the actress drives a black bmw convertible and her hair is beautifully flowing behind her is a LIE!!!!!

2. In New Jersey you pay for EVERYTHING- driving (tolls), parking, beach access, food (2 times the normal price) and my favorite one of the day.... "Welcome customers, if you have had a great day and would like a nice shower you can find them down on the corner for $3".  hahaha

3. The Jersey boardwalk lived up to every single stereotype

And lastly...

4. The sun hates me even with sunscreen.  I am now sporting a super cool bright red farmers tan.  

Goodnight world...I'm going to suffer through a night of wonderful sunburn.  Kill me please.

~Amanda

By the way....good to know that only 2 people care to show the love and comment.  Either no one cares or no one read my last post lol

Hi! I live down the street!

The outgoing southern definitely made an impact on the street today!  Look out Jersey/NYC- I plan on meeting all of you!  

Haha.  As you all know, I am no shy person.  Therefore, today when I got bored, I went and met the neighbors!  I was sitting on the stoop reading Everyone Worth Knowing when I decided to talk to walk down the street-which is gorgeous by the way.  Beautiful tree lined streets everywhere.  So, as I'm walking down the street I see a car a few houses down that I stopped and stared at for a second....it had something plastered to the back of the car....I looked again just in case I misread it, but nope...Auburn University was not only on one car but two!!!  

So, I walked down the street a little more thinking of ways how I could meet these Auburn people without being a complete creeper.  So when I walked back past the house there was a woman sitting on the porch.  I just stood there for a second not saying anything.  She looked up and we sort of stared at eachother for a split second before i was like "ummm do you go to Auburn??"  Next thing I know I was in her house meeting her daughter who had just graduated last week!  I still can't believe an Auburn girl lives just a few houses down from me...in NEW JERSEY!!

Anyways...later on tonight we got back from some errands and I noticed about 6 people gathered at the end of a driveway with a bunch of little kids running around.  I wanted to meet them so bad but I went inside instead.  However, I couldnt stop thinking about it!  So I walked back outside and started walking toward their group.  I was like...."Hi! I'm Amanda!  I live here for the summer and I wanted to meet the neighbors!!"  haha. They were so nice! I think I met 4 couples who lived right next down the street.  I played with their kids for a while....(i'm getting scared that I am actually really starting to like kids now....what is coming over me?!)  They were just so cute though and I'm pretty sure I scored myself some major babysitting jobs.  

They were all pretty young...i mean their kids werent older than 7 and most of them had ones that are 3 and younger. After talking for about 45 mins I couldnt help but feel like I was in an episode of Desperate Housewives NJ edition.  And I dont mean that in a bad way.  They were just so fun and nice!!  

Okay well now that I have probably bored you to death with my non NYC stories, I am going to head to sleep now.

I'm off to the Boardwalk tomorrow!!!!!!  

Oh...if you all could please comment because it makes me feel loved.  Thanks. haha

The girl who never meets a stranger,  

~Amanda

Relaxing Day

I realized that I never explained my work schedule yesterday and unfortunately for those of you waiting to hear about work day number 2, you will have to wait until Monday.  I will in the office Monday and Tuesday alone and on Wednesday's Heather and I are in together, then she is alone Thursday and Friday.  Now those are just office days...I am required to be in for events also but those vary on days and times.  As much as I wish I could be going in everyday I still get to do a lot here in Jersey.

Therefore this post won't be nearly as exciting as my last one- so sorry.  

After sleeping in, catching up on emails and facebooking a tad, I went to lunch at Friendly's with my Aunt Helen Ann and Grandma.  For those of you who haven't had the pleasure of eating at Friendly's, allow me to indulge you in a sweet description.  It is a very family friendly food/ice cream place.  Let's just say that even though I was overly full from my chicken wrap I refused to pass up the two scoop mint chocolate chip/forbidden chocolate sundae drizzled with caramel and topped with whipped cream and of course a bright red cherry.  It was delicious to say the very least.

I learned where the Wallgreens and grocery store is in town.  Exciting right?

Lastly....I FINALLY saw Angels and Demons!!!!!!!!  And for those of you who haven't seen it, I will not spoil it.  But I just want to do some PR for it and stress how great it was.  It had be on the edge of my seat up until the last second!  It had twists and turns that you just would have never guessed in your wildest dreams.  Not to mention that Ewan McGregor stole my heart again with his sexy accent.  I still have a weird old man crush on Tom Hanks....sorry if that creeps you out, but I do and I can't explain it.  

Well, that's all I have for you today!  I'm hoping the dreary weather will quit so I can walk around the neighborhood tomorrow.  I'm pretty sure that I'm going to the Jersey shore and boardwalk this weekend!!  That will for sure make for an interesting post!  

With 15 minutes to spare I made today's deadline!

~Amanda  

Survival of the fittest- New York style

You can all breathe a sigh relief knowing that I survived my first full day as an intern.  Not only did I survive the 9:30-6 work day, I also feel like a big girl after commuting on the train all by myself!

Today was nothing like I expected but in a great way.  Alright- let the story telling begin.

I caught the train at 7:54am this morning where I was greeted with looks of horror from my fellow commuters who thought for a split second that I was actually going to sit down and have a conversation with them.  I couldnt help but want to sit down and blurt out "It's my first day as an intern!" but I refrained.  I now understand what I must do in order to blend in....wear black....have a brief case...eat a bagel...drink coffee....consistantly check blackberry (check!)....and of course, the number one thing to do in order to blend in....shove headphones in ears and stare at the floor until the train enters Penn Station.

Okay, so I may be exaggerating a tiny bit...but not much!  

Anyways, my train comes in just before 9 and I slowly walk the two short blocks to the company.  I knew I would be early but really...I'm always early.  I can't help it.  It was also my first day! I had to make a good impression.  Well, I started to panic a little when 9:30 rolled around and no one was in sight.  9:35....no one....9:37....still no one...9:40....amanda freaking out....and FINALLY the elevator opened and I saw a guy walk out who quickly said, "you must be the new intern!"  I of course said yes and he then apologized and said that no one EVER gets in on time.  Figures right?  I should have known....New Yorkers are always late.  Always.  

So after a quick tour of the office, which I'm not kidding when I say quick seeing as the area is not much bigger than an apartment living room, I sat down at the intern desk and waited to meet everyone else.  The other intern is so incredibly sweet!  Her name is Heather and she goes to college in Miami but is from Jersey.  We are the same age and have a lot in common.  I have a feeling that we are going to have a lot of fun together this summer!

The rest of the day was spent working on a program called I-do (get it? like i-do in a wedding?!) checking vendors and mainly focusing on private party rooms.  We went through about 50 today and recorded how many rooms, price per person, atmosphere and anything else that we found useful.  In between doing that I had to look up and call about 5 different clubs/lounges to get an estimate for a party of 200.  Umm...$7,000 is like $1 to some of these people!  

I learned so much today from the 4 workers (who i will introduce in a later post when I'm not so tired) and had such a blast getting into the swing of life as a Swank Intern.  Before I knew it, it was 6pm and I was literally running through the streets (this is no joke...please picture it) to get to Penn Station in order to make my 6:16 train.  I may of knocked over people and not even realized...I hope I didn't.  haha.

12 amazing hours after stepping on the train I was getting off and walking back to the only non Jersey car in sight.  My grandparents and aunt were waiting for me when I got back to go out to dinner and celebrate my first real day.

Needless to say I talked their ear off.  

I'm about to pass out typing this but I wanted to get it posted today!  Hope you all are had a great day!  

Love and miss all of you!

~Amanda 

Goodbye Acworth...Hello NYC!

Hi everyone!

This is my very first blog, so please bare with me while I figure it all out.  I wanted to start this so that all of you back home can see what I am up to this summer.  I have had so many people tell me to keep them updated and to be honest, there is no way I will remember (or have the time) to update all of you individually.  So, I think this is the best option for both you and me.  

So let's get started!

I arrived in New Jersey yesterday after a 13 1/2 hour drive.  Yes, we drove here.  No, it wasn't the worst experience of my life.  Actually, it was quite enjoyable driving through such gorgeous scenery (especially in Virginia).  After unpacking and going out to dinner I was completely exhausted from the trip.  

Today, I woke up and went with my dad to the train station to try and figure out the schedule and if they had any special offers.  Well, of course they have no special offers--this isn't the state with the highest cost of living for no reason!   After coming back to the house, eating some breakfast and seeing if everyone was ready, my aunt, grandma and dad came with me into the city.  I wanted to time the ride and the walk from Penn Station to the company so I knew how long it would take me tomorrow.  It is the perfect commute!  Less than a hour on the train where I can sleep, read, listen to music, eat, facebook on my crackberry--anything but talk to the real New Yorkers that want nothing to do with me.  From stepping off the train to walking into the door and greeting the doorman at the company is less than 8 minutes.  Pretty awesome huh?  

The rest of the day was spent riding the subways, eating in Little Italy, bargaining with the crazy people on Canal street and really just getting reacquainted with my new home.  

I am so excited to start work tomorrow and I will be sure to post everything that I will be doing at Swank Productions because as of right now, I'm still not 100% sure.  

I miss you all and I hope you are having a wonderful summer so far!  

     Much love from NYC!

     ~Amanda