"Swing"-ing to the end!

Alright ladies and gents- 

The moment that I have been dreading all summer as arrived.  This is my last post as a NYC intern.  Right now I am sitting at work where I have finished all my projects and have gotten everything in order for the next Swank intern.  

Before I become all sappy about Swank, I have an awesome event to tell you about!!!

Yesterday, we had a 40th Birthday Bash for a client at Studio 450.  The venue was absolutely beautiful!! (I'm going to post pics later bc I dont have them uploaded yet).  I got to come into work late because of how late we were going to have to stay at the party.  After getting off the train at 2:30 I had to pick up a photo CD from one of our photographers over on Park Ave.  As I was walking across 27th and 5th I see this hilarious museum.  The Museum of Sex.  That's right everyone....only in NYC lol.  It was absolutely hysterical.  I had heard of it but I never thought that it would be located in a nice part of town.  

Anyways, I got to Studio 450 and immediately went to work on getting up all the tables.  But first I was awed by this gorgeous venue!  The entire place was shiny white with beautiful views of the Hudson and the city.  Then I went upstairs to set up the rooftop terrace for the cocktail  hour.  Wow, this view was even more spectacular!!  The sun was starting to set on the water and the city was becoming drowned in darkness which means that the lights were starting to all turn on.  

The weather couldn't have turned out to be more perfect as there was a slight breeze from the river that made it perfect to be outside.  Everyone was frantically running around lighting the hundreds of candles so that the atmosphere would be perfect when the party started.  

The food was delicious, the band was amazing and the Swing dancers were great!!  I was standing against the wall watching the dancers and before I could even know what hit me I was being pulled onto the dance floor with one of the Swing dancers we had hired.  Everyone was watching me and it was soooooooo funny.  Let me just say that I don't technically know how to swing dance.  I know the pretzel and all that stuff you learn in middle school P.E but other than that I had no clue what I was doing.  

Finally the song ended (and even though I did have fun) I was scared I was going to get in trouble.  But of course I didn't seeing as Christina and Maya thought it was hilarious.  I walked into the room and Christina was like, "oh yea...i definitely saw all of that." hahaha.  

The rest of the party was great and the client was beyond happy.  The Swank crew chilled upstairs on the rooftop most of the time and just talked.  I really enjoyed talking to Josh, Christina and Maya about life lessons.  We talked about how I wanted to move up here and how I really really dont want to go back to school.  

It was a late night and after the party ended I helped clean up as much as I could before I had to run out and catch the last train to NJ.  It is so frustrating that the trains stop right after midnight but hopefully I won't have to deal with that since I want to live IN the city come next August.  

****

So back to the present---  I only have 30 minutes left before I have to leave Swank forever.  I can't even begin to express my gratitude towards Maya, Christina and the entire Swank team.  It has been the best summer of my life and I cannot believe it is actually over.  The life experiences that I have learned from being independent in NYC are beyond priceless.  I have loved spending the summer with my grandparents and I just as upset about leaving them as I am about leaving Swank.  

I know that I have so much to do as a senior but in all honestly I am not ready to go back to school.  Having this internship has showed me that PR/event planning IS what I want to do with my life and that New York City is the place I want to do it in.  I can't imagine doing anything else with my life right now and it's so disappointing that I have another full year of school left.  I want to start my career now!!

This must really show how much Swank meant to me if it has made me want to start working now.

I know I'll be happy once I get back to Auburn and get back into my school routine- and don't worry...I am so excited about seeing all my friends!!! Don't think that I don't miss you with all this talk about not wanting to come back :)

Well, I guess this is the end.  The end of an amazing summer.  The end of my internship.  The end of living up north.  The end of this blog.  But mostly importantly this is the Beginning of an amazing life I had ahead of me.  

Thank you all who have called/messaged/visited me this summer.  See you all Wednesday!!!

~Amanda

(stay tuned for pics!!)

The Beginning of the End

Today was the first day of the work week since we got yesterday off because of the event on Saturday.  It was definitely nice to sleep in yesterday and rest up for this week.  

I sadly type now that this is my last week interning at Swank.  Actually, I dont even want to talk about it right now.  I'll save my emotions for Friday.  I'm working all week this week so that's exciting!

Today was insane though.  Right when I got to work I was told I had to deliver a package to Ivanka Trump...yes, Trump.  So, I went up to Trump Tower and gave the package to her assistant.  I didn't get to see any of the Trumps but it was still super cool.

I came back to work and spent an hour repackaging 13 waterguns that we ended up not using at the event so that I could take them back to Toys R Us and get a refund.  After completing all that I took my lunch break and went down to NYU to get Vicki a shirt from the bookstore...well, they didnt have what she wanted but I ended up getting a shirt for myself anyway so it was a successful trip :)

I got back to work and then it was time for me to take back the waterguns.  Ughhhhh.  These bags were huge and bulky so I knew this would be an interesting trip.  Before I could even make it into the subway one of the handles breaks- juuuuust perfect.  So now I have one bag on my shoulder and im holding the other one so everything doesnt fall out of it.  I finally get to Times Square and run into a million on the way into the Toys R Us but I didn't care.  All i wanted was to get these stupid water guns inside the stupid Toys R Us.  I walk inside and can barley move with all the crazy children running around me.  Well, I finally make the return (even though I felt sure I was going to die of heat stroke before getting there) and make it back to the office where I could relax and cool off.  

Today was probably the hottest day in the city that I have experienced.  It didnt help that i was carrying those huge bags but anyways...it was really hot.  

It was already past 4 when I got back to the office so I spent the rest of the time uploading pictures of weddings that were send by the photographers.

It was a great day and I definitely got my workout in.

Only 3 days left! I must live it up!!!!!!

~Amanda

ps.  Whoever wrote that comment on the blog about my friends visit and signed it RP...im guessing you mean Robert Pattinson and i thought that was hilarious.  Good job whoever you are.

My 20 hour Saturday

So I know I'm behind on my blogs but I will just write two tonight! :) 

My alarm went off at 4:45 AM on Saturday morning and I actually got right out of bed.  Why?  Because it was EVENT DAY!!!!!!!  Swank had a huge corporate party that day and I had to be at the site by 8am which meant I had to allow time to get into the city and to get to Randalls Island- which i had NO clue how to get to.  (now i know it's in between Manhattan and Queens)

So in order to make it on time I had to take the 5:30am train (which is the first train of the day) which got me into the city at 6:45.  It was like a ghost town at the train station was actually pretty creepy...like something out of a horror film.  But anyways, the train came and to my surprise I was not the only one on it.  I mean really? What the hell are you people doing on the 530 AM train?!!?!  On a SATURDAY!??!!  

Anyways, i got in the city and got a bagel before getting a text from Heather saying that we needed to take a cab over to Randalls Island.  So around 7am I hail a cab and have him take me to the upper east side to pick up Heather who had stayed at her roommates apartment the night before.  After she got in we told the driver where to take us and of course we get a stupid idiot who gets us lost.  

We finally got to the golf course after driving in and out of tolls, turning around at the Psychiatric Center, passing the jail and asking the lady with the weed wacker for directions.  We went straight to work at stuffing gift baskets for all the guests that took about an hr.  After that we really just ran around and did whatever we were told in order to get the tent ready for the 12 start time.  We set up all the tables with white linens and checkerboard overlays.  Oh, and i forgot to mention the theme for the party was Picnic Americana.  So there were flags everywhere.  

Normally I wouldnt like this theme, but it turned out to be gorgeous!!!!!!  The food was great, the band was fantastic and just being with all the Swank Team was amazing.  There were pony rides, games, puttputt, batting cages, water slide and so much more.  This was a great day for the company and their families to just relax and have fun.

The party lasted till 5:30pm and take down didnt take long at all.  Before I knew it I was being dropped off at Times Square and getting on a subway up to Columbia to meet a friend I hadnt seen in 7 years.  

I met up with my old friend and neighbor Ashley who had moved down to Florida just before high school.  Well, now we are both Theta's, both founding Sisters for our chapters and both interning in big cities.  

It was so much fun hanging out for a night with her and her UNF friends (she was up visiting a friend who was interning in nyc) but I was exhausted and by the time i finally got back to Penn i had to take the 11:11 train home.  I got back around 12:30 and it was all i could do just to drive back i was so tired.  

Overall it was a GREAT Saturday and doing the event with Swank just proved how much I want to go into event planning.

Onto the next blog so I can be all caught up! :)

~Amanda

Girl's weekend in The City

Last week was SOOOOOO much fun! Vicki, Kathryn and Rebecca arrived on Thursday and after a couple of delays they finally made it.  I followed my grandma in my car to the airport to pick them up because we all wouldn't fit in one car.  I surprised them by taking them straight to dinner at The Liberty House!!  It is one of my favorite restaurants up here so I just had to take them there.  The restaurant over looks downtown Manhattan, Ellis Island, The Statue of Liberty and the Hudson.  Basically it's gorgeous.  We were so lucky to have such a beautiful day and enjoy walking around the grounds for a bit after dinner.  Everyone enjoyed their meal (and cocktail as you can see!) and it was just so much fun having 3 best friends with me again.  

On our way back we stopped by my dads high school and walked around for a bit before heading off to Friendly's and getting a night time ice cream.  Everyone loved their first day but after flying they were exhausted.  So we went back to the house and crashed early so we could be ready for a full day in the city on Friday.

I woke up easily Friday but I don't know if I can say the same about everyone.  We were taking my normal morning train into the city and I was used to the morning routine.  Once we got into the city we went and got a subway pass for the day.  We boarded the 1 and headed up 

to Times Square.  We walked around and just enjoyed the Manhattan morning for a while

 before going into Hershey World and M&M World.    

We then walked over to Magnolia's and had cupcakes at 10:15 in the morning. If that's not the best way to start a day then I don't know what is.  Well, it was a bit hot so we took our cupcakes and ate them on the stairs inside the Rockafeller Center.  People may have stared at us but I didn't care.  I think all of them were just jealous because were eating cupcakes in the mor

ning lol.  After eating a taste of heaven we all headed over to the Anthropology- which i knew would be a looooonnnggg visit (for those of you who have ever been into an Anthro with Kathryn and Vicki you know exactly what I'm talking about).  Everyone tried on clothes and bought some super cute things.  I'm still obsessed with the dress that Vicki bought.

We then hopped on the subway up to the upper east side to the set of Remember Me to hopefully get a glimpse of Robert Pattinson for the ladies who havent had the pleasure.  However our failed attempt was accompanied by lot's of young fans, putting out a fire and almost starving to death.  So we unfortunately didn't get to see him but we were right next to his trailer that he was in.  I felt bad because I really had wanted him to come out but unfortunately I don't control Robert Pattinson.  So we sadly left the set and got some lunch at the place about a block away.  

Next was Canal Street.  We took the subway all the way down and did some shopping but it looked as though the weather was going to turn bad- and doing 

Canal Street in the rain is a nightmare!!  So we quickly did some shopping (where we got yelled at for all going into one dressing room and taking a picture of our hideous shirts), bargined for a Chanel purse for Rebecca's sister and then headed back to Penn to catch the train.  We were going to dinner with my grandparentsat their favorite Italian restaurant so we wanted to get back before 7:30.

Saturday was a looooongggg day in the city but it was great!  It took a little lo

nger to get into the city because on weekends the train makes all the 

annoying local stops.  Once we got in we went straight up to Rockafeller Center to get more Magnolia's cupcakes.  Vicki- "I want to try ALL the cupcakes!" Kathryn- "Bu

t we are only here for 3 days

!"  Vicki-"Well, we will just have to go ALL the time!"  Haha, so we all ended up getting cupcakes and eating them at a table in Rockafeller center.  

We then went back to Anthro to get a shirt that Rebecca had wanted from the day before.  Then we hit up H&M for while where no one found anything.  Forever 21 was next on the list but before we got to the subway station we all noticed a red carpet outside of Radio City Music Hall.  So of course I freaked out when I saw the logo knowing that this was the event that Josh Groban had flown out to NYC for!!  I asked the people putting it together when the red carpet would start and they said around 6:30.  Becca and I both flipped out and said t

hat we HAD to come back.   

After Forever 21 we went to Little Italy for lunch.  We sat outside and people watched while enjoying a great meal.  I ended up buying a super cute dress at some boutique off of Mulberry Street that everyone told me i just had to get.  :)  Before I knew it, it was time to head back to Radio City to get a good spot for the red carpet.  Rebecca and I stayed while Vicki and Kathryn went walking around for a while by themselves.  

To make a long story short- we got a tip from some guy that all the celebs were unloading on the other side of the building so we went over there to check it out.  Vicki and Kathryn joined us and boy were we all in for a treat.  A car pulls up and guess who gets out?  JOSH GROBAN!!!!!  He walks over to some fans on the same side of the street he was on and then after Rebecca and I screamed his name he came RUNNING STRAIGHT OVER TO

 US!!  I literally thought I was going to die of happiness.  We asked him for a picture and he said 'of course!'.  We were the first ones the get pics on our side and it was freaking awesome!!!  I'm still in shock when i look 

at the picture that i actually met him.  

Anyways, he had to leave but we stayed to watch more and we are so glad we did.  To just name a few people we saw- Aretha Franklin, Jesse McCartney, Susan Seranden, Whoopie Goldberg, Lil Kim, Stevie Wonder and more....we also shook the hand of the French Prime Minister which was pretty cool.  

After a long night we were starving so we found a cute bar off of Broadway.  I ended up making them run through the streets and subway to get to our train on time.  It was definitely a great day.

Oh man...one final day-are you sick of reading this yet?? I hope not!

Brooklyn was first on our list for Sunday so we headed straight there and had some lunch.  Knowing it was going to be a short day we wanted to make the most out of the time we had so we didnt spend as much time exploring Brooklyn as we would have liked.  BUT we did walk to Manhattan on the Brooklyn Bridge which is one of the most fun things I have done this summer.  The weather was great, the scenery was breathtaking and it was just so enjoyable.  

We watched this awesome spray paint artist before heading up to Central Park.  Once in Central Park we all decided to take a horse and carriage ride!!  I had done it 3 years ago with my mom but it was still so much fun.  Our driver was hilarious and he definitely made it ten times better.  After we went to the Apple store and then over to Tiffany's were we all tried on engagements rings ranging from $40k to $110k.  It was so neat!!  

I told them to say goodbye to the city as we headed back down into the subway on our way back to Penn.  Once we were back in Morristown we went to the amazing Chinese place in Denville with my grandparents for their last night in town.  We enjoyed drinks, food and then ice cream across the street.  It was such a blast having them in town and I sure hope they enjoyed themselves.  

I only have 1 more full week left of work and then I sadly have to leave.  But look for a great blog soon about the event I am doing ALL day tomorrow!!!!!!!

So sorry this took so long but I hope you find it worth it!

~Amanda

I am working on a blog from Vicki, Kathryn and Rebecca's trip!!!  I will have it up ASAP but I'm at work and have no time to work on it right now.  

Just wanted to update and tell you all that i have NOT forgotten about this blog!  The blog im writing will be well worth the wait though :)

Rob for lunch

Good evening my beautiful readers!

This week has flown by and I again am so sorry about the lack of updating!  Believe it or not I have been going to sleep around 10pm lately so to be honest I just havent had time to blog.  But!  This was a great week at work.  I made 3 trips down to SoHo to deliver things at The Knot magazine which was awesome.  I love running errands.  I also spend most of the week contacting castles and mansions in the Westchester and Long Island area for a new Bride that we have.  Who knew that just calling a list of venues to get all the info would take so long!  But I don't care because frankly I love talking on the phone to people I don't know.  I like sounding professional (no one has to know I'm just an intern!).  This is my opening statement: "Good afternoon ______, I am Amanda with Swank Productions and I have a client who is interested in your venue for their summer wedding and I have some questions for you."

Cool huh?  hahaha....well I love it!  I sound like I actually know what I'm talking about and that is just so fun!  

Any who- 

The two big stories for the blog are.......my 2nd trip to see Robert Pattinson and my upcoming travel plans.

Soooo...on Tuesday I knew Remember Me was shooting on the Upper East side which is not exactly close to my work....(i work on 29th on the west side....he was on 85th on the east side...) but being the savvy subway traveler I am, I decided that I could totally make it there and back in a little over an hr during my lunch break.  The moment I decided to go I literally ran from the office down to 28th street to catch the 1 up to Times Square (i didnt want to waste any time walking when i could be looking at Rob! duh!).  I bolted out of the 1 train and ran downstairs to catch the 7 which I barely made.  I then shoved my way -sorry people but i had a husband to see-through the Grand Central station to catch the 4,5,or 6 train that would take me uptown.  Luckily I got the express train so it went 30 blocks non stop to where I needed to go.  

I got out of the subway station and pulled out the map that i drew--i draw mini maps all the time--and got to the set as quickly as possible.  I saw about ten girls standing on the sidewalk so I knew I had found the correct place.  I approached a girl and we started talking.  She told me that they had just stopped for lunch...my luck right?!  Well I had the brilliant idea of whispering to the girl that we should walk over by the trailers which were 1 block south.  We waited over there for about 15 minutes just chatting with a couple other girls before security told us to move back a little bit.  Right after they did Rob came out of his trailer and began walking toward us to his make up trailer.  I was in the front and center of the group so he had to have seen me.  It was pure awesome.  We then waited a little longer and within ten minutes Pierce Brosnon and Rob walked back out of the trailer back to the set.  Rob smiled and waved at us shyly as if to say "i'm not that interesting and have no idea what you see in me."

I had to snap back into reality because i had to get back to work.  I had such a great time at the set and the girls that were there were so sweet and very well behaved.  Nothing like those crazy girls on crack that made the headlines the other time I saw him.

Well...unfortunately I had major subway issues getting back (just missing it and having to wait for the next, train traffic and stupid people who dont walk fast) so it took me almost an hr...AN HR to get back to work.  I literally sat on the 7 for 30 mintues due to train traffic....like what the heck is that?!  

Oh well.  It was a great....great day!! The first time I had Rob for dessert and this time Rob was for lunch lol

Second story....

I will be out of NYC for the next 5 days for my Nana's memorial so I won't be working at all next week. That means no NYC updates until the end of next week when Vicki, Kathryn and Rebecca come.  But get ready for some great updates from when they are here.  

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July!

You know you love me, 

XOXO Amanda

(in a gossip girl mood :p)

One month left

Normally I only work mon-weds as you all know but this week I worked tues-thurs.  Mainly because the other intern is in spain with her family!  So I gladly said that I would take her days but that was before my sister planned to come up.  Luckily they were totally fine with me taking off monday because we had such a great day in the city.  

I was going to be in the office today but because of the holiday weekend, they decided to close the office.  Sweet!  So I'm here in Morristown-laying in bed because I just woke up deciding what I want to do this weekend.

I've had some pretty great last 3 fourth of july's with my friends so this year will be interesting.  Last year I was with Rebecca in Birmingham where we went and watched the fireworks in downtown Homewood and the two years prior I was working at Sun Valley doing cooler checks and taking up everyone's alcohol.  I don't know if Meredith and Kiley read this but they can understand what I mean when I say that working at SV for 4th of July is the craziest most fun day all summer!  

Work has been fun the last 3 days...i've started running a lot of errands since they trust me not to get lost in the city.  So i've gone up to Park Av, down to SoHo, down the street in Chelsea and much more.  Yesterday there was an internet monster that took out my computer AND the laptop they gave me--all the while everyone elses internet was fine!  So other than running errands there wasn't much I could get accomplished.  

Tuesday after work I went and met Colleen and my aunt down in the West Village neighborhood for dinner.  They had been roaming around for a few hours before I came and had come across a realestate office that had apartments that were absolutely perfect for me!  Yea yea yea, I know it's way too early to start looking but I want to SO bad!!  

Tuesday was supposed to be Colleens last night but after sitting in the Newark airport for 8 hours and not being able to make any flights to Atlanta, she came back Wednesday night and tried again yesterday.  Thankfully after getting to the airport at 5am she finally got a flight at 1130.  Flying standby isn't always a great deal. 

I want to thank all of you who have called/texted/messaged me about my Nana.  I truly have the best friends in the world.  It really means so much to me, so thank you.  

I will be leaving for North Carolina on Thursday for her memorial on Friday.  I'm flying back on the following wednesday because the entire family is spending time together at my uncles beach house.  I would also like to thank Maya and Christina for allowing me to miss work to spend time with family that I don't get to see often.  

I hope everyone has a fun weekend!!  Don't do anything stupid with fireworks please... :) 

~Amanda 

PS-i have exactly one month left here :(  so noot ready to leave