The last two weeks have been absolutely incredible and a LOT of excitement has been going on around here. Let’s take a minute and rewind to two weeks ago, Saturday March 12th. I spent an early, long, and tiring Saturday running around Nashville with my nine month pregnant sister, Keely, shopping for interview clothing for my New York interviews that I would be leaving for at o’dark thirty Sunday morning. Last minute preparations: usual Snetman fashion.
Sunday, daylight savings mind you, Sam kindly drove my other sister, Adrienne and I to the airport at 4 am (really 3 am to us). Our adventurous week in NY got off to a rather unpleasant start when I found myself vomiting outside the airport, caused by a lack of sleep, food and a newer development in carsickness. Adrienne and I made it to New York at 11:30 am, sleep deprived (now two hours behind) but excited. Adrienne is almost nine years older than me so she was already out of the house for most of my adolescence. Our week in NY together was an amazing opportunity for us to get in some much needed sister bonding.
When we first arrived, we headed straight to our hotel, The Jane Hotel on the west side. The Jane had been recommended to me as a trendy, cool, and affordable stay in the city. The Jane may be affordable but roomy is not in its description. The elevator was out of service so we headed up the four flights of steps to our room, admiring the struggling bellhop lugging our two huge suitcases up each step.
We turned the lock peered inside, and man I wish there had been a picture of our faces. The hotel is set-up to be like a ship. So the smaller rooms have bunks and then there are some bigger “Captain’s Quarters” that have a little more space. We had a bunk room, and let me tell you it was nothing BUT bunks. The amount of space between the bunks and our wall was exactly the width of our suitcases! There was no closet and community bathrooms. The interiors were amazing, definitely trendy and cool as promised, but for the purpose of our trip - interviews - The Jane simply wouldn’t do.
Thanks to a fabulous find on Expedia, Adrienne and I were movin’ on up to the east side. We checked out of The Jane and into The Waldorf Astoria. Talk about an upgrade! Every time we made it back to the room, we each plopped down on our own queen beds and said, “God, we’re so lucky to be here, this is the life!” or “THANK GOD we moved!” Not to hate on The Jane though, if it was just one person and a small bag of belongings, it would be beyond perfect. It sure did make us appreciate our Park Avenue view though.
Our first night, we ventured to Times Square to eat and feel the rush of probably one of the most crowded (and touristy) areas in New York's cityscape.
The week was exciting but busy. I had never been to Manhattan before so just walking out of the lobby was the beginning of an exciting adventure to me. I had seven interviews at some big name fashion companies spread out from Monday to Friday. Most of the days were spent getting ready for the interviews (showering, dressing, answering practice questions), going to the interviews, and coming home to change out of the interview clothing. When we first got there we made a huge list of places to go and eat and see. Somehow, we really only managed to make it to Soho...almost everyday. We loved Soho! Lots of cool shops and eateries and a little less hustle and bustle downtown.
While in Soho, we HAD to stop at Dash! Dash is the Kardashian's store and as fans of the family and shows we had to at least check it out. By the way, our mom looks remarkably like Kris Jenner, the mother to the Kardashian girls. It is funny looking at this picture because I can really see how much my sister and I look alike. We had tons of people ask us if we were twins or sisters in the least. Adrienne loved the twin comment because she could proudly announce that she was nine years older than me! If I had bangs, I think we would really look like twins.
We may not have seen the Statue of Liberty or gone to the top of the Rock or walked the Brooklyn Bridge but we had a great time getting to know Soho and the upper east side. When we left it really seemed like we had grasped the layout of the city and had some quality subway time, we became excellent navigators and found the key to finding our way lay usually in logic.
We did make it to a show however. Adrienne and I are BIG musical buffs so going to a Broadway show was at the top of our priority lists. We went to Mary Poppins at the New Amsterdam Theater! It was absolutely phenomenal. It was such a fun and witty show that left us laughing, singing, and nearly crying at curtain call. All around fantastic!
The other top of my priority list was a trip to Purl Soho. If you are unfamiliar with Purl, it is a yarn store in Soho, whose blog I have been stalking for the last several months. Purl is a long white room full to the the brim of lovely color-arranged yarns and fabrics.
I thought I might faint upon entering, I had been talking about my visit to Purl for weeks. Adrienne, who is also a crafter (mainly cross stitch and needlepoint), was once again converted to knitting. Like me, she learned to knit from our grandmother at a young age but stuck more with the cross stitching and needlepointing. Adrienne walked out with 2 skeins of Blue Sky Alpaca’s cotton worsted in a lovely variegated green and some needles, ready to begin a stockinette scarf. I left with two skeins of the beloved but crazy knit collage. A few days later, we found ourselves back in Purl, checking out with a few more goodies.
Overall the week was a success. My interviews went amazingly well - still waiting to hear - and we had a great time getting to see the city and catching up with a few old friends. The highlight of my trip though was lunch with Cathy Carron, the author of Cowlgirls!! Cathy is one of the most incredible and inspiring women I have ever met. She is so personable and interesting, I just loved listening to her talk. And Cathy LOVES fashion! I thought that was super cool and it was really fun to talk names with her and hear about the designers that inspire her. She took Adrienne and I to a lovely lunch at The Mercer Kitchen in Soho (surprise surprise) and we seriously could have stayed for hours. It was so much fun and I look forward to staying in touch with Cathy!
I didn’t manage to get a picture with Cathy, but I did bring my book for her to sign!
Now hmmm, I have managed to talk all NY and no knitting! Cowl #5, wrapture came with me and I worked on it steadily all week long. The Malabrigo Rasta is so unbelievable it left people speechless. All over the city, anywhere I was knitting, people were fondling and staring at my beautiful creation. Even Cathy had to write down the name of the yarn for the possibility of a future project. I would be sitting in the subway and people next to me would just starting touching my cowl in awe. Naturally, I loved all the attention my knitting was bringing me. I even brought several cowls to my interviews to show them off and show the companies what I really liked to do and several companies asked if I would be interested in design! I thought this was really exciting and who knows, I may try pursuing it!
I am so bad about taking pictures as I am knitting. I get so addicted that I can’t even set it down long enough to snap a picture or two. These pictures just don't even do this cowl justice though. This yarn is SO amazing, the colors are so rich and deep, it is a little hard to tell with these pictures.
Here is Adrienne and I knitting in the Ronald Regan airport in DC on our way back to Nashville.
I am going to leave my post here for today. The wrapture is finished and I have even more exciting news but I am going to save the rest for the next post, or else this may go on for hours! Happy knitting.
Mariel.
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