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New York City day four

Today we woke up a little bit earlier so that we could go and grab a little breakfast before our big day out in the city. The café we went to was called The Red Café, they had the best bagels and could put fresh avocado on just about anything. If you know me fairly well then you have to know that this brought tears to my eyes. 

We hoped on the subway and by this time we are finally figuring out the system. Our main meeting of the day was with Doneger group. This is the company that does the research and picks what is going to be trendy in the next couple of seasons. They work 18 months in advance so we got to see the up and coming trends for fall 2018! Companies come to them for help to lead them in the right direction for colors and styles. Another big service they provide to their clients is helping them rebrand to become more to the “IT” store in today’s society. Most definitely a place I will apply for when it comes time to find an internship.

After our meeting we went to the FIT museum and got to explore the student’s works. It was most definitely a really nice school with an amazing program but after visiting I still stand by my decision of attending the University of Alabama. I just feel like if I was to come here I wouldn’t get to have the full college experience that I want. 

For lunch we went to this adorable salad bar café. It is just like a chipotle but with salads, lets just say I was a very happy girl. We then decided to visit the store called Story. THIS IS A MUST SEE IF YOU COME TO NY! The store changes every six weeks and comes up with a new theme and totally redesigns the store. The theme when we went was fresh so there was fake grass everywhere and lots of kitchen and bar supplies all around. After the store we decided to go take a walk on the highland and take some cute pictures because of course you can never have too many pictures. All this walking made us starving again so we decided to head towards NYU where we found the COOKIE DOUGH shop. We got two huge cones for five girls and could barely eat just one. My advice is to just get the main chocolate chip if you go there. 

Still having a ton of time left before our next even we decided to go shopping and ended up in Urban Outfitters. Im actually pretty proud of myself because I didn't buy anything, major self control. Having two hours left we decided to go back to the hostel but ended up taking the wrong subway and ended up down at the Brooklyn Bridge! So we made the most out of the situation and took some more cute pics for the instagram.. so many options to post. 

It was finally time to head back into Midtown for out lecture with Fern Mallis (Creator of New York fashion week) and CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN! I was defiantly geeking out the entire time such a cool experience to hear him talk about the start of his company and what keeps it up and so successful. 

Walking an average of 8 miles a day we were starving AGAIN... We wanted super unhealthy food so we obviously ended up in Times Square at a cute little diner. Little did we know this was the IT place in town. WE were seated almost right away which was super nice and then it started. All the waiters and waitresses are performers on Broadway!! They would get up on the tables and start singing and dancing around the whole place. Ellen’s Stardust Diner is the place to go for a good time and killer chicken fingers. 

Xoxo,

Lauren 

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New York City day three

We got to sleep in a little later today which was super nice because all of us needed the extra hour to sleep because with a week off between school ending and this trip starting we all got used to sleeping in. Once we were all ready to go we jumped on the subway for our tour of the garment district. We had a lovely tour guide who is a designer in the city and who had unbelievable amounts of information for us.

Our first stop was the Custom Fabric Flowers.It is a family run business and has been around for many many years. When you first walk in its like a massive garden. Flowers just cover the ceilings, walls, tables, there was no clear space in that building. Once we had gotten a little bit of background info, they took us on a tour of the backroom which had the factory. The first part of the room was just filled with boxes of flowers and colored coded so there were many snapchats and pictures taken. Then we got a step by step tutorial on how the fabric is cut and placed together to make these incredible flowers. The best part about this little company is they they do couture pieces for Vera Wang and do smaller orders to up and coming designers. We also got a sneak peak and the new design they are helping J Crew with! Fun fact: They help make the Victoria secret fashion show wings and helped with the Sex and the City outfits that contained flowers.

The next stop on our tour was Mood. As in the fabric shop from Project runway!! We got a brief history on the company and then spent the rest of the time walking around and seeing some of the materials that really do get made into clothes.  

After lunch at a cute little pub we met together as a group at the Museum of Art and Design. We went through and exhibit talking about the 70′s and it was fun seeing the trendy back then make a full circle into being the new hip thing now! The next section was about how fashion could be made versatile and how it adapts to meet different peoples needs like how there is now a button down shirt that is made with magnets so people with certain disabilities can put on their shirt without any help. The last section was about Judith Leiber and her collections to high glamour. It was great to see the designs evolve over time and see an overall theme throughout the whole floor. 

After the museum a group of us headed toward Central Park where we ended up taking a million pictures and just people watched for a little bit. We decided to wonder around and found the coolest picture walls to say the least it was a picture focused day. We then went to the most angelic Italian restaurant. Trust me Angelo’s is a must when you come to the big apple!

xoxo,

Lauren 

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New York City day two

Tossing and turning all night it was finally time to officially start our company tours. The first group we went to was Tod’s & Jordan Vivier, (Side note: they are both huge shoes brands who pride themselves on sticking to what they know and not really adapting to the current trends) Talk about how cool! We talked about their brand, what makes it so successful and even got to see some of the new and up coming collection. Obsessed with all the fun colors they are bringing back and all the platform sneakers. 

After our tours we decided to go off to lunch in the meat pack in industry. Then Ms. Davis spilt us up into groups and made us do a huge scavenger hunt around the whole city! 

Feeling very trendy all day around the city we decided to end the night going to a very picture worthy place.. The sugar factory (the place with the fun drinks you see everywhere on Instagram) We got a drink and don't worry ill be posting pictures soon I’m still trying to get used to the whole Tumblr thing. 

If that wasn’t enough sugar we made it a point to stop by Dylan’s candy shop which is owner by Ralph Lauren’s daughter. all of us got the yummiest ice cream and called it a night.

Oh New York I fall more and more in love with you everyday. Who knows maybe I will end up here in a couple year (:

xoxo,

Lauren 

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New York City day one

After staying up all night packing and barely waking up for my 5 am alarm I was ready to head to the airport. Leaving my house at 6:15 was definitely a little rough because Bolt ( my adorable mini aussie) thought it would be a fabulous idea to run away from me... not cool bud. A short car ride later with my mom it was finally time to say goodbye. Why is it that goodbyes never get easier with your parents? When it finally was time to weigh my suitcase I was 5 pounds over but a little smile got me away with no added payment, SCORE! 

Before we board the plane I see that we are supposed to land an hour ahead of when we were supposed to which was awesome news because I was already stressed about making it to my orientation on time. 4 and a half hours later I landed in beautiful NYC! 

It was only a half hour drive to our hostel which at first really freaked me. But when you first walk in, there is a great mini restaurant with a big meeting area for us to group in before we head off for our days in the city. My room was two bunk beds and has a small shower and bathroom. 

After our short meeting was completed a group of us went to go check out Manhattan. The subways are pretty gross but extremely convenient and easy to use. We ended up at times square which is ten times more vibrant in person and smells of hot dogs mixed with gasoline, not a fun scent. Starting to get hungry we find ourselves a little burger joint that was absolutely delicious. Major points for them because they had turkey burgers and avocados, my fav! 

As we leave dinner we decide to go to one more touristy destination, The Rockefeller Center. On our walk there we see the Magnolia Bakery. As in Carrie Badshaw’s favorite bakery from Sex and the City so of course we had to get a chocolate chip cookie to go. 

Having four teenage girls roaming the streets of the big apple there was bound to be a moment where we got lost... we had quite a few. But our favorite mess ups was when we ended up behind the Victoria’s secret store on 5th av. We saw a massive flower wall that was used for there newest collection of perfume ads. Check out their instagram to see what Im talking about. But we ended up snagging a couple of flowers. 

Once we finally found the subway station back to hostel we missed our stop and had to catch a cab back because walking 6+ miles had us actually dead and we didn't really want to walk in the dark.. yikes. Well thats the end of day one here in the city! 

Side not: Happy mother’s day to all the great moms out there, Im sure you are all lovely but you truly can not top my sweet queen of a mother. Im so sorry I couldn’t spend the day celebrating you mom but I love you so so so much and can’t wait to give you a hug when I get back!

xoxo,

Lauren 

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Overview

Going into college I knew that I wanted to be apart of the fast paced and always evolving fashion industry. With so much going on inside this massive world I decided I should study abroad to see my options and for it to hopefully lead me to an overall end goal. 

During the next couple of weeks I will be visiting  New York City, London, Paris and Milan. Partnering up with the University of Alabama my teachers and leaders have set us up on meetings with major companies, behind the scenes at museums and hands on experiences inside the industry. 

I decided to make this tumblr so that all of my friends and family could keep up with what I was doing and learning. Especially with the time change I figured this would be the easiest form of communication. 

xoxo, 

Lauren