UBC: My Bold Solo Female Adventure in NYC

Introduction:

If you’ve been following along you’ll know that I’m participating in the Ultimate Blog Challenge – you can find all my posts here. Today’s prompt/idea is: “write about what inspires you? Who inspires you? Can you inspire someone else in your post for today?” Well, Dear Reader, guess what? I stayed up till midnight to read the prompt for today, AGAIN! Oh dear. I must really like writing blog posts or something, eh?

Hmmm… what or who inspires me? My first thought was the version of me in 2012. Interested? Well, grab a cuppa, get cozy and read on!

Setting the Stage!

The header above is very appropriate for today’s blog post as the location is… *drum roll* none other than New York City! Get it? Broadway stage?! Hahaha.

In 2011 during my birthday month (September!!) I started interning for Jennifer Lilya – a fashion illustrator in NYC. It was a remote position which was really cool. I had just turned 21 and felt on top of the world after hearing that I got the internship – I always receive major blessings during my birthday month. (Seriously, it’s wild!)

Throughout the internship, I learnt loads of interesting things about fashion illustration and the likes. I was also honing my skills (or putzing around) in graphic design, whatever you want to go with. I even chronicalized my experience via my blog, I dreamed up a series called Internship Diaries and wrote about everything I was learning. You can find my posts about all this and more here. There’s even an interview!!

Well – you may be wondering… where is the inspiring part? I’m getting there! Be patient. 😉

The Big Apple + An Invitation!

Dear reader, in April of 2012, my dad and I went on a road trip to NYC to meet Jennifer Lilya and of course visit the Big Apple! I absolutely loved it and vowed to go again. It wasn’t until I got an email from the Academy of Art, asking me to send them a 100 word essay about my passion for fashion, which if I got selected I would be able to attend a fashion show at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week!! I knew I had to at least try! Well, I got the confirmation, and scored two invitations – one for me and a friend! I just had to figure out a way to get there and back.

And, if you know my stubborn streak – you better believe I did! But, this time I travelled alone. That’s right, alone as a twenty two year old young woman!! I don’t think I’d ever travel alone again, especially nowadays. The world today is oh so different – yikes!

But – back to the story!! I had a penpal at the time who lived just outside of NYC, and we decided to arrange to meet and go to the show together! This was another risk I took. We ended up calling each other the night before and confirming that we weren’t 80 year old sickos or something. After that out of the way, we planned our itinerary and started counting down the days! And, boy did they go by quickly!

My Spanish Temper!

Skipping forward to the day I arrived in NYC again – I could have kissed the ground, and I think I actually did when we finally reached the hotel after a long bus and subway ride. I was determined I knew the city after my one trip back in April – and I surprisingly got us to the hotel after all! I still don’t know how this happened… Praise the Lord we didn’t get mugged. Or worse! Eek…

However, this is where the fun begins! Once we got into the lobby – the manager or hotel clerk told us we were not in the system for having a room there. My spanish temper came out and insisted we had a room, because this was the same hotel my dad and I had previously stayed at.

Exasperated, he ended up giving us the room, and life went on. You might be thinking – why did I add that detail, why is it important?

Well, after I got home from the trip, my dad realized he booked the wrong hotel… there was one with the same name in Brooklyn AND Coney Island. Hahaha. I immediately felt so bad – I was ready to leave a bad review and everything too! I actually think I did, but deleted it.

Highlights Of The Trip:

one. The fashion show – of course!! We got swag bags, magazines, comics and more (and I still have most of it!)

two. The BPL Fashion Illustration: A Contemporary Look Exhibit. The largest American showcase of established and widely published fashion illustrators in over a decade. It was held in the Brooklyn Public Library which is by far the most sophisticated and beautiful library I’ve ever seen. You can read more about the event in my blog post here.

three. After the event – my friend and I were trying to figure out our dinner plans and two very kind strangers invited us to dinner with them at a sushi restaurant. We of course, accepted – and it was so fun, and yummy!!

four. Riding and absolutely rockin’ the subway system. I could not handle it now. Hahaha.

five. Meeting Fern Mallis and getting her to sign my Project Runway book that I won. I wonder if she remembers me? Haha.

Overall, the trip was absolutely amazing and I’m so glad I took the risk in travelling alone. It was such a cool experience.

Have you ever travelled alone?