Thursday, June 28, 2012

Not My Fault! ...Kind of My Fault

So sorry! I know that I was going to do this every week and now I'm two weeks behind! Ah!
Here's what happened the first week: Not my Fault.
So I was actually super excited to post last Wednesday and was all about what I was going to say and how I was going to say it wittily and things like that when my internet went out for two days starting Wednesday night! So my week went as can be expected, I celebrated a little too early.
I found out that there had been some problems with my measuring. Not awful problems but it had been brought up that certain things were consistently wrong, which is not good when in general, measurements should be really exact. Two of the people I had worked with had noticed this and told my boss who very sweetly showed me how to do it correctly. No one was rude about it but I felt like I had let them down. They were extra cautious to make sure I knew was I was doing that day and it frustrated me. I did ask, later though, if everything was okay. I wanted to make sure that my mistakes weren't messing with someone else's deadline and Beth assured me nothing was the matter, that I'm still doing a great job and that it was nice of me to ask.
I also found out that the adorable Pete is married, so it clearly was not my week. I almost cried, but not actually.
But the weekend before I went shopping and finally used my employee discount at an Urban store near me! It was great, except I'm not allowed to go shopping by myself. I am extremely indecisive and I think I was in that one for store for literally two hours. It was an ungodly amount of time. BUT while I was in there, I started asking the girl who worked the fitting rooms for opinions and stuff because, again, I can't decide things ever. We got to talking and I found out that she's an intern too and is there (I think) 3 days a week. We decided to do lunch today and it was fun to add her to our little group, she's really fun and we all got along really well.
Oh! and I wouldn't have written this last week cause it wouldn't have happened yet but I was really in bad shape on Friday.I had gone to the girl's house and just had some wine with the guys and drank way more than I had initially thought. Now, I don't usually get hung over...but the next day was not a picnic. I was mostly fine, I was dizzy but I drank water, made and ate breakfast and drove into work rather than used the subway and I was fine! Once I got in, however, it sucked. I went to the bathroom more than once to try to get the breakfast out of my stomach and even laid down once of twice. Classy, I know, I think it's contagious. Well, by 11, both my breakfast and my headache were gone and the rest of the day was wonderful!
I went home again this weekend for my daddy's birthday and we went out to a nice dinner and I bought him the biography of Margret Thatcher, the Iron Lady. He seemed to really like it and I was glad.
On Monday I drove straight in from Jersey and got in at the usual time. I once again did a lot of organizing, spec-ing and more and more people are asking me to full on create style pages and comment cards and sit in on fittings which is fantastic. The designers are always present for a fitting and I learned the amount of time it takes to fit a garment is generally closely related to how clear the designer's "vision" is. It's interesting to watch both sides working together since I only possess once side and my superiors at school just tend to fight with me from the other side. Either way, I still love it. And I'm sorry I'm late at updating. I'm going home again tomorrow to get a bus to the city. I don't know why it's so stupidly hard to get to New York from here. It should be a cinch! But I am a terrible planner and I like to take my time and buying a round trip ticket involves me needing to know what time I'll be done so I can buy the damn thing. It's just easier to get home and hop on the first available bus each way. Night! I'm super pooped.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

I Still Love Work

Hey! I made it back again! I almost forgot, but not because I wasn't looking forward to being a consistent blogger, but because I went through most of today thinking it was Tuesday. Smooth.
So, the rest of last week was pretty much the same (already). I get in about 830 because I leave so early but if I leave late then I cut it close. I don't think anyone really cares, because of the super supervisors, I normally beat them in by 30-45 minutes. Everyone else is around and they have work for me to do so it's not like I clock in to be paid and just sit there. Actually I did that a little bit today but even though I got in later than usual no one was there. I read Pride and Prejudice on my Kindle Fire.
So, yes. Last week I already had a routine down. I walk in and I am either with Heather or Beth. If I am with Heather, I sometimes beat her by like 10-15 minutes so I wait for her by working for Beth. Last week I mostly worked with Lan and Pete (under Beth) and they are really nice. Now that they know me more they are even more friendly and Lan always seems happy so say hi and ask for my help. Pete too. He's cute.
I went to my friend's (another intern's) house last night to make tuna salad together for lunch today and we did the girly thing of talking about boys. Pete definitely came up. We both think he's adorable. Even with his oddly styled swoopy hair.
Anywho, so Pete stopped by my desk first thing this morning and gave me a couple of styles that did not need measuring (I hope, cause I didn't do that) but did need to be dated and approved on PDM, the product program that we use. So he told me it needed to be done today but not asap, which was good since I wasn't really his intern today ("his," sigh) and I was being handed over to a new woman named Mitzy. She is very nice and I've seen her every single day I've worked because her desk is right on the other side of mine. I had to spec an entire box of SMS (don't remember what that stands for, something about the factory/mill sample-standard mill sample??) and samples for approval that needed to be matched up and measured and commented on if there were any major changed. Supposedly my hours are til 5, I didn't finish the box until 515.
To be fair though I had other things to do in between. Like packaging. Speaking of, the new intern is here to help with that! Her name is Natalie and she has the desk behind me. She just graduated from design school and is very nice and helpful. When we do packages, I'm no longer with Heather which is kind of sad. Kathy, our supervisor is great, she interviewed me and is very pleasant, but I got to know and be comfortable around Heather as she is younger and more talkative but she doesn't really work in our section of the building so I don't see much of her anymore. She does pop by my desk sometime to snag some food (Mitzy and the girls in the aisle next to us always have some sort of snack) and she always makes short conversation. It's too bad that I don't really know how to be professional friends with someone, I like her a lot but I don't know what subjects are safe and how long we should be talking, plus I'm always measuring when she comes over so even though I'm happy to see her I can't work and talk at the same time. It's doable but I feel like I'm being rude and I don't sound interested.
So the first day with Natalie was a little awkward, same reason as above, I can't small talk and work at the same time. I felt rude that I wasn't really getting to know her but we're at work...so we should be working, right? I can't just stop and get to know someone when I have other people's deadlines to look out for. But I invited her to eat lunch with me and the other girls and she had already eaten, we tried on Tuesday but she got hungry earlier and ate at her desk with me, but then today we finally made it work! We stayed the longest out of everyone and lunch so we (I) could talk without worrying about work. I found out a lot about her school and dream job and what we thought of the company so it was nice. We're definitely more comfortable around each other. If I'm not using my laptop she'll put it away for me when she leaves and I get her laptop in the morning and we ask for each others help and chat a bit and it's nice.
Also, I know this is crazy early but I feel like they like me enough to hire me (as it's going so far-I can't say how my work ethic will be in 2 more weeks time). But yesterday Beth asked what year I was in. I told her I was a rising senior and kind of looked at me and made sure I'd be graduating next year and asked how I liked it here so far. I really like everyone in her department, I would not mind working there after graduation. There is one girl that I talked to on the subway is is in the knitwear department. She said she was an intern two years ago and that she's new this year. They had an opening and they remembered her and offered her the job, she really likes it and I hope sometime similar happens to me. The atmosphere is so nice, the people are great and helpful and fun and I just plug in my iPod and pretend I'm at my own sewing table at school (without the stress) and just bop around all day while getting paid. How could that sound bad?
I'm trying to think if I forgot anything...this entry is kind of a blur and out of order but I think I got the main details in. I'm not sure how different each entry will be since it's about work and I've already seemed to start repeating myself. I might end up making this my full time blog just cause I get excited and wanna share things and then realize is doesn't belong in this category and the not wanting to write another post and blah blah blah, but we'll see. I had an awesome weekend but not sure if I want to share that on here yet, so maybe it'll be in a new post soon or next week. This weekend should be cool too so I have to figure that out.
Night!

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Three Days In

Man, I am on a roll with this whole blogging-when-I-said-I-would stuff!
Also, I'm exhausted so this hopefully wont take too long.
Well The last two days were way better than the first! Not that the first was bad, it was just confusing.
Yesterday I was stationed with a woman named Beth who was very sweet and happy to answer questions.  She supervised me while I spec-ed some menswear tops and then had someone else supervise me doing pants. The woman she had supervise me was named Casey and she was so much fun, I saw her again today and she seemed just as happy. It's great to see someone so bubbly in the work force. And not obnoxious bubbly either, just goofy and happy to be there.
So, Beth had me work with menswear yesterday (which is why I was spec-ing menswear) and I helped two of the technical designers. There was a sweet little Korean woman who remembered me today and was very nice, and a man who looked hipster enough to be working there. He was also very nice. When I wasn't helping them I was back with Heather doing mail things which was easier the second time around. On Tuesdays we send out packages so I got to do that which was interesting and hectic and made a lot of noise (beware masking tape).  I even got to sit in on a fitting! It was fun to see someone else do it so easily. Also, it was menswear so the fit model was very cute. He was also very polite, he remembered my name and said it often, okay, maybe not often, but enough for me to know he knew me and that he was nice.
What was great about being in on the fitting was that I also met the design teams in charge of that particular shipment and got to hear their discussions about the mills and the pricing. I feel like I know enough to keep up but when they started talking in abbreviations like CMT, Poho and YY it got a little confusing. Especially YY. The only abbreviations I know that include "Y" is "TY" and "LY" which is"This year" and "Last year" respectively. Seriously though, what in the world is a YY?
This morning I caught a break in my transportation and made it in really early. I thought I was going to be with Heather again and since she wasn't in yet (she probably didn't catch any breaks in transportation) I opened myself up for Beth. Instead of giving me work she gave me this giant binder of company information and codes and abbreviations for seaming and POMs (point of measurement). I spent a while going over the book and making copies for myself before some real work came a long. It turned out that I was not with Heather but with Karen, a woman high up in the department. She is very sweet and was one of the people who initially interviewed me what back in January. She handed me off to the knitwear department who then gave me a lot of garments to photograph and spec which was a lot of fun. I like to feel like I'm helping. The only problem was that some of the things that I had to do confused me and my desk was like 5 rows over from theirs so I had to keep walking back and forth, interrupting their work and then dragging them back to my desk to help out for a minute or two and then repeat it all over again ten minutes later. I felt bad but they were all very nice and said they didn't mind. They probably did.
I ate lunch with my friends in the cafeteria and I will probably gain 30 pounds this summer because everything is big and delicious and bad for you.
On a side note, when I'm at the office I live off tea. Not sure why, I got myself one cup on Monday and about 4 cups yesterday, I think today I only had 2 but I had brought a water and bought a Coke so I was spoken for in more ways than one.
I spec-ed until about 6 when they more or less kicked me out.  I'm still not sure what my hours are supposed to be. Yesterday I stayed until 6 and they didn't need me so they told me I could go. Today, I was given a bunch of work around 5:30 and then ten minutes into it, the woman who gave it to me came over and told me that she didn't realize how late it was when she gave me the work and that I shouldn't get too into it as I should leave at 6. She also told me "not to get into the habit," of what I'm not sure, staying late? Maybe as an intern I only get paid until 5 so I shouldn't stay late, or maybe I do get paid but the company doesn't want to waste that much pay on an intern. I wont lie, one of the reasons I don't mind staying later is because I will (or at least I think I will) get paid more, but that's not it. I really enjoy working there. It's great to walk around all of the shelves and know that I am part of a company that is so important to my generation and age group. I like that everyone I meet seems to like working there. I even like the work, straight up. I was bopping on my ipod and doing specs and was sad when I was told I shouldn't stay any longer. I would've stayed until they didn't have any work left!
Oh well, maybe these hours will get settled once and for all next week when both supervisors come back. Hopefully I'll keep up the good work and update next Wednesday! Night!

Monday, June 4, 2012

The First Day!

So I said I would post today and I'm doing it!
I know, I'm shocked too.
I'm also about to pass out, it's been such a terribly long day.
First I got up at 6, meaning to sleep in until 630 and instead slept til 645. It doesn't seem like a big difference but I hate to be rushed and I needed to be ready to go by 730.
So I jump out of bed! I wanted to wear a dress because it's the first day and I wanted to be pretty, but I stuck my hand out the window and it's so cold  out! Backup plan is a pair of jeans and a tank with a nice jacket.
I get up, get dressed and go make myself some peanut butter toast!
I wait for everyone to get ready and then we're off!
While I love the subway, it took longer than I had expected and I almost feel asleep on it (I didn't fall asleep until 2am last night-something I shall not repeat tonight).
We get there. There are 80 (!) interns this summer! It's quite amazing. While there are people starting at different times so I don't have a definite count, out of the 40 (or so) starting today, only 2 interns were guys, and one struck me as gay...the other struck me as British, so who knows.
We are greeted, fed breakfast and then we talk about the company and our plans.  This all takes from 845to 1. At 12 they served us lunch which was chicken enchiladas, beans and rice and guacamole. It was all delicious and I think I ate more guac than any one person should ever eat in a single sitting.
After that we finally got to go and start working! Luckily, or unluckily depending on your mind, I am in the main building which is open to the public and houses the cafeteria.
Both of my supervisors are out this week on vacation (fabulous planning), and so I got dumped on this poor girl named Heather. She was quite sweet and I enjoyed chatting with her and asking questions but you could tell she had a job to do and babysitting me was not it. I was made to do busy work, nothing terrible, just sorted the mail and sorted clothes into piles for sample sales.  Heather also took me of a tour of the entire building, we apparently have a gym that's open for use! It's actually really cool.
She shows me the outdoor eating area, the different departments in the main building and where she and I will work.
I was told that my internship would go from 9-6 everyday, but as my supervisors weren't here and Heather was not 100% sure on what I was to do told me that interns normally work 9-5 and that I could leave after spending 10 minutes watching her work on a spreadsheet, having finished all of my own sorting and organizing. As some of my new friends were in fact stuck there until 6, and I have a feeling that my schedule will change again once my supervisors return. Hey, more money, right?
I waited for some of my friends to get out off work and then we headed home on the subway together. I would have left earlier since I was the first done but after not paying attention on the subway ride there, there was no way in hell I would have been able to make the trip in reverse. After we got off at our stop, one friend needed to run to the gym and the other needed to stop at a drug store so I walked the rest of the way alone. It was a super nice day if not a little confusing and definitely tiring.
Heading to bed now! Night!
Sorry, but there's no way in hell I'm updating "Stories" right now. :)

Sunday, June 3, 2012

A New Start

So I am once again showing my proficiency at forgetting to update. I don't even fully remember the last time I blogged. Anyway, school has been out for about 3 weeks and instead of doing the work I needed to be doing, or blogging, or doing anything remotely productive I have lazed around and hung out with my friends, you know, enjoyed summer before the hard part comes.
So now, a change of scenery.
I am living in Philly, PA. I just moved in today. I met my housemates and my neighbors, spent time with them, went grocery shopping and cooked my very first meal in this kitchen (pasta with homemade tomato sauce with sauteed mushrooms, delicious).
And I start my internship tomorrow. I will be working with Anthropologie in the Technical Design department. I really hope this goes well. I need something to that will tell me "Yes, you can do this. You can do this job. You can be happy here."
I will try to write back tomorrow night about the always-terrifying First Day and I would like to keep this blog updated on every Wednesday (subject to change because I don't know what work is like and as you can see, my blogging track-record is in the pooper).
Have an amazing night! Oh, did anyone catch that hail earlier? Crazy.