Too busy to blog, but I’m back… again!

Posted in Welcome to New York by msiwak

As the title suggests, I’ve been a little preoccupied to update this in a few weeks. Oops. Well, better late than never, right?

So, my last post concluded with me seeing American Psycho in its final weekend. So, next was work as usual– I’m a full time intern, which means Monday through Friday, 10am-6pm. My daily tasks range from fashion research (finding new looks and compiling inspiration into mood boards and look books), runs (where interns such as myself go drop off clothes and accessories, pick them up or find things for a client or shoot), and general organizing, unpacking/ packing of clothes (as per the Styling Intern title I possess). I do have to say– this internship is the best exercise I could ever hope for: you run around all day, all over the city, carrying different weighted objects… what workout could be better? or easier?

Then, Saturday, June 11, I woke up super early and arrived to the rush line at 6:55am (where I was first in line, thank you) to get rush tickets for that evening. I went to see Fiddler on the Roof (pre-Tonys). My rush seat was literally in the THIRD row, orchestra. Like, I was super close to the incredible cast! AND the show was amazing! Then, as expected, I had to stagedoor. I met patriarch and matriarch as played by Danny Burstein and Jessica Hecht, and their five daughters, as well as the rest of the cast. And at the end, Alexandra Silber (Tzeitel) came out and asked if we were excited about the Tonys tomorrow (of course we said yes.) And then I asked how she felt “getting married” on live television. To which she said she always envisioned having a small wedding. (You know, a small wedding counts as millions watching it on live TV, right?!?!)

The next day, as I was planning out my schedule, I realized in the two weeks I had been here– I hadn’t made it to Shake Shack yet. WHAT? How could that be? So, I had no choice but to rectify that immediately, as I headed for a milkshake at lunchtime. Who cared about real food, I clearly just needed a milkshake, obviously. And that night was the Tonys– or as I like to call it: An Ode to Hamilton. Rant time: as good as Hamilton was/is and how much I enjoyed it, there is/was SO many other amazing pieces of theatre out there this season that got shut out of the awards because Lin’s genius work, and I just wish the awards could have featured those more too. (Like did we really need Cordon’s intro and exit song to be just the Hamilton cast?? No.) I mean, Hamilton is good yes, but in no way could anyone call it one of the top musicals of all time… Like, I’m sorry, but you can’t say a hip-hop rap musical is better than all the classics even the cast and creative team of Hamilton so revered their entire lives… Sorry, just had to speak my mind while thinking about it…

Another work week went on as usual. And Friday was the most rigorous exercise yet! So, I had to drop off two huge shopping bags full of Jimmy Choos off uptown. So: picture me walking across town, up several series of steps carrying to full bags of stilettos in each hand– pretty good exercise opportunity, while accomplishing a work task.

Then, yesterday (Saturday) I went to a Standing Room line at 4:30, waited until 6pm when I could officially by my ticket to Shuffle Along, or the making of the musical of 1921 and all that followed, that night, featuring the legendary stars of Audra McDonald, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Billy Porter, Joshua Henry and Brandon Victor Dixon.

Let me clue you in: Standing Room Only (SRO) are tickets, often sold in place of rush tickets, where the seats are just places standing at the back of the theater at orchestra level, see pictures below. (And who cares about standing for two hours?? It was so amazing, I hardly realized I was standing at all.)

My “seat.” AKA, leaning up against this half-wall.

But the show– everything was phenomenal: the sets, the costumes, the dancing (Savion Glover is a genius!), the talent. I mean, Billy Porter, Adrienne Warren AND Audra??? Like, wow. AH-MA-ZING. Then, per usual, I went to the stagedoor.

Billy Porter

Adrienne Warren (From a Bring it On cheerleader to a Tony nominee!)

Tony nominee Brandon Victor Dixon

Brian Stokes Mitchell (yes, he was Rachel’s dad on Glee…)

That’s the recap. Be back soon. (I’ll actually try to keep that promise this time.)

5Jun2016

One week in and it’s been all about theater and fashion… But is that a bad thing??

Posted in Welcome to New York by msiwak

As this post title suggests, it’s been exactly one week for my second Manhattan summer and basically everything I’ve done involves fashion and Broadway. But, that’s not a bad thing at all, right?!?

To start, on Wednesday I decided to try my luck at the Ham4Ham lottery (though I knew it’d be fail, as it was last summer.) To clarify, the Hamilton lottery is best described as a needle in a haystack, where thousands of people head to the Richard Rodgers for the sole in-person Wednesday matinee lottery for $10 front row seats or a few standing room options, where they put their name in a huge barrel of a basket— yeah, chances are slim. Knowing it’s highly unlikely that I’d win, I mostly went to see the Ham4Ham show. So, two hours before creator and star Lin-Manuel Miranda tweeted a New York Times article about the Hamilton softball team in the Broadway league, which was “required reading” for the lotto… Unsure what that meant, I went anyway with no thought of what would be performed.

I wanted show you all what it’s like to go to Ham4Ham, so enjoy the video below. (Sorry if it’s hard to see– it was really crowded and I’m vertically challenged.)

After I lost the lottery (as expected), I still felt like seeing a matinee, so I walked one block over to Waitress. I heard they had Standing Room seats, but the show wasn’t quite sold out, so I decided to get the cheapest available option in the mezzanine– and I’m so glad I did, because the show was great! (Been listening to the cast album on repeat all week!)

Then at the stagedoor:

Cute sisters McKenna and Clair sign Playbills for their split role as Lulu, Jenna’s daughter in the epilogue. #tooprecious

Oh, hey- Chris Fitzgerald! I just had to congratulate him on his TONY NOMINATION!

I went home to get ready for my first day of work in the morning.

If you don’t know, I’m a Styling Intern at Brandon Maxwell (if you don’t know who he is, he runs a luxury fashion label and is a stylist.) What’s life as a fashion intern like? I’m hear to tell you… So, on Thursday (my first day), tasks included unpacking and packing garment bags and trunks of clothes, picking up a giant crystal pennant from Swarovski, dropping off and picking up garment bags, and at the end of the day, drop off gifts for models at IMG and Women Management. I also learned that heels are great aesthetically, just fashion interns are on your feet all day, both standing and running errands, so let’s just said I had some bad blisters… by lunchtime. Yea…. Then, on Friday my tasks included, drop offs, organizing the design studio, creating PDFs of the looks, running to Barneys to find 11 pairs of Manolos (such a hard life, right???), sending out trunks and packing. Very busy, but I love being deeply immersed in the fashion industry!

When I got home, I made dinner and promptly went to bed. Then, my alarm went off at 5:30 a.m. (See I had a logical reason!) I got up, got ready and headed to 45th Street (aka Broadway) and planted myself on the sidewalk outside the Gerald Shoenfeld theater where I was tenth in line for day-of rush tickets to American Psycho, closing June 5. After waiting for three hours in the longest rush line on 45th street (it went passed the Booth and looped into Shubert Alley!), I was able to get a ticket for the evening show.

It was a really great show! Ahead of time, I knew nothing about the musical, the book or movie– and I think that’s better. If you don’t have any expectations, you’ll enjoy it more and can’t get let down. Every aspect was phenomenal, it’s a shame it only got Tony nods for lighting and set (well deserved, but still…) and that it’s closing…

Side note and brief theater rant: It’s a shame how so many amazing Broadway productions are closing because of low ticket sales and no Tony love (probably because Hamilton got everything); just because a show is completely original, artistic and different from anything I’ve ever seen (yes, I’m talking about Psycho here!) doesn’t mean it should close…. Sad face that Broadway can’t keep the greats…

And after the show, of course I had to stagedoor– getting autographs and even a photo! (And at the stagedoor, I noticed Bob Lenzi aka Miles from Tuck waiting there for his girlfriend at her stagedoor– talk about an adorable Broadway couple.)

A photo with Jen Damiano!

And later, guess who I learned also went to that show? Why none other than LEA SALONGA. SHUT UP, that’s so legendary– that I was in the same room as her, watching a show!

So, I’d say fashion and theater will be the major themes of this summer!

Until next time…

31May2016

Manhattan, I’m Back Again!

Posted in Welcome to New York by msiwak

Well, I’m finally back in NYC for what is sure to be another amazing summer! And with that, this category of my blog is back up and running! Yay!

So, here’s what’s been going on before my internship officially starts this week! (Aside from the boring and expected errands and unpacking.)

Backstory time: About a week ago I read a tweet saying that Tuck Everlasting the Musical was closing on May 29… which happened to be the day my flight landed in New York. My flight landed at noon, and there was an evening show (the last one EVER) at 7:30, so it was perfect. Thanks to TodayTix, I was able to reserve a rear mezzanine seat (view was still very good at the Broadhurst in the second-to-last row!)

After arriving in NYC, checking into my student housing and unpacking, I then headed to the theater district to get my ticket, where I saw most of the cast arriving before showtime (including 11-year-old Sarah Charles Lewis who was just sobbing to her mom and brother… Sad face.) At 7:00, I went to get my ticket and find a position in line to enter the Broadhurst. I walk past the Broadhurst entrance, past the Shubert entrance (Matilda), past Shubert Alley and all the way in front of the Minskoff (Lion King)… Such a long line. By the time I was settled in line, I swear Alexa Chung (famous fashion person if you don’t know who she is) walked passed me, deep in conversation. #celebspotting

The show was absolutely amazing!! Truly a magical, special piece of musical theatre and such a shame it had to close. To Casey Nicholaw and the entire creative team, cast and crew: you created a brilliant, magnificent musical, Bravo!

Stagedoor? But, of course…

Carolee Carmello was amazing as Mae Tuck! (Way different from Madame duMarier in Finding Neverland– and she excelled.) Side note: I was in the crowded in her last Instagram video of the stagedoor! 😉

Terrance Mann, the comedic Man in the Yellow Suit!

Mike Wartella as Hugo the detective! Um, #TeamHugo anyone?!?!?

11-year-old Sarah Charles Lewis absolutely killed it as Winnie Foster!

Michael Park was a great Angus Tuck, the Tuck family patriarch.

Robert Lenzi as Miles Tuck, Jesse’s older brother. Anyone else #TeamMiles???

And last but not least, it’s ANDREW KEENAN-BOLGER as Jesse Tuck!!! He was phenomenal and so sweet! And noted, there’s still one more Forever17 Broadway.com vlog left! 😉

Such an amazing show, it’s such a shame it’s over! 😦

Then, on Memorial Day, I decided to engage my inner fashionista and went to see this year’s HUGE Met Costume Institute’s Manus X Machina: Fashion in the Age of Technology exhibit, was was so breathtaking.

Dior

Saint Laurent

That detail!

BREATHTAKING.

The classic Chanel suits! Except only the far left one is tweed– the rest are 3D printed!

Dior

Perfection.

A 3D Printed haute couture dress— WOW.

And finally, the showstopper. Located in the center of the exhibit, an exclusive wedding dress designed by the icon himself, Karl Lagerfeld. THAT TRAIN, THOUGH. WOW.

The entire exhibit was pure perfection. Stunning. Flawless. Amazing. If you’re in New York, you don’t want to miss this exhibit! #fashion

Well, be sure to keep checking back here for all of my latest updates from Manhattan once again!

2Aug2015

Once we get going, we’re never gonna stop…

Posted in Welcome to New York by msiwak

Hi everyone, I’m back. So, we left off with my relaxing Sunday. Monday I had class stuff… very boring. Tuesday I had a cool intern event hosted by Marie Claire, where I even got some new headshot taken! Love it! #updated Then, I researched vintage-inspired board games for my boss until the end of the day. After work, I walked around Shubert Alley and even spotted Laura Michelle Kelly (She’s in Finding Neverland!!) on my way to my repeat showing of the hilarious It Shoulda Been You! Then, my friends and I celebrated with ice cream after the play ended.

Need a prop?

The next day was spent prop shopping! Then, I got back and had some editorial brainstorming to do and running quick errands for upcoming craft pieces for fall issues. Thursday, I also had some craft errands for upcoming shoots followed by research. At 4pm, the mag had some extra Magnolia Bakery cupcakes which provided a nice afternoon treat. #yummy

Friday was another research day, however there was some exciting events! 🙂 First, I was able to get free tickets to Good Morning America’s summer concert series in Central Park on Tuesday! (So, watch for me on your TV!) Then, there was a beauty sale at ELLE. It was insane, but good deals on tons of beauty products!

Saturday was particularly exciting because, after weeks of failed attempts, I ended up winning the Aladdin lottery!!!! (First name called too, I was so excited! I kept alternating between crying and smiling/screaming internally!) Ahhh so exciting because I was desperate to see the show: which was great! I then went to the stagedoor to meet the ahmazing cast of the Disney play.

Great show! Loved all the jokes and references, dancing, singing and costumes!

I met Adam Jacobs (Aladdin)! I told him how I was sobbing during Proud of Your Boy, and he responded, “Good. That means I’m doing my job…”

And Courtney Reed or Princess Jasmine!

And James Monroe Iglehart who won the TONY last year for his role as Genie!

After my stagedoor adventures, I decided to walk over to the Richard Rogers theater to check out the #Ham4Ham lottery performance… and it was an In the Heights reunion! Ah so cool! The crowd was insane as soon as they started singing 96,000 (hence this blog title).

26Jul2015

It’s all about theater… Because, shouldn’t it be?

Posted in Welcome to New York by msiwak

I left off my last post with my exciting theater weekend, but let’s face it: that’s like every weekend I’ve been here… And isn’t that obvious? Hello, I’m in MANHATTAN aka home to the Great White Way! How could I not absorb all that I can?

Monday during our theater week class we visited Lincoln Center (stood on stage where the Philharmonic plays!), the famed nonprofit Manhattan Theater Club, AKA advertising (they’ve done Matilda, Hand to God, First Date, etc etc etc and then an alumni panel.) They were cool to see! At lunch, my entire group of friends decided to go kid-friendly: ordering grilled cheese, chicken fingers, waffles and french fries… because were are children obviously… haha, jk we’re all 20. Then, we had an MT alumni panel, which included the understudy for Alex Sharp in Curious Incident, Fiyero in Wicked (!!) AND the woman who plays Gretchen in “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.” And while all their advice was primarily focused on theater, it was still cool to hear from alums living out their dreams in the crazy NYC. After that, I had some crazy, unbelievable visa application problems, which I had the whole week. 😦

At work this week, I helped organize our craft closet, research and finding plaid products and rooms. Also, the Hearst cafe makes really yummy homemade sushi for lunch. 🙂 #internperks Wednesday night, my friends and I decided to celebrate New York Restaurant Week by going to a fancy restaurant, however I was a bit unsure over the ice cream flavors I was eating (What? Watermelon? Mint? Hmm… those don’t seem right…)

Thursday I began trying for the Hamilton lottery, because it’s Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jonathan Groff in an ahmazing show and tickets are $10 for front-row. AND because Lin always comes out to entertain the fans… so sweet.

Also, I am now addicted to Cutthroat Kitchen (it’s like Chopped, but crazier!)

Friday I got off work early, so #Ham4Ham? But, of course. And I had a great view.

Jon Groff spotted!! (And the only one who saw him waiting!) And look it’s Lin introducing some of the cast for “freestyle friday!” And yes, he did hold his phone up to the bullhorn to play the music… After that second day of lottery with failed results, I left and went to dinner at Shake Shack and browse the theater fan selections at Shubert Alley. (OH MY GOSH, the sheet music they have! I don’t need it– but then again, I kind of do…)

That night, I was able to get a good deal for rush to that night’s show of Hand to God. It was hilarious! Wow, so good! And then, I met the talented cast:

Love her outfit! So chic!

On Saturday, I embraced my theater nerd again for a more well-known show, The King and I (student rush.)!! Though Tony winner (finally!) Kelli O’Hara was not performing yesterday, the show was still ahmazing and incredible! Also, the guy who played Lun Tha also plays Oliver in HTGAWM!!! Ahh I love him and that show, especially the show’s OTP of Conner and Oliver!!!! Ah, so exciting!

That night and Sunday was spent writing essays… gross. Then, I decided to go see Trainwreck, the new comedy with Amy Schumer. Haha it was hilarious.

Well, I’m off to do some more class work…

Until next time, Miranda xx

20Jul2015

A whole lot of nothing and then a whole lot of theater.

Posted in Welcome to New York by msiwak

Hi everyone. Sorry it’s been a while, but as the title suggests, nothing really cool has been happening: I pretty much just go to work (I have a routine now.)

So, my last post left off with how amazing Hedwig and the Angry Inch with Darren Criss was! That following Monday was yet another boring financial visit, blech. Tuesday was a prep day for a big fall cover shoot, so I was packing, organizing and running last-minute errands. July 8 was the big shoot so, in addition, to organizing and running to Whole Foods for some specific eggs for a shot, I had to burn down candles… for the shoot (Hey, they have to look like people actually used them! Believability!)

The rest of the week was unpacking, organizing and writing papers due… ew. But, enjoy these cool shots from the top floor of my office building.

That weekend was uneventful, as I spent most time either writing papers or hanging out with friends. Then, on Monday began our theater week. And I got to go to William Ivey Long’s costume shop! It was so cool to see the office of the legend who designed costumes for Cinderella, Caberet, Chicago, Guys and Dolls, It Shoulda Been You (!!) and On the 20th Century! Wow! That was cool. Then, we had a theater panel with stage managers of shows like Wicked and Kinky Boots.

Tuesday, July 14 started off with a run to this huuuge prop warehouse to pick up items for a shoot, Then, I had to find where to buy pumpkins for the next cover shoot… real ones. Did you know those are hard to find in summer? Then, at 3 pm we had this super cool editorial intern panel with all these digital editors from 17, Marie Claire and Cosmo: so so so cool! #dreamjob

That night we went to Wicked. Loved it as always, except bummed Kara Lindsey was out of town. 😦 (She was fantastic as Katherine Plumber in Newsies!)

Then, I learned the guy who plays romantic male lead Fiyero went to my school! How cool!

And then, we were able to go on a backstage tour of the theater (we passed Real Housewife of Orange County Tamra leaving her tour, as well) and got to chat with Fiyero and even….

Stand on the Gershwin stage!!!!! What, oh my gosh!

The rest of the week was same old, same old research, packing, etc.

Friday night my friend and I had gotten tickets to see the one and only SUTTON FOSTER live in The Wild Party! And she was ahmazing to see live (as well as the rest of the cast.) We went to stagedoor and got autographs from the rest of the cast, and then I spotted Ms. Foster, however, she only signed a select few, so I only got a quick, blurry shot of her and her husband leaving the theater. BUT, I did talk to her show costar Miriam about how I am obsessed with their show Younger and cannot wait for season 2! She was very sweet about that.

IMG_4098_2 Saturday morning I wrote my whole paper in two hours flat and then walked around the Central Park Zoo for a while. First, we couldn’t find it in the huge park and then we thought the children’s petting zoo was the whole thing. Glad that was a no.

Then, a bunch of friends and I went to grab a quick bite for dinner. After that, around 8 pm, my friend and I went to go get flowers and cards from the store because we decided to show up and support Darren Criss at the stagedoor at his final night. Because he literally is off to Italy on Monday to shoot a film, ‘Smitten!’ We got there soon after and waited until 11:30 before he started to sign autographs. But, here’s my experience through photos:

just looked up and saw this in lights.

Look closely: it’s Harry Shum Jr from Glee there to support his buddy!

Brad the pianist from Glee, Gilmore Girls, Bunheads, etc!!!

Darren talking to us!! So, first he came to tell us he’ll be there soon. Then, here: he’s telling us to “put our f**king phones away” because he’d rather have a human moment with us. Such a sweetie that Darren is. ❤ Also, it is evident that “f**k” is clearly his fave word…

Aww, cutie pie Darren. 🙂

Got to congratulate him on a truly amazing run, compliment his blue sparkly nail polish and ask if he’d miss all those shows in heels. 😉

He wrote my name on the Playbill! Eee! He also asked if it was spelled with an “Mir…” Yep, he got it right! Smarty pants! 🙂

SUCH AN AMAZING NIGHT. A little too hot and in cramped quarters, but so worth it to meet sweetie pie Darren.

On to Sunday. I woke up planning to do the lottery for Aladdin. Total bust. Sad face. However, across the street was On the Twentieth Century with Kristin Chenoweth and Peter Gallagher! So why not? I learn it’s their LAST show, like the very final one AND they have student rush. Yes, I’m in. So, I was able to get a half-off orchestra seat to the last performance! So much better than Aladdin, for sure!

The show was amazing, and to be able to see Ms. Chenoweth live on stage: oh my gosh, I could hardly believe it! After a lengthy, and well-deserved, bow, I headed out to stagedoor and who was first to come out?

Ah Kristin Chenoweth! So petite and so pretty!

Loving her perfect summer outfit! And I told her that! She responded, “Oh thank you, I hope I can rock it.” Oh yes, you can.

Got a Playbill signed by the incomparable Kristin Chenoweth! (And two ensemble members, who took a picture of me and a few other fans waiting!)

Wow, what a whirlwind! After that, I had about seven minutes at home before my friend and I walked to dinner in Little Italy (when in NYC, I guess?). We came back and I was so exhausted, but decided to write a blog post, so here we are.

Tomorrow is another day of class within the theater section, so we’ll see how that goes. Also this week is big time visa app prep before I go abroad (I’ll be blogging there too: haven’t decided on a site yet: will keep you posted.)

Until next time, Miranda xx

5Jul2015

How a theater nerd spends the Fourth weekend…

Posted in Welcome to New York by msiwak

Hi everyone, I left you last time as I was uncertain about my holiday plans… Well, they were good ones. I’ll recap below.

IMG_3923_2 On Thursday, after I finished my assignments due, I decided to make it a Broadway night, and went to see “It Shoulda Been You.” On the way to the theater, as I was exiting the subway, I did randomly run into a girl from my hometown that I hadn’t seen since tenth grade… Small world. The show was absolutely hilarious! Tyne Daly plays the perfect Jewish mother (Note: Mom, that will be you in a few years time for sure.) It was so funny and a heartwarming musical comedy about a couple’s wedding day when their families do not approve… But, I absolutely do approve of this show! (You see what I did there?? Okay, back to my tale now…)

The show ended and you know what that means? (Or you follow me on social, which would have spoiled this post for you.) STAGEDOOR! Want to see my photos?

The bride played by talented Broadway actress Sierra Boggess! (She was in Phantom, Little Mermaid, etc)

Lisa Howard who was amazing as the bride’s older sister.

Aaron Finley who played the groom! (He understudied David Burtka in the role and previously starred in Rock of Ages.)

Josh Grisetti who played the bride’s ex Marty.

All of the cast signed my playbill! (Except Tyne… she was too exhausted to come out to the stagedoor.)

That was fun! Note, the twist in the show was very unexpected! My jaw nearly dropped to the floor! While at stagedoor, I made a new friend (us theater nerds are pretty friendly while waiting at stagedoors…) who I then walked with to two other stagedoors.

First, we went to Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime and I got autographs from the whole cast (didn’t see the show… yet.) And even a photo:

I met this year’s Tony winner, Alex Sharp! (and he signed the playbill with a smiley face besides his name…)

Off to the next stagedoor: Finding Neverland (sans a playbill). But, oh look, pictures!

IT’S MR. SHUE FROM GLEE, MATTHEW MORRISON!

Love Teal Wicks’ outfit! (pants from Zara)… And she played Matt Morrison’s wife in the show…

I got home via Uber at midnight and promptly set my alarm for 5:45 a.m. (No work Friday either…) So, Friday I arrived at the theater by a little before 7 and that made me the first in line for rush tickets! Yay!!! So, the box office opened at 10 and I promptly received my front row ticket to “Finding Neverland” for that evening! The show was so incredible! And to see it from right in the front was crazy! I loved it! Can’t wait to get the cast album in a few weeks! I even was a part of the number “Stronger!” So, during that song, there are ropes suspended from the ceiling at the front of the stage and one of the ensemble members (dressed as a pirate) kind of tapped me on the shoulder (pirate-like) like I was in the show with him! Crazy!

My view. Right down in front.

Next up, stagedoor. I got my playbill signed by pretty much all of the cast, and even got to chat with two of the children in the show and Melanie Moore (who played Peter Pan and even won SYTYCD season 8… so naturally we talked about the Stage/Street season going on now… We’re both rooting for Travis Wall’s stage team, obviously!)

Oh look, it’s Matt Morrison making a repeat appearance on this blog post… (See, different days: different shirts!)

Saturday was the 4th of July! And I decided to celebrate by visiting the stagedoor of Something Rotten at its matinee performance. I got my playbill signed (first autograph/ photo with all the actors!) and even had a short conversation with CHRISTIAN BORLE about how I loved him in Legally Blonde and still listen to the soundtrack all the time, to this day!

Here’s where all my fellow theater nerds fangirl immensely:

SELFIE WITH CHRISTIAN BORLE!!!!

That evening my friend and I got dinner at a chocolate shop nearby, and even had to split dessert (when in rome?)

Our GIANT s’mores sundae.

Stuffed from dinner, we decided to go watch the Macy’s Fireworks display. So, we walked down to the East River park for a nice viewing-ish. On our walk there, we made a new friend from Wales; so naturally I told him I was headed to London in the fall… The fireworks, while a bit long, were still very pretty and patriotic! (They even had ones in the shape of smiley faces!)

‘cuz baby you’re a firework!

Sunday morning, my friend and I decided to go put our names in for the Aladdin lottery… we didn’t get it, but still wanted to see a matinee. So, where else did we end up?The Belasco Theater to see Darren Criss in Hedwig!

TKTS gave us pretty good seats, and we were seated at orchestra level: not bad at all! The show was great, as well as seeing Darren live in the flesh with his insane thigh muscles. Loved the show; Darren was incredible! And I’ll definitely be back to stagedoor it, before his run ends…

Well, I’m exhausted: better go rest up for a full day of class tomorrow.

Until next time, Miranda xx

2Jul2015

What happens when you least expect it

Posted in Welcome to New York by msiwak

Saturday, after I posted my last entry, a friend and I decided to be very touristy for a little bit and get out of the rain too. Who did we see?

The latest tributes fight it out in the Cornucopia. Hahaha I wouldn’t last a minute.

Had to promote my work on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon!

But, I couldn’t miss my presidential speech in D.C….

JOBROS round 2!

A quick selfie with my super tall NYC buddy, Miss Taylor Swift.

Hey Ed, good to see you again!

That’s right, I went to Madame Tussauds! Haha we had fun, though I wish my 1D boys were in attendance! 😦 Ah, well there’s always London…

Sunday night began with a visit to Broadway to see Something Rotten with Christian Borle! (He won the TONY, as well as starred in the Legally Blonde musical and the TV show “Smash.”) The show was hilarious (it’s a muuusical!) and the best part had to be at the end: when Christian Borle was goofy-dancing (almost like ’embarrassing dad dancing’) off stage as the curtain fell. Best part of the night. Also, Borle as the cocky Shakespeare versus the sweet, adorable Emmett in Legally Blonde: so drastically different! But, the show as a whole was fantastic! After the show, we decided to Uber back with some interesting results, to say the least.

Monday was our class day and we visited three FINANCE sites. Can you hear me yawning? I actually kind of fell asleep at one of the stops. Sorry- now I know I can never work at a financial firm. Also, I learned a salad that primarily is made with kale is not my thing: blech.

Tuesday began with my supervisor asking if any of us interns can sew. I said I could-ish. Then, I was off to what is quickly becoming my new favorite store, Lee’s Art Shop— it has so many craft supplies and other miscellaneous items in store!

Making some Martha Stewart-approved fabric flowers for an upcoming shoot in a fall issue!

Then, I pretty much sewed all day: it was very relaxing, therapeutic. I popped in my headphones, played some slow Ed Sheeran ballads and I had a relaxing time stitching; the time just flew by! Also, I was able to find some cute bangles the accessories apartment was giving away!

Wednesday, I kept unpacking and sewing for our shoot next week: it’s still relaxing– and easier to get the hang of once you actually know how to do it! Also, after lunch the fashion team brought huge tubs into the conference room for giveaways! The area was packed with GH employees sifting through all sorts of clothes and accessories. I even found a cute purse, hat and socks!

I came home to work on some essays due tomorrow, but hey I have Thursday and Friday off work for the holiday, so that’s nice! Then, my friend and I decided to try a gelato place near NYU: I had a really good mix of raspberry and hazelnut. As we were eating our gelato cones, guess what we randomly saw??

A film crew! There were director seats that read “rock and roll” in a typewriter-esque font, a craft services tent and all sorts of crew members around!

Not to mention the amount of trailers with vanity mirrors inside!

In fact, one trailer read “Zak,” which is a character in the show, who is played by actor Ray Romano.

Being a journalist, I knew I had to do some sleuthing to find out the specifics:

Turns out, “Rock and Roll” is an upcoming HBO series that was filming: and we saw the whole process, how cool was that! See what happens when you least expect it in Manhattan?

Thursday and Friday, I don’t know what is in store: stay tuned.

Until next time, Miranda xx

27Jun2015

My version of sightseeing.

Posted in Welcome to New York by msiwak

Today’s tale began with an uneventful Sunday until there was a sudden downpour as my friend and I left for dinner. (We settled on the place right downstairs from our building. And as we sat down at the table, the rain disappeared from the sky. Weird.)

Just thought I’d fill in as CNN anchor… JK, I’m still a print person.

Monday, we woke up bright and early for some meeting no one was quite sure why was necessary in the first place. But, then comes the exciting part… We went to CNN! (Every journalism major’s dream come true, right?!?!) It was so cool to see the “New Day” set and even hear from and meet with anchors Ashleigh Banfield, and Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota of “New Day,” as well as other employees, such as producers, news desk managers and members of the digital team. Well, as cool as it was, I’m still a print person and way more interested in writing than being on-camera or working the techy equipment. If only we could’ve visited a place more specialized in my field, oh wait, I guess that’s more where I work every day at my internship. After CNN (and I gave the digital services employee my business card: hey I’d write for their online team!), we headed to lunch and found this really good European cafe not too far from CNN and my office and I had a lox (smoked salmon, if you must) crepe. Because who doesn’t love a crepe?

After that, we ventured through Times Square to find the Viacom building, where we heard from a panel of Nickelodeon/MTV employees. (The first question someone asked was if they’d reboot 90s classics on Nick… Oh college kids…) It was interesting to hear about the production of the shows and their business model, but again, it was too production-heavy for my taste. But, the employee speaking at the panel did give us a tour of the former TRL studio that overlooks Times Square. That was cool, obviously would have been cooler if the stage was still dressed for something, but c’est la vie.

View from the 29th floor in my office, overlooking what feels like all of Manhattan.

Tuesday was yet another research day at work, where I sit at my desk and basically online shop for home decor and craft projects, not a bad job, right?!? Wednesday, I helped pack up a shoot and then our coolest task came: it’s very editorial-based, and I’ll fill you in more later as I have more details… but it’s so cool and like a dream come true for me!! That evening was our communications alumni panel a.k.a. a time for our school’s alumni to talk about why they love their advertising/PR work… a field not for me, so I wasn’t the most interested. Thursday was another research day, followed by my overwhelming need to Skype my brother just so I could watch the Big Brother premiere live (yes, I’m still obsessed with that show, and I’m so shocked with every twist!)

Friday was a unique day. First, I packed up some surfaces to be returned and then it became an errand day. My first task was to run to….

Bloomingdales! First off, the store is ginormous (housewares was on the sixth floor) and full of gorgeous clothes and furnishings, but, alas, I had to focus on my work task.

I did some pretty interesting sightseeing along the way, take a glance at what I saw:

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Well, alright, fine: that’s my version of sightseeing (the fashion sights!) Then, I walked back and went to the cutest art shop (it was huge) to pick up a few items needed for shoots. Then, I came back and met with one of the mag’s designers and we basically talked about fonts for 30 minutes. After that, the other interns in my department and I crafted! We made paper flowers! (The other interns weren’t as enthralled as I was to be crafting: hey, it relaxes me!) So, what job is better than shopping and crafting?? I came home to work on my UK visa application, so I could run to FEDEX to print it before it closed: success on that front. Then, I ~~worked on~~ wrote my paper (due today at 5 p.m.) until 12:45 a.m. … and here we are.

I’m not sure what the rest of day has in store yet, but tomorrow is a theater night, to see a certain Tony Award winner live… More on that in the next post.

Until next time, Miranda xx

21Jun2015

THIS BLOG IS AWESOME!

Posted in Welcome to New York by msiwak

So, this past week has been crazy and exciting! Can’t wait to share more; so keep reading! (Oh, the blog title is a reference to something I did this week, will explain later.)

On Wednesday June 17, my day’s task was research-based for an upcoming story. The subject was ‘glamping.’ To which, I learned how intense it can be. (Also, I apologize if you follow me on Pinterest, as I kept pinning glamping ideas… Oops.) Then, we had some surprise visitors come to the office, bringing yummy-but-tiny treats by Baked By Melissa!

Who was it?

It was none other than Elmo and Cookie Monster!!! (And yes, it was the OFFICIAL ones, not the replications from Times Square.) Our entire office was in a tizzy; haha real celebrities visiting the office! Their PR people from Sesame Place mentioned how it was their 35th birthday, and even gave us promotional flash drives with a picture of Big Bird on it.

Thursday was research day as well (for a different project), and then we took a break to organize the home closet (it is full of adorable home decor!), which was kind of therapeutic for my Type A tendencies. 😉 (The other intern wasn’t as enthralled as I was to organize the closet.) Then, as we went downstairs to lunch, we ended up in the same elevator as our EIC Jane; casual.

Apparently the baseball field? (I’m not well-versed in sports.)

After work I had approximately 20 minutes after my subway arrived to go to the grocery store across the street AND change into something more appropriate for a Yankees game. (Another event for our NYC program participants.) Well, I made it: and my friend and I ended up squished in a Bronx-bound subway car, with just about every other person to the game. Upon arrival, we went to go get dinner (did you know they sell sushi and noodle bowls at Yankee Stadium? I did not.) and find a souvenir for my friend’s relative…. Haha hearing her describe his demographics to the young Mets fan working the booth was priceless! (haha, it was a ‘you had to be there’ type of humor.) Eventually, we found what we were looking for and went to find the staircase to get to the upper levels…. that was a tad bit difficult. We did find it shortly after, and were the last ones of our group to arrive in our seats… and the first ones to leave (hey we stayed until the 5th-6th inning!)

However, I learned that I have no idea what happened. When people cheered, I went “Yay, something happened, I guess!” True story. And we kept trying to guess the what the DH position of A-Rod was… (Is it ‘down home?’ Is that even a thing? Could it be?) It’s Designated Hitter…. ohhhhhhh. We didn’t stay much longer than that, but we couldn’t leave without getting some ice cream in a Yankees souvenir cup. (A.K.A. a souvenir for my brother from the city.)

The next day at work, we did research and then went up to the Test Kitchen to pack up from the week’s food shoot. While packing, I noticed how the GH Institute team was making something; it smelled really good! (Better than my own abilities. Not a joke. I must take after Mom in that way.) Then, when I got home, it was time to sit down to write this monster of an essay assignment due on Saturday. ~~I wrote the paper pretty much all night,~~ well, actually, I deflected by watching season four of Scandal on Netflix until midnight…

Ready to see Amanda Seyfried live on stage! I wonder, does she still have ESPN or something?

On Saturday, I woke up at 9 a.m. to do laundry and to actually write this paper. To which I learned that no one will wake up before 9 a.m. on a Saturday to do anything. (haha college kids.) I actually wrote this paper all day, and turned it in right on time! Then, it was time to head to the theater! This time I had planned to see off-Broadway play “The Way We Get By” starring Amanda Seyfried and Thomas Sadoski!

The show was fantastic; hilarious and well-done! So, there’s a line in the play where Thomas’ Greg says “Star Wars is awesome,” in relation to his character’s shirt… So, I ran with that for this blog title: I know you all were wondering…

When I sat down in my seat in the small off-broadway theater, I could have sworn that that guy who played Bennett in “The Carrie Diaries” was seated directly behind me… or at least someone who looks exactly like him.

After the show ended, I knew I had to stagedoor, which was in the lobby of the theater. First, Rose Byrne of “Bridesmaids” walked past (She was Helen.) wearing an adorable fedora atop her wavy bob. Us stagedoor folks were excited about seeing her. THEN, Seth Macfarlane speed-walked right past us. (Someone said they spotted him drinking at the bar earlier that night.) With that, let’s get to the actual cast, shall we?

First, Thomas Sadoski came out: who was fabulous as the fast-talking Greg! Oh, and yea, he was the ex-husband in “Wild” with Reese Witherspoon! Then, there was Amanda’s dog Finn waiting to see her post-show. He kept sniffing/licking my leg! (Dogs seem to love me; I can’t figure out why.) And after awhile, Amanda finally came outside (no photos with her were allowed.) And we had a little convo while she signed my Playbill!

Here’s how it went: (Her only conversation while signing autographs, just saying.)

Me: “You were great tonight! And Finn is so cute!”

Amanda Seyfried: “Isn’t he? He’s actually waiting for me in the car!” (Her face lit up when talking about her puppy!)

Me: “Yeah, he actually came inside for a little bit.”

AS: “Oh, did he?” (She was then ushered along to the next part of the line.)

Thomas Sadoski Finn Seyfried …and Amanda Seyfried

Ahhh! Still can’t believe that happened! Anyway, the show was hilarious, truly laugh-out-loud worthy! Great show, great night.

And here’s another [signed] Playbill to add to my collection this summer. (I imagine it will only keep growing…TOTAL TRUTH.)

Until next time, Miranda xx

quite simply miranda

Tag Archives: Manhattan

Too busy to blog, but I’m back… again!

One week in and it’s been all about theater and fashion… But is that a bad thing??

Manhattan, I’m Back Again!

Once we get going, we’re never gonna stop…

It’s all about theater… Because, shouldn’t it be?

A whole lot of nothing and then a whole lot of theater.

How a theater nerd spends the Fourth weekend…

What happens when you least expect it

My version of sightseeing.

THIS BLOG IS AWESOME!