Step Ninety Five: Rescue!

Bare with me for at least this post because I plan to stand on my soapbox and preach for a minute of two.

I've had pets my entire life, and I can honestly say that we never bought a single one of the cats or dogs that have lived in my house. Yes we've paid for them, but the money went to an animal shelter, never a pet store or a puppy mill. I grew up believing that you should rescue animals from their homeless situation because they were like children: helpless and needing someone to provide for them.

I've become even more attached to this idea now more than ever because as the rate of unemployment and homelessness is rising, so are the numbers of pets being dumped at the local shelters. If you think that you're in the market for a new furry friend, why not adopt instead of feeding into an industry that doesn't need to be encouraged to expand? If you live in NYC, the ASPCA has all kinds of cuties for you to consider. You can check out their website to look at the numerous cats and dogs that are looking for a friend as well as to learn about the ASPCA's policies and processes.
Wouldn't you like to give this kitty a home?

NAME: Kitty

Color: White
Gender: Female
Age: 7 years

Step Ninety Four: And then life happened

Dear avid readers-
I've been told by at least 3 of you that you miss my posts. So sorry to disappoint. Life's been a tad bit outta control. I guess I should probably explain myself.

Remember back in June when I asked you to help me with a survey for my internship? Yeah, well that project pretty much took over my life, but in the end I'm really glad it did. My group won the internship group challenge project, which means that we each won $1000 and tons of bragging rights. Essentially we were given a retailer, Macy's in our case, and told to research the store in order to figure out where they could improve. We then developed a brand to fill that void, a business plan, and developed a product line. We presented our project the end of July and were announced the overall winners at a dinner for all the interns. Woot Woot!

August 2 brought a new addition to Dave and my family. We adopted Leandra, a brown kitten with about a 1/4 of her tail but a huge personality to make up for it. We went to the ASPCA in search of a furry friend and after spending most of the day there, we settled on Leandra. I love her to death! She's hilarious and adorable and the most loving fur ball ever.


August 14th was supposed to be the end of the internship program at LFUSA, and I was holding my breath hoping that I would somehow manage to stay on there. Because I was going back to school in about 2 weeks, I knew there was no way I could manage a full time job, but I also knew that I needed some sort of income. My supervisor talked to the VP of Design in our department, and the next thing I knew, I had an interview. She was going to try to find a place for me to stay, even if it wasn't with Wal-mart, but there was paperwork involved and she'd have to get back to me. In the meantime, I kept showing up to work. Unfortunately I was leaving for 10 days to visit family and had no idea if when I came back I would have a job.

This brings me to the much anticipated and dreaded visit to Western New York. Nothing is more fun than spending 8 hours in a tiny car with your family knowing that the end result will be spending large amounts of time with a family that drives a tiny bit insane. It enrages me to see how my uncles don't do much of anything to help out my grandma who for years has taken care of bailed them out. I could go on for hours, but suffice it to say that while we were there, I vacuumed her house and my brother mowed her lawn and all the time her son lives about 5 minutes down the road. 3 family reunions later and 8 more hours in the car, we were back in NJ and then I was back in Brooklyn.

I worked another week or so with Wal-mart after returning from my family visit before being transfered to the special projects division. I work with a great team of 3 other people developing a line that we're hoping to sell to Macy's or Bloomingdales. The price point is clearly higher than Wal-marts which is a definite plus, and I've really enjoyed working on this team so far. I work 40 hours a week, however, and that on top of 17.5 credits of school is starting to kill me a little bit. I have to manage my time so carefully and make sure that I get all my work done for school. It's just going to be a year and in the end, I will have tons of job options to choose from. I just need to make it through the year.

So now you know where I've been hiding, and I'm sure you're currently scratching your head wondering what I'm doing updating my blog at 1:39 in the afternoon on a work day...I'm sick! A'int life a bitch!

Step Ninety Three: Sustainability

It's interesting how green minded everyone has gotten recently, and how trendy it is to "be green." I have to admit I laugh a little bit at everyone and their shopping bag, Sigg bottles, and recycling projects. Call me cynical but I don't think it's cool to turn something so important into a trendy fad when these are things I've been doing for years.

Since birth, my mom had us save everything that could possibly be used again. Magazines were cut up for art projects, plastic cutlery rewashed and reused, old sheets and blankets given to the animal shelter. Nothing went to waste. We recycled our paper, plastic, tin, and glass, and every summer we planted a massive garden that my mom would make pickles, tomato sauce, and jelly from.

Now as an adult, I have maintained many of these habits. There is a recycling can in my kitchen, a small garden growing on my window ledge, I am the biggest pack rat and when I can't find a use for it, I donate it to Good Will. At my job, corporate has sent around a questionaire asking everyone to set a personal sustainability challenge. I feel slightly silly making goals which are things that I already do, although, I am attempting to rely less heavily on the elevators in my apartment and office. I'm curious to know, do others have personal sustainability goals that they have set for themselves? What are they?

I hope that over time, these trendy shopping bags and water bottles and articles about how to go green will not be needed and people will just have the common sense to do what is best for the earth.
One of my many window gardens. I'm hoping that eventually they will start sprouting the marigolds, zinnias, and sunflowers they are supposed to have.My tomatoes and peppers. I love whoever built this little windowsill outside my kitchen window because it's perfect for my tiny garden.My recycling and trash station.

Step Ninety Two: HELP!

As part of my internship program, I was put into a group with my fellow interns and given a project to be completed by the middle of July. The first step of this project is to conduct a survey to gain important information that will help us solve the problem given us by LFUSA. This is where you, loyal reader, come in to play. I need some help in getting people to actually do my survey. Please click here and take the 5 minutes it will require to give me your input. Thank you soooo much!

Step Ninety One: Accessorize

We are all aware that the economy is tanking at an alarmingly rapid rate. No need for me to remind you of this horrifying fact, and I do not plan to dwell on it for long except to get to my point. Due to this and the fact that my college loans will be coming due faster than I would like, I've started a small side business: making jewelry. Since clearly no one has the money to invest in new clothing for their wardrobe they will be looking to spice up their existing options with some new accessories. I've started off with earrings and bracelets as a test run to see how well things will sell. My brother will be selling them at flea markets in Philadelphia and in New Jersey, but if you see something you are interested in, please contact me. I am in the process of making a website, but for now this will have to do. Earrings retail for $7 and bracelets are $12. All materials used are semi-precious stones. Let me know what you think. I'm aware the photo quality is not the greatest.

Step Ninety: Welcome to Adulthood!

I realize I've been quite lax in my updating. Sorry. There's been a lot of changes for me to get used to. Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start, and I'll catch you up.

1.) My fashion show went off with only 1 minor hitch: I had a model change on the day of the show, and her feet were astronomically smaller than my original models. Despite that, things went well. My family and friends were there supporting me, and I felt like a rockstar. Afterwards, there was a party held in our honor at the W Hotel where I met Ralph Rucci for the second time in my life and drank more wine than I should have. To view pictures from the show visit the VinePod and enter prattfashion as the gallery id.


2.) Dave and I have officially moved into our Crown Heights apartment. We share a quaint pre-war 1 bedroom apartment that we've almost made our own. Thanks to many family members cleaning out their attics and donating unwanted furniture, we managed to furnish the entire thing without spending a dime. Thank you family! We moved after my fashion show and before graduation. The stress was intense, but we were really lucky to have both of our families present for the big adventure. I'm pretty sure I never want to move again though.

3.) On May 18th, I graduated from Pratt Institute with a bachelors of fine arts with honors in fashion design at Radio City Music Hall. After thinking I was going to vomit the entire morning, I made it through the ceremony with minimal drama: I tripped after I got off the stage with my diploma. Judy Collins was our keynote speaker, leading us in multiple sing alongs and ending her speach with us singing "Over the Rainbow" and me crying.

4.) All my friends dispersed throughout Brooklyn or returned home or moved to new states after graduation and it's been hard for me to keep in touch and find the time to hang out with all of them. I arranged a bbq for Memorial Day and had people over for a housewarming get together, but it's hard to get people together and tiring being one of the few plan makers. Sarah, my mental sanity and super friend, moved to Boston the day after graduation leaving a huge hole in my life, but I'm glad she's coming back in September. As for my Jersey ladies, I've been going home almost every other weekend to go to one of their grad parties, and I'm looking forward to visiting Sharon in Boston this next year and Lori in Florida.

5.) I started my internship at LFUSA and joined the masses who work from 9-5 or rather 8:30 to 6. I am part of a summer internship program so there are certain things I do for the program such as a group project, midterm review, and attend random meetings and activities. Otherwise, I'm busy working in the Oxford Collections division designing away for George and White Stag which are sold in Wal-Mart. So far it's been a great experience. I am treated as an equal, I am not made to get coffee, I get to design but I also do other "interny" tasks, and I just feel happy. Except for the getting up at 6:30 am business. I went out with my co-workers last night and really enjoyed myself. I'm looking forward to the rest of my time there.

So far everything is going relatively well. I'm dirt broke til my paycheck arrives, I'm still super cleaning our apartment at least once a week and organizing the shit out of everything, but what else is new? Dave is currently still looking for a job, but things are looking up in that department too. I must say, that for the first time in a long time, I'm quite content with life. Let's keep it that way.

Step Eighty Nine: Support Independent Designers

I know you all have a little extra time on your hands that you can take and channel towards good. Pick up some trash or volunteer or visit a shut in. Today, however, all I'm asking is for you to click on a link and vote. My friend, Bridget Duffy, has entered the Independent Handbag Designers Award Competition, and is currently in 3rd place. Way to go, Bridget! I implore you all to visit the site at least once between now and June 15th and vote for her super cute bag.