Beaches on My Mind

While I'm on the topic of beaches my mom actually told me about Dr. Beach...never heard of the guy until now, my mom asked "where have you been?" (I guess I know where I get my love for the beach from). Every year Dr. Beach does America's Top 10 Beaches, this year Coopers Beach in Southhampton was named #1....shocker!! Coronado #3....is that a joke?!?! Please tell me all those ladies that came into work werent right that New York beaches were better than California beaches!!! Have I been missing out on the best beaches all along?!?!

Well Im definitely finding out, that's a mission of mine before the summer ends, a trip to the Hampton's! With Coronado to compare to, let's see if Dr. Beach really knows his beaches ;)

Coopers Beach: Southhamptons, NY vs Coronado Beach: Coronado(San Diego), CA

view the detailed list here

p.s.....give me his job!!!!

Fist Pumping All the Way to the Jersey Shore...

Apparently one day at the beach wasn't enough for us, so just in time for the second season we decided to head over to the Jersey Shore. Which after doing a little research beforehand turns out its much bigger than I anticipated.

As you can see there are so many beaches to choose from its hard to know which to go to! After more research we decided on Long Branch which is on the Northern New Jersey Shore. The train takes about an hour and a half and stops about 5 blocks from the beach :)

And it looks a little bit like this....

Long Branch was just what we were looking for: quiet, pretty, boardwalk, food, shopping :) minus the fist pumping, although that would've been entertaining!!

We will def be making our way back out here, but next time we'll head further south!

BEACH DAY

It's been rough for me not being near the beach for the past 2 months; that's where I go to relax, run, and have some fun in the sun! So with the hot weather officially kicking in it was time to get out of the city and get some sun!!! It's very common for New Yorkers to get out of the city during the summer whether its to the Hamptons, Jersey Shore or Long Island.

We opted for Long Beach in Long Island because its one of the easier locations to get to, and without a car location is key! The train takes about 40 minutes to get there and then it's just a short 5 min walk to the beach.

And there the beach was......

Just seeing it relaxed me, it's crazy how certain places can do that for you.

Now it was no California beach but it was definitely waaaaay better than what I was expecting! Minus the fact that you have to pay $12 to go onto the beach....unheard of for Californians to have to pay for the beach, but I was just thankful I was there and got to relax all day near the water. For future reference there is a pass you can buy at the train station that includes your train ride as well as your pass onto the beach. Now we know :)

Countdown to Sex and the City....

10 DAYS!!!!

And I couldnt be more excited!! I love everything about the series and movies; the clothes, the personalities, the city, EVERYTHING!! And I couldnt be happier for Aidan's reapparance in the movie :)

With that said it couldnt be more perfect timing to put up my style icon:

Sarah Jessica Parker and looking fabulous as always!!

SJP has always been one of the most stylish people in Hollywood. And what I love the most is that she's an expert at accessorizing, which is very important! These outfits without the accessories would be cute, but very boring. It's about how you can tie everything in and create a statement, which she does flawlessly time and time again.

My favorite pieces are her leopard Louis Vuitton pashmina and her Givenchy overside heart necklace.

Cant wait to see more pictures as her and the gals do touring for

Sex and the City 2 opening on May 27th!!! :)

THE BIG DAY IS ALMOST HERE!!!

All our hardwork, sweat, & tears will pay off tomorrow when we open our doors to NYC!!! Im beyond excited! And I can't wait to see the turnout for tomorrow and the days to come!

The press has been all over us today! Here are some great articles on our store :)

New York TImes

New York Magazine & The Cut

Womens Wear Daily

Stylelist

Wall Street Journal

Racked

Thread NY

So excited!! Hope I can sleep through the night, tomorrow is going to be a long but VERY exciting day!!!

Playing Catch-up!

Preparing for a new store opening takes so much out of you, especially when you're working almost 70 hour weeks! But hey it will be all worth it in the end, so no complaints here! Personally cant wait for my overtime paycheck!! And with that comes my shopping frenzy!! And if you don't know, I'm a handbag junkie!! I will always buy a bag before I buy anything else, ALWAYS!!! And sometimes that means food, yes I know that's a problem, but you gotta do what you gotta do right?!?! Even if that means Pb& j sandwiches for a week or two!! With that said, I recently scored this amazing Valentino bag!!! I have been dying to get a Valentino forever! But I am somewhat conscious of price points, and $2500 + tax is well above my price point! So when I found this bag on sale for under $700 (from $2500) I almost had a heart attack!! It was one of my many dream bags, and I love the color! I'm not a black handbag girl at all, of course I have several because they are necessary, but I will never buy another one for awhile! For me and what I usually tell customers too are that handbags are great for color statements, they bring that wow factor into your outfit. Honestly who gets complimented on their clothes that much these days?!?! 9 out of 10 times it will be on an accessory, clothes are clothes, accessories are what pulls everything together to add that wow factor! And when it comes to accessories I encourage everyone, whether its a handbag or shoes or jewelry etc, to go bold or go home!

Here's my beauty..... Valentino Petale Satchel

The Weekend Is HERE!!!

Your weekend is here, mine not so much lol! Work has been SO crazy, seriously taking over my entire life....I might as well sleep there!! Main reason why it's taken me so long to get a post up in awhile! It's been too crazy! Anyway its catch up time from last weekend, which was GREAT!

Saturday night after work, two of my co-workers & I were in desperate need for a night of fun and drinks!! My co-worker/friend Ashley had a friend of a friend that was playing at a small bar called The Living Room in the Lower East Side. It was super cute and felt semi-exclusive due to the size of the bar. Definitely a fun place to go to see some bands perform....they did a cover of the Bee Gees - To Love Somebody, it was so cute, totally had it stuck in my head the next day!

From there we walked over to Max Fish, a very fun, low key, eclectic bar. They had there own pool tables, which were already taken, but I could've sat at the bar forever just looking at everything, it was very visually stimulating! Ashley & I wanted to try something different. The vibe on the lower east side is sorta hipster/trendy/rock n roll all mixed into one haha, we wanted something a little different so Ashley took me over to B Bar in Noho (northern soho).

I loved it, it was just what I needed. Much larger, and they had several different areas to hang out in. When you first walk in you walk into the bar/restaurant area and walk through to their outside patio area and then they have an outside bar area as well. They played good music, the vibe was right, it actually reminded me a lot of San Diego which made me feel more at home :)

I cant wait to go back when the weather is warmer and I can drink outside without heat lamps!

I also want to check out there brunch! Brunch is a huge Sunday activity in New York, bottomless mimosas and eating with friends, I cant think of a better way to spend my Sundays!

Living Room 154 Ludlow St.

Max Fish 178 Ludlow St.

BBar 40 E. 4th St.

Ressurection

Why pay rent when you can buy vintage Chanel!!!

Resurrection is a vintage boutique with shops in NYC & Los Angeles that feature designer vintage pieces ranging from Chanel to Hermes To Yves Saint Laurent. Truly one of a kind pieces! I haven't stopped by yet, but I have taken a peak at their inventory :) here. The pieces are absolutely gorgeous, and Resurrection is on my must-see list!!!

Do you have tickets???.....to the Coachella Show!

Coachella begins today and if you don't have tickets already youre out of luck because the show is SOLD OUT!! And if you've ever been to the Indio Polo Fields, then you know how many people it would take to sell out, it's actually pretty unbelievable because the fields are HUGE!!!!! My friend Scott who wrote the blog I featured below, has made a point to go to every show for almost the last 5 years. And starting today he will be the first ever non-myspace employee or non-celebrity to have a featured playlist on the Myspace Music homepage!!! Check it out here. His playlist is a preview of Saturday's lineup at Coachella! GO check it out!!!!

3 Days of Madness in the Desert: Coachella 2010

Coachella 2010 is almost underway over in Indio, CA! I went back in 2007 with my friend/avid music lover. It was a blast and something I would recommend everyone doing, whether youre into that scene or not, its definitely an experience worth checking out.

For the second year in a row, my friend put together a blog for the big event, and still has several days left ....whether youre going to Coachella this year or not, you can still check out the bands he features in his blog here

And to my favorite part, fashion :)

If you're making youre way out to Coachella this weekend, shopbop is featuring the "5 essentials of effortless cool", check out shopbop.com for "Coachella Essentials" here

Places I've Been

Because I just really want to catch up on my blog, and also remember the places I have been so far in NYC, I have decided to just do a small recap with pictures.

April 1st

Walked the Brooklyn Bridge with my dad

April 3rd

American Museum of Natural History

Rooftop at 230

Because it can be pretty cold, they offer everyone on the rooftop snuggies!
My Roommate, Tamala

More to Come :)

Straight Shooter: Interview with Marc Jacobs

I saw this interview with Marc Jacobs in March and just loved it. As you'll come to learn, if you dont already know, is that I have a healthy (as I like to call it) obsession with Marc Jacobs! The only way I can describe him is as BRILLIANT! And one day, my ultimate dream is to be working for him! So here's another reason why I love Marc :)

Marc Jacobs on Fashion and Francophilia

Posted by VENESSA LAU- FASHION WRITER at 6:45PM EST, March 24, 2010

On Monday night, Marc Jacobs sat down with Patricia Mears, the deputy director for The Museum at FIT, for a Q&A session at the French Institute Alliance Français. Here, excerpts from that session.

On his early interest in fashion:
I [always] had a love for fashion. I recognized it when my grandmother took me shopping for back-to-school clothes. I mean, I didn't know I wanted to be a fashion designer at that point, but I knew I was interested in clothing. I loved the idea of getting dressed and putting together clothes at a very early age. And then, I guess maybe when I was 12 or 13, I decided I wanted to be a fashion designer. I just really loved fashion. I had no real dreams of anything else. I think once I wanted to be a veterinarian [because] my cat was sick. I was, like, eight and that was a passing moment.

On the Charivari years:
I lived on 72nd and Central Park West and they opened a Charivari on 72nd and Columbus. I went in there and begged them [to give me a job]. I got them to give me a job as a stock boy. For my final project at [Parsons the New School for Design], I had done these oversize sweaters that were patterned [after the work of] different Pop artists. [Charivari executive vice president] Barbara Weiser was at the show. Barbara said, "I'd love to produce these sweaters." She took me to Japan and she found a manufacturer. We made a label called Marc and Barbara and we produced 350 of [those] sweaters. She sold them to stores that she had a relationship with -- Knit Wit in Philadelphia, Ultimo [in Chicago] -- and obviously she carried them in the Charivari store. That was my first commercial venture.

On Perry Ellis and the early years:
I started working there [as head of the women's division of Perry Ellis] and Robert came with me to run the business. I hired Tracy Reese to do Perry Ellis Portfolio -- [she] was my best friend from Parsons -- and I hired Tom Ford to do Perry Ellis America. And then we were fired from Perry Ellis. I don't know [why]. I think there were a lot of reasons. People love to attribute it to the fact that the grunge collection [spring 1993] was so controversial. Perry Ellis was basically about the licensees, [but] the collection line was owned by Perry Ellis. This is all very technical stuff, but a design collection very, very often isn't the real moneymaker. It's really the icing on the cake, something that keeps the image of the company.

[Getting fired] was probably the best thing that ever happened to me. [Robert and I] decided to take our severance package from Perry Ellis and rent a store. We started our own company, rented a space on 113 Spring Street, a very small little studio with one patternmaker and two sewers who are still with us today. So many wonderful people in the fashion industry were there to support us -- that was a great help for me. Gianni Versace and Donatella Versace came to our first show.

On the move into the LVMH fold in 1997:
[LVMH chairman and chief executive officer] Mr. Arnault came to see us in the showroom. He didn't know what he wanted me for, but he knew he wanted me to be somehow involved in LVMH. So he flew Robert and me back and forth [from New York] to Paris to meet with him, the head of Dior, the head of Givenchy, the head of Loewe. Finally he proposed this project. He said, "I'd like you to work on this project over the summer. What would you make of Louis Vuitton outside of bags? What would you do with Vuitton?"

On Ralph Lauren:
My greatest hero in fashion will always be Saint Laurent, [but] I do think Ralph Lauren is the greatest American designer. I don't really want to go into why, I just think that [he] creates his world and a vision -- and that vision is so complete. That voice is so clear. Everything within that world is that very particular singular vision. On that level, Ralph Lauren really is the ultimate American designer. I don't think we've ever had this master plan or master vision in the way Ralph Lauren has. We are very impulsive. We do what we like and the people in our company are the same. Ralph has created a world that people aspire to and I don't think that's what we're about at all. We create things, whether they're T-shirts or little key chains, [and they're] us because we've done [them], but it's not an aspirational sort of thing.

On his design process:
It's very personal. It isn't like this decision is made and we go about executing it. There are many decisions made daily and they get twisted and turned and something can get thrown away and something can evolve or transform or whatever. There really is no plan; it's not linear at all. It's always interesting to me how it all comes together in the end. You know, I really don't know how it happens. I mean, there are certain things that I do continuously love and that I appreciate -- I love things that are banal, I love clichés, I like things that are awkward -- but what that means at the end of the season, I don't know.

On Paris:
I'm a Francophile. I love Paris. I went to Paris at 17 years old with [the program at] Parsons in Paris. I think I went to about three classes and then I just did Paris on my own. I cried insanely when I had to leave. I cried because I thought I should have been born in Paris, that there was a mistake and they took the wrong baby home.

On his ads with Juergen Teller:
My relationship with Juergen came about when I first started back at that 113 Spring Street address. I was working with a stylist who was then his girlfriend, Venetia Scott. My friend Joe McKenna started a magazine called Joe's and he wanted an ad. We didn't have the money to do ads, we had never done an ad, but we wanted to support his magazine. My friend Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth was on the stage, wearing a dress that I designed, so I asked [Juergen] to do me a favor and take a picture of Kim on the stage in this dress. We gave that to Joe as an ad. That became the precedent on how we would work.

On sex appeal:
I just don't find inanimate objects sexy. I don't find clothes sexy at all. I find people sexy. I find personalities fascinating and sexy and appealing and charming. A sexy girl wrapped in a sheet is a sexy girl and an unsexy girl in a low-cut dress is still an unsexy girl.

On Marc Jacobs versus Louis Vuitton:
I feel what we do [at Marc Jacobs] is a little bit more introverted. It's a little bit more poetic and romantic and gentler. At Vuitton, I have to define what Vuitton is as a bag, as a woman. And people carry Vuitton luggage and when I looked at that, I thought, it's not because [the luggage] is the most practical or lightest weight -- it's the most identifiable. So it's about somebody wanting to be recognized. In Paris, I get to be the extrovert. It's about this woman [who's] got the latest bag, she's busting out of the corset. She wants to be seen and noticed. She's more superficial -- and I don't mean that in a negative way. I think that's glorious that somebody wants to show off like that. But that's not what our clothes are about at Marc Jacobs.

On being called an artist:
I have a pretty pat answer to that. I would say, "You could call me an artist," but I'll never do it. I could never call myself an artist. I think that would be pretentious. But if any of you want to call me an artist...

On his kilt-wearing obsession and grooming habits:
I got into this kind of uniform of sorts two years ago. It was one summer [when] I was having one of those days where I didn't think I was going to have a show and did not have an idea. I asked [an assistant] to go to Barneys. I said, "Oh, just buy me a funny pair of pants, something that will put me in a good mood while I'm here in the studio." He came back with this Comme des Garçons kilt. I loved it so much. I think I've worn jeans three times in the past two years. I don't know how this happened. I really love wearing skirts, I really do. And then once in a while, I like to wear a suit. I love that whole moment of taking care of yourself, showering and putting on lotions. I just think it's a glorious, beautiful process. I used to be the type of person [who] would be in and out of the bathroom in five minutes and I didn't care what I looked like. Now I spend easily two hours [in the bathroom].

P.S.......

It's almost Thursday and I've yet to break out the trainers to work.....more on that later!

Speaking of Liberty, Liberty of London

As you might have seen on Twitter, I Liberty of Londoned my room!!
Targets response: Target@jen_fields Love your verb “liberty of londoned.” Everyone should’ve liberty of londoned their room.

Love, Love, Love Liberty of London and was so excited when I heard they were collaborating with Target, whom I also LOVE! I saw the collection when it first came out in March and fell in love, unfortunately I couldnt buy a whole lot at the time because I didnt have much of a need, so I just got a few things: stationary & picture frames. Well now I had a NEED, I actually NEEDED a comforter, pillow cases, sheets, storage, etc and now my room in NYC is officially Liberty of Londoned out!! :)

Check it out before it's all gone!! I went with this print:

Lady Liberty

Still catching up on my adventures from the weekend, so hopefully I can be caught up by the end of this week :)
My dad was in town till Saturday so each day we did a bunch of touristy stuff!

Friday we decided we would get up early and head over to the Statue of Liberty before the lines were out of control! Didn't work out so great :(
Ended up waiting 4 hours for the damn statue!! Was NOT worth it. I guess partially because I had done it before, and partially because after I wait on anything for that long Im gonna be in a bad mood, looks like Im already turning into a impatient New Yorker. They had originally told us two hours from the end of the line, but we didn't end up getting onto the boat till 2:30pm!! It was insane!!!
So here is where my tips will start to come in handy!!

Tip#1: If you MUST stand on the tiny little island next to lady liberty, reserve your tickets for lady liberty ahead of time, that way you can bypass the long lines!! And if you want to go up to the crown, you will also need to get that ticket in advance. I suggest over a week to be safe!
http://www.statuecruises.com/ferry-service/welcome.aspx

Tip#2: If you're like me, and have seen it before and don't need to go on the little island, then just take the harbor cruise. Trust me you'll thank me later :)
http://www.statuecruises.com/harbor-cruises.aspx

Statue of Liberty


My new home in NYC

NYC: Day 1

Day #1 in NYC, Im officially a New Yorker (can I call myself that?)! OMG!

This day was very, very exciting! I rode the subway to penn station from our hotel, walked around downtown, through the garment district and fashion ave, rode the subway to my apartment in the UES, got to see my apartment for the first time (so cute), met my roommate (so nice), had dinner at Johnnys (so delicious), then headed for Grand Central Station and walked to Times Square (so bright), and purchased about 15 I heart NY tshirts for my friends/coworkers back home :)

It was a great day and I cant wait to explore more of this city, there is SO much to do, and its TRUE, this city NEVER sleeps!!!!

here's some pictures of my day:

My apartment on the UES

Grand Central Station

Times Square

Planes, Trains, & Automobiles: THE MOVE

Plane ticket.........check

Boxes shipped....check

Bags packed.......sorta check

Ready to go.......not really

One thing I will say about myself is I can be quite the procrastanator, I can save anything I dont want to do for the very last minute and in this case I literally waited till the very last second! It was 10:15am when I was finally done packing, and we had to leave to pick my dad up to go to the airport at 10:10! Ahhhhhhh!! Needless to say we made it to the airport on time, said my sad goodbyes.

And off I went, it didnt even feel real, it felt more like a vacation.

The flight was awful. It was one thing after another, the worst turbulence I have ever been in, in my life!!! You could see/feel the whole plane moving. And my stomach along with every other stomach on the plane could NOT handle that! To make matters worse we had been circling the SLC airport for over 30 minutes, all I wanted was to get off the damn plane, get some fresh air, and get some water before I ended up like every other person on the plane!

I didnt even want to take the connecting flight to JFK, thats how bad I was feeling!!!

But the flight to JFK was smooth, it was great, it was quite, and my dad and I met a very nice New Yorker, who gave me tons of great tips, as well as reassurance that I was safe!

Im in NEW YORK! Well, sorta, JFK airport. Where it just so happened that 3 of my 4 checked bags appeared, and of course Delta tells me that all the bags are out....Great! The funniest part was that when we changed planes to JFK, my dad & I saw those 3 bags going into the plane and were curious about the 4th. My questions were mounting...do I even remember what was in that bag, I knew it wasnt my shoe bag, but was it my jewelry and some clothes, who knows I was in such a frantic pack mode that I had no idea what was in what bag!!

All I knew was that I couldnt have come all the way to NY and be missing a bag! This day was not going well, already 2 bad signs :(

After about 45 minutes of talking with Delta and going round and round rechecking other carousels they tell us not all the bags came out...and this couldnt have been known in the first place?!?! Ugggh...its going on 12:45am Wednesday and all I want is some sleep!

My dad and I had a big day planned for Monday:

-See NYC! (havent been back since 5th grade!!)

-Meet my roommate (who is also working with me)!!

-See my apartment (that literally took our blood & first born to get)

So EXCITED!

For the LOVE of Fashion

What would you do for fashion?!?!?!

Sell your car?

Move away?

Leave your dog?

boyfriend?

family?

& friends?

Follow my journey as I leave everything I know & love; and move to NYC (thankfully with a job already), in pursuit of fashion!