I Want to Be a Housewife

Not really, but I have been missing my free days this week.

I've been going to NYU's Summer Publishing Institute for a week now, and it really is one of the neatest and best opportunities I've ever had. I was a bit naive, though, about how rigorous would be. Every day this past week, I spent about 12 hours between the time I left my apartment and the time regular class ended. I then met with my project group, came home to do homework, and had about 5 hours to sleep before I had to wake up and do it again. For those who know me, I need a whole lot more sleep than that to be at my most cheerful, if you know what I mean.

Other than that, though, I really do love the program. I've heard from some of the most powerful people in magazines in the last few days - the editors-in-chief of Glamour, In Style, Food Network Magazine, New York Magazine, and Real Simple just to name a few, plus people from Penguin, Hearst, Scholastic, Newsweek...seriously, the list goes on and on. And the next several weeks are the same. So truly amazing.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get a lot done personally for awhile. I've been wanting so badly to finish writing my thank-you cards to my wonderful family for being at my graduation and being so generous to both PJ and me. If any of you are reading this - I'm so sorry for neglecting you, but I promise you'll have a card coming your way very soon. I miss you all and appreciate everything you've done for us!

Thinking about writing those cards has made me realize how much I really really miss home. I thought my adjustment here would be much harder than it has been, but lately I've been thinking more about my family and how much I'm missing out on this summer. I'm so blessed to be so closed to almost all of my family, but it doesn't make it easy to be so far! I miss a lot of my friends too, and I can't help but feel guilty that I didn't spend more time with them when I could have.

So here's to hoping that I get to see some of you soon. As always, hugs and kisses to everyone!

Back to School!

Today was the orientation for NYU's Summer Publishing Institute.  I have no idea why it was on a Sunday, but that's New York for you. Tomorrow the actual program begins and...

I am SO excited!  The orientation was wonderful, and the directors are incredibly nice, funny, entertaining, professional, and enthusiastic. Starting tomorrow, the next three weeks will focus on magazine publishing.  The schedule is incredibly intense, and a part of me (bigger than I'd like to admit!) will be sad to see my free summer New York days end.  Many days go from 8:30 or 9 in the morning until 7 or 8 at night.  It will be hard, but I'm so excited to learn about the industry more.  Everyday features speakers from huge companies (Glamour, Elle, Rolling Stone, Hearst, Conde Nast, Real Simple...the list goes on and on).  There's also a career fair, resume workshops, programs that teach us how to use publishing software, and a major project.  I'm sooo excited for all of it!

Another drawback is that almost all of the program is held downtown, which is at least a half hour away by subway.  I'm going to be having some verrrrry long days very soon.  My apologies in advance if you don't hear from me or if I'm hard to get a hold of for awhile!  Hugs and kisses to everyone back home.

Ashley xx

A Week and a Half Later...

I meant to update this sooner, but I guess I never got around to it! Sorry!

So last week was pretty uneventful, mostly because poor PJ was sick. He was sick for the better part of the week, so mostly we just laid low, stayed in, and hung out. It was nice, but I felt like the week went by so fast.

We had a wonderful holiday weekend though! Friday I got to do some shopping at the Forever 21 store in Times Square, and PJ got off early for the weekend. Saturday, though, was the best day! We took a tour through Central Park, and it was easily the funnest thing I've done in New York. We saw a lot of the sites of the park and got to see some of the buildings that celebrities live in! The ones I remember are Brad and Angelina, Woody Allen, Yoko Ono, and Denzel Washington. It was a beautiful day. Here are some pictures from the tour:

Getting ready to start the tour. This thing was pulled by a really nice guy on a bicycle that told us about everything.

This is one of the big fountains in the park. Behind it is one of the lakes, where we saw two geese with their baby AND a few turtles! 

This is Strawberry Fields, a memorial to John Lennon. It if very near where he was shot and killed outside of his home, which we also saw.

This is the fountain from Friends!! :D

After our park tour, we did some shopping and took the subway to where my classes will be starting next week. The area was kind of dead; I think it's primarily corporate. My building is only a block or two from where the World Trade Center stood. Then we came back uptown and went to dinner at Juniors, a famous diner in Times Square with incredible desserts.

On Sunday we laid low, but we had more fun on Monday! We went to a late lunch and decided to go to the movie theater to see Hangover II. On the walk there, I spotted a sign outside of a bar boasting their 150 unique shots, one of which was a Harry Potter shot! I just had to stop by and ask about it, so we ended up doing a shot randomly in the middle of the day! Gotta love New York. :) We went to the movie and then dinner (which wasn't too fabulous).

And now it's Wednesday. We've got a lot to do this week. Our bed finally came, so PJ will be putting that together soon (pics to come!) I also have some pre-institute homework to do by Sunday, which is the day of the program's orientation. I'm so excited to start, but I'm going to miss the freedom I've had the past couple weeks!

I promise to write again soon and update you all on the progress of our apartment and wedding plans! Thanks for reading, and special hugs and kisses to my family - I miss you all very much!