Who wasn't an English major?

I was eating dinner at a friend's house the other night, and the topic of college majors came up. One man asked the group, "Well who wasn't an english major?" As it turned out, only me (journalism) and another friend (philosophy) were the only two non-English majors in the room. The group was made up of teachers, musicians, and staff from the Bemis Center and Saddle Creek Records. It was then that I knew my parents were wrong.

I had always wanted to be an English major. I came to Creighton because I won a creative writing scholarship. I had big dreams of becoming a poet, being published in the New Yorker (like Dan from Gossip Girl) before I graduated college. 

My sophomore year came around and it was time to declare a major. I was going for English, but my parents said I couldn't be an English major without becoming a teacher. I didn't want to teach, it wouldn't be fair to students having a teacher straight out of college. I wanted to experience the world first. So I chose the next best thing, journalism. 

I've been overall very happy with my major. I've learned design programs, how to write stories that I don't especially care for, and how to work as a part of an editorial team, among other valuable things. 

That didn't stop my heart from freezing when I saw the annual New Voices event for Creighton and UNO English majors, hanging on a campus bulletin board. 

One of the writers featured was a boy that was in the English class that changed my life back in my sophomore year. I had to go to the reading, not for him, but for myself.

I had to see what I could have been up against, who I could have been friends with, what kind of progress a creative writer makes in two years. 

The first two women that read were dewy-faced, never leave the library bookish types that spoke of family vacations in Montana and a mother's touch. You can imagine my disgust when one of them announced that she became engaged the night before. 

The next woman was a bit older, with kids of her own, that read an excerpt from her novel about her first love and his eventual death in Iraq. She was funny and created images that even a young child-less girl like me can relate to.

Finally was my friend from English class, we'll call him Max. Max read a story about a sixth grade boy who couldn't pass the grade despite his extensive knowledge of scalene triangles and Aristotle. Max made me wonder what kind of philosophy and science classes he has been taking over his four years, it was a well-researched story.

The reading left me feeling out of place and kind of relieved.

I hate to admit it, but maybe my parents were right?

Sooo you wanna work at a magazine...

Stylista, Wednesday nights on the CW, is my new reality obsession. The show follows 11 aspiring fashionistas all competing for an editorial job with Elle magazine under the scrutiny of Elle's fashion news director Anne Slowey. Each episode includes an assistant task like picking out Anne's breakfast, dressing mannequins, or picking a theme for a demanding 10-year-old's birthday party, followed by an editorial challenge of styling and laying out a fashion spread.

Since right now my dream job is, and has been for awhile, to work at a magazine I watch this show like I am one of the competitors, trying to decide who I would want to work with and who would be my biggest competition, while furiously biting my nails.

I know one of the most important  working in the fashion industry is to not let anyone break you. In the second episode Jason had a panic attack, had to be taken away to the hospital, came back for the editorial critique but still got eliminated. I mean honestly if you have to be taken to the hospital while you're competing for an assistant position, you're not right for the job. I can't help but feel for him though, because in the past, I have let my emotions take over my cool.

In the third episode DyShaun, who says the funniest things ("No one, hopefully is dying over a pair of shoes"), really hit home when he said, "In this business you can be sweet, but you have to have some sort of bite to you." He was referring to Cologne, who I think was the bigger person, when she "gave up" the mother-daughter team that team two and three were fighting over in the third episode. 

I think that sometimes I can be too sweet and just do the extra work because it's easier than asking someone else to do it. Not that I'm a pushover by any means, because I will definitely let you know if I'm upset, but I just think I'd rather get things done quickly and correctly rather than have to fix someone else's work or painfully coax the person to even do the work. That is definitely something I need to work on. It's just hard to know what the right balance is.

Which brings me to the contestant, Kate, who was criticized immediately for her disgusting, exhibitionist tendencies of showcasing her cleavage. Kate is whiney b*tch and unfortunately a poor representation of a leo when she said, "I'm a leo, I don't work in teams." She's made excuses for every team she's worked on and has cried several times on the show, which is in the fashion world, is a sign of weakness. 

All I have to say is that I'm in for the long run and will do (almost) anything I have to not to hear the words, "You're not the right fit." 

 

OMJ...little J that is

So far I've avoided posting about Gossip Girl, my favorite guilty pleasure TV show, because well that would be too predictable. But after watching little Jenny Humphrey's transformation from quitting her job with prominent designer Eleanor Waldorf, who was stealing her designs, to launching her line J Humphrey Designs via a "guerilla" fashion show...I couldn't not mention it. The collection is very hipster chic...with a lot of plaids, bold colors and plenty of attitude. If it was a real line, NYLON would eat it up. Check out the video here. Do you think Jenny's on to something?

Show me your guns...

I usually don't give up my Sunday yoga afternoons for just anything, but yesterday I opted out to demolish pumpkins at my friend's farm in Griswold, IA...with a 20-gauge shotgun. 

Not as swank as the Versace Machine gun shown left (photo courtesy of www.rotoevil.com), but it still had enough kick to leave bruises on the inside of my right shoulder.

I'd never shot a gun before; I never even let the boys I babysit play or pretend to play with guns.

The gun was a lot heavier than I thought, and I had to be shown how to load and shoot it. I also had a hard time hitting my target because the gun kicked back so hard...honestly I had never felt more like a girl in my entire life, but the day was so beautiful and the opportunity so beckoning I couldn't pass up an afternoon of shooting pumpkins and cans.

Not that I would ever wish for a situation to use these weapons, but they make me want to have my own graphic novel. 

It's Raining Shoes

With the cold weather, and a fatter paycheck this week I decided it was time to invest in some new(ish) fall shoes. First I went to check out Bellwether boutique  which carries high quality vintage clothing as well as fashions by local designers like Buf Reynolds and Spano Lang by Shannon Hopp. (Click the link to see video of the shop and the opening fashion show. The strawberry blonde with the puppy is owner Jessica Latham.)

I found a brown velvet blazer by Renoma Paris ($20), and the highlight of the trip: navy vintage 'Vara' pumps by Italian shoemaker Salvatore Ferragamo ($20!). Today his 'Vera' pumps run for about $350. I immediately put the shoes on (even though I was wearing black) and showed my mother who told me that my grandmother's favorite shoes used to be Ferragamos.

After I got my vintage fix I headed to Target to check out the Sigerson Morrison for Target line and bought the fierce patent bootie ($39.99). The booties were twice as expensive, half as comfortable and definitely not as well-made as the Ferragamos. 

Moral of the story? Shop vintage, especially if you're on a budget. 

Target, is it really you?

Target's designer collaborations keep getting better and better. New York fashion photographer and cult handbag designer, Monica Botkier's, line ran from July 21st- September 14th. Following in her footsteps is none other than British designer Anya Hindmarch's handbag line  which became available October 12th and will be in stores until December 26th. As far as footwear stands, Sigerson Morrison, a high-end line for the classic, elegant woman runs alongside Anya through the December holiday. 

Merry Christmas anyone?

In other fashion news:

• According to fashionologie, Omaha-native Thakoon Panichgul's sportswear collection for Target will be available Christmas day. 
  
• Mary Kate and Ashley's book, Influence, is available starting Thursday, October 28th.
• Anthropologie, Urban Outfitter's older sister, opened earlier this week at Regency Court in Omaha

All Aboard...

My friend and co-worker Hannah Rood makes some pretty nice clothes. She is a graduate student at University of Nebraska at Lincoln in the Marketing, Communication and Advertising program. She began sewing at the age of nine and began designing clothes at the age of 12. 

Hannah shot her portfolio Monday at the Durham Museum in Omaha and I had the opportunity to model for her. 

Her collection consisted of several coats (all lined with her signature tie trim) and dresses. The backdrop of the old train station really complimented her 30s-50s inspired modern look. 

Accessories were provided by Trocadero and Bellwether boutique. 

I do have to say that modeling is harder than it looks. I've always fantasized about it, but knew I could never do runway at my height (5 ft 8 in). For this photo shoot, I worked for 6 and 1/2 hours. I got to have my makeup done by a Chanel artist, which looked beautiful (probably $500 worth of makeup on my face!), but I found it hard to be confident the whole time, especially when the other two girls were two to four inches taller than me and much more experienced! 

I tried my hardest to keep the energy up, had a good time on set and was happy to oblige my friend and blossoming designer Hannah Rood...that's really all a natural disaster can hope for.