Feathers

There's so few people we encounter in life that we can truly call a real friend. We all have our acquaintances that we go out with or people that we hang out with every so often, but those people rarely stay in our lives in the long run. When you meet one of those people, you know. I'm happy to say that I've found a true friend while here at school.

Me and Tara during winter break

On an everyday basis, while school is in session, Tara lives in the same room as me. Once we have a break or  classes end, she lives over 3,000 miles away. I'm from Long Island and she's from the Los Gatos, California. I've never even met someone that lives that far away, let alone be friends with them, but I've never gotten as close with a person in so little time as I have with her. We always have a good time, even if it's doing something weird or slightly unorthodox.

It was a regular day, I was sitting on my computer and Tara was sitting on her bed. Out of nowhere she yells and calls me over, showing me something that we "ABSOLUTELY MUST HAVE." You should know that this is not an unusual thing to hear out of her mouth. I walk over, skeptical, and look at what she has pulled up on her Macbook...


FineFeatherheads: Spring 2011 from Dakota Hills on Vimeo.

The next thing I know I'm on the phone with a hair salon in East Village making appointments to get feathers stuck in my head for the next 6 weeks. I'm not really the spontaneous type, but Tara always seems to push me to do things I wouldn't do normally.

The only problem was that now we had to figure out how to get there.

Neither of us are very good at directions, but we figured we could find it by ourselves. Once we got off the F train we spent about 20 minutes walking in the wrong direction. Apparently both of us didn't realize that there's a big difference between 7th Ave and 7th East. Thank God for iPhone's map application, or we would have walked in the wrong direction until it was dark, just staring into all the restaurants we wanted to eat at after our appointments.

After all was said and done, we were in love with our new hairstyles. Needless to say we spent the rest of the night strutting around campus showing off our hair to anyone that was willing to look.

If you look at me today you will still see the feathers strategically poking out from behind my right ear.

Every time I get ready in the morning or go to fix my hair I'm reminded of how much fun we always have and how close we are. That day was the perfect example of why we're such good friends and why I'm sure we will be for a while.

Interview

For the interview assignment I was paired with Kaitlin Simpson. We got along right away and we recorded our interview in one of the lounges in my dorm, St. Vincent.

A picture of Kaitlin from her Facebook

There were a few answers she gave me that were really interesting and that I wouldn't have expected her to say. Considering she's from the complete opposite side of the country, she was able to show me a different perspective on things.

Question: What was it like growing up there? (talking about California) 

Kaitlin's Answer: It was a kind of quaint, small town but kind of close to the big city, but i really never went into LA that much. Everyone thinks if you're from California you're from the beach, but no I live over half an hour away.

She was right, I had always assumed that living in California meant you practically lived at the beach. It was cool to see how diverse a single state could be.

Question: Why did you chose journalism as your major?

Kaitlin's Answer: Well I joined my school's newspaper in 8th grade because yearbook was full and I fell in love with it. I loved writing, I always loved writing. 

I thought it was funny that she joined the newspaper club as a last resort and she ended up loving it so much she wanted to make a career out of it.

Question: Do you follow any blogs about fashion or any other writing about it?

Kaitlin's Answer: I follow on twitter. I follow Glamour magazine and some designers so I know what's coming out, whats the next thing. I try to form my own opinion before reading someone else's.

I liked how she said she cared more about what she thought about a fashion or a trend more than a critic writing a blog or a review.

Those were just some of the highlights. To hear the rest of the interview click on the player below...

I really appreciated how honest Kaitlin was with all of her answers. She made it fun and easy to talk to her, making it more like we were hanging out than trying to finish a project.

Lunch Date

Being away from school there's few things I miss more than my mom. We've always been incredibly close and she's always been one of my best friends. Our relationship is something that I've always been so happy to have, and something that my friends have always teased me about. 

Mom eating her wrap at Tiger Lily

This weekend I was lucky enough to be able to go home to my house in Mt. Sinai, NY and see my whole family together for the first time in almost a month. The summer before I came to school I would always spend Saturday mornings and early afternoons with my mom. We usually did the same thing... get manicures and pedicures and get lunch at our favorite little cafe in downtown Port Jefferson, Tiger Lily. This Saturday was no exception. I never realized how much I missed our afternoons together until I finally got to have one again. We both ordered our favorites... I got "falafel with the works" and she "grilled vegetable and humus wrap." 

My falafel wrap

Aside from the food being healthy and delicious, the whole atmosphere of Tiger Lily is amazing. The walls are covered with art from local artists and all the tables and decorations are unique, giving the place a really cool indie feel. We always try to get the same table, the one right in the middle of the cafe. It's the perfect little table for two and it's surrounded by art. 

One of the art covered walls at Tiger Lily

Being away from my parents is hard, especially since we've always been so close. Getting to spend time with my mom, just me and her, makes me realize how lucky I am to have such an amazing woman, and teacher as my mom. She inspires me in so many ways, from her work ethic to her caring nature. I always hope that one day I'll be able to treat her to lunch and a "mani pedi" and to make her proud of the person I become. I can't wait until the next time I get to come home and get to have another lunch date.

Two of Hearts

I was never a sports person until I came to school here. I’m not going to lie, it’s still not the most exciting thing to watch to me, but going to the games with my friends has become one of my favorite things. Not to mention my Dad loves that we can watch and cheer for St. Johns together. It makes it feel like I’m back sitting on my couch, both of us decked out in our baggiest pajamas, eating chips and salsa and yelling at the television every time the other team makes a shot. So, naturally, when his birthday rolled around last month it only made sense to get him tickets to the Duke vs St Johns game at Madison Square Garden. This way, he could take the train in with my family and I could meet them there with my friends in tow.

After the game we celebrated an unexpected victory with a nice dinner then said our goodbyes and parted ways. I may only live an hour and a half away, but it doesn’t mean I miss my family any less. People might say it’s weird for a teenage girl to miss her Dad while she’s off at college, but I’ve always been a Daddy’s girl at heart.

Needless to say I was bummed on the ride home. I shoved my way onto a crowded subway, from the subway to an overflowing bus, and then took a brisk walk back from the bus stop to my dorm. I was careful to watch my feet and where I walked to avoid what was sure to be a graceful collapse onto the slick ground. To my surprise what I saw when I looked down wasn’t a patch of ice, but just one card from a deck of cards… the two of hearts.

I couldn’t help but smile. It may sound lame, but I felt like it was meant for me to find and pick up. So I did and stuffed it deep into my coat pocket. That card is now sitting on my desk, a reminder of how even though we might be two separate people in two different places, our hearts will always be together.