eastriver

Originally uploaded by FunCupcake.

Happy New Year to everyone, wishing you all a safe and fun night and a fabulous 2006! Love, Sarah

centralparkrink2

Originally uploaded by FunCupcake.

Merry Christmas to all of my family and friends!

madisonave2

Originally uploaded by FunCupcake.

An advantage to being in the Upper West Side during this transit strike is being away from the real mess of it all; downtown and midtown. I caught a cab no problem to work today, even though I had to share with another person. It was interesting to hear other peoples stories in the cabs… on the way to work an older man carrying a humongous gift basket of food told me all about his 2 daughters cafe in the UWS, and how good their scones are, and how he was now paying more to deliver the christmas gift basket than it’s actual contents cost. I thought enough to walk out of the shopping district (58th and Madison, where I was temping) tonight to catch a cab back home, so I walked to 8th Avenue and 59th and I found a cab to share at Columbus Circle. On the way home, the driver told me about the man he dropped off, whom he had just spent an hour and a half with, from Canal street, and an older lady told me all about the 11-day Transit strike in the 80’s, and how it was pretty bad, but at least it was during Spring and not Winter. She just had to get up to 125th to open a po box for the Diocese today at that particular post office, she is a missionary. Another lady and her small child also crammed in along the way. But the strike has lifted and now I’ll be able to take the subways and trains again, and it will be good to get out of the area and feel independent again. I’m not sure if the strike got the MTA what they wanted, I’m sure we’ll hear all about it though. Tomorrow I’m going back for one more day of temp. work at the small corporate tax law firm I trained at today. The best part about it is enjoying all the yummy christmas snacks scattered about the office and the deluxe breakfast that will be catered in honor of Christmas. I’ll mostly just be answering a phone call here and there, and surfing the internet all day, and maybe accepting a delivery or two.

midtown2

Originally uploaded by FunCupcake.

I have heard stories from friends here in New York about their hellish commute since there are no subways or busses running in the city right now. People walking an hour in 20 degrees. People riding their bikes from Brooklyn up to the 50’s… Until today, it really hasn’t affected me since I havn’t really had to be anywhere! Today I am starting a temp. job at a law firm, and I will have to fight for a cab since I can’t take the subway or bus, and it would probably take me 2 hours to walk there. I’ll let you know how it goes, although apparantly the two sides are talking again, so maybe we’ll be back up and running again soon? I do support the strike, believing it to be neccesary to leverage betterment for the MTA union workers, I know the news has reported that they already make more than teachers and fire fighters, but that argument sounds like groveling over what exactly a living wage is and who deserves it. If people couldn’t and didn’t strike, we’d all be truly run by a singular institution, namely the government… I think the strike is quite American, actually. I just hope they figure it out sooner rather than later, so New York’s rather amazing public transit system isn’t shut down too much longer during such a blustery cold and busy time of year.

midtown

Originally uploaded by FunCupcake.

It seems the clearest days are the coldest! Snapped a few more shots today…

aptlobby2

Originally uploaded by FunCupcake.

New York is all decked out for the holidays, everywhere it’s festive. And while you might think that with all the crowds shopping the weekend before Christmas, people might be a bit short, they are all but. Everyone I encounter seems to be in a happy holiday mood! I enjoy walking the streets and smelling the pine from the rows and rows of Christmas trees for sale. I took pictures in Central Park today, at the same spots I took some in Summer. It’s amazing to see the Winter transformation, it’s a really beautiful time of year to visit New York, and with the proper outerwear and all the walking you do, the cold is completely manageable, at least thus far! Click on the photo to see more.

ss07

Originally uploaded by FunCupcake.

I organized my portfolio work into sections. Each footwear and handbag section features an inspiration page, which communicates a visual and written inspiration along with a colorway for the season, along with a “group” for the season. If the damned 80’s style would go away already… but i find myself obliging to acknowledge and work with it, because it’s so pervasive and it’s influence continues to be trendy, despite the fact that it was and is 1) bad, and 2) trendy for way to many seasons already. I did the drawing on this inspiration page, it’s not finished, but I used what I had since I had to interview yesterday! See the heel and boot below. And click on the magnifying glass in flickr to zoom in and read the text should you so desire.

heel_boot

Originally uploaded by FunCupcake.

Here is just a small sampling of my portfolio…

breakfast_yum

Originally uploaded by FunCupcake.

I submit this visual as an ad campaign… let us all remember how yummy breakfast is. And drink your orange juice, cuz it’s cold season!

rockafeller2

Originally uploaded by FunCupcake.

I am in New York, today I interviewed for a Footwear Design Assistant position!!! I will have to wait through the holidays for the more formal next interview with the VP of Design, but I got incredibly good and hopeful feedback today, and I feel good about the prospects! I am staying in New York for the time being… it will be great to celebrate the holidays here in New York, including New Years. Everything is so festive everywhere, and the winter outfits are amazing! When I flew in last night at midnight, it was 18 degrees! It’s cold, that’s for sure, a huge contrast to when I left late August, the temp. was at about a 100 degree heat index. But I love this place, it’s so full of vitality and diversity and cultural and social history and interst. Your commute is never so interesting as it is here; it fascinates me to watch what people drag around on and off the subways…. like the lady with the 10′ wooden dowel, or the girl next to me reading a manual on compressor machinery, or the guy carrying an end table. Anyway, you’ve heard it all before, but there is never a dull moment on the streets of New York! I will be updating more frequently with photos, for now I’m going to rest my weary head. In between the rush to pack and get here, finish up my retail job and finish up my portfolio, and the time difference, I’ve had virtually no sleep these past 3 days… I’ll show you some of my portfolio later this week too.