the switch

"The ninety and nine with dreams are content but the hope of the world made new, is the hundredth man who is grimly bent on making those dreams come true" -Edgar Allen Poe


So I've been here for 8 weeks, since the end of May, and up until now I have found that I am adventuring, exploring, learning, experiencing, etc. My days consisted of working for 9 hours and then looking at timeout.com to find the fun cool things to do at night....like movies in the park, $1 pizza night, NY philharmonic, etc. (for anybody making the move to NYC this websites legit). My weekends were typically 1/2 days at work on Friday followed by random meandering around the city just to get lost and explore...truly the best way to see the coolest little things about NYC. Saturdays and Sundays were early starts to knock things off the bucket list.

But then what happens when your bucket list is pretty much, well, done? OF COURSE i know theres always 5 million and a half things to check out here...I mean there's always something new to try or do, I get that. But I had very specific general things that I wanted to do and besides like 6 or 7 that I was holding off to do with Emma, I had basically done the ones that were important to me.

Thus began...the switch.

There comes a time after moving to somewhere new that everything that entranced you and amazed you when you first arrived becomes background noise. That your daily life routine becomes stable and seeing the sights becomes less of a "must do" and more of a "if i feel like doing".

This week was like a normal life week for me for sure. Wake up, go to work, come back, eat dinner, hang out, shower, do some work for my internship back home, sleep. Repeat x7 adding in some going out time. Last week I actually, no joke, stayed in bed all day. Legitimately, all day. I did laundry and besides that I didnt move from my bed. annnd i loved it. If I did that when I first moved here (I actually never would have but go with it..) I would've felt so guilty. "I cant stay here, I have to go out and see something new..." type of thinking. But I have seen a lot, really. I wont leave here disappointed thats for sure.

I've done a little bit of it all, I like to think.

• I visited all 5 boroughs: Staten Island, The Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn and (duhh) Manhattan.
• I've seen the beach. I've seen the view from the top of the rock.
• I've worked at my laid back job. I've met with the VP of Oscar de la Renta.
• I've been to dive bars with $1 beers on college nights. I've gone out with friends to the nicest, most expensive and exclusive clubs in the city.
• I've been single, I've been taken.
  
• I've visited most of the neighborhoods in Manhattan: Greenwich, Gramercy, Financial District, Upper West, Upper East, Midtown, Gramercy, Chelsea, Meatpacking, TriBeCa, Chinatown, SoHo, NoHo, NoLita, Alphabet City, Stuyvesant, Lower East Side....and have opinions on them all. (This one is my favorite...lots of random walking conquers seeing all these places)
• I've been overwhelmingly in looove with the city, I've wanted to leave so bad it took everything not to ask my parents just to fly me home right then.

So maybe I haven't been posting recently, and I'm sorry if anyone is upset by that, which im not putting money on lol ... but still

My reason is that i'm honestly just living here now. I leave the house without my camera, I dont HAVE to make plans every single day and I'm not amazed at the crazy things I see...like if I see an 80 year old man crossing the street in leather booty shorts (yes, this happened).

But as someone who's just living, I do like it here. Im still undecided on my ability to live here...kinda changes everyday. But for the next 11 days, I'm gooooood!

P.s. for those who DONT know, my lovely friend Emma Halterman and Leah Warren will be venturing out to the city and staying with me for a week!!! When do they arrive you ask??!?!

TOMORROWWWWWWWWW

Yes, I am excited. Yes, we have big amazing exciting plans. No, I dont get to take off work :( Still...CRAZY PUMPED! It's weird, she comes tomorrow...stays for a week...and then the day after she leaves, I'm leaving for STL. Time is going to fly so fast I'm gonna be home like TOMORROW I feel like...

I digress.

Til then, mad love to all <3 still homesick, still loving it here...

now listening to: please don't go by Mike Posner ... love this man

dear springfield, i miss theeee

This really is the craziest, fastest, busiest, most energetic, entertaining, non stop city i have ever experienced/will experience in my life.

I love New York City, I love the culture, but I have a post thats meant for my ranting and raving coming up.

For now, as I count down the DAYYYSS till I return (see you on the 9th, springfield!), I remember what things I am most excited to return to in that beautiful city of Bass Pro and "Kum and Go":

1. First and foremost: my bed. no explanation needed, i feel.


2. Sadly, proving I may have a problem, The Boogie. For those of you who dont know what I'm talking about let me just fill you in. On Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, the entirety of the 21+ crowd of MSU decides to see how many people can fit into one tiny hallway. This hallway is called the Boogie. Famous for 2 for $1 well drinks, $1 beers, and the old ritual free drinks on Wed before 10 (RIP), your average college kid can walk in with 5 bucks and stumble out with a smile on his/her face. Fun music, everyone you know (including the bartenders) and great prices. Man I miss that place. See you soon.



3. My galllls xoxoxo OHHHH you would be number 2 (sorry youll never replace my want for my bed) but the thing is, not all the girl are in Springfield. Some are in STL, ones in dallas, ones in KC...so I'm excited to return to those who remain...Emma, Laur, Sam and Kristi...I cant wait for laughter fits, pranks on our neighbors and drunken debauchery. See you soon lovers (especially you EMMA!!)
   
   
   
4. Big Whiskeys wings. Seriously, I love love love these and im salivating thinking of them.




5. Coryell...ohhh coryell. I miss your pool, I miss my lofted ceilings I havent gotten to live in yet, I miss your wooden stairs that I love/hate to climb, i miss that your close to the roost and walmart (another thing I miss but I refuse to add on the list)


6. MY CARRRRR!!! There is seriously something sooo therapeutic about getting in a car and driving. listening to musiccc window dowwwn just you and your thoughts. Especially the drive to or from StL...well only sometimes. that drive can be agrivating.


7. The beautiful, amazing, gorgeous Vincent girls. That's right. All 5 of those little buggers (Angie your included ;) )...I miss the twins and watching them growww! I miss Darby asking me 9 million questions and always being the most positive person ever. I miss being jealous that Harper is 1/2 my age and smarter than I will ever be...and that she's always down for whatever. I miss Angie's life lessons and the way she listens. Maybe that should be moved up the list to number 4....

Anyway. I cant wait to be back, springfieldians. This place, like i said, is better than I couldve ever dreamed but I miss good ol home. Most of all I miss knowing the city. I miss having a "saturday night spot" (trops, boogie, icon DUHHH), I miss the DZ house, I miss campus and I miss seeing all my lovers out!!!

22 DAYYYSSS

21.

21 days, friends, until im reunited with the midwest. 3 weeks from today, from right now actually, I will be in St Louis with my family (p.s. can we all do dinner at macaroni grill? just a thought. i wanna see everyone...)

I had a few thoughts come to mind when I realized the short amount of time I had left...
1. When am I going to fit in all the stuff I wanna do!?!?
2. Am I excited? Nervous? Anxious? Indifferent? Hmmm
3. Am I gonna move back here?

To answer number 1, I am not going to fit in all the stuff I wanna do. Things I crossed off the list as things I am no longer going to conquer:

• Visit Fenway and go to a Red Sox [not a fan so this was obvious, i just wanted to see the stadium]
• Go to Atlantic City and make a couple hundred bucks [for any of those who know me, i have been cursed with not so great luck so the couple hundred bucks was really never in the cards for me...pun intended. plus I've been to vegas which ive heard is similar...]
• Visit the Hamptons...[maybe when I'm loaded...but this really wasnt very reasonable]
• Go to a wine tasting [I can do this anywhere...and NYC isnt exactly known for its wide array of vineyards]
• Visit Carnegie Hall [I'm going to the NYC Philharmonic Concert in the park in Brooklyn and thats good enough for MEE!]

This I still plan to do:

• Yankee game
• Possibly Met game
• Tom Petty concert in Madison Sq Garden w/ Emma and Leah
• Fist pump at the Jersey shore
• Visit Coney Island and ride the ferris wheel
• Ride bikes in Central Park
• Go to Live with Regis and Kelly
• Sing Empire State of Mind at the Top of the Rock
• See someone perform at the Today Show

Pretty excited about all the stuff I have left. Will I get all of it done? I may be acting naive but I really see it to be possible. I'll keep you updated :)

To answer number 2: all of the above. I feel anxious to see everyone, sad to leave cause I love it here, excited to get back to what I know, annoyed that I have to start school in a short month (boo), but most importantly, glad that I did this. Talk about a growing experience....and being out of your comfort zone. Its been eye opening and I'm not even done yet!!

I'll let you know my answer to number 3 when this is all done with!

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Trend: Straw Fedora Hat

Whether spending the day shopping in Branson, having lunch downtown by the square or just trying to find something new to wear this summer (and become the envy of your peers, it's safe to say that a Straw Fedora Hat is a surefire way to spruce up your average everyday outfit.

For those who want a simple way to sport this chic and summery look, throw on a simple hat like this one found at Forever 21;one ribbon around the brim looks effortless and cool. For those of you who want to be a little bit more daring with your headwear, go for a style like the one sold at Anthropologie ...pricey online but way cheap on sale in stores! ;) Still too much money but the perfect look for you? Just attach your own brooches, like these handmade ones from Etsy.com to spruce it up and add some flair!

Now what to wear it with, you ask? Easy! Anything! Let me make it easier for you though. One great simple way to rock the straw fedora is just like I did in this picture, with my red and white striped tee, denim shorts, and long pendant necklace. I decided not to overaccessorize in order to really focus on the one accessory that mattered most. Want another option? Easy! A great way to show off your new look is actually my personal favorite. I like pull my hair back into a low bun, throw on some doorknocker earrings and a tank top! Another great, more risky, way to look fantastic isn't too difficult either! Just throw on your fedora with that trusty floral dress you've had for years, some keds and a great thick leather belt. The options are absolutely endless!

Although this particular look was for the 4th of July (Happy Birthday America!), you could save your hat for any sort of occasion from barbecue to outdoor concert to lounging by the pool, depending on what you decide to pair with it!

This hat is definite MUST HAVE accessory for summer, true. But the best accessory of all? A positive attitude and a smile to top it off!!

Style On,

Ashli Pollard

oscar

"Now is the most exciting time in fashion. Women are controlling their destiny now, the consumer is more knowledgable, and I have to be better every single day." -Oscar de la Renta

if i have learned anything in this city its that networking is seriously the most important thing. Ever. Period.

Point in case: Casey Breese is a freshman in SigEp (a fraternity at school) and randomly wrote me on facebook to tell me that his cousin is the VP of Merchandising for OSCAR de la RENTA

[[sidenote: Oscar de la Renta is one of the very top fashion designers in the world and has been for decades. His gowns are ALL over the red carpet and are very very high quality pieces]]

Because he is the most amazing perfect thoughtful sweet nice amazing friend i've met (plus future husband lol its an inside joke), he sent his cousin all of my information, and after a little correspondence I had the absolute amazing pleasure of meeting with her in PERSON! She took time out of her busy day (she makes very important merchandising decisions for the brand and always has a million things to do, i'm sure) to meet with me and give me some tips and pointers. She shared her story of how she began in the industry and answered some questions for me. I walked out of there with so much information to digest and such an inspiration to keep going, it was great.

And it only gets better! After talking with her I started to see where my priorities lie in the sense of which direction I should go in the industry. I notice that what I enjoy is PR and lucky enough, Melissa (the woman I met with) noticed from what I was saying that PR could possibly be the road for me...so much so that she called the woman in CHARGE of the PR dept. down to meet with me and talk to me!! It was so great! She asked me questions like...

do i have twitter? ....yeah! love it!
am i active? embarrassingly too much
who do i follow?
do i enjoy blogs? uhh chyeah
which ones do i read? i was so glad she asked me these questions because this is something i actually do in my free time. all this time spent on blogspot is actually for the best!

We exchanged information and then the next day I left thank you cards for them...pretty exciting huh?

livin the dream and nothin in between

"If we're growing, we're always going to be out of our comfort zone" -John Maxwell

alright alright alright. lets get right down to it.

NEW STUFF IVE DONE!

-Rocks Off Concert on the Water
SO I have a cousin out here, Markus, who I hadn't met until I moved out here. and he told me about this water-cruise-concert deal where you basically just go out on a boat and listen to music and float around on the water ... it was SO cool! the skyline was gorgeous and the band was AMAZING!! i met this big group of guys who were talking about sig ep and it turned out they were from the Sig Ep chapter at Syracuse...and its their Alpha chapter (which means the first one)! I thought that was pretty cool...they reminded me a lot of the sig ep guys at MSU, sooo fun, goofy, genuinely nice people. I didn't hang out with em too much, I was too obsessed with the skyline but it was cool to talk to people from a different school.

-Strawberry Fields

I visited John Lennon's memorial in Central Park right across from the Dakota where he was shot a while ago. Yoko Ono still lives there actually. Anyway, strawberry fields is the quiet zone dedicated to him with the famous imagine mosaic in the center of the tear drop shaped garden. It was great...I actually went there 3 times in like 2 days haha but i enjoyed it. very pretty.


-Gallaghers

Right when my parents got into town, Jayme and I met up with them and my cousin Markus at Gallaghers Steakhouse in the Theater District right off of Times Square. I guess the place is pretty famous. Well anyway, I made a friend (see below) that we named Sir Louis Crunchy and I could not eat him because he was my new buddy. but I did have a nibble and he was quite delicious.



Always a good time when the Pollard parents are around!

-Fourth of July day
on the day of the 4th we actually stayed pretty busy!

We woke up and went to Manhattan Diner on the Upper West Side because I LOVE THEIR PANCAKES!! a must for anyone visiting! get the blueberry! but I digress...

We had breakfast, hung around the city, went to strawberry fields (one of the 3 times) and then set out for our 3 hour water cruise around all of manhattan. Of course, this was amazing. Amazing. We got to see all aspects of the city, it was so relaxing and the weather was nice, I enjoyed a blue moon (mmmm) and we all just really had a good time together. It was really cool.

Of COURRRSE we concluded the day with some fireworks down at the Hudson Piers on the East Side (i think we were on....44th street?) and sat and enjoyed the beautiful Macy's firework show. Honestly, the fireworks were just the same as anything else I've seen I think. Thats just my opinion. But I also wasnt in a location that allowed me to hear how it was synced with music and all that fun stuff. Still, definitely something I'm glad I did :)


I'm so happy that my parents visited! We did other things too...shoppin in SoHo, dinner in little italy, hangin out in times square, dinner at a new orleans type restaurant on the upper west, etc etc etc...We always have soooo much fun together! Plus the drinks are allllwayyysss flowin... ;)

heat wave

"ole oleee ole oleee....im feeling hot hot hot. feeling hot hot hot" -Buster Poindexter

For those of you who don't watch the news, New York City experienced a crazy heat wave from July 5ish-July8ish...around there. I didn't realize it was a big deal to all other cities but I heard that St Louis news channels were broadcasting the information about what was going on...I got quite a few nervous texts and phonecalls from friends and family (due to the fact that I lived in no airconditioning)...so thanks to all who were concerned :)

But really I guess things were a lot worse here than I knew/expected. ConEdison Energy Co couldnt handle the overwhelming power supply from everyone a. staying entirely indoors and b. blasting the air conditioning so all of the city people had to take little precautions. My dorm had to shut off the laundry machines and all but 1 elevator, for instance. A lot of people still lost power and sadly some elderly people were horribly effected by the weather. The heat broke a ton of records supposedly and let me speak from experience that it seriously was the HOTTEST weather I have ever experienced...and my room, naturally, was hotter than it was outside. It was miserable. I tried going to different bookstores or cafes to cool off but they were packed. Barnes and Noble had people covering all of the floor pretty much just trying to get inside. Local pools were filled to maximum capacity within hours supposedly too. It was just so crazy.

I handled the heat wave in 2 ways:

1. Enjoying the presence of the locals in my new fav bar, Off the Wagon!

Off the Wagon is this small bar in my neighborhood that has crazy cheap, boogie-like drink specials (ohhh how ive missed my dollar beers) and really really nice people. Everyones college age and you dont have to be dressed to the nines to go in, which makes me feel like home. I can wear a teeshirt and shorts or a dress and heels. The best part of the place? upstairs they ALWAYS have 2 beer pong games going at the same time. SO fun, right? I cant wait to take Emma here when she comes in town, she'll love it! :)

ANYWAY my roomie Dora and I came up with this brilliant plan to go out and get some drinks so that when we went back to our room we would INSTANTLY fall asleep due to our alcohol consumption.

this, friends, was the worst. idea. in. history.
we got back to our 100 degree room and not only were not trying to sleep in the heat, but we also felt so sick. we combatted this we the best. idea. in. history. We knew that the 2nd floor of our building, being the common floor with a tv, couches, pool table, dance room, piano room, theater, etc, was the only floor of the building with AC. so we walked our pretty butts down 12 floors and crashed there on a couple couches. it was cold, comfy and we fell right asleep. Score right?

wrong. everyone else in the building soon had the same idea and the next night the floor was COVERED wall to wall with people trying to find refuge from the heat. it was actually kind of funny. people were sleeping on desks, window ledges, pool table, the piano, two chairs pushed together lol...how RIDICULOUS?! ya know? like were in 2010 why dont you do something about that? ...stupid. but whatever.

2. SWITCH DORM ROOMS!
It was a lot easier than I thought and slightly meant to be, really. My friend Cydney (often mentioned in this blog) had a roommate that was moving out of this room on August 7th. So, being the proactive go getter I am (ha!), I called NYU and told them that my friends roommate was moving out and i desperately needed to change due to the heat. Thankfully, they accomodated and now I live with my friend Cydney in AIR CONDITIONING!!! i actually woke up last night FREEZING! can you believe it!? so great.

well thats all. i miss everyone and sadly, im running out of things to do. I just have to go to a Yankee Game and I'll be set. I also wanna go to Fenway to see the Red Sox but tickets are getting pretty expensive. I'll fill you in on all the fun new stuff I do though :) BYE