Well hi there!
I am writing this little intro on the five-and-a-half-hour flight I have to the JFK airport. Yes, you read that right. I am going to New York! Not for vacation, but for my job, and I tell ya what I am not any less excited than if I was going during Christmas to see the Rockefeller Christmas Tree. (Although that is on the bucket list…)
I am going to New York for The Fashionpreneur Academy Tour kick-off. As I mentioned in a previous blog post my boss has many companies, but luckily this company provides me with amazing experiences that I would not be able to do on my own at any other job! This also comes with a lot of stress and ALMOST a breakdown in the middle of LAX when there was nothing but chaos around me. Planning an event on the opposite side of the country has to have been the hardest thing I have ever done, but… I HAVE DONE IT! For that reason right there is why I celebrated with a Starbucks drink, sandwich, AND a free blueberry muffin before my flight.
In all of this craziness of planning the event, my boss did plan a day before the tour that I could breathe and enjoy my first time in New York. I will get to do all the sightseeing and you know that I am going to take advantage of every single moment I can. I am not saying that I am going to be up and at 'em at 6 am, but running 90 to nothing tomorrow will be almost a guarantee. Not to mention today is also the first day of my bachelor's degree! I have decided to bow out of the IMPD program. My heart was no longer in it, and I will get to Paris one of these days… with that being said I will be doing homework during a lot of my free time on this trip. There is a 10000% chance I will be running on red bulls, anxiety, and adrenaline on this trip. It’s the life I chose and I am loving it, but I will get back to you about how I am truly feeling on my way back…
I am super excited as you can tell, but I want to leave some room for future me to talk, so I will let her take it from here. Telling you about all the things we saw, how the tour stop went, and how in the world I am still awake. Take it away, future Josephine.
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Thanks, past Josephine.
It has been three days since I have laid eyes on this blog and I am once again sitting in a metal eagle in the sky. I tell ya, this trip was absolutely amazing. I learned a lot about myself; my dreams, goals, how attainable they are, how soon I can start capitalizing on these ideas, and that I now have absolutely zero extra time. As you know I have started my Bachelor's degree! Between taking these classes, starting up these ideas that I have, and working on things, and the job that I adore and has already taught me so much. I am so excited about these projects and the inspiration that I am feeling. There is not a doubt in my mind that I will forever hold this trip close to my heart.
New York was an amazing place. Was it crowded, dirty, and full of mean people? Yes, but it was a nice place to get away and re-inspire myself with like individuals around me. What I have not had any luck with is flights… let me start back from Thursday…
Thursday was the day I left for New York! I was running around that morning, but then was prepping for my flight and was out of my apartment parking garage by 10:45. I had the supplies for the tour as well as the bags for me to be able to look decent for my time in New York. I pull up to LAX (I usually fly into Burbank because LAX is disgustingly busy at all times) and I see a line that stretches about 40 people to check-in bags. I have Kii with me and he is getting out the oversized bags as I go to the end of the line. Kii being the sweetheart he is was not going to let me carry those bags plus my own by myself. He had also flown on the airline before, so he was pretty positive that we didn’t have to wait in the line outside, and that we needed to go inside. Well, I do not know why he did not think I would be the most stubborn person out there when it came to airlines and making sure I was not bothering anyone else… We fought for a solid 20 minutes on where to go while dashing in different directions. After all, that and me getting in line inside, and him taking the bags to a waiting area upfront so I wouldn’t have to carry them around… I got a kiss from him and he headed out before getting a ticket in the LAX drop-off area. I got my bags checked and I thought I was in the clear. I was not, security was its own animal of a mess! When I finally got through security I sat at my gate with a sigh of relief, but then some news came through the PA. “The flight has been delayed just a touch to JFK.” By just a little they mean an hour and a half. Was I shocked? Honestly not, but it was a minor inconvenience, and we were rolling with the punches. When I finally was boarded we sat there for what seemed like forever and we were then 2 hours behind getting to JFK. I was over it at this point and just put my AirPods in and tried to not let it get to me!
Children are such gems to this world, gifts as some might say, but I have never been more frustrated at a screaming baby. It was 2 rows behind me and was jumping on my last nerve. There were 3 hours of crying consistently and the last 40 minutes was bloody murder screaming. To top off the flight to New York… I waited for my bags for almost 1.5 hours after finally getting off the plane that I had to sit on for an extra 30 minutes once we had landed because there was a plane at our arrival gate. I learned that people are not nice in New York when I had these two massive bags and my carry on and nobody was budging to get out of my way so I could get to the passenger pickup area. I eventually just started saying, “excuse me!” And apologized if I ran over any toes, should have moved. I finally got to Jess and I tell ya I was exhausted and hungry. We searched all over New York at 2 am and we finally found a pizza place that was open and had more than half of a pizza left. Once my head hit that pillow at 3 am, I was out like a light!
Friday was a day that we slept in and enjoyed being a little slow because tomorrow was gonna be insane. We worked on a few things in the morning and then we clocked out and headed to the nail salon because jess broke a nail! Hardcore, the worst thing that can happen to a woman the day before a presentation, I do not care what anyone says. Once we got out of the nail salon we headed to the Empire State Building! Omg the views!! I saw everything I wanted to see from there!! Freedom tower, the statue of liberty, and more! I enjoyed myself so much that day! After that, we were back to work for some last-minute shopping and setting up the venue a little that way we would not be so flustered the next day. The venue was adorable, and we were so stoked for what the next day! To finish it out we had a NICE dinner and enjoyed every second of it because we had made it to New York and we were pulling it off!
Saturday was the big day! I hopped up early at 7 am and was so energized and excited! I headed over to the venue after getting ready and got started with my interns! They were all super sweet and helpful; absolute gems! After setup, we were ready for the day to start right at 10! Jess walked in energized and ready to spread her knowledge and every person that came in was ready to learn! I am going to write another piece about the event itself because if I write it here this blog post will never end!
After the big day on Saturday, we went out with Jess’ sister and got some really good tacos at one of the cutest places! You could say I kind of killed it on the food for someone who has never been to New York ;)
Sunday was our day that we were not doing anything but getting to the airport. We woke up when we naturally did, and then got ready for our day. We had some barbecue and then we're off to the airport! My trip on the way back has been just as eventful as the trip to New York. My flight was delayed in taking off by 3 hours. It was delayed another hour and a half by the time we finally got on the plane and the gate was changed before we took off. In other words… I am a little over the airports this weekend… Luckily I had zero connections on both flights and will soon be home to hug Kii and sleep harder than I have ever before!
If you were reading closely you noticed that homework was not once mentioned in that entire post. I took 5 notebooks to New York and planned to do homework all night that I was there. I attempted to do homework one night out of the entire trip, and I did not accomplish a single portion of that goal. I solidly read one half of a lecture, but I could not tell you what it was about. In other words, Jess gave me tomorrow off to do homework all day long plus the homework that she and I decided to assign me for my personal growth and career growth!
This trip was a whirlwind, but I hope you had as much fun reading my adventure as I did participate in it! New York was unforgettable and I am excited for my next trip there! Who knows, maybe New York Fashion week? Just speaking it into existence folks!
Much love!
Josephine A. Meinardus
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