The Intern Diaries: Trade Shows and Tartines

If I could sum up these past 2 weeks in 3 words, they would be excitement, exhaustion, and educational.  I continued to restaurant-hop my way around while meeting one of my favorite fashion bloggers and working a trade show along the way.  There is nothing quite like attending your very first trade show; the energy, the chaos, and the stress are second to none.  But, we’ll get to that in a little bit.  Let’s talk about the city first.

It seems to be that New York City becomes more and more beautiful each day I live here.  Sure, when I first arrived with my suitcases, I was eager to explore my new neighborhood.  There was something romantic about hailing a cab and hopping in in a hurry to get to work; little things like this made me feel like a true New Yorker.  But now that I know my surroundings and realized that taking the subway is much lighter on my wallet, I feel like I have learned this city and can handle anything it throws at me.

Some new restaurants I discovered are Frankie’s in Brooklyn and Gotan in Soho.  Frankie’s offers a unique take on classic Italian dishes, while Gotan is chic coffee shop that I find myself spending too much time in reading my book.  For those who love French cuisine, you must go to Maison Kayser.  I have been here before, but only for the pastries.  I had the chance to sit down and have lunch with a friend and was blown away by how authentic and delicious this little restaurant was.  I got a tartine with figs, goat cheese, and a balsamic glaze.  Heaven.

Last Wednesday evening, I attended a meet and greet for blogger Arielle Charnas of Something Navy.  She has always been such an inspiration to me, so I was more than willing to wait in the 90 minute line just to have a quick conversation and snag a picture with her.  She launched her first collaboration of activewear with Koral through Bandier, and the pieces were gorgeous!  She was so nice and humble, greeting everyone who showed up with a smile and big hug.  It was truly surreal to meet such an influential yet welcoming person in the fashion industry.

Now, let’s talk about the trade show.  Chan Luu goes to so many trade shows in a year, and this one was Accessories Circuit, held at the Javits Center in Manhattan.  It is an opportunity for hundreds of brands to set up for a few days and sell their product to a range of buyers from Nordstrom to small boutiques.  We had 4 booths — cashmere scarves, jewelry, ready to wear, and skinny scarves.  I worked from 8AM to 6PM every day from Friday to Wednesday to sell, merchandise, and talk to buyers about the perfect pieces for their stores.  It was one of the most amazing and educational experiences of my entire internship.  I loved how fast paced and involved it was.  I even saw and briefly talked to Iris Apfel!

All in all, these past 2 weeks have been very enjoyable and tiring at the same time.  I am happy to have the weekend at home to finally relax. Talk soon.

Written and photographed by Lian Najarian