"As I hop off my practically lofted bed....this is a dorm room-you need all the space you can get; apparently having my nose be what seems like a mere inch away from my ceiling is the price I pay for storage...my feet smack the cold tiles of the floor. I glance at my roommate who is still sleeping and before I let my jealously take over, I grab my towel and hop into the shower."
"After sleeping while standing for the first five minutes of my shower, I get moving. With great distaste and sadness, I turn the knob of the shower and am terrified to open the door of the steamed bathroom that will bring me back in the wind tunnel that has become my apartment in the Fordham Walsh dormitory."
"I slip on a pair of sweatpants, jeans if I'm having a GOOD day, a sweatshirt and on my way out I grab my Uggs. As I'm on my way out of my bedroom I catch a glimpse of myself and immediately recognize the gray uni-suit that I have dressed myself in! GREAT!!! Way to go Ella...either you can roll out the door looking like Rocky or you have 30 seconds to grab a different colored Sweatshirt."
"Mornings in the Walsh apartment are truly the best when all of your other four roommates are still sleeping because you can eat their food....JUST KIDDING!! As a result of my gray uni-suit mishap I am left with a limited amount of time for food, and at 8:10am, I'm not really that hungry. I make some coffee, grab a bottle of water for the day and start my day of classes, public transportation, and work. I know my sarcastic undertones may seem as if I don't enjoy every second of my day....but I do!!! I am a complete work-aholic and the second I have too much leisure time, I spend the day sleeping and watching Superbad on my laptop more than once...seriously...ask me what I did on Saturday? True Story...definitely unhealthy..."
"...anyway...I arrive at my 8:30am class on time...there's no excuse really, Walsh is literally 2 minutes away from the FMH building where I take all of my morning classes. As painful as it is to face the frigid air I am actually excited for the first time in my college career to go to class. Now that I have figured out my major and moved though all the preliminary courses that all CBA students must take, I am enrolled in classes that I am actually interested in."
" After classes are over I make my way over to the gym. LOVE THE FORDHAM GYM!!!! Seriously...just LOVE it...comon...you need a good sense of humor to deal with this crazy world. The Fordham gym is pretty much the scariest sight EVER. It can be described as a sweatbox that has a decent amount of equipment, that is if they ever worked. Regardless, once I've gotten on the treadmill, the next 35 minutes are amazing. I know it's completely gross, but running and sweating and listening to my ipod, that is the BEST feeling ever. What doesn't entirely rock my world is how out of breath I am within the first 3 minutes, only reminding me how eating two slices of pizza before bed was probably not the best idea. Either way, I am finally relaxed and have an extra burst of energy to get through the rest of my day."
"Here's where my day gets fun...I have about an hour before I have to get on the BX12 to the 4 train into Manhattan for work at 4:00pm. I shower, get dressed (not in the dark as my morning outfit may have given the impression of) and I get moving. I know it may seem as if this post was me going on for far too long about how much I have to do during the day and yeah yeah wah wah Ella...but it's not! I live for this!!! I live to not have a spare second to think of how I really should have ran 4mi and not just 3.5mi, I love not having to worry about cleaning my dorm room in school because I am never in it, I love having every second of my day completely filled up with things that I know I will profit from. The second my day is filled with leisure and downtime I become completely unmotivated. I take three hour naps, I DON'T make it to the gym (which is a joke because I have all the time in the world) and I watch I Love New York and Americas Next Top Model for more hours than is healthy or should be legal!!!"
"Once I get on the 4 train it's only minutes before I exit the station again and am facing the Manhattan landmark Bloomingdale's on 59th and Lexington Ave. Having been born and raised only blocks from the department store, it makes me happy to be back home, even though living in the Bronx, I never really left. I walk briskly through the streets listening to my favorite songs and by the time three songs are up, I am at work."
"Tikabou is a recently established boutique on the Upper East Side (1st avenue between 66th and 65th street). From the second you enter the store you immediately get a sense of warmth and comfort. I don't mean to sound cheesy or lame or like a promoter...it's not like that. The owner of the store is an amazing Greek woman named Tia Koulianos. Honestly, there are not enough women in the world like her. Forget about just the female portion of our society, there are not enough PEOPLE in general who care about the well being of others the way that this woman does. That is a huge part of why working with her is so amazing. She started this company entirely on her own. The store is filled with a variety of clothing from LA, Italian and Spanish designers. What you find in this store is both unique and of the best quality. She has so much pride and respect for the designers and vendors that she purchases her inventory from that it is truly amazing to watch how much she cares about the condition of her clothing."
"Working at Tikabou has been an amazing learning experience. I started off as a sales agent and over time, helped with entering inventory, designing the window display, packaging web orders and assisting with the website itself. Being apart of the Tikabou family has only made me more eager to work in developing plans to open my own clothing boutique. This job has inspired me to continue to learn about the industry and work to acquire the technique necessary to do well when the time comes to open my own store."
"Since the store is located around the corner from the apartment I grew up in, working here makes it easy to see my mother and sisters on a daily basis. What could be better? Working in a job that you love and with people that you care about...nothing gets better than that. By the time 9:00pm rolls around, it's time to close the store. I bundle up....give Tia kisses and embark on the dirty trek back to the Bronx. By the time I get home it's around 10:00pm and I have just enough energy to plop onto the couch and watch an awful reality show....WHEN WILL THE WRITER'S STRIKE END???...but I can't sleep quite yet. I still have some reading to do for class and a blog to post..."
...who needs sleep? I live to work...silly as is sounds...it's what I am programmed to do...
