Lord Friend

By the way! I forgot to mention yesterday that I have a fourth roommate: this cat!

Ashley told me her name at some point and it was something weird, so I've decided to call her Lord Friend. She and I hang out a lot. I am allergic to some cats, but I don't think that she's one of them because I haven't sneezed once. Hooray!

I'm alive

Way too tired and emotionally drained to blog right now. For all you inquiring minds, I give today a solid 7 out of 10. Not bad. Will definitely get better. But I don't have the emotionally or mental capacity to look that far ahead yet. I promise that I'll give a full report very very soon, but I can barely keep my eyes open right now.

And, anything I write will sound far more dismal than reality, so I'm going to spare you the dramatics.

I will say that the BEST part of the day BY FAR was when I got a free bag of brand new clothes from Marc Jacobs to wear to work next week when the buyers are in the showroom. And I get to keep them all!!! Yes yes yes.

Ok. That's it for now. Thank you so much to everyone who gave an encouraging word or text today. I seriously appreciate it so much more than you know.

Nerves

Today is my first day of work. I feel really nervous and very sick. This is not good. After posting about the amazing day yesterday, I kicked around for a little bit and then suddenly started feeling super nauseous. I think it may be a combination of weeks of sleep deprivation, nerves, caffeine (that I am becoming more and more convinced that I'm allergic to) and dehydration. All together. In my tummy. And then feeling sick only creates more worry and therefore more sick feelings. I went to bed super early last night and although I still feel pretty gross this morning, I'm hoping that it's mostly nerves that will go away once I get to work and get started.

Please, please pray that I am not really sick and that it's just a temporary bout of pre-job panic.

This is what I know:

I am in New York City.
I was in Savannah this morning.
Somehow I got to my apartment in spite of my sensory overload.
Carried my suitcases up 4 flights of stairs.
Sweated.
I live in Soho.
My room is the size of our pantry at home.
I kind of love it.
List of furniture in my room includes: mattress on floor. my two suitcases stacked to make a table. That's it.
I kind of love it.
All of this really doesn't matter because of one thing that I do have in my room: Exposed Brick. Dream come true.
I REALLY LOVE IT.
Although, the concrete in-between the bricks sort of looks like meatloaf...
But there's also a window. So, I'm set.
The internet is named "Wafflefries."
Noted.
I found a dead cockroach on my floor.
I hate that, but I am grateful that it was dead.
New york was really scary to me for about two hours.
I was considering what my summer would look like if I literally just went to work everyday and never did anything else.
I was ok with that plan for about two hours.
Turns out, I just needed a nap.
I have two roommates.
Roommate number 1: Ashley. 26. Born in Chicago. Grew up in Florida. Moved to New York. Moved back to Florida. Moved back to New York. Freelance something.
Roommate number 2: Julio. Pronounced like Julia. But with an O. (Boy). 22. Senior at Bard. Intern at HBO for the summer.
Both friendly.
He said he really liked my hair.
Quote: "By the way, I really like your hair. It's awesome."
Wow, Julio. Slow your roll. I'm not that kind of intern.
These people will work, I suppose.
But I miss my real roommates.
But not that bad.
Just kidding.
I miss you guys REALLLL bad.
Julio took me to Trader Joe's down the street.
Yes. Trader Joe's = down the street. What up.
Not a date.
I didn't really know what to buy.
Ended up getting asparagus and Raspberry Sorbet.
I'm doing my best to confuse Julio.
David, my cashier at TJ's, told me to try the peach sorbet next time because it's the best ever.
Sold.
Doesn't take much.
Decided that I was going to spend the rest of the night sitting on my bed and coming to terms with all recent developments.
Realized I had to drop off my rent.
This, of course, changed my plans of being a bump on a log.
Did it.

This is when things got good. 

Hit up Starbucks. Should have gone somewhere cooler, but I was too scared. 

Baby steps. 

I began to realize that I live in an amazing area.
I began to remember why I love New York so much.
I began smiling.
I couldn't stop smiling.
Dropped off the rent.
Found where I work.
Prime lo-caysh.
Walked back to my apartment... I need to think of a cooler name for my apartment... TBD.
Stumbled upon a lot of cool restaurants.
Stumbled upon an indoor park. (pictured above)
Phone died four blocks from home, but I found my apartment anyway!!!! Victories!

I need to take a shower but I don't have a towel. 

Too soon to borrow one from one of my roommates. 

Because we're still "roommates." 

Not "roomies."

Other things I need to buy: 

Hangers. 

Shampoo. 

Con-dish. 

More sorbet.

I just talked to Casey on the phone and told her everything about everything.
Including my first impressions of both of my roommates.

Not sure if Julio can hear everything I'm saying through our shared wall. 

Not quite how sure I'm going to figure this out. 

Just talked to the amazing Lindsay Giambattista on the phone as well and found out she's coming to NYC in a few short weeks!!! 

So exciting!

But what is even more exciting is why she's coming-- This little lady made it into the top 5 in a scholarship competition for Seventeen magazine out of hundreds of other losers and now she might be on the cover!! Of Seventeen magazine and win $20,000!!
What!?!

So exciting.

So. Exciting. 

Julio probably thinks I'm one of those people who just talks on the phone all day. 

But I'm not! 

I promise! 

Oh, Julio with a J.
I'm excited to see our relationship play out. 

I am having dinner with Wren tonight.
I have work tomorrow.
I get to see Tracy at some point this weekend.
I am having dinner with Beth Anne on Saturday.
That is the extent of my schedule.

Oh, wow. What a freaking day to be alive.

And you know what else is really great? I've gotten to talk to nearly everyone that I really love today (well, that's a lie... I didn't talk to a lot of you, but... anyway...) and almost all of those people have such exciting things happening this summer!

This summer has been officially dubbed as the summer of dreams. I will be sure to keep you all posted on the adventures of this summer.

***WREN JUST TEXTED ME AND SAID SHE IS TAKING ME TO A RESTAURANT THAT ONLY SERVES VARIATIONS OF MAC AND CHEESE. I'M SPEECHLESS.***

Wow. wow. wow. How did I get here? I'm so confused.

Happily confused.

This Bushka is going back to the City

Did you ever wonder why this blog is called 'Bushka in the City'? Did you just chalk it up to nonsensical Julia babble? Close.

Well, this blog was actually started almost 4 years ago with my first summer spent in New York City. I spent 6 weeks in NY taking classes at Parsons and I wanted a way to keep in touch with the fam. And being the modern, dynamic woman that I am, I decided to blog. The same summer, Kaitlin spent 8 weeks in Sri Lanka on a missions trip and started a blog too. She called it Resplendent Island and me, being sassy and completely unoriginal, decided to title my blog Non-Resplendent Island (referring to the island of Manhattan). And then, to be extra confusing, I decided that the URL would be called "Bushkainthecity.tumblr.com." Bushka- nickname Kaitlin has called me for years and the city- obviously...the city... of New York....

Anyway, Non Resplendent Island faded away but Bushka stuck it out becoming what I now use as my virtual word vomit receptacle. But, here we are, years later, and I find myself in a similar position: starting from scratch in New York City. Anxiety is setting in. Clothes are being over packed. And I'm leaving on Wednesday.

I am going to reference a quote that happened to be my very first blog post in the history of the world:

"Remember what Bilbo used to say: It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to."


- J. R. R. Tolkien

The comforting fact in all of these questions is that the summer I spent at Parsons was the best summer of  my life. And I expect great things from this summer as well. The most exciting aspect being that I have no idea what those great things are.

Meanwhile, back at Eckburg...

I am so spent. Every ounce of creativity, of productivity, of positivity is gone.

I just want to sleep.

ok, wow.

Today, my big sister, Kaitlin Smarty-McSmartypants-with-a-Side-of-Sexy-Hot-Sauce Patton is graduating! What?! Holy Moly. I can't believe it. That was a lie. I totally can believe it. Because she is pretty much the hardest working, smartest, most Godly, (and, as previously mentioned, dead. sexy.) person I know. And all of that means that you've earned the right to walk across that BIOLA stage and shake DBC's hand with pride and joy and a good dose of pep in your step.

When I think back over the last four years of Kaitlin's time at B-Ten, I am so in awe of all of the work God has done. In fear of this post getting way way way too lengthy, let me just say this-- five years ago at around this time, we weren't even sure if Kaitlin would be graduating high school on time, let alone going to college. And then four years ago, after getting into EVERY SCHOOL she applied to WITH SCHOLARSHIPS (way to set the bar a little high, Kaits) we had no idea how long she would be able to go to school.

But, what's that? She is graduating today? With honors? And the recipient of the "Who's Who" award? And as a distinguished student in psychology? And (I would argue, most importantly) with the most amazing and smart and supportive and fun and funny and friends in the world? Yep. I am talking about you, Kaitlin Smarty-McSmartypants-with-a-Side-of-Sexy-Hot-Sauce Patton.

I am sad beyond words to say that I will not be there cheering on not only Kaitlin and have definitely been in a self pity slump for the past few days (this might also be combination of sleep deprivation, extreme anxiety over the coming weeks, the stresses of moving and good ole cramps), but also the fact that I'm going to miss seeing her amazing friends who I am lucky to say that I have grown to consider my own friends over the years graduate too. But unfortunately, Apparel I waits for no man and Eckburg's steel grip grows ever tighter as the sands of time counting down to due dates and spontaneous combustion grows ever tighter. But I will definitely be tuning in online at 9:00 AM PST.

Kaitlin, I love you. I am so proud of you. I am so humbled by you. I want to hug you. I am excited for your future. I miss you. I am so so lucky to call you my sister. I am so so so sorry I can't be there for you, especially because you have ALWAYS been there for me, but I am so excited to see you in a few short weeks. I am now crying.

YOU ARE GRADUATING, YOU SEXY MINX! BE PROUD OF YOURSELF.

PS- Congratulations to Claire Burlingham who is also graduating today!

Marathon

This weekend was quite the whirlwind. Today is whirlwind. Let's be honest-- it's going to be a whirlwind for a while.

In that case: Pictures.

Thursday. There was a shooting in downtown Savannah. Don't freak out. I'm fine. No one was injured. The guy held up in a restaurant for a while and then they got him. But!  Things were crazy long enough for one of my classes to get cancelled. I'll take what I can get. So, we took advantage of the unexpected bubble of free time by hitting up the ever nutritious and always cheery Back in the Day Bakery. Frances and I accidentally matched. And then we each got cokes and shared chocolate cake. True love.

Later in the afternoon, when we really did have class, Susie and I toughed it out at Eckburg and stayed for the rest of the night until we closed the place down with the security guard. 

Before we left, though, Spencer popped in for a bit to say hi and impress us with her dancing skills.

Friday. Back at Eckburg. All day. 

Except for a short break in the middle of the day when I got to help out stand around and crack stupid jokes at the photo shoot of my dear Lindsay Giambattista's gorgeous final piece for her Intro Class. 

The location of the shoot was this amazing antique store at the edge of Forsyth park that I had wandered into once before, but had never realized that it is actually 5 stories tall and probably the coolest place in the whole entire world. Frances modeled and the amazing Kara Reichart took the beautiful pictures. So much talent in one place-- I can barely take it!!!

If you want to see more pics, click here.

Then, of course, back to Eckburg. (Are you seeing a pattern here?) By the way, all of the pictures are of my Apparel I final, but more on that later. 

After I finished up there, I got to go to dinner with the roomies and a few extra guests, Claire's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Barnhardt, and one of Claire's good friends, Grace, who had come into town for the big SCAD Fashion Show!!

And that brings us to Saturday: After more Eckburg in the morning, I came back to the house to let in even more wonderful guests: The Malinski Family! With Spencer being a big hot shot model in the show and all, the whole fam (plus dog, Lola, and baby baby kitten, Princess Zuri) came to see Spencer work it. 

Lola and I had some real bonding time before it was time to get all fancy and head downtown for the show. 

The show is actually a pretty big deal here and something that I look forward to all year, so it was very exciting that the day had finally arrived. Here's a little promo video: 

So fashionable. 

OH. OW! WHAT? WHO'S THAT GIRL? 

HOT DAMN! IT'S SPENCER MALINSKI! When Frances and I saw her walking down the runway, we freaked out. Too much. What can I say? We're just two proud dads. 

 Us hanging out with the talent after the amazing show.

And let's not leave out this little powerhouse. Oli worked backstage with the models dressing them and styling them for the big event. I mean, look at that pose. 5 foot 2 and 100% woman.

Immediately after the show, it was time for a quick outfit change and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and then back to work. This time, I bailed on Eckburg and went to Alexander Hall (Painting and Printmaking building) with Frances while she worked wonders with the printing press. I worked on sketching...

And then worked on sketching and then worked on sketching and then worked on sketching until 12:00 last night before I finished the last flat and hit the hay. 

Yikes. Packed, right? Well, this is final's, folks. Be either with us or against us. 

What'd you do this weekend?

Don't Cry for Me, Argentina.

I have neglected you. It's funny-- when you have a blog through blogspot.com, they give you the stats of your blog including things like from what parts of the world do people read your blog (hello, Russia!!), what words are used most, what websites people use to find the blog, and how much traffic you get. Of course, traffic fluctuates everyday, and typically, I see major drops on weekends and over the holidays, but in my two years of blogging, it's been fun to see my viewership go consistently up every month. Well, not anymore. This marked the first month since the beginning that we fell down a few notches. And for good reason! I am so sorry, dear friends, that I have been the worst mother of all time lately. There just simply is not enough time. And when there is time, there is no creativity. And with no creativity, there are two options: 1) Weak sauce, boring blog posts about how terribly busy and tired I am (posts that I have now re-read and have even bored myself with) or 2) No blogging at all (What I've been going with lately).

It hit me, the other day, that I may have lost a lot of my original flare when it comes to my writing style on this here blog. I used to find great pleasure in spending time constructing posts and crafting them to be witty and fun to read, but looking back, I realize that in that period, I had mountains of free time. That free time no longer exists. The once overflowing pool of relaxing naps, long, meandering walks and TV marathons now is dry and cracking mud forming random, sharp cornered shapes-- ahhh! Shapes! This reminds me! I must stop blogging and get back to my apparel 1 final in which, not only do I sew multiple shapes together to create a dress, but I must also decide on a way to be apply the geometric shapes originally rendered in my initial design. SHAPES! SHAPES!!

But I digress.

Did you just see what happened?! At any given moment, with the mention of even the most simple words, I am taken back to what needs to be done and what I have to turn in and what I must soon create. I am a machine! A machine, I tell you! A shell of my former self-- ahhh! A Shell! This reminds me! I must stop blogging and get back to my Ethnography final and begin writing my paper on the gentrification of Eastside Savannah-- an area that some may argue, is a shell of its former self. SHELL! SHELL!!

Geez.

Anyway, if you were here... in Savannah... in my room... you'd see a girl sitting in her bed with all the lights out in her room typing this post with one finger because the other hand is propping her squishy head up. You'd see lists. Everywhere. Creepy amounts of lists. Think Howard Hughes status. You'd see 4 empty mugs scattered around her room from the gallons of hot tea that she's been drinking lately. You'd see exhaustion. You'd see panic. You'd see denial. And you'd see someone who just wants a good night sleep.

I've reached it. That point in the quarter in which it is possible for me to experience all of the following emotions in one day:

(Read: I did all of these things at some point today.)

1. In the middle (seriously-- mid sentence) of giving a speech about community service to a room full of students, I called out two girls in the back of my class for talking while I was giving my speech. I may or may not have said "Excuse me-- do you have a question?" To which they may or may not have replied "What?" To which I may or may not have said, "Well, I was just wondering if you had a question because you guys were talking and I was wondering if I needed to clarify anything about my speech... because I'm sure you're talking about my speech, right?" To which they may or may not have replied, "No." And then I may or may not have said, "Ok, well, I'm going to keep going with my speech then, if that's ok, unless you do have any questions." Hi. Major Biotch. Table for 1. Everyone in that class hates me. Understandable.

2. I definitely cried to this video today (twice):

3. Deliriously laughed until I made no noise when freestyle rapping about two tall people and one crack addicted baby with my roommates. 

This is finals. 

Please bare with me. I promise that one day this blog will be fun to read again.

PS-- Mom, because I know this song is going to be stuck in your head all day.. at least watch the video... 

Fun fact: you're going to think I'm lying, but "Don't Cry for me Argentina" was the first song I ever memorized. I knew every word when I was 4. I promise. Picture a 4 year old Julia singing that song. It's not that big of a stretch. Also, it makes me cry.

"Wow, it seems like Julia has mentioned crying like 480 times in this post. That's somewhat concerning."

What. Judge me. 

Happy Mother's Day!!

This mother's day, I am missing my mommy all the way over in California. Mom-- thanks for being so amazing to me everyday and teaching me how to be who I want to be by being the best example. I love you!!

PS-- If you are still not quite sure what to get your mamasita as a token of your love and appreciation, rest easy. Here is the perfect gift:

To Atlanta and Back

On Thursday, I did one of the most spontaneous things in a while. Again, I had another crazy week with school and by Wednesday, I had decided that I was going to pull a T.H. and "Treat Yo Self" by skipping class. Or, let's not call it skipping class-- let's go with "strategically planning an extremely productive day with the exclusion of sitting in class." Yes. That's better. 

So, on Wednesday evening, when Frances informed me that the work she had entered into a competition was now on display in Atlanta and that she was debating whether or not to go, I decided that the best use of my time and energy was to be a supporter and go with. 

So the next day, Frances, Oli and I hit the road. 

When we go there, we discovered that it was a seriously beautiful day in Atlanta. 75 degrees. Sunny. A light breeze. And virtually no humidity!!!!

We ate lunch at Chipotle.

We got dessert at Whole Foods.

We laid in the sun in the grass at Piedmont Park. 

 We got to see Frances' art in all it's glory at SCAD Atlanta. (I pulled a major mom card and made her take a her picture by her art-- in spite of major objections.)

We wandered around the SCAD Atlanta building for a while.

And then we went home! It such a fun jaunt outside of the normal routine and something that kind of hit my reset button. 

Can you believe there are only 3 weeks left in the quarter? And only 2 and a half weeks until I go to New York? What?! Kind of freaking out over here. 

BUY ME!

Who wants to buy these suckers for me? Coolest rain boot[ies] ever. If interested, please let me know and I'll send you my address for easy shipping.

Other Corners

By the way, other amazing corners of Savannah include new places to Study. Something about buildings and rooms that no one knows about makes me feel sneaky and also, very focused. There's NO WAY I am going to reveal my new hot spots and risk the word getting out, but I'll give you a picture hint of my latest discovery.

This is where I studied for 2 hours today. Seriously.

Corners

I've made it a real goal this quarter, in all of it's all nighter, non-stop homework, Oreo gorging glory, to explore the beautiful corners of Savannah.

This seed was planted on the first weekend of the April when I took an early morning walk with Frances down to the park. We walked the streets that I drive on every single day, but by slowing down and having time to look at the houses and the trees and the people, I saw completely new streets. The small backyards full of antique treasures and tightly wound ivy, the artfully chipped paint on the Victorian homes and the intricate wrought iron that curved it's way around the church steps all gleamed at me in a knowing light. The notion of noticing all of the undiscovered-- or perhaps, discovered, but forgotten charm of the Savannah that isn't in the tour guide books was then cemented in the equal parts challenging (the good kind of challenging) and frustrating (just good, old frustrating) Urban Ethnography Class that I am taking.

Urban Ethnography is quite the conundrum.

My expectations for this Anthropology class were as follows:

-To take part in an interesting, one time only elective.
-Get to be in an extremely small class with optimum learning and open discussions.
-To take part in some sort of community project.
-To find out what "Urban Ethnography" actually is.

The reality:

-I am, in fact, taking part in an interesting, one time only elective because I doubt this class will ever be allowed to be offered again.
-It is an extremely small class (started off with 9 students-- one kid dropped the class. Thus, there are now 8. Please remember that one of the 8 is me.) Not so much discussion, though.
-And we are taking part in an observation style survery of ethnographic data collection of Water's Avenue-- a notoriously dangerous, troubled and predominantly African American area within the Eastside district of Savannah.

Frustrating/Challenging parts:

-Still not really knowing what the goal of this quarter is.
-Still not really knowing what the phrase "Urban Ethnography" means.
-Finding relatable ground with the amazing people we've been working with while coming into their lives as a white, upper class, college aged, college attending, female.
-Working with a professor who's passion for her subject is so strong, that it's impossible not to notice. She and I agree on almost nothing.
-Working in a discussion based, philisophically open ended, exestentialism heavy environment where words like "community" "group" "them" "us" "under-privileged" and "fix" are not allowed.

The really, really cool parts:

-Getting to see a part of Savannah that I was previously afraid of.
-Learning that spending time with people that are intimidating makes them less and less intimidating and before long, they become just people and not intimidating people.
-Community involvement, in most cases, solves actual problems.
-Friendliness is SO not overrated or outdated. Especially when the friendliness is genuine.
-We've gotten to spend time with people and hear their stories. Stories about 80 year old women who have lived in Savannah their entire lives. Stories about the evolution of a struggling neighborhood to a thriving community of person to person support and long term goals. Stories about failures and broken promises from a system that has failed them.
-Savannah is a city of beautiful layers and people. This sentiment becomes truer and truer with every new month that I spend here.

With all of the gusto for learning and exploration that I have developed over the past month or two, I have really felt that committing to the exploration of a strong understanding and appreciation of the place is you live is such an important part of ones involvement in a place. And challenging yourself to view the streets of Savannah in way that is different than what I am inclined to see is sometims uncomfortable and challenging, but always rewarding and wonderful. Whether I am talking to the men at the Muffler Center or sneaking my way through the halls of the abandoned Romana Riley School or standing in awe of the beautifully tired homes lining Ott Street, I feel a wonderful sense of presence. Of ownership. Of timing. Of history. Of understanding.

I am so grateful for this new feeling of true residency in a Savannah and I am so grateful for the challenging and frustrating path that it took to get to this place. I am suddenly so interested and excited by the idea of time invested in a community. 

Long Week

I woke up this morning, puddled around for a bit, got totally dressed and came to the library. I even put on eyeshadow.

I know I came here for a reason.

But I cannot remember what for.

Seriously.

I have no idea.

But I promise there was a reason.

So, now I'm just sitting in a deep leather chair listening to music watching traffic move slowly down Broughton St. waiting to remember.

It's been 26 minutes already.

I'm not rushing this.