sorry i haven't posted in a while, i have been either too tired to or not had the time. so thursday night i had dinner with clinton and his father at a place called compagnolas. i got off work at 730 and didn't want to go home for only ten minutes so i took a cab up to the restaurant which was in the upper east side i ended up getting there super early. so i ordered a glass of wine and had a seat at the bar. it was a very interesting crowd, country club men and women. as i took a seat i met a nice man whose date hadn't arrived yet. as we got to talking he told me he had served as a fire fighter and police officer for the city of new york. shortly after his date arrived who turned about being his employer rather than his date. he is and was not only a police officer and firefighter but a detective. he is a detective at the same company that served as ab lincolns body guards. the lady that he was accompanying had 20 million dollars of art stolen from her including a faberge egg. crazy. after mingling with them for a while clinton and his dad showed up. we sat at a round table close to the front of the restaurant. i was intimidated because i hadn't ever conversed with mr vandevander other than briefly. clinton was quite the charmer complimenting me on my dress, my looks etc. ha he knows how to make a woman feel good. mr. v ordered two extremely nice italian wines and we ate steak. after a lovely time, we made our way to the carlisle hotel which was a few blocks away. there was a jazz band and we enjoyed the lively music as we sipped on port. this was my first time to drink port and i dont know if i like it much. it was so nice being around fellow mississippians and having two nice gentlemen to take care of me. the next day i woke early and met kallie and scott for lunch. we had burgers and fries and i dont regret one minute of it. after we met john and made our way to the met. the met had a fascinating picasso exhibit and an 'american woman' exhibit as well. we spent 5 HOURS in the met. one picasso peice brought me to tears-it is the man with the mustache and the yellow background. look at it, what emotion to you get by looking at it. for me it was such a simple peice but the emotion and thought behind it was soo very strong. afterwards i met up with matt and tc at the tribeca tavern. tc has lots of friends in town so i got to meet them. they were nice, but very different. we went to firefly and gatsbys and didn't end up getting home until late. there is one very cute one that rode back with me to rubin. he is one floor above me and i hope i can see him again :)

finally yesterday i had a me day, i slept late, went to a french cafe la pain quotidien. the cafe o laits there melt in your mouth. i had a breakfast quiche which was very delicious. as i was walking home i passed a yoga studio. ishta yoga. i decided to go in and check out the prices. ended up they had a special first month $60 unlimited! how amazing? i did two classes yesterday one beginner/intermediate and one restorative. after me john, ashli, blake and stacy went to cafeteria. it was fun but some people were complaining about the price and that made it awkward. when people are sour it makes an entire dinner unenjoyable! met up with rachel and elizabeth went to this super fun place called the pianos. hipster people, cheap drinks. fun. t

today i slept late again, me and my room mate were going to go to central park but it was a rainy day. we wanted to stay close by in case there was a down pour. we walked to washington square park but the lawn was closed and we had taken a blanket bc we wanted to lay. we decided to walk to union square and found a place to put our sheet down. there was a comedy show going on so we sat and listened, very vulgar, of course the rain came and we had to leave. came back did laundry, cleaned, went to a sample sell at tucker. got a top for 20 that was originally 250 saw a super model alek wek at the sample show. met the designer of tucker, super cool and nice. on way back me ashli and kallie stopped by a spanish place got a salad and now in the room about to dive into my clean sheats. yayyyyyyyy love yall

free free free

today i rode home with a girl from work because it was pouring rain and cold. and guess what she paid for it! yipeeee. i also got a nude maxi dress from haute hippie fo FREEEE today! i deserved it it after my long a** day! i made a cutters must book. pretty much i organized all the 2010 designs by style number, laminated them and filed them in a binder. this morning i tried to walk to work but figured i wasn't going to make it in time so i had to hop on the metro. ah. after work i ate dinner with my canadian co worker. i asked her if she had an extra blanket in her apartment i could borrow bc of the cold weather, she said yes of course so i got to see her apartment. it was incredible, with an amazing view. tomorrow morning me and my room mate from missouri ashli are waiting in the stand by line for regis and kelly tickets. i will call mom if we get in, if we do it airs at ten-Christina augularia and bradley cooper are the highlights for tomorrows show.norah jones free outdoor concert was in brooklyn tonight but the weather was to bad to attend. i am okay with it because instead we are going to see her at the good morning america concert series friday. we will also get to see sarah mcclaughlin so hitting two birds with one stone. at work no one really gets to know one another. its crazy because you work with these people for nine hours each day but you only know their faces and voices. in mississippi everyone knows everything about everyone so its different being around people and not knowing where they came from or who they really are. i am being very careful here and not trusting any one to much. ha all the scary movies and stories have taught me well. one good thing about being in new york is i am forced to make friends from all over. going to ole miss was easy for me because i went with all of my high school friends, i am learning to be accepting of other girls even if they arent pretty, are different or are shy! i love every one and miss everyone. please call me! xoxo

ps. the pictures of the kids are the kids i babysit for here! :)

tuesday

today was a long day, i made about 300 c0pies of cutters must, the peices of paper we send to factories so they know how to cut each peice of clothing. we had models come in all day and of all the models i was closest in dimensions to the perfect fit for haute hippie. maybe ill make some extra money. yesterday was so fabulous. dream day! trish who is 'haute hippie' told me to go upstairs and pick out my favorite thing to keep! so i went up, it took me a very long time. i ended up picking out a beautiful dress that is midnight blue and sequined! ah so amazing. it retails for $800. how cool is that!? afterwards i met up with john and sharred and went to TASTE OF NY. it is located in times square, dozens of restaurants have samples of their food. we tasted around and there was live music! after we rode the subway to my area. they wanted to get a drink so i sat with them at a mexican place then walked back to our dorm. it has been rather cold here so i woke at 4 am shivering. better dress warmer tonight! there was a booth from the ny times. the guy there was hitting on me and liked my accent so he gave me a new york times water bottle. pretty cool. today i also placed some orders for fabric for dresses, vests etc. they als0 fit a ton of clothes to me! me kallie and our room mate ashley have been waking up early and going to starbucks (they take our nyu meal plan money) so i get my lunch too and take it to work! they have sandwiches etc. my usual is a medium coffee and a bagel with cream cheese. yummy. after wards i walk to work which is two miles and do the same walk home at seven pm. i would so much rather walk and get to see the city than ride the subway. i will take the subway if i need to but i avoid it at all costs. kallie didnt get off work today either so we decided to meet at an organic restaurant on 6th and 14th. they had two for one wine so that was fun, we ate the eggplant parmesan. tonight i am excited about getting in bed and reading the american wife. its a book i got with mom at barnes and noble when i was in town. i look forward to tomorrow. norah jones is putting on a free concert in brooklyn that i am very excited to attend. john/sherrod are meeting me there. lydia my friend from high school also wants to catch up, she doesnt get off work till later but she hope to meet us down there as well. my stamina and patience is growing more and more with this city. i feel that i am maturing and learning a lot. i miss my family though! love you all hugs and kisses. -dora lee

sunday

just watched the saddest movie, dear john. i cried ah!! today was a good day me kallie and lara her friend from KY shopped around the neighborhood then went to laras and watched the notebook/painted fingernails. after i needed some down time so i walked to the park and read my book. tomorrow i have work. we are getting up early to use our nyu dollars at starbucks. watching a sad movie mad me miss everyone back home.

yesterday me and kallie ate lunch at a GREAT french bistro. i had a croisant and a cafe o lai it was delicious! afterwards we took the subway up to central park and met up with john. it was mississippi in the park. the first person I ran into was gib ford, his son was selling his illustrated disney book in one of the tents. I also saw a ole miss teacher and the chi o adviser. that night we came back to a scorching dorm, kallie left and ate with lara. I met john, sharred and two other ole miss girls in washington square and we picked up a bottle of wine and went to emy and laurens place. they have a roof on the 7th floor so we set out a sheet and all sat around, admired the view and drank our wine. I had promised a canadian friend from work that i would meet her at ciprianis on bleaker. she had a connection so had champagne, tuna tar tar, pastas etc brought to the table all night! this week is norah jones yipeeeeee. i love everyone so much and miss you all!

friday

today i was off, yay. i have dropped tailor byrd due to an unproffesional environment and i'm working at haute hippie 4 days a week! thursday me and my new friend becca who is also interning did INSPIRATION BOARDS. we found clippings from high end fashion magazines that we thought haute hippie could use as inspiration. for example if we found a embroidery on a skirt we liked, we cut it out and made a noted detail of embroidery. after i walked home from work i met kallie and my other room mate at the nyu dining hall. the dining hall is surprisingly good, the salad bar is amazing and beleive it or not they have a healthy oil and vinegar dressing hooray. me and kallie have been trying to get the chi o house to get oil and vinegar for a year now. and if i might say the chicken salad was excellent! afterwards kallie felt bad so she stayed in, i met up with john, his friend sharrod, rachel borne and her friend elizabeth. we made our way to fat cats and had a beer, after wards we wanted to check out the meat packing district. the meat packing district is the swankiest of the swanky! is that even a word? ha any who to get into any club down there you have to know a promoter, a bouncer or be on a list. so as we are walking down there i'm thinking to myself there is no way we are going to get in anywhere. i told the crew we should walk by the JANE because last year in august as i was passing it I saw jude law. apparently it is where all the "hipster" celebs go. In my poofy hair, red lips and 5 inch heels i strut up to the bouncer and say "we are going up". he nodded. excitement over came me!!!!!! John Sharred and I got in, the others "looked to young, or something" according to the guys at the door. As we walked in we found our selves surrounded by beautiful people, I chatted with a brittish actress and a comedian. It was so gorgeous inside, like nothing I had ever seen before!

today me and kallie shopped around and napped. our meals were ate at the NYU dining hall (ha so exciting). we are heading out in a bit. love you all- and i'll keep you posted.

-ps saw zach braff walking the streets just the other day! (in case you didn't know he is a celeb) and of course i was star struck

crazy week, haute hippie was extremely intimidating the first day. lots of skinny stylish people-very fun though. today we did yoga on the roof for an hour, trish the ceo hires a instructor to come teach a couple of days a week. i didn't get off until seven today but i am learning a lot! :) trish's kids are funny, they make fun of my accent. trish calls me miss mississippi, and i told her my grandmother was actually miss mississippi. she thought that was cool. tailor byrd is much different, instead of 30-40 people running around sketching and going through fabrics amidst blaring music there are only 4 of us. I walked home from tailor byrd and haute hippie tuesday and today its only a two mile walk and good exercise. last night we went to eat with john and his room mate sharred who is in law school at ole miss. we met them in washington square and then went to a good japanese place that larry recomended. lauren fordice (who i did debutante with) and her friend emy ended up meeting us as well. they are both super nice girls, lauren is working for jimmy choo. after we went to a pub and tested out all the different types of home brewed beer, something different! tonight we ate a chain restaurant called cosi. thats all for now.

xoxo

RUBIN HALL HERE WE ARE:)

I was so tired last night I didn't have time to blog, please forgive me! Yesterday we slept till 1030 or so and ate at the famous Seinfeild diner named Tom's. We saw a movie star at the diner that we recognized but couldn't pin point his name! After wards we walked back up to St. John's Cathedral, we wanted to see it during the day and take pictures. We toured the inside and both of us said a quick prayer. The church is amazingly beautiful, I wish I could pass by architecture as statuesque as that everyday! We had to get our walk in so we made way down broadway all the way to 74th street where there was a lohmans. Just as we were walking in with cameras in hand (like true tourists) a clean cut lady around the age of 40 approached us, at first we were timid but we listened. She had 2 extra orchestra seat tickets to Banana Shpeel a Cirque Du Soile production showing at the historic Beacon theatre. Ended up another couple that had committed to attending with her and her husband had backed out and the show was starting in 10 minutes, they had no choice but to give the tickets away. We immediately accepted but were cautious! The show was fantastic, how lucky are we. Looked up the tickets after we left the show, 199.00 a pop!

After the show we walked two miles back to 109th and broadway our home for just one more night! Kallie made plans for us to eat dinner with her child hood friend, rachel atland. We took the subway down to the financial district and met them at her brothers apartment that had a roof top view, how gorgeous it was to see the city at night! They took us to a pizzeria where we enjoyed a eggplant pizza, yummy. Going out was another priority of the night, kallies other friend Kate Taylor from UK had a connection at the Hudson Terrace, we got a table and free drinks provided! :) We only stayed for a bit because we were tired, I swear we walked 6 miles yesterday, no wonder everyone here is so skinny.

This morning we took the subway down to 53rd and met Aunt Libby for church at St. Thomas's. The service was an hour and thirty minutes which neither of us are used to. It was nice seeing Aunt Libby and the boys choir sang magnificently. Bloody Marys in the Parish hall after wards was a treat and so was the great french bistro we walked to for lunch. I had the eggs benedict, mmmmm. Aunt Libby is so pleasant and fun to be around, I enjoyed our time together and plan to meet her Saturday for Mississippi in the Park. Rubin Hall is getting adjusting to me and Kallie, we blare Dixie Chicks and sing along. Washington Square park is only 3 short blocks away there were several bands and acts going on. My friend John Love may meet up with us tonight, he just flew into new york and will also be interning. Tomorrow is my first day at work! ah.

-Until then much love :)

friday

took a walk along the hudson river, saw some beautiful sailboats. after i met with tailor byrd, larry was so nice and went on and on. we had lunch with one of kallies family friends at la bottega. we had the artichoke salad and truffle pizza which was to die for. we walked around the meat packing district and jennifers apartment (the friend we had lunch with). it was tiny and makes you appreciative of space and a back yard. we babysit kassies friends 5 kids fromo 630-10. we took them to strauss park and the beautiful st. johns cathedral where we saw a white peacock. how unusual to see such a thing in the city. i am sooooo tired and calling it a night. hope all is well! xoxo

thursday!

Today was a big day, me kal and kassie took the subway down to the wall street area. kassies son was born deaf, so since he was a child she has played a huge part in contributing to THE CENTER OF HARD of HEARING. It was very emotional for kassie to see the young children trying to communicate with a speech therapist. Hopefully me and kallie can make time to volunteer, they need some photos taken and someone to update their facebook etc. After we shopped at a store named Daffys it compares to a TJ MAX. Then hit Century 21, talk about overwhelming! It was like a zoo in there!

Kassie took the 1 back to 11oth and we made our way to watts street. Kallie had a informational meeting with Next Modeling whom she is interning for. As I waited in the lobby I admired all the beautiful boys! I was in heaven-loving the boys! We shopped around the area, (at places we couldn't afford, and no dad I didn't buy anything!) Came home around 4 took a nap and then got ready for dinner at a place called the Heights. The Heights is a popular spot for all the Columbia students, we ate on the roof top! The chilli was an excellent choice. At dinner I sent a formal email to my boss at HH concerning appropriate work attire and schedule. He responded, "Wear something cute"....cute be a long week!

xoxo Dora Lee

watch this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsDoD6jj3S4

I got another internship at HAUTE HIPPIE. So excited. I will be doing everything from answering phone calls and marketing to sketching. It was located in the penthouse of a super cool building. Of course everyone there was super intimidating and very chic looking. The guy that interviewed me could probably tell I was nervous and told me I was "sweet". (lol) I start Monday morning at ten a.m. After I had the interview we took the subway back to Kassies and had lunch then went on a hour walk along the hudson. I saw my first dog park. I was ooooing and awwwing. I miss Jack!

Kassie is so precious and gave me a new swimsuit she had bought but didn't fit into! Her apartment has 3 bedrooms and a theatre. We are going to her sons music recital tonight then all going to eat at some out door restaurant they like. Kallie has to meet with NEXT MODEL tomorrow so I will go with her and look around near by while she chats with them. Top shop is one block away so that will be a fun place to browse around. Last year when I visited top shop I found my self picking through clothes next to two of the gossip girls, very fun! I honestly don't know what I would do with out my i phone. It has a subway map app and a map that detects your current location and routes you to your destination including walking time and milage!

Taking a nap, talk soon, miss and love you all!

10:25 am and I am off!

Friends and Family:

I am excited about what this summer will hold for me. Although I am nervous I know that this experience will be one I'll never forget. I am thankful I have parents who are delighted to support me in this adventure. I meet Kallie in LGA at 4:00 o clock and we will take a taxi to her aunts at 110th and Broadway! Cassie Depava is Kallies aunt, she has been on One Life to Live for 20 years and also sings. She has a four bedroom apartment in the upper west side. This week will consist of getting metro cards and finding our way around the BIG APPLE, museums (and resisting a new pair of heels may be tempting!).

LOVE YOU ALL!

Things I'd like to do brefore the summer is over:

-MOMA

-MET

-PLAY

-PICNIC in the PARK

-REDEEMER CHURCH

-MISSISSIPPI in the PARK

-NORAH JONES free outdoor concert in Brooklyn June 9

-BRIAN YATES Gallery

-DC for a weekend

PS. DWTS tonight, vote for evan and anna!