Papa-paparazzi

It's official, I'm a creep. I love celebrities. I love celebrity gossip. And since I've been in New York, I've become somewhat of a celeb stalker. It's terrible, but there's just something about seeing one of them in person that makes life SO EXCITING!!!

Take Taylor Lautner, for example. I mean, he's not a great actor, but I fell in love with his character when I read the Twilight saga, so hopefully you'll understand why I spent the day chasing him around New York City, right? :/

It all began when my friend, Megan, called me today and told me the Eclipse premiere would be taking place at a theater on 66th street. I was just about to lie down for a nap when she called, and those of you who know me well know that I DO NOT SKIP NAPS!! HOWEVER, you can bet your bones,(yes, i just invented that phrase), that I wasn't going to miss the opportunity to see the cast and take a few creeper pics! TEAM JACOB, DUH!!!

So, off I went during my nap time to find the theater where the premiere was allegedly taking place.

BUTTTTTT, after I made the trek all the way from 116th St to 66th St, and finally found the theater, I found out that the cast would not be making an appearance! Sad day!! I was really bummed out and thought about cashing in the chips for some retail therapy, but here came Megan, an expert creeper like myself, who told me that Taylor Lautner and Kristen Stewart would be making an appearance on the Letterman show.

So off we went again, paparazzi style, to find our Twilight heroes. Once we finally made it to the theater, we saw a large group of pre-teen girls with New Moon posters and magazine covers, so we knew we had found the right place. We heard Kristen Stewart had already left, but everyone was still anticipating Taylor's arrival. Megan and I decided to wait, so we perched on a metal rail and hung out for an hour IN THE RAIN to see our beloved werewolf boy.

We were joined by these people,



And the paparazzi, of course...


After about an hour, he finally showed up!! yay!! I was screaming and falling around when he got out of his car and came over to sign autographs, so I didn't get many good pictures the first time.



But the second time he came out, I was prepared!! Unfortunately, I wasn't standing close enough to get a picture with him, but these will do! Isn't he precious?? (I feel a little bad saying this since he's my little brother's age).

Precious!!!


Here's another...


And another...


Anyway, I'm going to stop being creepy for the day. It's time to go wash my rain-streaked face and get in bed! It's been a long, exciting day in the Big Apple.

AND, I almost forgot to mention...my friends and I are planning on making an appearance outside the Letterman show again tomorrow to try and spot Jennifer Aniston, so maybe I'll have more celebrity updates mañana!

Here's one more pic...sweet dreams peeps!



Until next time...: )

Snazzy New Blog

NOTICE...BEFORE YOU CLICK THE BACK BUTTON OR TRY A GOOGLE SEARCH, YOU ARE AT THE RIGHT PLACE!! HERE YOU HAVE, LADIES AND GENTS, THE NEW AND IMPROVED VERSION OF "KATE'S LIFE IN NYC."

Ok, enough of the capital letters. NO, I wasn't screaming at you, I was just trying to get your attention before you clicked away!

Kristi, who I mentioned in my last blog, finished this masterpiece just this afternoon, so even though I have absolutely nothing to say, I wanted to write something to try out my snazzy new blog!

So why the new title, you may ask? Well, by the time I got back from Seville, I was completely over the "Mi Vida de Sevilla" blog title, and I wanted something more catchy and creative for my New York blog. Unfortunately, my creative juices weren't flowing, so it took me several weeks and countless days of nagging my roomie (who's an advertising major) to come up with a better name!

I hope you like the changes...my writing may be boring, but my blog is just so darn cute!: )

I'll fill you in tomorrow on my 5 mile race in Central Park as well as all the other useless information you didn't ask for! : )

Your truly,

Art Un-Appreciation

When I was in the 4th grade, I participated in the UIL "Art Appreciation" contest. The basic premise of "Art Appreciation" is to study art, obviously. You memorize all the details of the painting including: who painted it, what year it was painted, what movement it was from, etc.

To be honest, I wasn't a huge fan of "Art Appreciation," but it definitely came in handy while I was in Europe this spring. I saw so many works by famous painters such as Van Gogh, Degas, Monet, Leonard da Vinci, and it was nice to be able to recognize the paintings and know a little bit about them.

HOWEVER, (you knew it was coming didn't you), as much as I try, I CANNOT develop an appreciation for modern art. So I guess when I visited the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) on Friday, I should have known I would spend more time concentrating on what I wanted to eat for dinner rather than the artistic value of a splatter painted canvas or a green square.

I mean, COME ON PEOPLE!! I could give my six-year-old cousin a large canvas and some black and white paint, and she could produce a "masterpiece" similar to that of the splatter paintings in the MOMA. Call me classless, but I just don't understand some people's preferences when it comes to art.

It was upon leaving the MOMA that I walked up behind an elderly man and his wife and heard their conversation. I thought their two-sentence banter described my sentiments about the MOMA perfectly:

Husband: "Why'd we stay in there so long?"
Wife: "Well hun, I just kept thinking it was gonna get better."

Now that I'm done ranting, I will say I enjoyed seeing "Starry Night" and a couple of Picasso paintings. I also especially enjoyed the photography section. I've grown up seeing the picture of the woman and her children during the Great Depression, and it was very moving to see it in person.

Here are some of my favorites...

Van Gogh




Andy Warhol:


You will be interested to know that I have a couple of additions to my "seen" and "met" lists.

Seen:
Toby Keith
Shannon Bream (although I feel like we met because we sat in the producer pre-show meeting everyday).

Here are some Toby Keith stalker pics (since I couldn't meet him, I had to be a little creepy)



He hadn't seen (or used) a razor in a while...




Met:
Jon Scott

Also, before I wrap this thing up, please remember to go check out my contribution to "Fox Rocks with Kate and Carly," the weekly intern blog on the Happening Now portion of the Fox website. Every Friday, I will collaborate with one of my fellow interns, Carly, to produce an update on what life is like as an intern at Fox News. This week was our first week to do it, so you can find a quick bio about each of us!

AND COMING SOON...Kristi, a family friend, is helping me re-vamp my blog, so you can look forward to a new and improved blog soon! She has designed some pretty cool blogs. Check her web site out @ http://kristiskringles.blogspot.com!

Until next time...

The Handshake

Hello Everyone!!

For those of you who have Facebook, you've probably already seen my pictures of the additions to my "met" list.

If not, wait for it. Are you ready? Prepare to be amazed! I can now officially add DENZEL WASHINGTON to my list. It's been several days since I shook his hand (4 days to be exact), and it's getting increasingly harder to shower with one hand! Haha!
Just kidding, I've washed my hand since then, even though I would have loved to preserve a little bit of that dream-like moment forever.



So, moving on...work has been great lately. Last Saturday, I volunteered to help with the Huckabee show, and I had the opportunity to talk to Tommy Chong (the “Chong” from “Cheech and Chong”). He was definitely an interesting character. I especially liked talking to him about the nine months he spent in prison. : )



Saturday was a great day because when I left the show, I shook hands with Denzel, then my friends and I bought tickets to the Broadway Musical, "In the Heights." The best part was, we stuck around after to meet the cast (including High School Musical star, Corbin Bleu).



I forgot to add earlier that I might as well go ahead and re-add Governor Mike Huckabee to my "met" list because I had to introduce myself to him a second time when I worked his show!

I made a completely normal situation really awkward when he walked up to me and said, "Thanks for helping out today, I'm Mike."
"I know," I blurted out, "I met you the other day, on floor 12, next to the green room, after your makeup. I'm from Texas...Kate, remember?"

Yes, I really said all of that in a span of 5 seconds. And no, I didn't breathe in between sentences. But I tried to save myself, and him, the embarrassment by saying, "It's alright. I'm sure you meet a lot of important people."

It was after I blurted this out, I realized that I just categorized myself as an "important" person. I always seem to be able to find the perfect way to make a perfectly normal moment extremely awkward.

As I said before, work has been going really well lately. I've continued to learn more about the news gathering process on the national level which has been very eye opening. Most recently, I've had the opportunity to collaborate with a fellow intern on the blog for Happening Now. Every day before the show, we'll right "teases" for what will be discussed during the show.

This Friday, we're also starting an "intern blog" about what working at FOX News is like from an intern's perspective. I'm really excited to get started on that. I always find myself the happiest when I'm writing. For those of you who want to check it out, here's a link to the place where I'll be blogging.



That's about all the updates I have for now. I feel like my "MET" and "SEEN" lists are getting smaller as far as work goes because the "famous" faces are beginning to become familiar!

MET:

Denzel Washington
Tommy Chong
Corbin Bleu (and the rest of the "In the Heights" cast)

SEEN:
"Snooki" (from the ridiculous MTV show, “Jersey Shore”)

Also, here's one last thing I wanted to share with you. This is a view of the city from my dorm room window. It's beautiful, my lack of camera skills definitely don't do it justice!



Until next time...

Knobby Knees and a Summer Breeze

Tonight I made yet another agonizing trip to the grocery store. I say agonizing because as I mentioned earlier, there is nothing fun about lugging 10 pounds worth of groceries a quarter of a mile back to the dorm. But this entry is supposed to be uplifting, so I'm going to jump back over to that track.

Usually I feel inspired to write about my encounters with the rich and famous or my experiences at work, but tonight it was the simplest thing that spurred me to write a few words.

So I'll begin by going in reverse...back to me lugging the grocery bags. So here I was, walking through the 116th and Broadway entrance to the Columbia campus, when I walked up behind the tiniest old man I had ever seen. If it had been any other day, I might not have noticed him, but the shape of his body left me puzzled at how he could even manage the slow pace he kept.

His spindly legs were connected by knobby knees and his hunched-over upper body looked like a potato balancing on a couple of toothpicks. As I said before, I had no idea how this man even managed to walk, but I was so moved by his effort and by the serene consistency of his meandering pace, that I put the "I'm in New York, and I have to be in a hurry because that's what we do here," routine on hold and took a couple of minutes to walk behind this tiny old man.

I know, sounds creepy, and for those of you know how much I love old people, you're probably not surprised, but there was something about his calm, patient manner that made me want to slow down for a bit and BREATHE.

As I crept along at a snail's pace behind this tiny old man, I listened as he whistled a tune I hadn't heard before. I imagined it was something he used to listen to from a large radio as he sat and read the paper after dinner. I noticed he had a gold wedding band, and I thought, “Maybe that's the song he and his wife danced to on lazy summer evenings, the way they do in the movies.”

All of this imagining may sound crazy to you, but while following the gray haired meanderer, I realized how far I have gotten from the "Life is meant to be lived" way of thinking I developed in Spain. As much as I love America, I feel like sometimes we forget to find joy in life's simple pleasures, like long slow walks in the evenings or the tingling feeling you skin gets when grazed by a cool summer breeze.

So, that's all for tonight. I've stepped off my soapbox and slid it under my bed. I hope by writing this, I gave you the opportunity to take at least 5 minutes to breathe deeply and smile at the thought of a little old man walking, whistling, and bathing himself in the joy of life’s simplicities.

Until next time...buenas noches!

Country Music in Manhattan

It’s been a while since I’ve written, and surprisingly, I’ve actually had some exciting experiences in the last few days. Nothing too crazy has happened at work because I feel like I’ve begun to develop a sort of routine. However, Friday, Fox and Friends hosted country singer Clay Walker* as their Summer Concert Series guest, and my supervisor let me skip out on work for a couple of hours to watch his concert and GET A PICTURE WITH HIM!!



Now, I’m not one to name drop or pretend to rub elbows with people who have no idea who I am (unfortunately I’ve encountered a couple of people who live for this very thing), but I must admit, I had a great time crawling under the yellow rope and standing with all of the “important people” to watch the concert. I could definitely get used to this raising my id card and saying, “I’m with her” kind of lifestyle.

*Funny fact about Clay Walker…this wasn’t my first time to see him perform. A family friend took me and her daughters to watch him in Littlefield, Texas, about 10 years ago! Needless-to-say, Mr. Clay Walker has come a long way since the days of dilapidated stages and free concerts.



As I said earlier, I was able to hang around after his performance and take a picture with him. I told Clay (notice we are now on a first-name basis : )) that I had seen him in Littlefield, and he remembered!

I began with a hesitant, “Do you remember your concert in Littlefield, Texas?”

“How could I forget?” he replied. “ Home of Waylon Jennings.”

I thought about continuing with, “Well do you remember the little girl in the third row with missing front teeth and lime green socks,” but I thought better of it….our relationship is still in its beginning stages... Maybe some other time.

Anyway, I had a great time reminiscing with the guy whose CD I memorized in my pre-teens. I felt proud being the only person in the small crowd who knew the words to what I consider to be his greatest song of all time, “This woman and This Man.” I didn’t mind being a loner (that’s what you get when you invite a country singer to perform in Manhattan).

So there I stood, swaying and singing along when some middle-aged man walks up to me and says in his “joisey” accent, “Hey, who’s this guy?”

“Clay Walker,” I replied with what I’m sure was an offended expression on my face.

“Who the hell’s that?” he asked.

Enough said.

Moral of the story: when a Texas girl goes big city, she’s bound to be an outsider.

I’ve got so much more to tell you, but I couldn't wait to fill you in on my moment with Clay Walker. Got to get back to work…but here’s what you’ve been waiting for, the infamous picture of me and the man who had me at, “Then what?”




Until next time…

"No pancake so thin...."

Today was a very busy day at FOX!
Mr. Security Guard and I had WAY TOO MANY awkward encounters because every few minutes I was running up to the 12th floor (makeup rooms and studios for America's Newsroom/America Live), and then back down to the lower level (where I work).

Despite the steady workload, I was able to greet a couple of really interesting guests and attend a seminar led by the CEO of FOX, Roger Ailes.

Between my discussions with the guests and Roger Ailes' lecture, I felt like everywhere I turned today, I was being bombarded with "tips for success" from extremely successful people.

I will sum those tips up in just a bit. But first, I must add to the "MET" and "SEEN" lists.

MET:
Juan Williams (Washington Post reporter...among many things)
Monica Crowley (beautiful/talented)

SEEN:
Jonna Spilbor
Mercedes Colwin
Roger Ailes

Ok, here are a few of my favorite "words of wisdom:"

Juan Williams:

Specialize. Find something that interests you, other than journalism, and pursue that interest... MASTER it...this sets you apart!

Monica Crowley:

Take risks. The most successful people aren't limited by the fear of failure.

And last but not least, a few things I jotted down during Roger Ailes' speech:

"Success is not a destination but a journey."

Happiness is not determined by success. Success is determined by happiness.

80 percent of people fear failure, 20 percent fear success...RUN FROM THOSE 20 PERCENT!

and my favorite...

"There's no pancake so thin that you can't see both sides. There are always two sides."

So...lessons learned for the day are:

1)Be passionate.
2)Discover what makes you happy and pursue it until you are successful.
3)Take risks!!

As much as I enjoy writing for you few people who so kindly take 5 minutes a day to read this nonsense, I must admit, sometimes I write for myself.

When I get discouraged, when dreams seem far-fetched, I can read this stuff, reminisce a little, and say, "Yep, that really happened. I really did have that experience, and pretty much anything is possible."

So, as always, thanks to all you readers who give me a reason to share my wild ideas and sometimes "deep" reflections!!

Until next time...

NEWS ALERT!!!

THIS JUST IN....MUTE SECURITY GUARD SAYS "HELLO" TO LOWLY INTERN!!!

Yep, you read correctly. I got a "Hello" from Mr. Security Guard!! Don't get too excited, he still hasn't smiled, but I will keep you updated on new developments in my little game! ha!

PLUS, I've got some AMAZING additions to my "MET" list today!!

MET:
BILL HEMMER!!!!!
MARTHA MACCALLUM!!!
AINSLEY EARHARDT
JANINE TURNER

Today was a great day at work! I got to go "behind the scenes" and spend some time in the control room during AMERICA'S NEWSROOM. It was CRAZY HECTIC in there, but I thought the show ran smoothly on TV. I absolutely love getting to see how things work on the other side of the camera! Even better, I got to attend the post-show meeting and had the opportunity to meet Bill Hemmer and Martha Maccallum. They were really nice! If there's one thing I've learned during my first week at FOX, it's that pretty much everyone is really friendly. I haven't met one pretentious anchor (even though they have every reason to be).

Hopefully I will continue to stay busy and meet more amazing people...

Until next time : ))

SECURITY GUARDS DON'T SMILE

So, if there's anything I've learned after a week at FOX News, it's that SECURITY GUARDS DON'T SMILE. As an intern, I do a lot of walking. I walk upstairs to greet guests, downstairs to my desk, back upstairs with make-up lists, and then back downstairs. This routine stays pretty constant throughout the day. As I maintain my "rat race" of a schedule, I pass the same security guard, oh, I'd say at least 10 times a day.
The first day I passed him, I smiled, said "hi," and in true Texan fashion, gave him a nice wave of the hand. He didn't show any sign he had seen my greeting, so I assumed he was looking over my head (this has happened to me before during encounters with tall people). SO, okay, at this point, I'm assuming Mr. Security Guard didn't see me. WRONG. After the fifth time I walked passed him, I realized that he had no intention of acknowledging my presence.
Even worse, one of the times I attempted to catch his attention, a very professional-looking man walked by me and said "Oh hey, (insert Security Guard’s name here)." And the security guard replied, "How are you today (insert business man's name here?) What in the world???? Since that day (five work days later), I have maintained my smile/wave/receive nothing in return sort of game with the security guard. So because of this, I have made it my number one goal to leave Fox News with a proud badge of honor reading: I, the lowly intern, made the security guard smile. We'll see how it works out for me.

Ps. Here is an update of my "met" and "seen" lists for today:

Met:
Governor George Pataki (ex New York governor)

Seen:
Nick Cannon (pretty sure Mariah Carey is AT LEAST 3 times his size!! He is teensy!!)

I’m still waiting on the day I get to meet Megyn Kelly. I still have two months at FOX News...cross your fingers!

Until next time..

Work, Subways, and Famous People

As usual, I’m behind on blogging, but I may find it easier to blog on Sundays and fill you in on the entire week, rather than give you day-by-day updates (Unless something earth shattering happens and I can’t wait to fill you in.)

So we’ll start with the most important part of my life here in NYC, my job. As most of you know, I’m interning at FOX news. Initially I thought I would only be working with producers for the America Live show, but I’m actually helping out with America’s Newsroom, Happening Now, and America Live. My first day on the job, I was introduced to my supervisor. She is a producer for America Live, but since she is surrounded by other producers, who need help, looks like I’ll be getting passed around a bit (which is perfectly fine with me…I HATE BEING BORED!)

My main duties include: creating the make-up lists for each show, calling cars to pick-up guests for their on-air appearances, greeting the NYC guests, and shadowing the producers in pre-show meetings. The best part about this is definitely greeting guests. Each day I update my lists for 1) people I’ve met or 2) people I’ve seen in the building. I’ve already built up a pretty cool list, and hopefully by the end of the summer my “met” list will be larger than my “seen” list. Here are my two lists so far.

Met:
Adam Shapiro
Ken Rosenthal
Governor Mike Huckabee
Kimberly Guilfoyle
Giraldo Rivera
Richard Socarides

Seen:
Jane Skinner
Jon Scott
Bill Hemmer
Shepard Smith
MEGYN KELLY!!

Getting to and from work is always interesting because, as you already know, I take the subway. I seriously feel like the MOST INTERSTING/STRANGE/WHAT IN THE WORLD WAS HE/SHE THINKING?? kind of people LOVE to hang out on the subway. But no worries, (dad), I’ve always got my pepper spray close at hand!

For the most part, the subway has been pretty good about being on time, etc. However, Friday was a tad bit more interesting. It was 7:15 a.m., and I had to be at work at 7:30 a.m. The subway stopped at 59th (my final stop is 50th), and the woman on the speaker told everyone to get off the subway because, “This would be the final stop for this train.” So, with heels in hand, I took off sprinting New York style the next 10 blocks to work. Let’s just say by the time I finally made it to work, my freshly curled hair and “flawless” makeup looked like they were left over from the night before. NOT a good way to start off the day. To make matters worse, the subway malfunctioned on me again on my way home from work. The only problem was, this time, I was 6 stops away from Columbia. After 30 minutes of trying to get a cab, a girl from Wellesley and I finally made it back to our dorm. So after reading this, you should be able to get a good idea of how I feel about the subway system in NYC.

I’ve also discovered grocery shopping is going to be a bit of a chore. Tuesday, my roommate and I made what we thought would be a “quick trip” to the grocery store, but we ended up buying three weeks worth of groceries. This was perfectly fine until we made it to the check-out and realized we would have to carry these groceries at least ¼ of a mile back to our apt! This made our trek back to the dorms much more difficult than the walk up there. BUT news alert, one of the producers at FOX filled me in on an amazing little detail that may just be my life-saver! Here in NYC, you can order your groceries online and have them delivered (for free) to your house! How cool is that?? I honestly feel like you could sit in your apt for the next 40 years, and never have to leave. They have delivery for EVERYTHING!! I’LL TAKE ONE CHEESECAKE TO GO PLEASE!!!

Until next time….