2011 March « Barbara Leung « The Life of an NYU Student

Hot damn! MT @dimsumNYC: Dimsum and Mimosa's. Well..we'll have it tomorrow @NomWah. Stop by and let me make you a big glass!

New York Giveaway: $20 Voucher for AllMenus.com

New York is a crazily expensive city to live in; so for all the New Yorkers following my blog, I have a delicious giveaway for you. To one lucky person, I’ll be giving away a $20 voucher for AllMenus.com that is good for the month of April. Now the one draw back is that you’ll have to use the voucher in its entirety (i.e. all at once), but you’ll at least be able to feed yourself and a friend.

In order to enter, you can either leave a comment on this blog entry, or tweet the link to this entry (remember to include @barb_leung in your tweet so I know who you are!). There can only be one entry per person, and all entries have to be in by this coming Friday (March 25th) at 6PM EST, and I’ll select one lucky winner on Saturday morning.

Edit (26/03/2011): And the winner is Twitter user @SumrahParas

March 21, 2011

The Perils of Job Hunting

Pardon my absence from the blog as of late; I’ve been slaving away at this contracted project (which will be up on SlideShare soon enough) that I’ve only now been able to conceptualize in my head and express through Keynote, homework, and job hunting. I probably haven’t applied to a job conventionally since the summer between college and the end of high school.

In case you’re confused, the past two summers have been entertained by either my studies or by the knowledge of already being assured a job. The latter being confirmed by either cold-emailing for work experience or by having already held a position during the school year.

But this upcoming summer poses a challenge for me; I’m only looking for paid work. It’s amazing how the job applicants pool gets that much more competitive when you simply throw in the dollar bill. Of course, the added challenge is that I’m currently in France and have a fixed date on my return to North America, which subtracts any flexibility in terms of my schedule. I’m solely interested in positions in either New York and Toronto, which are already competitive when talking about unpaid internships, because of the opportunities and pay. And more so because of the payment factor, I’m not really looking into anything in Paris, which would be a great experience on its own.

With that said, though, the marvel of Skype has revolutionized such things and has been, in some respects, permitting me to interview “face-to-face.” It’s not the same though. Skype can’t truly emulate the same settings as a regular interview, but it does still convey the more important elements, such as personality and interest.

So there you have it: I’ve landed some interviews, but I haven’t really come across anything solid. That and I’m still keeping my fingers crossed for one particular position.

image (via)

March 20, 2011

Second Go Around

Georgia Hardinge's online shop launch at Cirque Bonheur

Come to think of it, I’ve never stuck around in one city long enough or thought to have established myself in the time frame allotted for more than one season of a fashion week, until now. Sure, I’ve dabbled in seasons afterward of Toronto Fashion Week, and press launches in New York, but the general festivities of hailing taxis to and from venues? Not so much.

I started thinking about the aforementioned just as I was about to pen this post. In October, I talked about the sense of newness that fashion week brought to my perception of Paris, but this around, I had a sense of where certain arrondisements were the go-to for venue spotting, and certain locations that were to be frequented. There was also the established rapport that existed with the PR companies; it was pretty guaranteed that if I had attended the show before, that I would be doing so once again. This knowing of “my way around the block” isn’t something that I’ve felt in quite some time. And for once, I felt a particular sense of comfort that I haven’t quite felt since leaving Toronto, mostly because of the fact that I have been frequently moving between Paris and New York.

But with all of this familiarity, there is still the tug of the new and different pulling at me to experience. For instance, when I was requesting my invitations, I was able to identify some of the PR and client change-ups; and to be frank, it felt good to be able to notice the differences, which in itself relates back to this stabilized ground on which I stand. With that said, there were surely new choice venues that were used this season that I had the chance to see, such as the Garage Turenne (yes, it usually is a garage), as well as shows that I hadn’t been invited to last season. All of which – this mélange of the new and old – contributes to making me feel a little more at home, so it’s unfortunate that I’ll have to be on the move again in several months.

And the funny realization that I’ve made as of late? I’ve never been to a concert, in spite of the fact that I’ve been to some of the venues for such (e.g. Trianon and Bataclan) – but for fashion shows instead.