Is hard work!!

But fabulous, nonetheless. ;) Let me start from the beginning!

My hair and makeup call was at 9:00 on Tuesday morning, so I arrived a little bit early to get settled in, sip some coffee and eat a few pieces of fruit for breakfast before the madness began.

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At 9:00 on the dot, and with coffee in hand, I hopped into the “hair chair” to get my tresses smoothed and styled – with a view of the city, to boot! The woman who did my hair is moving to Miami for two months, next week. She says that’s where all the shoots are this time of year and, of course, it’s a lot warmer in Miami (well, not lately actually) than it is in NYC! How cool though, to have a profession where you can just pick up and go wherever, whenever you want?! Sure, it’s not a guaranteed paycheck, but the freedom can’t be beat!

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After hair, I hopped 5 feet over to get my makeup done by perhaps the coolest woman ever – Arial – self taught makeup artist extraordinaire! You’ll never guess what kind of foundation she used on me?! HD Makeup Forever! She used a different shade than the one I bought, so I’m contemplating returning mine to match the one she used. Either way, it’s cool to get your makeup done by someone who knows what she’s doing!

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My shoot was second, so after hair and makeup, I looked on from the wings – soaking it all in.

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Getting nervous!

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The woman who went before me had a cat in her shoot. “Peaches” was very well behaved, and came with two cat wranglers. I wonder what their business cards say? ;)

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Here’s Peaches. I stayed far away from homeslice as I am deathly allergic to cats. Plus, I’m more of a dog girl. ;) For a cat though, she was pretty cool.

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Finally, it was my turn. OMG! What do I do?! How do I stand? Do I move or stay still? I don’t know the first thing about being a model!!

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Luckily, I had the most amazing photographer – mustang man – who guided me through the entire thing. The best part is when they brought out the wind machine. I repeat – brought out the wind machine. Yes! It seriously gave me something to focus on and brought out my inner model…whoever she is!

Ps, let me just tell you that I had NO idea, no clue, not even a 1% understanding of what all goes into taking a picture for an ad campaign. Literally, after every 2 shots the “glam squad” – hair, makeup, wardrobe, art director, their brother – come at you all at once, adjusting every little detail about every little thing. The corner of the jacket is folding weird, let’s try it with this portion of your hair over your right shoulder, you’re forehead is shining, etc. It was absolute insanity!! But very, very cool to see how hard these people work to get the “perfect shot”. It really is a tough job!

Finally after an hour of shooting – I was done! Sore from posing, hopeful that my pictures turned out alright and so HAPPY that I had done it! I’m not sure if anything like this will ever happen again, so mostly, I was just thankful for the experience. :)

Around this time we all broke for lunch – modeling sure makes a gal hungry!!

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I had a Veggie & Mozzarella sandwich on Asiago Cheese Focaccia, some Gourmet Potato Chips and some Pasta Salad that completely knocked my socks off. Plus, a couple of Lemon Rosemary cookies from the day before!

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Sadly, after lunch, it was a wrap for IGE!! I had had SO much fun, but didn’t stay blue for too long, because I was finally let loose to explore the city for a couple hours before my flight back to Iowa!

I had 2 1/2 hours to burn and 2 stops that I knew I had to make.

1. Chelsea Market & the Food Network Building Headquarters

2. Macy’s

Here’s the route I took, lined in blue!

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First stop, Chelsea Market and the Food Network Headquarters! Isn’t this the coolest building ever? It looks like a giant basket has been woven on the outside!

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The Chelsea Market sits below the building and is filled to the brim with specialty and gourmet shops GALORE.

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This is one of the markets that the food network kitchens use to gather ingredients at!

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As soon as I walked in the doors, I smelled it. Chocolate. I followed my nose which led me to the Fat Witch Bakery. Hooooly, Heavens. You have not smelled chocolate – real chocolate – until you have smelled this bakery. The scent of chocolate is so much deeper than anything I’ve ever smelled before – and they were handing out free samples of their signature brownie!!! After a nibble I knew I had to have a whole one, so I snagged a Caramel Witch Brownie. Which (witch), I am saving to be savored and devoured in increments over the next week. :)

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After wandering around Chelsea Market for awhile, I hit the streets and headed uptown towards Macy’s! The architecture in New York is so special and unique – I made sure to pause and really look as I walked.

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Finally, after passing Penn Station, Madison Square Garden, and countless Starbucks (you can never have too many!) I arrived…it’s the “World’s Largest Store” folks! Macy’s!!!

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I don’t know why I have such a weird fascination with the NYC Macy’s. I think it all stems from wanting to go to the Thanksgiving Day Parade so badly my whole entire life. It’s not like I freak out when I go to every Macy’s – just this one. It’s special. :)

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I can only imagine how beautiful it must be when all the lights light up at night! Similar to Larimer Square, I bet!

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The inside was just stunning. Old world elegance, new world products. I wandered around for awhile, browsing and “window shopping”. Maybe the next time I return, it will be between the dates of November 24th & 26th, 2010? Maybe they’ll be some floats and large balloons involved?? Just saying. ;)

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Around this time, I had to start walking back to the studio before it got too dark out, but still had a little bit of time to kill in the area around the studio, so I did what any rational foodie would do – I wandered around Whole Foods…

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And made a pit stop at Dunkin’ Donuts! :D

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Ah yes, the infamous Dunkin’. We don’t have any DDs where I live, but I’ve always heard that their coffee is good, nay GREAT!

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I had to find out for myself and, after the first sip, I can tell you that I whole heartedly concur! It was truly one of the best cups of brewed coffee I’ve ever had and definitely lived up to its tasty reputation!!

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Naturally, I had to have some Chocolate Glazed Munchkins to go along with my freshly brewed cuppa joe. :)

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I munched slowly and enjoyed them immensely while resting my weary feet and sipping my hot coffee…until the crazy man sitting at the table next to me started talking about how ambition is the root of mankind’s problems. ?!Mmmkay, time to leave! :D

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I grabbed my coffee, headed back to the studio,

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Said one last goodbye to New York City,

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And off I went! One pit stop in Milwaukee, a bag of Chex Mix and chocolate chip cookie later, I was home! :D :D :D Vacation is amazing but there’s something about sleeping in your own bed at night. Know what I mean?

Well, truly, what an adventure the past two days have been! It’s not everyday someone calls to say they’re sending you to New York City to live the fabulous life for a couple of days! This was such a unique and wonderful experience that I’ll remember for the rest of my life!