Day 147: Bonnarooooo!!

I built our homeLaura and I set up camp and wander around the festival grounds.  Bonnaroo is somewhat similar to Coachella.  People are camping out in the middle of nowhere for a festival, but this is country and it is much dirtier.  I feel like cattle wandering around.  It’s also 95 degrees and humid.

In our home

Our homemade fanny packs. Bringin’ em back!I am not complaining though.  This is a festival, time to have fun!  Laura and I do some arts and crafts and make our fanny packs, which are great for this type of event.

The people here are friendly, but I sense a certain sadness in them.  I am not sure what it is just yet.  Perhaps religion or maybe they feel stuck.  They don’t have the same carefree attitude as people at Coachella.  They don’t act as though anything is possible.

They got a little too much sunThis part of the US is a little foreign to me.  I know the east coast and I know the west coast but I don’t know much about what is in between.  I am excited to learn.

 Before bed, we sit and chat with our neighbors, Rob and Sarah, from Cleveland, OH.  A couple from NJ and Chris and Nate from Tennessee join us.  Everyone is 29 or 30.  They discuss this “stage” in their lives.

“I love where I am in my life right now.  I am ready for this stage,” Sarah says, referring to the big 3-0.  “In your twenties, you don’t know who you are yet.  You figure it out, and then you end up here,” she continues.

“I had so many new experiences in my twenties,” Chris says.  “I hate to think that I won’t have more and that it’s over.”

“I met all of my best friends in my twenties.  The friends I know will be lifelong,” Rob says.

As they reminisce about their twenties and describe this chapter of their life, I realize that I am in the midst of my self-discovery in my twenties.  I am figuring it out.  In the past three years I have found my friends that I know will be lifelong.

I am loving this chapter in my life but I am not fearful of the next one.  We are always changing.  It may slow down but it never stops.  See more pictures.

Day 145: Road Tripping to Nashville

Emerging from the Holland Tunnel into Jersey.I powered through twelve hours of driving yesterday to make it to Knoxville last night.  It was plenty of time to introduce Laura to some of the artists we are going to see at Bonnaroo.

Today is an easy drive to Nashville.  Three hours is nothing.  I spend most of the time on the phone coordinating a photo shoot for Silverlake to Soho’s lax pennies and coordinating with my team to promote our upcoming shows at Sullivan Hall and line up events in the Hamptons this summer.  I am now the head of marketing, an entirely new space for me but I am excited to navigate it.  There is so much work to do but so much momentum.  I love working for this start-up.

Before we head to the hotel in Nashville we stop at Wal-Mart for some supplies.  We step into the store with lost looks on our faces and an old man on his way out approaches us.  “Well hello there!” he says.

My first reaction is to keep my head down and keep walking, not because I don’t want to be friendly, but because we are two girls and I don’t want to end up in precarious situation.   But before I can continue walking, Laura exclaims, “Hello!” and turns to him.  He asks where we are from and tells us a little bit about Nashville. 

Laura with the gentleman at WalmartAfter a few more interactions like this one in Nashville, I quickly learn that people here are just very friendly.  There is no agenda.  They stop what they are doing to talk to you.  They really stop.  It’s feels foreign to me at first.  Don’t they have somewhere to be?  Then I remember the way I traveled and how open I was to briefly chatting with strangers.  In New York, there are too many people to stop and have small talk with everyone.

Writing a note on this man’s poster in Nashville

Everyone asks where we are from.  The Country Music Awards are this week in Nashville so people have come from all over.  I don’t like the reaction I receive when I respond that I am from New York.  It’s a very different response from the one I was greeted with in South America.

CMAs kick-offLaura and I wander to Broadway where a stage is being set up to kick off the CMAs.  We wander into a bar where there is live country music and then another one and another one.  Every bar has live acts.  I take a picture of Laura sitting on the stage.  The singer pulls her up.

We sit down for lunch and chat with Jake from Oklahoma City.  His buddy from college who lives in Nashville is working the CMAs, so Jake is just hanging out on his own.  We invite him to join us.  Like many other people trying to get into the movie business, Jake moved to LA after graduating from Oklahoma State in December.  He is currently working for a documentary production company.  He would like to get into music production.  I tell him a little bit about Silverlake to Soho and our build out in the west coast.  
“We could use someone behind the camera out there,” I explain.  “We’ll be out there at the end of July, let’s be in touch.” 

Me, Laura and Jake from Oklahoma City

The three of us bounce around the bars and dance to some live country music.    The music is non-stop.  Covers, originals, straight up country.

As a band at Tootsies finish their set, Heather, the singer, holds up the tip jar and announces, “We work for this.”  A girl smiles with a twenty dollar bill in her hand.  “A transaction is about to take place,” Heather says

Laura is having the best time.  She would enjoy herself anywhere.  Her attitude is incredible.  She is so positive about everything.  I’ll never forget when she told me in Mendoza; “If it’s a problem and you can’t fix it, it’s not a problem.”   With her, I know this will continue to be an amazing trip.

Jake, Laura and meBefore bed, I open a tumblr account.  Social networking, I need to understand the different outlets for my job.  I have a lot to learn and I need to focus on this to help build our brand.  See more pictures.

Jake’s bracelet

Day 140: Laura Becomes a New Yorker

I take a walk with Lyla and Laura to Madison Square Park for lunch. 

Laura at Shake Shack in Madison Square ParkShe loves her burger.  She pretty much loves everything about New York.  “The people, they are so friendly,” she tells me. 

“Just wait until we get to Tennessee,” I say.

Laura and Lyla on my Hammock

When we get home, I have to work for a few hours, so I send Laura uptown to see Times Square, Top of the Rock and Central Park. 

Laura at the Top of the RockWe reconvene at the Giraffe Hotel Rooftop, Chris’ new restaurant, where we catch up with Natalie, Jay, Chris and Kate

Natalie, Laura, me, Jay, Chris and KateThen we head to Bryant Park for happy hour, where we meet some friends for drinks before heading out for the evening.

With friends at Bryant Park for happy hour

Laura and me in Bryant ParkSee more pictures.

Day 138: Laura Arrives in NYC

Laura and me at Battery ParkLaura arrives today!  She is landing at 6am, so I wake up at 7am to get everything in order.  It’s hard to describe my anticipation.  I just can’t wait to see her.

Laura with Lyla in Washington Square ParkShe arrives at my door and I give her a big hug.  Lyla welcomes her too.  We relax a little before I take her on a walking tour of Manhattan.  We start in the village, head down to SoHo, Nolita, Little Italy, China Town, City Hall, Stone Street, Wall Street, Battery Park and TriBeCa, where we sit down at Locanda Verde for some lunch and Champaign before cabbing back to my apartment for a nap.

Lunch at Locada VerdeIt’s so great to have her here!!  See more pictures.

Day 135: Cornell Graduation

The Clock TowerI am at Cornell for my cousin Ali’s graduation this Memorial Day weekend.  As I immerse myself here, I am reminded of my Cornell graduation three years ago.  Everything is as it was.  Every character is still here but played by a different person.  There are a few familiar faces.  Ali’s class is the last graduating class that I overlapped with.  Next time I am here, I will know no one. 

Me and Hannah at Balch Hall on North CampusAfter dinner at Maxie’s with my family, we have drinks at Rulloffs before heading to my Ali’s apartment, where drinking and beer pong ensues before we wander over to Johnny O’s at 12:15am.  The bars close at 1am here.  Even when I participated, I never understood this ritual.  As Johnny O’s fills up, people begin to dance on the tables.  

Happy graduation Ali. A magnum of grey goose, love your cousin Katie :)As an observer now, I realize how much of a bubble Cornell is.  In Collegetown in Ithaca, NY, everyone is associated with Cornell.   We had the same basic routine.  Not exactly the same schedule, but in general, we all woke up, went to class, went to the library and lived in the same place as the rest of our class.  We studied different things, but we crunched for prelims and exams and celebrated finishing together.  We sat next to each other, but we were preparing for vastly different things. 

Me and AliSo much has happened since the day I left Cornell.  I was going to work at Lehman Brothers in investment banking and I couldn’t have been more pumped.  I was so anxious to break into the real world.  If I went back or if I did it again, I think about what I would do differently.  I have no regrets though.  Everything that happened has brought me to where I am now.  I like where I am now.

Family picture. We are so proud.It’s good to back.  It’s also an important reminder that you can’t plan your life.  You need to pursue your passions and see where it takes you.  See more pictures.