a little late :o)

Sorry about just now posting these, but I'm back in Texas and have my final pictures from New York! It's great to be back and I miss a few things about the city...but I'm here to stay :o)

This is on Thursday - right after I made my presentation I found out about our national ad so we went out for our lunch break to buy copies!

Walking to our Graduation Dinner after work on Thursday I passed this Summer sign - it's a reminder of the best summer I've had :o)

At our Graduation Dinner

With the national ad!

The ad with all the intern's autographs

Receiving my thank you gift from Claudia Poccia, mark.'s president

Claudia (President), Janet (intern coordinator), Dawn (also the intern coordinator)

Me and Lily, the Executive Marketing VP

Me and Claudia

Friday morning before work me and Hanna went to the Today Show to see Jason Mraz perform! We got there too early and only got to see one song because of having to go to work

Al Roker is on the blue thing

Jason Mraz is the one on the left with the hat on and in plaid

One last time in front of 1251 Avenue of the Americas :o(

My intern ID to get onto the mark. floor

My Avon ID to get into the actual building

Another picture in front of Columbia's library

Our last dinner me, Hanna, and Ashely went to Carmines...it's similar to Bucca de Bepo for those who know that restaurant

It was delicious and huge!! We share this one pasta dish and only ate half!

Walking home we passed by Monk's/Tom's restaurant from Seinfeld

Then we took another last time trip to our crepe and tea place :o)

My tiramisu

And finally my Columbia ID - I had to give it back so that's why I took a picture

I hope you've enjoyed keeping up with my summer interning with mark. in New York!! I plan to keep this blog for personal use from now on, so keep checking back to read how my final college semester is going!!

Thank you to everyone for all of the support you gave me this summer! I really missed home but I had an experience of a lifetime and wouldn't change anything!

Come back soon :o)

xoxoxo

mark. interns making our mark

Sorry I've been slow again with updating - Everyday I feel like I add more things to my list of what I want to do before I leave, so this weekend was fullll of shopping :o) But I want to share pictures with you from last Thursday, when all the interns had our philanthropy day!

We went to the Dress for Success warehouse in Brooklyn (but they have the events nationwide) and sorted out donated clothes! Dress for Success is a donation event where women can donate work appropriate clothes, especially suits, because women who can't afford those necessities for jobs, can come in and "borrow" a suit for a job interview. If she gets the job then she gets to keep the suits plus a week's worth of work clothes! Here's the website for more info: http://www.dressforsuccess.org/. I know that I'll definitely help the organization again - either by donating or going to a warehouse like we did last week.

Here's the journey from 9am on the subway, to finshing around 4 - which we got to home home afterwards...so I took advantage of the nice weather and layed out for a while (but you can't tell)

I didn't know Dunkin Donuts's drinks were sooo large - I was thirsty and needed coffee...I didn't even finish half :o)

Walking inside the warehouse

The clothes were sorted by season then size, then when that trash bag was full they got thrown to this pile...I wish I would have taken a before picture because it was not this high at all!

We all found some interesting finds throughout the day...

Me and Janet - our wonderful intern coordinator!!

Me and Kristiauna on the finished pile before leaving

Me and Hanna

Thursday was a great day - I love working for places like that! The whole time I was there, I kept thinking about the mission trips I used to take in high school - Takin' The City. Those trips were strictly mission work, and working at a warehouse like this would have fit right in.

This weekend Scott's aunt and cousin, Barbara and Paige, came to the city! They came last summer for a shopping trip and it worked out for them that they could do it again. We had such a fun time and I'm so happy they let me tag along :o) Friday night they came in, but I went to an Avon and mark. intern social so I didn't get to see them. But Saturday I met up with them on Canal Street. We literally spent HOURS there just going into all the backrooms and walking up and down the street! It was so fun and even though I'd been a few times this summer, I really wish I would have still spent more time there (maybe it's best for my bank acount that I didn't...) But we all found great finds and a lot of Christmas presents :o) and when I get paid on Friday I plan to spend my last day on Canal St again. Unfortunately I didn't bring my camera with me this day, but pictures really wouldn't do the day justice.

After Canal, we dropped our goodies off at their hotel, and jthen walked the Brooklyn Bridge. We were going to try to eat at Grimaldi's, but the line was literally all the way down the block (Scott, even though we had already eaten that night, we really should have just gone in anyways since there was barely a line) We found another pizza place just around the corner anyways, and it was just as good! We shared a pizza with bacon, avacados, and tomatoes - Paige has a picture of this and I'll share it asap! After walking back we went to bed since we wanted to start early on Sunday. So I went back home and the next day, again, met them on Canal St. since we had a few requests from people to try to get for gifts. After Canal, we went to a store that they discovered last year, Necessary Clothing - I will definitely go back whenever I get the chance to come up here again...I spent a little too much money at the store but it was all too cute to pass up :o)

After shopping and dropping our stuff off at their hotel again, we went down to Chelsea to eat dinner and wait for an off-Broadway show to start. We went to The Imaginary Invalid at The Cell. Here are the pictures from it:

This is The Cell - it was a townhouse that they've turned into their "studio"

Before the show we walked next door to Patsy's Pizza - we love pizza :o)

Once inside, it was crazy how small it was. This is the "stage"

Yep, there was literally 2 rows of seats!!

This guy was a HILARIOUS character! My pictures were taken while my camera was in my lap with no flash on - so you can't really tell how we was acting, but I promise he was what made me laugh the most!

Again, the really funny character (they all were funny at some point though!) thought he was kissing the girl in the background to the right...

And here he is again clapping like he was 5 while everything was serious

These are all the pictures I got from the weekend :o( but I had such a great time with them - and did some great shopping!!

Today and yesterday have been a little hectic since presentations started today. I feel that I still have a lot to work on, so tonight I'm making some visuals to go ahead and get those out of the way. But hopefully tomorrow I'll get everything done, and will just have to wake up and present, no waiting around all day!

So after Thursday I plan on doing my last minute trips to places and will soon have more pictures. For now though, please think about me trying to get my presentation ready because I'm starting to get nervous. I know it's not like it's for a grade but I just want everything to be presented cleary, and with what I'm trying to present, I having some problems....but it will all be over soon :o)

Have a good night and I'll talk to you soon! Oh, and I failed to mention that I'll be home in 4 daysss!!!

Love, Taylor

Great weekend already :o)

Good afternoon!

We just got the chance to meet Avon's CEO, Andrea Jung! She took an hour out of her day to sit and tell us her story as a very successful beauty industry CEO (1 of very few) and let us ask her any questions. She was really interesting to listen to and I like hearing her background of how she grew up and the struggles she's had has a female CEO...but honestly, I am very thankful I a part of the mark. brand and working under Claudia Poccia (mark.'s president). Maybe because we work in the same office as Claudia and there's literally two cubicles between me and her office, but she seems easier to relate to and talk to on a more personal level. I know being a CEO of a multi-billion dollar company is a little different, but Andrea didn't get as personal with us...like asking us to introduce ourselves like we do every week with whoever speaks to us.

But all in all, I got such a great feeling about working for (ultimately) Avon and how she "runs" the company as a compassionate woman. It was such an honor to get to sit with her and listen to her story, and I really wish more young women and business women could meet her! I might sound biased, but Andrea has struggled through her life to make it to the top as a female. She said leading Avon was never in her plans, but when she interviewed with them the very first time and learned how she could help the world but be in a corporate world as well, she said she instantly fell in love with the company and knew she wanted to strive to get to the top. Even after being passed up by an older man for 17 months, she still made it to become CEO, and is currently on her 10th year doing so.

Also, to make today even better, we finally got to sit down Claudia and have her tell us her story - which by the way is amazing! She is abosolutely one of the best people I know and I hope to stay in contact with her throughout my career. She has had her ups and downs as any business leader, but her personality and mannerisms are so personal and so welcoming. I wish I would have taken notes for both Andrea and Claudia, but I know that what they've shared and mentored me with, I will always have with me and will hopefully be able to share with everyone I know.

Now it's 5 and time to go, but I just wanted to share my excitement with everyone! Today was very inspiring..oh, and I got to sit down with mark.'s head marketing, Lily, and go over my project. I have been nervous for that for a week, but once we were in her office and going over everything, we had a great time! She was more relaxed than what she has always looked like, but we actually lost track of time and she really liked what I've been working on :o)

So now we are going to go to our last official intern social (also with the Avon interns) then hopefully I will get to see Barbara and Paige (Scott's aunt and cousin who are in town for the weekend!) Have a great friday night and I'll update you on the weekend soon!!

Love, Taylor

Good morning!

Hi everyone! I don't have pictures for this post (sorry) but I just want to say hi...and that I have only 10 more days until coming home!!

I am getting really excited to come home...don't tell anyone here :o) I also am very excited because a few days ago I bought George Strait tickets for me and Scott, so as soon as I land next Saturday, I'll get going strait to see George!

For a little update on the week, I haven't been too busy with meetings or speakers, but yesterday we did get the opportunity to have Jean Chatzky come speak to us for about 2 hours! I had only heard of her name and never looked her up, but once we found out she was planning to come see us, I googled her - and she's really known!! If you haven't heard of her, I suggest first going to http://www.jeanchatzky.com/ to read her blog and learn her credibility. When she came in yesterday, it was mainly to tell her story and to give us advice on investing and credit cards. Honestly I didn't learn a lot, but in all fairness I think it's because 1. I don't have a credit card so I couldn't compare habits or my usage of one with what she telling us to do and 2. when she was talking about investing, I honestly didn't understand what she was talking about or I already knew the advice she was giving. But after taking the time last night and today to read more on her blog and seeing the books she's written, I really want to start learning about all that "stuff" by starting with her. She was extremely nice and down to earth, and she was very easy to talk to! So I guess I'll be getting back to what I learn and how I start saving and investing money...hopefully soon :o)

Jean was our last (planned) outside speaker we are going to have, but Friday we get to meet the big lady, Andrea Jung (CEO of Avon!) at our graduation ceremony. Other than that, we still have a few meetings and dates planned to spend with mark.'s president, Claudia Poccia (who, like I've said, is amazing!), but all we have left are attending each other's presentations and working on our own projects until our planned day. I can't believe how fast this time flew by! In the beginning, 10 weeks honestly felt like it was going so slow and that it was going to take forever to get through....I was so wrong! It was practically overnight that I felt like 1 week seemed like all summer to feeling sad that I'll be leaving all the other 11 interns and worrying about my "to-do" because there's still so much stuff to see and of course, just not enough time :o) As of Monday, some of us told ourselves that we weren't just going to go home right after work, and that we would treat it like a weekend and do stuff. I really should have told myself that from the beginning, but I can't go back now so I have to start asap! There really isn't too much left on my list, but the one I'm honestly worried about is my cupcake/bakery list and how I have more on my list that I have days to left....sooo that will just mean I have to come back right?! I don't know what I'll do after work today, but maybe getting a cupcake from a bakery I haven't been to yet, then maybe visiting some more touristy areas (like Washington Square or something) and maybe even working out at our gym on campus...haha we'll see!

I guess I'm going to get back to work now. Even though I don't present until next Thursday, I still have to practice with my mentor and do other small tasks...so I need to try to finish my project today...scary!

I hope y'all are having a good day and the weekend is halfway here!! Talk to you soon!

Love, Taylor

Hi! I hope you had a good weekend! I hung out with Hanna U all weekend and we had a great time! Friday night after having dinner at a pizza place that serves HUGE slices of pizza, I went home and just hung out and went to bed early - it was nice!

Then Saturday, me and Hanna went shopping all day...always good. We started off in SoHo, worked our way north to West Village, where a store had this huge bag to advertise their sale...

Then we went east to East Village, and came across Tiles For America, a 9/11 memorial...the first 2 pictures here are for the Barney's ad that I thought was cute.

This are the actual tiles:

Then we came across Max Brenner - a delicous chocolate store/restaurant that we ended up eating at. There are chocolate syringes that you could buy!

This is the plate of vanilla creme profiteroles that we ordered - thankfully we shared something!

East Village was a little strange, but this is a quote that I really like on a trashcan:

And this is a mosaic on a light pole that I also liked:

We didn't get close enough to see what this building was, but it's obviously a little different :o)

Yes...this is a Home Depot in the middle of the Flatiron district

And this is the Flatiron building!

After walking around and shopping all day, we got back home pretty early to be rested for another long day (today).

However, we ended up getting a late start, so we started at the Guggenheim museum first. It was pretty cool, but it was really only Frank Lloyd Wright's architecural drawings

This is the inside of the museum:

After the museum, we stayed on the Upper East side and found a little deli to eat a really early dinner at (so we could get a great dessert later) After eating, we went back to the upper west side to go home, and ended up finding Jon Gosselin's new apartment!

Once we got back home, we layed out while it was still kind of sunny, but not too long after it started getting cloudy. So we decided to go ahead and go get dessert from our new favorite restaurant by campus. As soon as we started walking over there it started pouring, and this is a view from inside the restaurant once it got pretty heavy:

This is the menu of the restraunt..it's mainly gelato, regular crepes, sweet crepes, salads, sandwiches, and really pretty tarts and mini cakes.

This is the delicious Berry and Swiss Chocolate crepe I got!

This weekend was another low key, exploring weekend, but I am well rested and found some new favorite places! Tomorrow I have to go back to work and hopefully start wrapping up my project, because presentations start on Tuesday!!! I luckily don't have to present until next Thursday, but it would be nice to get done early and help around the office (like the product closet!)

I should be updating daily soon since I only have 2 more weeks and A LOT of places still on my list to visit...so each day after work I plan on crossing those places off an not just going straight home for the evening. But for now I need to go to bed, so I'll update you again soon :o)

Love and miss everyone, Taylor