The Final Spoon Intern Video!

Check us out as we taste test various NYC street food carts, providing you with the full scoop on what's good and what's not.

Final Reflections

My summer in NYC is officially over - which I still can't wrap my head around. After 11 weeks in the city, I can truly say I couldn't have imagined a better experience and for that reason, I feel so blessed. I was able to maintain an ideal schedule working at the Observer on Mondays and Wednesdays and at Spoon on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with Fridays saved for ballet classes at Steps and seeing friends coming in from out of town. After a great first four weeks with my roommate Sarah, who was interning at the NYU Medical School, I was lucky enough not to be put with a random roommate and basically had a full studio apartment to myself! The extra bed actually came in handy for many of my friends to crash on, while visiting New York for the weekend.

Between meeting an incredible array of talented people in the city, including a great group of interns, (especially the lovely ladies at Spoon) and spending time with friends from college and high school, I can't say I ever really felt lonely in my roommate-less apartment. Although my internships are officially over, there are a few remaining articles that I will be coordinating to have published on the Observer website as well as the Spoon website and during the year, I will be joining the Spoon chapter at Wash U (which was started last fall!)

To be honest, I began this blog as a way to record my experiences for myself, so that I could remember details for reports I have been required to write, in order to receive school credit (for my internship at the Observer). However, soon after I began, I realized it had become much more than that, as I actually enjoyed keeping a running account of my activities and now it offers me an invaluable opportunity to look back on my time in the city (in a totally tangible way). To all who read through my posts, I am flattered that you were interested in my day-to-day reflections and I will miss sharing them with you all!

A lovely gift from the bosses at Spoon

An incredible arugula and poached egg salad at the Coffee Shop in Union Square

Katy Perry's Prismatic Tour at the Barclay Center with Dana!

Interns Take on Food Challenges!

The Spoon interns took on two infamous food challenges over the past couple of weeks, stuffing our cheeks with marshmallows and then pounding saltine crackers. Sounds like loads of fun, right? :)

Check us out completing the Chubby Bunny challenge and the Saltine challenge in these incredible videos made by video intern Mira!

News Newbie

These past couple weeks at the Observer have been filled primarily with lede searching and until now, I did not grasp the challenges in finding and pitching buzzy, fresh and informative news articles.  Since Lale, the intern supervisor and Managing Editor of the Observer decided to take the NY News section of the Observer in a slightly different direction to include more original pieces and fewer re-blogs, I have been on the search for interesting pitches.  We are encouraged to either take an existing story and find a new angle or spin on it to generate something entirely different or uncover something newsworthy that has not been covered at all and complete the necessary research and reporting to cover it.  This has been a huge challenge for me (especially because I never expected to be writing for publication this summer, nonetheless pitching and writing news stories). But, at the same time, it has been an invaluable experience, as I am doing exactly what I would be doing as a news reporter working at the Observer and am able to get direct feedback on the quality of my pitches and writing from one of the editors. Of course the learning curve means that several of my pitches simply do not work in that they do not cover relevant info for the Observer audience and my writing has also had to be tweaked significantly to adopt a catchy, news-y tone also suited to the Observer audience of educated, upper-middle class New Yorkers.

Another inherent challenge is seeking interviews, quotes and pictures from large organizations included in pieces that I am covering. Usually it takes a little while for a response from a PR or Marketing person at the company in order to set up a time to speak with a representative or manager of the said company or to receive photos suited for the press.  This has allowed me to really up my communication skills in emailing and speaking directly on the phone with prominent people in their fields. Unfortunately, this also slows down the publication process, though, as this info is often necessary to complete a piece.  Again, more insight into the journalism field and what it takes to bring an article from a pitch/idea through the draft process and to publication.

Currently, I am wrapping up a trend piece compiling museum, zoo and park sleepovers in NYC this summer.  This has involved contacting several organizations that host such overnight activities to secure photos and interview managers on the motives behind starting these programs.

Reunited!

So lovely to spend time with Shelby this summer

Central Park with my dad, who visited last Sunday

Instagram Craze

Anyone who knows me in the slightest knows that I am a huge fan of Instagram (and have to restrain myself from multiple posts each day).  So, of course, when the opportunity arose to write a piece on hidden Instagram features for Spoon (to go along with the latest "foodstagramming" obsession), I hopped right on it.

Check this article out if you want to know more about everyone's favorite photo-editing and sharing app!

Wrapping up but not winding down...

As I near the end of my time in this (unbelievable and fabulous) city, I would say that while a couple of projects are being wrapped up, nothing is quite winding down - which I appreciate, since it's the constant busy-ness of everything that makes this place and these internships exciting. Last week, the study abroad section of the Spoon website finally began to come to life, after weeks of surveying, collecting survey results and generating interactive google maps. While it is still far from complete, we now have a template for what it will actually look like on the website and have unified all of our info for various countries to match it.

Spoon U's upcoming Brainfood conference is also coming together, with several great speakers lined up, including the Creative Director of Fortune Magazine, Brandon Kavulla, the founder of Baked by Melissa cupcakes, Melissa herself and the Associate Food Editor at BuzzFeed, Rachel Sanders just to name a few. There will also be an incredible variety of free food samples including Sweetgreen salads, 16 Handles fro-yo and doughnuts from Doughnut Plant.  I still can't get over the fact that with just a concerted effort amongst Sarah and Mackenzie, Nathaniel (Spoon's new business director) and the interns, we all managed to gather such an eclectic group of speakers and food samples for the conference guests. I'm so sad that I won't be able to attend the conference next weekend (since I leave on Thursday) to see the fruit of our labor.

(More) Intern Perks

Went to taste gelato for an upcoming Spoon article and left with all of these free pints thanks to Ciao Bella!

Contribute to the Spoon Cookbook Proposal!

If you've ever cooked, wanted to cook or plan to cook, please fill out this survey!  We (at Spoon) are using the information to create the ultimate college cookbook, an innovative compilation of Spoon recipes to make cooking easy, fun, healthy (sometimes...) and affordable.

24/7

To say I am busy this summer would be an understatement, although, that said, I can't say I would trade this constantly-doing-something lifestyle for anything.  Between editing, writing articles, developing a cookbook proposal, helping to flesh out a new part of the website and promoting an upcoming conference for Spoon and researching ideas, pitching and writing articles for the Observer, it seems like there is always something to work on or an email that needs a response.  I love it.  On top of all that, I have been taking a class on social media at NYU for which I am developing a marketing proposal for an imagined brand. I have also been working on training modules required to be a Washington University Student Associate starting in the fall, as well as drafting internship reports in order to get school credit for my time at the Observer. In any free time left, I have been squeezing in dance classes and spending time with friends who have come to the city, both from my high school and college. Fortunately, being busy makes life so much more exciting, but at the same time, it has (literally) made this summer fly by...I'm only in NYC for about two more weeks!

Spoon: Meet the Interns!

Check out our intro video and bios here on the Spoon website. :)

Jersey Shore

A much-needed escape from NYC for an incredible 4th of July weekend at the beach.

Observer Observations

In just the few weeks that I have been interning at the NY Observer, it's unreal how much change has happened.  First, SCENE was pulled from publication and I was lucky enough to become an intern for the Style section of the Observer.  I began to pitch ideas and started on a longer article that would require me to reach out to retailers and marketing professionals in the retail industry for quotes and information.  While in the process of doing so, Elaina, my supervisor, went abroad and the Managing Editor for the Observer, Lale Arikoglu, became the new supervisor for all of the interns.  Since most of the interns write for the New York news section, she started to oversee that.  I began to write short re-blogs/reposts of news clips each day, which was a nice change as it has allowed me to get more writing experience, as well as bylines on the website.  However, Lale is now planning on shifting the format of the New York section to include fewer re-blogs and more report-style pieces.  In other words, rather than flooding the site each day with information that every other news service is posting, she is encouraging us, as interns, to take on more meaningful projects by pitching stories that require us to go out and experience something firsthand or interview people to get our own information and quotes.  This is quite an ambitious change as far as I'm concerned, only because I started out the summer completing more administrative and organizational tasks, as well as light copyediting and now plan to report and write my own stories.  (What a fast and unexpected progression)  Regardless, I feel so lucky to actually be able to to immerse myself in the journalism world in the most exciting (and newsworthy) city in the country.

Going Abroad?

Recently, the Spoon interns have been working on creating a new section of the Spoon website dedicated to study/travel abroad.  It will serve as an all-encompassing guide (consisting of a map and place descriptions) to where to eat, drink and party in some of the more popular study abroad destinations.  We sent out this survey to collect as much information as possible from students who have been abroad in order to provide viewers of the site with the most reliable and relevant recommendations. Although, since we are very much still in the process of compiling information, if you have been abroad (whether you are a student or not), it would be great if you could fill it out. :)

Specifically, I am working on the four primary study abroad cities in Spain: Madrid, Barcelona, Granada and Sevilla.  I made sure to choose Spain as my first country to work on for the website, as I plan to study there during my Junior year; now I can be sure I'll know all the hottest restaurants to hit up when I'm there from so many great student recommendations!

Food Network VIPs

On Thursday, the Spoon interns had the chance to tour the Food Network headquarters above Chelsea Market, including the test kitchens as well as the set of Chopped. (OMG) Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take pictures on the set, but as an avid Chopped viewer, it was incredible to see it all in person!

Taste Talks DC

Spoon road trip crew goes to Wawa

On Tuesday morning, the group of us Spoon interns hopped in a zipcar van and road tripped with Sarah and Mackenzie to Washington D.C. just for the night.  We were going to work the Taste Talks event that we had helped organize and promote in previous weeks.  Of course, we had to make a momentous stop during the four hour drive at a Wawa for those of us who hadn't been...if you're from the Northeast, you know its all the rage: the gas station that takes convenience store to another level, with made-to-order salads and sandwiches, or in other words, actually good food at a gas station.



Once we arrived in D. C. and settled in to an airbnb apartment that we would have for the night, it was time to get ready for the event, but not before stopping for popsicles (?)...it's very clear that we're all a little too into food, but what can I say?  We're working for a food website, so it's all part of the job, right?

Popsicles from Pleasure Pops in D.C.

The event was comprised of two panels of guest speakers discussing the ins and outs of the food industry, food start-ups and sustainability practices.  In addition, we had arranged several local food venders to provide samples for the guests; the stand-out of the crowd was, of course, the lobster roll from Luke's Lobsters. It was incredible to see the guests file in and the venue come to life, as just a few weeks earlier, we were working to find people to speak and donate their food.  Fortunately, everything went smoothly and in the end, Sarah and Mackenzie were very pleased with the event's success.

Lobster Roll from Luke's Lobsters at Taste Talks D.C.

With Julia at Taste Talks

Rachel and I enjoy Baba's Pickles at the event

That night, we took advantage of being in D.C. and walked around the monuments, from the Lincoln Memorial to the White House.  It was incredible to see such architectural masterpieces, practically glowing in the darkness and with almost no one else around.

Afternoon on Broadway

Sunday afternoon I had the pleasure of meeting Shelby, a high school friend in my graduating class who danced professionally with Sarasota Ballet this year, to grab lunch and see Matilda on Broadway.

Intern Perks

Currently, I am working on an article for Spoon that will compile all of the gelato flavors everyone needs to try when they come to NYC.  Thus, you can imagine, my job right now includes endless gelato sampling...

Grom Gelato

The Spoon Life

I feel so lucky that when I go to work, I get to sit around a conference table with an awesome group of other interns, along with Spoon co-founders Sarah and Mackenzie, and have the opportunity to discuss any upcoming Spoon development--whether it is one of the pitches from a remote writer, photograph choices for an article, speakers for an upcoming event or how to organize a new "abroad" section of the website, all of us can add our own input or ideas in such an open environment.  Basically, there are good vibes, which are only enhanced, at the Alley NYC space, by all of the other interns working next to us on other start-ups.

Recently, we worked to plan the "Taste Talks" event next Tuesday in D.C. by scouting out potential speakers, as well as media outlets for promoting the event.  Additionally, we worked together to generate a survey in order to gather information for a new section of the website that will be a guide, detailing the best places to eat and drink while studying abroad.  As editorial interns, of course, we are also always working individually to go through the submissions from remote writers (and also write our own articles).  In order to create a fun way to introduce ourselves to the Spoon community, we also filmed short introductions yesterday...which should prove quite entertaining once they are edited by the lovely video intern Mira.

What's most exciting though is that yesterday, we also found out that Mackenzie and Sarah were able to secure an airbnb room in D.C. as well as a Zipcar, so that all of the interns can go to D.C. next Tuesday to attend "Taste Talks" (and actually experience the event we have so thoroughly promoted)!

From the Ultimate Dining Hall Hacks book launch on Monday to the Taste Talks event next week to endless office snacking, I can only say one thing: so happy about intern perks (read: free food).

Apartment Cooking Attempt #1

While Sarah and I may have struggled a bit at first, in the end we managed to put together a successful vegetarian chili from our own recipe...check it out here on Spoon's website!

Need a Father's Day Gift?

Check out these awesome presents for your dad on his special day.

(Published on spoonuniversity.com)

Sarah, my roommate and best friend since pre-school <3

Spoon University "Ultimate Dining Hall Hacks" Book Launch!

Internship 3.0 (wait, what?)

So, I didn't actually get a third internship, but weirdly enough, I started fresh again this Monday.

What I mean, in short, is that I received an email from Eliza on Sunday night with unexpected news that SCENE Magazine will no longer be published due to a lack of ad sales.  Initially, I was shocked, only because the week before, it seemed as if everything was running so smoothly.  But I quickly realized I had no reason to be that surprised, as SCENE was primarily an arts, fashion and culture magazine for a niche, elite audience; I am all too aware, due to my background in ballet, that the arts and arts-related publications simply do not thrive when the economy is not thriving.  In fact, the arts is always the first thing to be pushed aside when other concerns arise, which is the cause of a decrease of arts funding in schools and low attendance at museums and shows.  Ironically, through all of this, it is still the arts that keeps humanity sane, provides a source of creative expression and acts as a backdrop for political, cultural and self awareness.  But, before I get on a tirade (I could go off about the importance of the arts for hours), I should mention that I am extremely thankful.  After finding out about SCENE's unfortunate end, I was told to still go into the office Monday to see if it was possible for me to intern with the newspaper that SCENE was associated with, The New York Observer.  It turns out I will be writing for the Style section of the paper now, which is both exciting and daunting, as I had no expectations of getting to write any significant amount for a publication this summer.  For SCENE, I was working more editorially and also learning basic tasks on InCopy and Wordpress as well as completing side tasks such as requesting photos.  I actually had enjoyed the rush of small tasks throughout the day, but also am looking forward to researching for and writing full-length pieces.

Central Park

Wordpress Newbie

My first post on Spoon's website yesterday--check out Starbucks' latest addition!

Starbucks Frappuccino Truck

Internship 2.0

Yesterday was day 1 again, with the start of my editorial internship at Spoon University, a food website and community for college students.  In the morning, the group of interns convened in a large meeting room in the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism with co-founders of Spoon, Mackenzie and Sarah to discuss our summer tasks and organize our ideas.  Each of us has two teams of remote writers and photographers whose work we will edit and publish onto the Spoon website, in addition to individual jobs, which for me include working on the weekly newsletter and using google analytics to measure the success of each of the teams.  Sitting with a group of true foodies, I could finally share my obsession with food instagrams and rejoice in company when I heard of the existence of a new Starbucks Frappuccino truck!

Today, we were based in Alley NYC, instead of the journalism school, which is basically a networking space for several start-ups.   Interestingly, through Spoon being a part of the space, we have access to various resources including the opportunity to attend social events, learn about various up-and-coming companies and listen to guest speakers such as Ariana Huffington of the Huffington Post (who is coming next week!).  I spent most of the day today reaching out through phone and email to various restaurants in Washington, D.C. in order to scout out potential chefs to be guest speakers at an upcoming event called "Taste Talks."  Spoon held this event in NYC in April with several cool speakers, including the associate editor of Grub Street and the VP Digital Editorial of The Food Network.  Finding a location, securing donations from local restaurants and scouting out interesting speakers for an event in D.C. from NYC is definitely quite the task and I was happy to be able to help in a small way.

Central Park

A lovely Sunday in the park with my roommate and best friend Sarah

The Nitty Gritty of Things

While requesting high resolution photos from PR managers at various companies filled much of my time last week, I also had the opportunity to be another set of eyes in the multi-tiered copyediting process.  Each spread for the issue is passed from person to person with each making his own edits, checking everything from spelling and grammar to facts and statistics.  As corny as it sounds, I was intrigued as the pieces of the magazine were truly coming together in front of my eyes, with pictures that I had seen in various emails in raw form, photoshopped and arranged on the pages with blurbs of text that I had read through earlier.

Today, with the June issue completed and published, the tasks were significantly different.  I first generated PDFs of each of the articles so that they could be electronically sent to the people on which they were written.  Afterward, I spent the remainder of the day transferring the articles through Wordpress to the SCENE website.  While I had seen the backhand of a website before, I was glad to have the hands-on opportunity to utilize several aspects of Wordpress, including text and image formatting.  I have to say the coolest part, though was getting to put my name in the by-line for the short sidebar pieces I had written the week before.

Disbelief at a veritable wall of Nutella at Eataly

(Starving) Artist in NYC

I took advantage of this day off to take ballet class this morning at Steps on Broadway with a friend who graduated in my class and now dances with Sarasota Ballet.  Per usual in professional classes with Nancy Bielski, we were accompanied by celebrities in the ballet world, Misty Copeland, Julie Kent and Sara Mearns among other professional dancers and other dancers of all levels.  It was incredible to finally take class again after having taken off several weeks since the end of school with preparing to move to NYC for the summer.  Of course, I will be ridiculously sore tomorrow after a challenging class, but I hope to take advantage of the great opportunity to drop into open classes at Steps throughout the summer!

Enjoying noodles at The Republic in Union Square on a rainy Thursday.

First Day at the Office

After an exhilarating first day helping out at the photo shoot, I knew that Wednesday would bring more work and more writing with less famous people, but regardless, I was anxious to be a part of the journalistic process.   This would be my first real glance at the many steps involved in publishing a magazine.  To my excitement, Eliza immediately gave me the task of brainstorming ideas for sidebar pieces, small blurbs on upcoming fashion- or culture-related events and updates on store openings.  I was additionally asked to request high resolution photographs, for use in the magazine, from the PR managers at various companies.  This was a process I was unfamiliar with: I didn't even realize photos could not simply be taken off websites.  I was soon engaged in email communications with these PR managers.
However, I was most excited by the next task: writing the short bits for the sidebars.  I did not realize that I would have the chance to actually write for the magazine, even if it was only tiny pieces.  This type of immersion provides meaning to an internship in the journalism field; in other words, I would not simply be doing organizational or secretarial type tasks or getting coffee for everyone in the office.  I was thrilled by the influx of small tasks throughout the day, which kept me busy and made the time fly.

A few pictures from the Highline Park in the Sky in West Chelsea.  I took advantage of a day off to explore the city with my aunt. 

So Real or Surreal?

In a word, day 1 was a blur.  But an incredible and awesome blur at that.  Commuting from my friend Meghan's house in Scarsdale (where I'm staying for this first week) on the train, my head was spinning with nerves and excitement: I had been told last week that I needed to report to Bath House Studios for a photo shoot for the next three issues of SCENE Magazine and my job would be to check in guests, take down their clothing credits, provide them with necessary paperwork and order the lunch.  But of course, I was panicked as I peered at the google doc of all the photo shoot guests, ranging from clothing and shoe designers to singer/songwriters to filmmakers, screenwriters and music producers. (I don't want to reveal any names just in case!)  In other words, a slew of successful and interesting up-and-coming artists.  I was starstruck before it even started; having trained in a pre-professional residential program to become a ballet dancer, I can understand the perseverance and dedication it takes to achieve success in the arts.

Of course, with my nerves, I had made extra sure that I wouldn't be late and arrived before anyone else from SCENE Magazine.  If I was not already excited about this day, I almost walked into a photo shoot of the cast of Orange is the New Black in the studio above ours.  Sitting on a black leather couch, peering at the list of guests on my computer and the photographer setting up, I began to worry.   Then, a man in jeans and a T-shirt walked in and immediately introduced himself as Peter, Editor-in-Chief.  I panicked.  Oh my gosh the first person who I'm meeting on my first day is in charge of everything.  It turns out he was incredibly friendly and welcoming and couldn't be more down-to-Earth for a person of his position, a guy who can talk comfortably about speaking with celebrities like Madonna.

The first guest of the photo shoot walked in while I was the only one near the entryway, turned to me and said, "Hi, are you running this?"  I was so shocked that I took a few too many seconds to respond, when I finally said, "Um, uh, no I'm an intern, but I can check you in!"  Of course I had no idea how to "check her in."  I tried to look casual and finally my internship supervisor, the Managing Editor of the magazine, Eliza Krpoyan walked in, but unfortunately with a bunch of other people.  She was busy, running around, helping to get this show on the road, and I was clueless.  I waited patiently and pretended to look busy and like I knew what I was doing.  Thankfully, she soon explained to me that I needed to provide a photo release to each guest and find out the designer of his/her clothing, shoes and any jewelry for the photo credits.

The guests filtered in one after the other and Eliza expressed numerous times, smiling and apologetic that she was crazy for throwing me in on one of the busiest days of the summer, but I couldn't be more thrilled by the excitement of it all.  I mean really, I had the chance to speak to some of fashion and pop culture's newest stars and see their incredible outfits and awesome pictures in person.  After successfully ordering lunch for everyone and then finishing the afternoon/evening group, I was exhausted but still in disbelief of how lucky I was to be present at the shoot.

Eliza said jokingly, "I hope every day you spend at the office will be every bit as exciting!"  Having bonded with other SCENE employees during lunch, including Creative Director Dean and Stylist Jasmine, I said goodbye to everyone and left the studio high on life.  Over the past two years, with a lifelong interest in writing and journalism, I developed the plan of interning for a magazine in NYC over the summer and this incredible introduction to that world left me simply reeling.  At the same time that what I had only dreamed of suddenly became very real to me, it was also surreal in that after months of planning and imagining, I couldn't believe it was finally happening.

Preparations

After arriving back to the place I have most recently called home, Rochester, NY from an incredible freshman year at Washington University in St. Louis, non-stop preparations began almost immediately for my upcoming summer in NYC.  From doctors appointments to shopping for business casual attire to completing paperwork for receiving school credit for one of my part-time internships, I can't say I have had much time for relaxation.  Luckily, I'm happiest when I'm busiest and the rest of the summer should prove to be equally busy.
During my spring break, I visited New York City in order to interview at several publications and social media agencies that were looking for summer interns.  I secured a part-time internship with SCENE Magazine, the style, pop culture and art magazine of The New York Observer and also a part-time internship with Spoon University, an online publication that deals with all things food for the college student.  Additionally, I will be taking an NYU class entitled "New and Social Media Marketing for the Arts" as well as attending open dance classes at Steps on Broadway.  As a huge lover of all things arts, I can think of no other place I would rather spend my summer than New York City, where I have access to the highest quality performances and museums and the ability to continue taking dance classes to keep up my ballet technique.