South of Broad by Pat Conroy

"It was my father who called the city the Mansion on the River. He was talking about Charleston, South Carolina, and he was a native son, peacock proud of a town so pretty it makes your eyes ache with pleasure just to walk down its spellbinding, narrow streets. Charleston was my father's ministry, his hobbyhorse, his quiet obsession, and the great love of his life. His bloodstream lit up my own with a passion for the city that I've never lost nor ever will. I'm Charleston-born, and bred. The city's two rivers, the Ashley and the Cooper, have flooded and shaped all the days of my life on this storied peninsula."

quote from my current read. i get warm inside when i read about charleston. i honestly believe it is the great love of my life as well. :)

some photographic evidence

i just knew i belonged here!
this drive to work makes me an instant morning person. happiness.
arthur ravenel at night. it's always so pretty. i love seeing it at all times of day/weather.
BAKED hazelnut mocha scone and a coffee. happy sunday. :)

thanks king charles

well the waters have been tested and this is it. Charleston that is. anyone who ever wants to visit has an instant vacation but for me, well it will just be day to day life.

i spent a lot of time alone this weekend (just me and a bottle of wine that is) and really started to miss all friends and fam (especially my Argentinean lovers, becks & sarbear) and was longing for a familiar face but the amazing thing about being in place you love so deeply, i could honestly just walk around and feel instantly better. i even met a new yorker (SC transplant) once i got myself out.

some of my adventures included putting the famous Hominy Grill to the test. it is a charleston trademark and people obsess over it. it is mobbed on the weekend but one advantage to doing things alone? i only waited 5 minutes for a table! hah i had an absolutely delicious saturday brunch: grilled veggie and goat cheese omelet, red yukon home fries, & sun flower seed toast. plus a constant flow of coffee. heavenly. hominy, you have my heart.

sunday i spent a few hours at the famous (food network veteran) bakery/coffee shop BAKED. I had lost of sketching to do for the upcoming illustration i am doing for the magazine!!! :) thats right, they are having me do an illustration, a PUBLISHED ONE! yay i am really excited about it, i'll even get credited on the page. :) so i sketched, drank coffee, diddled around on the internet, and ate the most scrumptious hazelnut mocha scone. the whole thing. then i went home and worked out for 2 hours. I also got a sweet and salty brownie to go (i mean i HAD TO, it was on food network's best thing i ever ate!!!) i cut it up into about 15 pieces and have been having one a day after my lunch haha. it's more necessary than a vitamin, lets be real.

anyway back to the internship, things are going really well. always a million and a half tasks which i love because there is never a dull moment. I am doing most of my work on the illustration out of the office because i always have other stuff to be working on when i am there. the ONLY thing i struggle with there is being quiet, who would have thought? but the editors offices are all around and they need peace and quiet which is not good for me. sometimes i work upstairs just because there's less people up there and i don't feel so guilty talking haha. today I had a lot of emails waiting for me to get back to about images for upcoming layouts, i also had to prep images for layout, had two meeting to show my sketches (eek nerve wracking!) For a monday, the day actually flew by!

tomorrow evening i'm going to see no strings attached with Liz from work and her friend. The movie theatre we are going to is like a theatre/restaurant all in one! how cool! I'm excited to check it out. :)

OH one more little funny story from my weekend. as an avid book/reading lover, i have been wanting to check out the Charleston Public Library. well silly me. sunday they are only open from 2-5 which i didn't realize when i showed up at 1:45. this shouldn't be too big of a deal, right? only 15 minutes.....well picture me. little innocent white girl (YANKEE white girl that is in my fluffy white coat big sunglasses and leather purse strolling up) and what do i find? about 35 homeless people waiting outside to get in the door at 2. (you'd think it was freezing the way they were waiting, it was like 60 degrees!) call me naive and childish brat but i was honestly terrified. i nearly ran back to my car. I've obviously been reading too much of the post and courier (charleston news) and i have every update in my mind of charleston crime. i am cruel to be so scared of homeless people but boy was i....

tgif :)

the second half of this week flew! I will be super busy at work today as I have been asked to brainstorm for an illustration (YES! crossing my fingers), have to finish my wedding dress image scavenger hunt, finish a couple projects from yesterday, etc! yowza, hopefully it will make the day fly by! as for now i have 10 more minutes to enjoy my coffee before it is off to work i go!

i am already missing yesterdays beautiful weather, as it has dropped into the fifties (what a brat to complain about the fifties in january!)

happy friday :)

ready to make the hump.

i really need a act on my goal of short, sweet blog entries rather than waiting days to wrote a novel. but that will need to start tomorrow.

so the good news is i hung out with friends this past weekend! yay! my friend and fellow intern, Liz took me under her wing and I went out with her and her friends friday and saturday night. they are all older (ranging in age from 24 to 28 but i decided its all the same once your 21 ha) They were all so nice and I had so much fun both nights venturing out downtown. I spent my days exploring solo as i seem to love doing, went running by the waterfront both mornings, my new fav activity. I have gotten SO lucky with weekend weather, it was beautifullll, high fifties SUN SUN SUN :) AHH so that's why I'm here...i have made it my mission to try every frozen yogurt place downtown so i tired my second establishment on saturday and i have to say YogurtMountain is still my fav thus far! my conclusion after this weekend was that this really is the most beautiful, most fun, most historical, most cultural city in the world. but i already knew that...

It amazes me that SO MANY people I meet here are not originally from here, came here, and could never leave...i feel like its a hint to my own story.

anyway back to the reason I am here! the internship is going well. I unlike most people up north, did not have MLK off. (I am in the state that started the civil war, and i think they are still bitter they lost) but thats just the politically incorrect northerner in me.

Monday and Tuesday have been a little more tiring and slow than than my previous weeks because we were supposed to ship Monday, than Tuesday, now Wednesday.... so I have been slightly avoiding my one boss that oversees Charleston and really trying to get tasks for the other magazines (#cheatingintern!) sneaky, but it did not start out as intentional! I got a job I was really enjoying on Grand Strand magazine (one of our other publications) and it has been my baby so today when the chance came for another Grand Strand project, I snatched it right up! :) Basically I've been on the hunt for images for two features. Its really fun because it involves hunting, searching the internet, calling all sorts of people, and it is so rewarding when I finally get that 300 dpi hi-res images in my intern email inbox! CHA-CHING! (oh wait i'm not paid...)

the 2 features were one on Sunnyside, this little stretch of land in Murrells Inlet, SC (outside Myrtle Beach) with so much history, including murders and ghost stories! and the other is a wedding special so those images are all bridal gowns from designers headquartered all over the country! It has been a really fun search and I am very excited to see those features in their finished states!

well tomorrow is wednesday and boy am I ready for the mid-week hooray! today was tough because my darling grandpa (KP's BF) had his surgery and it preoccupied my mind all day, luckily it all went well! :) I am starting to get excited for my moms visit, even though it will mark the end of this journey. I am missing friends, family, and just familiar faces in general. I don't ever want to leave but I wish I could transport everyone i love here!

I'm reading a Pat Conroy book (He is a famous Charleston author) and I love knowing all the Charleston references! it is an addicting read and I am going to go snuggle up in bed and delve into it further before it is lights out for this working gal!

sweet(tea) dreams ya'll

LIFE IN CHUCK

hey ya'll.

haha just kidding, not yet...

i always fall behind in my blogging! time to play catch up.

I guess the most logical place to start is where i left off which, i believe was with last sunday haha.

spent sunday morning at the beach, which is ten min. away, no big deal :) I had brunch on the pier overlooking the ocean. (what was for breakfast you ask? a CRAB meat omelet, there is nothing better than the over abundance of seafood down here! and lots of delicious coffee of course)

Then .. dun dun dun... came the ice storm. no not snow, ice. yes, while all you new yorkers trecked to work in snow, i sat home having a snow day and a delay 2 consecutive days in a row while there was not a flake of snow to be seen in all of Charleston. they closed almost every bridge, which is significant being the the city of charleston is a freaking peninsula! got to love it. Atlanta got hit hard and they have had 5 SNOW DAYS IN A ROW. why? because the entire city has almost no plows haha.

So my work week started at noon on Tuesday and clearly has flown by! I am getting to know the other interns better which is comforting and makes me feel like actually have some friends down here. I may even be hanging out with them this weekend! yay for weekend plans sans being alone! :) I explored the area i work in a little today because there's so much there but I usually just cross the beautiful Ravenel Bridge at sunset back to downtown Charleston after work so I've never gotten to know the area. anyway, I found a Whole Foods and it was the highlight of my week. If i could ever afford a personal chef, I would want whoever makes the whole foods buffets YUM!

other than that, this week has been work, gym, reading, bed for the most part. ah the real person lifestyle... work has been going well and I definitely seem to be getting more and more comfortable there and with the tasks I am given. I have even been doing a lot of helping other interns! :) I really love all the people, everyone is so nice and it is a very cool thing to experience the inner working of a magazine (or 5) but i will never read one the same way again haha. I analyze everything now!

the most crucial thing i have learned thus far....the pen tool is your best friend. I clip images day in and day out and without my friend the pen tool, I would have much better vision but much less productivity! I spent 3 and a half hours today pen tooling a necklace to clippath/mask for the "Love It" accessories page of the magazine. no that was not a typo, THREE AND A HALF HOURS of eye bleeding, hand cramping, neck aching pen tooling. each and every crevice of the chain, charms, etc. good god was i proud when i was finished! and it looked damn sharp if i do say so myself! Today I also got to go through all the images from Tuesday nights event for Charleston Fashion Week, "Top Cocktail" competition and chose which ones we will use in the mag/on the web. number one factor in choosing? which ones the editor-in-chief looks best in.

tomorrow is friday already! I may be going over to one of the other intern's houses down town for her friends b-day festivities! I hope so because it would be GREAT to meet some people around here!

Hope all my other VC-ers are doing FAB! and I am going to upload some pics for YA'LL'S enjoyment! MEESH YOO ALLLL.

love from chuck,

Christa

here's a preview!

Folly Fishing Pier
Where i ate brunch over looking the pier and the beach.
beautiful, brisk & breezy sunday morning on Folly. so peaceful and quiet this time of year.
Rainbow Row, i want one! the yellow one has been for sale for a while now..one day..
The Pineapple Fountain, which people go in when it's hot!
Houses on the Battery, my favorite place to run along the waterfront.

Arthur Ravenel Bridge i take to work everyday :) so pretty driving home at sunset.

week one!

already falling slightly behind in blogging, everyones going to fast! well i will begin with days 3,4&5 at Gulfstream Communications. (CharMag).

The best thing about this internship is there is always something to do and its always something different, the tasks I am given any given day vary so much! I mean one minute I'll be pen tool clipping until my eyes bleed (you should all appreciate objects that are cut out or "clipped" in editorial lingo, in magazines because it is all done with our favorite VC tool, the pen tool) anyway and then next minute I'll be modeling.

Yes that's right, they had me modeling, what a joke haha! I had to model wedding dresses for the spring/summer issue of Charleston Weddings for the photo intern could shoot the dress to look as if it was being worn (well it was!) and me being the only person who fit in the dresses was the lucky girl.

Then i had to model for test shots for an event we are shooting next week for Fashion Week. The event is a cocktail contest and it for Charleston Fashion Week and the photo intern had to practice shooting in a dark setting, so again that would be me. She is shooting the red carpet portion, so it will mostly be people. the best part was when my boss yelled from the other room, "move around a lot, like your drunk!"

I'm finally getting to know everyone around the office (besides the tiny art department, there is the editorial department which are always around. as well we sales, circulation, advertising, and web/IT) About 30 people in total. It makes a nice cozy environment where everyone knows each other.

The other interns are really nice, I'll discuss them breifly.

Liz_design intern. a true southern belle. Louisiana native who attended college in kentucky and is now living life in Charleston, aspiring to be a museum curator, but trying to get a feel for the other side of the art world for a while.

David_design intern. a true army brat who has lived everywhere! studied graphic design in NC and is now hoping to pursue a career in Charleston.

Leah_photo intern. started when i did, born and raised in Chuck, only person i've met down here who hates snow.

Casey_design intern. funny. cool accent from Charlotte, NC.

Gerald_past intern. now in a temporary position as the graphic designer of Fashion Week. Doug Lee's TWIN. very nice, a little quiet, always working hard. designed about 50 logos to have one picked! brought in an awesome album cover he designed in his senior year.

Katie_photo intern. spent a year as a scuba diving instructor in key largo, key west! studied animal behavior and marine biology in college, now she lives in Chuck, and works as a scuba diving instructor half the year, as well as an underwater photographer.

Jenna_photo intern, attended C0fC for hospitality until she realized she wants to be a freelance photographer.

and ME! the newest design intern. :)

some of this week's tasks included

-calling Mike Ray, an average guy living on in folly beach, charleston who just happens to have done some insanely amazing things (ex. swimming around Key West!) anyway we are doing a feature on some of his crazy adventures and I had to call him to request some shots from a marathon he won. he cracked me up for 20 minutes. funniest guy ever.

-lots and lots of image clipping for layout and web

-proof layouts

-model! haha

-editing layouts

-researching images for upcoming articles

-go on an office scavenger hunt to gather everyone's birthdays for their new office calendar

-reorganize allll the past issues of about 5 of the publications in the associate art director's office. (she felt so bad but i secretly loved it being an organization freak and i loved getting to look at past issues since i cant get my hands on the magazines up north.)

Today (Saturday) was my first day off so I actually had daylight to go out and explore! It was such a great day. I went for a run along the battery and water front, as well as through the french quarter which i hadn't really explored before. I got lunch at this little baby deli that i saw featured in our magazine, its one lady and one guy (siblings maybe?) and they make the food right in front of you, all fresh ingredients and they will make anything of their menu vegetarian or vegan. not too mention it was CHEAP! I took it go and had a little picnic in battery park and read my book for a while. It was a beautifullll day! in the fifties with a slight breeze and sooo sunny so it felt warmer. after exploring the historic district and walking through the east bay park and dog park (so many adorable kids and pooches!!!) I headed to King Street to go to my fav place ever, Yogurt Mountain! it is the best froyo place in the world i'm convinced. like 15 flavors of yogurt plus about 100 toppings! and its all done by weight so its completely self serve, its heavenly. then i finally headed back to the apartment to relax. we'll see what the evening brings.

I also met a lady today from NJ, so random. she came up to me at waterfront park asking me a question that i obviously couldn't answer. we got chatting and turns out she grew up in cranford but lived in sparta before moving to wilmington, NC. when i asked why she left her response was "there was 2 feet of snow on the ground and i looked out my window and said I can't live here anymore. so i piled my kids in the car and drove until i felt like stopping. i wish i had made it to charleston but i got tired in NC, saw a sign for wilmington and thought it seemed fine. i've been there for the last 8 years."

I was speechless, how crazy but awesome. you go girl!

oh the charleston chronicles shall continue....