A Rude Awakening

Ophelia, you are so lucky to be in Milan!

L.A was indeed a ton of fun Rose! I have to say, I wish I were back right now.

I’m back in NY and things could not be any worse…

I got home last Sunday night at 10pm expecting to go out for a quick bite to eat with el novio at our favourite Argentinian, El Libertador up around 89^th…only to find the apartment empty...

All I found was a note on my desk saying:

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry”.

What the fuck?!?! I mean come on what the hell is happening??

I started hyperventilating…I could feel a panic attack coming…I looked around to make sure that I wasn’t being filmed like they do on Candid Camera. Nothing. No camera. Nothing.

I haven’t spoken to you girls about this yet, because I was hoping he may show up by now… but still nada. I’ve called. I’ve emailed. I’ve stalked madly. But nothing. All I’ve gotten is a lousy text saying: “It’s not you, it’s me. I’m so sorry.”

The most peculiar thing is that things were going really well. He had just finished his internship in London….and now this? There were no signs of this coming…none… NADA!!

Ok, I can’t bare writing anymore, Ophelia can I give you a call? I think you must know how I feel.

Ttyl. Flora xoxo

Nothing Good Is Eternal

Ophelia!  How is Milan?  I couldn't be more jealous if I tried.  Any delicious men showing you around?

Flora, it was so flippin' nice to see you on the West Coast last week.  Thanks for the party invite ;)  I had a fantabulous time, although I wish we got to spend more time together!

My intern life just got a lot bleaker.  My BFF at work, my confidant, my partner in crime is leaving!  He gave his notice on Friday and he leaves in 3 weeks.  I actually don't know what to do with myself.  What is work without that person?  Who do I replace him with?  Ugh! 

This is the same guy that I went on a couple of dates with a few months ago.  I'm sure I mentioned it to you guys... but we agreed to just be friends.  My god did we make each other laugh...  I seriously used to look forward to going into work and sitting in traffic on the 405!  

He was my office crush, and now he is gone :'(

XXX

Rose

Ciao Milano!

Dearest girls,
Rose, I am sorry to hear Romeo and Juliet are getting on your nerves!  There is nothing worse than PDA!  Yuck!  Flora, what's the latest with you?

I wanted to write quickly to tell you that I will be MIA for the next week and a half because I am heading back to Milan for work!  Our last Milan trip was very successful and now my boss is considering opening a permanent Milan office!  While I am thrilled to be going on the trip (Corso Como anyone?), I am praying that he doesn't ask me to move to Milan permanently!  Imagine having to choose between Paris and my job!?  I couldn't handle it!

Anyway, I am going to try to make the best of this trip.  I have never been particularly fond of Milan, having visited four times now, but my boss has rented me an apartment (!!) for my stay so I'll pretend I'm a local and make the most of it!   Who knows, maybe I'll even be wined and dined by a dashing Italian during my trip!  

I'll try to write you from my little appartamento milanese with updates!

Bisous xx Ophelia

Another Kind Of Intern Hell

Ophelia,  welcome to life as a single woman.   To be honest sometimes it is good to just be alone and remember who you are without your other half.  Still tough though...

Speaking of all things relationship, there are two people at my work who just started dating and they literally make me want to throw up!  I mean, I am happy for them and all that jazz.... but for f***s sake they are all about PDA and I find it so uncomfortable to be around.

They think it is ok to be kissing at work, after work, when we are out for drinks, when we are at a friend's house...  it is just too intense for me.

 Unfortunately, it makes me not want to hang out with them anymore. Also, somehow their fun levels have just drastically dropped since they hooked up.  Why is it that that happens?!  They are soooo boring now!

Oh well, I better get back to work and try avoid the happy couple.

O, I'll give you a call later on today so that we can chat.  I'm here if you need anything.

xxx

Rose

The Single Intern

Well girls, it is official:  I am single.  Le Boyfriend and I decided to go our separate ways after almost three years.  Three years, can you believe it!?  He is off on a new adventure in distant lands (Toronto) but this adopted Parisienne just couldn't bring herself to leave!  Fear not, darling interns, it was amicable.  No need to curse his name or plot his demise!  ha!  That said, I am definitely feeling his absence.  There is no one to talk to when I come home.  No one asks me about my day.   I was so settled, everything was so comfortable and now there's a hole.  Sniff!  I guess I'm not feeling as magnifique as I thought I was!  Time to change the subject before I cry!

My new relationship status has me thinking about my current living situation.  I am getting a little sick of my neighborhood and my neighbor (aka my boss) and I'm ready to shake things up a bit.  New life, new arrondissement!  Le 6ieme has treated me well, but I am ready to make the move... to the 7ieme!  haha!  Rue de Bac, Rue de Grenelle, Rue Cler...  Flora, what do you think?  I know how you love the 7th!  Rose, if you would come visit me you would know what I'm talking about!  Malheureusement, I am setting myself up for the horror of apartment hunting in Paris (for every gem you also see countless dumps!), but I think a change of scenery will do me a world of good.  Plus, I have a wild card up my sleeve:  I'm no longer an intern!  Remember the trouble I had last year?

Bisous xx Ophelia

Eternally Stuck

Flora, I am definitely in town and can't wait to catch up on the West Coast !   What are your dates exactly?

Ladies, my car finally broke down last week and I was in the middle of the flippin freeway!  This has been my nightmare since moving to Los Angeles.  It was such a hot day as well and there I was in the middle of the 101 on my way to Los Feliz to meet a friend, and my stupid hunk of junk just died on me !  I had to wait for a AAA for an hour without any air con so just sat in my car and tried to hide my face from all the people driving by.

I am going to meet a friend of a friend today who is selling his old car for an amazing price and guess what? It is a convertible!  It may be ancient as f***k, but I have never owned a convertible before!

I really hope that getting rid of that horrid car is a sign that there are new and exciting things headed my way.  I am so jealous of you guys with your fancy meetings, and here I am, a true Eternal Intern striving to one day move up to the position of Assistant!  How pathetic does that sound?  Haha, oh well, at least I can now drive onto the studio lot without trying to hide my rusted ride from my coworkers!  It's something I suppose!

BTW, Flora, no arguments I am absolutely picking you up from LAX (in my new car!).  Send me your flight details!

Lots of love,

xxx

Rose

East Coast, West Coast!

Rose! Huge news!! Huge huge news!

I’m coming to L.A. my friend! Sofia just sent me a bbm telling me that I’m confirmed to head out next week!
I’m gonna be working on an event at a private home in Beverly Hills…the home of some very wealthy philanthropist couple…he’s in the movie industry and she’s apparently your typical “real housewife of Beverly hills” ;) I can’t wait!

Anyways, they’re hosting this event in partnership with our magazine to raise money for a Cali-based children’s charity. It’s not a huge event, logistics-wise (we’re more there simply for the image), but it’s huge visibility and apparently there is going to be “la creme de la creme” in Hollywood society!

My role in all of this: make sure everything goes smoothly! I’ll be coordinating the event with an event-planning company that’s already there - less work and more fun for me! - and basically just boss people around! And…..yes….the secret “and”…I will be attending the party in lieu of my boss!

This is a huge opportunity for me to make my mark, show my skills and prove how capable I am…and how I need that deserved raise ;)

Rose - you’ll be in town right?? Please say yes! They are putting me up in the Beverly Hills Hotel…yes this is crazy and still just sinking in….and I’ll def be working around the clock, but I shoud be free for coffee!! Annnndddd if all goes well I can try and score you an invite to the party…good networking for you, no?

Ok enough with email! I’ll call you lates to plan! Ophelia I wish you could be there too!!

Bisousssss!!

Flora xoxo

The Weekender

Hello my darling girls,
Flora, glad to hear you're keeping cool in the city!  I, on the other hand, have become a weekender on the beautiful Ile de Ré.  I was there last weekend and the weekend before (and two weekends before that!).  I have fallen in love with the place and my friend Kurt has kindly opened his house to me for the summer!  It is like the Hamptons of France!  Three hours from Paris and I am on the beach... how can a girl say no?  And after last week, I needed to get away!  Mélanie, the intern from hell (no, she hasn't been fired yet!), was her typically difficult self every day last week.  I should start a column called  "Mélanie the Monster's Weekly Shenanigans":

Monday:  Melissa is 45 minutes late for work.  No explanation.

Tuesday:  My boss and I left for meeting and Mélanie took a two hour lunch (or so my colleagues report)

Wednesday:  I sent her out to buy lunch for the boss and she complained that it was too sunny and she had forgotten her sunglasses.

Thursday:  She was asked to send emails to five separate business associates, each email containing personal, sensitive information.  To "save time" the Monster cc'd them all in the same email.  You can only imagine how that went over with our associates.

Friday:  Mélanie arrives an hour late (It was her best friend's birthday the night before!); she has her head on the desk for most of the morning.  The boss send her to buy lunch and she loses the receipt.  She is generally rude and disagreeable.  She asks to leave early because she is not feeling well.

Now, you must be wondering WHY the girl hasn't been fired... because I am!  Well, it turns out my boss used to work with her uncle so the "family connection" is stopping him from showing her the door!  I don't care if she's his sister, the girl has to go!

Oh how I enjoyed two Mélanie-free days!  A gorgeous weekend relaxing on the beach, lunches on the terrace at Kurt's house, drinks at adorable local spots!  Another perfect weekend!  I think I need to buy my own house and move there full-time!

Bisous xx Ophelia

Hot Child in the City

Rose how inspiring!! That's so courageous and brave! Good for her!!

On a total tangent!! Girls! I’ve solved my air conditoning conundrum. I finally have cool air and I can finally sleep! Last week I never imagined I would ever complain about air conditioning…the sticky, humid, ny air was just too much…but…as with all luxuries we get used to… I have simply one complaint….

No, not about my air conditioning at home…but about that at work.

There is a veritable paradox in NYC regarding how one should dress during the two focal seasons of the city: winter and summer.

In the winter, heat rises profusely through the offices. In the summer, air conditioner is blasted on every level. This leads to a psyzophrenic wardrobe dilemna.

In the winter one must dress down. Sleeveless tops, light cardigans…offices get incredibly warm, employees are often unable to open windows, and thus one resorts to removing layers and layers of clothes.
In the summer, however, the opposite is apparent. The air conditionning is programmed at such a level that the most common accessory one can notice in our office, for instance, are cashmere pashminas!
I’m telling you, this is insane!

Just yesterday morning, H, my hilarious PR intern, came in the cutest Liliy Pulitzer dress. She sat at her desk…opened her drawer and pulled out this huge wool turtleneck that she slipped on! I turned my head and I noticed the department secretary with her pashmina around her neck, and then behind me, the same thing…
It’s hilarious, outside people are removing layer after layer of clothing to stay cool in the NY heat, and yet indoor the air is so cool we’re all covering up, catching colds and sipping hot tea!!

Speaking of tea, I drank 5 yesterday I was so cold ;)

Besitos!

Flora

Cheers To A New Intern

Hey ladies.

Flora, the weather in LA has been odd and inconsistent, but at the moment I am boiling!  I still can't get enough of the sunshine!  What a nice difference from the Toronto weather I grew up with for over 20 years!

Ophelia, I just met up with your friend Tara from NYC.  What an inspiration! We caught up over some divine Mexican cuisine in West Hollywood.  Nothing like a slow-cooked pork burrito!

Tara, at the age of 26, has decided to leave behind her cushy government job and pursue a career in public relations.  She is interning at one of the most  exciting firms in LA and she has never been happier.  She actually is motivated to get out of bed in the mornings!  No regrets!  Onwards to bigger and better for her.

The life of an intern is full of hope, dreams, and courage!

So here is to you, Tara, and all the other Eternal Interns out there!  Cheers!

XXX

Rose