Another Day in the Life

9am: arrive at my Soft Toy class - lay out my Princess Monster color drawings, sketches, early prototypes of my monster, and sewing supplies.

9:30: transfer pattern shapes of my princess monster to muslin fabric

10am: Start cutting out patterns. Begin to ask classmates where we should eat for lunch, as we have a larger break today before the next class, and the weather is beautiful. They all mumble something indecisive, (as usual)

10:30: Act jovial, as visitors from the Toy Industry Association bring their kids to see our class for "Bring Your Kids to Work Day"

10:40: One boy looks at my princess monster drawing. I say, "Do you have any questions?" And he asks, "Why is one tooth is larger than the other?" I say, "Well, she's imperfect. Like people are imperfect. And I thought it would be funny." Later, he says, "Good luck!" He seems nice, but I can't tell if he's being sincere or facetious.

11:00: Help my classmate figure out how to adjust her plush monster shape, so that it has more of a old-man beer belly

11:15: Start sewing my third prototype for my princess monster. Hear my Plush Toy teacher announce that she's five months pregnant with her fourth child!

noon: Start to freak out as hunger rage sets in

12:20: Frantically find cookies in my emergency snack box to eat, knowing that my classmates take forever to pack up and agree on lunch

12:30: pack up and head out the door to lunch, hoping the rest will hurry up

12:45: Run across the street to get "Parksberry" (a Pinkberry knockoff), only to find that their yogurt machine is broken!

1pm: Get exasperated waiting for the last student to join us for lunch, promptly grabbing two of my classmates to finally go find a new place for lunch

1:15: subway uptown to 42nd Street, then delight in the beautiful, sunny weather while wandering around Times Square

1:30: Finally decide to eat at Junior's, which I had never been to. They bring out free pickles and beets!! I have a chocolate egg cream drink, egg salad, and a delicious matzo ball soup. I decide that I love this place, for its retro decor & music and yummy homestyle food.

2:30: walk briskly to the MoMA, where we are meeting our History of Industrial Design teacher for a tour. We check out the 3rd floor exhibit of Industrial Design, and then the Elastic Mind exhibit, where I spot one of my ex-coworkers' new media art (and also co-alumni of UCLA). Especially amused by the interactive shadow monster art, the Jonathan Harris piece on internet dating, and the products for a "lonely man." Decide that I'll have to go back later, since it's crowded and I'm too tired to look at everything.

4:45: Check out the bookstore, since our teacher offered his staff discount to us. Note a couple book titles to mark on my wishlist.

5:15: Join two classmates to hunt for doll accessories for our plush toys. They need shoes and I need a tiara. We walk over to American Girl, which I've never been to. It's a madhouse of girls and doting parents, and I am unimpressed by the aesthetics of these dolls. They have maybe 30 variations of the doll faces to choose from. But I am surprised to see that the one doll option with the Asian face appears to be the cutest! (Seriously! Go see for yourself!)

5:30: walk over toward Build-a-Bear, where we also find "Friends 2B Made," (–which is like Build-a-Bear, but with plush girls and boys instead of plush bears and animals.) My classmates find a couple shoe possibilities, so they buy them as backup. I buy a princess outfit at Build-a-Bear that has a decent tiara, as a backup for my princess monster.

6pm: head toward the subway, then spot a 99-cent store. I stop in to see if they have tiaras. They have some, that aren't so pretty, but I buy one just in case (only 99 cents!). I also spot red, star-shaped child sunglasses that are party favors. I buy them for my classmate who has designed his plush monkey with star-shaped glasses.

6:20: subway downtown to Canal Street. I peek in a couple cheap Chinatown junky jewelry/accessories stores to browse rhinestone supplies. Nothing looks good.

6:40 stop in a fabric shop, where I find gold lamé fabric, thread, and pink rhinestones, with which I hope to create the perfect tiara.

7pm: get home, exhausted, have a snack, check my email, IM with a friend, and blog.

Now I'm going to watch 30 Rock with some leftover cheesecake from my roommate who spoils me, then hit the hay.

(Tomorrow I go intern with those cute little 4 and 5-year old kids again. And for Marketing class, we're meeting at the Times Square Toys R Us for another tour! I'll have to remember to go pick up an 80s Edition of Singstar and Karaoke Revolution's American Idol Encore while I'm there.)