Zanimljivosti iz Njujorka / Fun time in New York

Dragi čitaoci, izvinite što se ne javljam češće, ali prosto ne stižem da pišem blog od svih zanimljivosti koje proživljavam u Njujorku.

Dear readers, I'm sorry I don't write more often, but I just can't manage to write a blog with all the interesting happenings I've been through in New York. 

Kao što sam već pisala, prošlog ponedeljka sam počela da stažiram u Burda Style, i konačno shvatila koliko mnogo posla podrazumeva vođenje sajta, priprema proslave i promocija knjige! Burda Style tim je veoma mali, broji svega desetak ljudi, a posla ima za bar još toliko. 

Prvi dan stažiranja je prošao prilično lagano, međutim, pravi posao sam osetila na svojim leđima već narednog dana. Kao što već znate, promocija je bila zakazana za četvrtak, a tim je, sasvim simbolično, nosio garderobu koja je zapravo bila varijacija krojeva predstavljenih u knjizi. Čak je i Dejvid, koordinator sajta i jedini momak u timu, imao majicu koja je bila inspirisana krojem iz knjige (svi su se zaista potrudili da promovišu knjigu delima, a ne samo rečima!). 

Ono što sam ja trebala da uradim je da sašijem haljinu koju je Nora, osnivač sajta, nosila na žurci. Varijacija je bila prilično jednostavna, ali sam imala veoma malo vremena na raspolaganju, a uz Norin raspored prepun obaveza, bilo je teško ugrabiti momenat za probu. Na moje iznenađenje, kancelarije u kojima tim radi u veoma male, i nema sobe ya šivenje! Morala sam da se snađem i organizujem sebi prostor, pa sam jedan dan sedela u kancelariji za računovodstvo i šila rame uz rame sa damama koje vode knjige! No, dala sam sve od sebe, i haljina je bila gotova bukvalno jedan sat pre početka žurke.

As I wrote before, I started working as an intern at Burda Style last Monday, and I finally realized how much work it takes to run a website, prepare the book promotion and the party! The Burda Style team is a very small one, it counts around ten people, but there's enough work for ten more of them.

The first internship day ran smoothly, but the following day I realized how it really feels to work there. As you know, the book party was scheduled for Thursday, and team, quite symbolically, wore the variations from the book patterns. Even David, the website coordinator, and the only guy in the team had a tee that was inspired  by the pattern from the book (everyone tried to promote the book not only with words but with deeds!). 
My task was to sew a dress for Nora, the website co-founder, to wear it on the party. The dress variation was a very simple one, but I had such a short time for sewing, and with Nora's busy schedule, it was almost impossible to grab a moment for fitting. Additionally, I was very surprised to see that the offices the team works at were very small and there was no sewing room! I had to be very practical and super organized so one day I was sitting in an accountant office and sewed side by side with the Burda Style accountants! However, I did my best and finished the dress an hour before the party started.

 

No, nećemo još o žurci... U proslu sredu sam prvi put u životu išla na kuglanje (ovaj sport je tek nedavno počeo da se praktikuje u Srbiji, ali nisam imala prilike da se oprobam u njemu): članovi sajta, koji su kao i ja radili na knjizi, su bili pozvani na druženje, što je ispalo sjajno. Zaključila sam da kuglanje definitivno nije sport za mene, ali sam se svejedno sjajno provela. Upoznala sam Dženifer, koja je i moderator foruma na sajtu, zatim Grejs i  Elen, a Džodi sam znala još od ranije (upoznale smo se u Februaru, kada je posetila Beograd). Na žalost, nisam imala fotoaparat pri ruci, ali se nadam da ću dobiti fotografije koje su drugi uslikati te večeri.

Sama žurka je bila fenomenalna! Neverovatan je osećaj biti deo tako kreativnog društva, i učestvovati u izradi knjige kakva je ova. Kao da smo svi poznate filmske zvezde, prilazili smo jedni drugima i uzajamno se divili veštinama i kreacijama onog drugog. Potpuno nesvakidašnje iskustvo, koje se pamti doveka! Mala družina na slici ispod se prilično ludirala tokom fotografisanja, sjajno se provodeći pri tom.

But, we'll talk about the party later... last Wednesday I played bowling for the first time (this sport appeared in Serbia recently, but I haven't had an opportunity to try it out) - I was invited, along with  other bok contributors, to hang out together, which turned out great. I realized the bowling was not my type of sport but I still had a great time there. I met Jennifer, who's a website moderator, then Grace and Helene, and I knew Jodi from before (we met in February, when she visited Belgrade). Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me that night, but I hope I'll get the photos from that night from other people's cameras. 

The party itself was fantastic! It feels amazing to be in such a creative company and to participate in making a book like this one. As if we all were some super famous movie stars, we'd approach to each other on the party and praise each other's work. It's one of a kind experience that we all will remember as long as we live! The small band from the photo bellow had such a great time while posing for the photo shoot.

Gornji red / Top row: Sew4my3, Nettie, wzrdreams, Jodika

Donji red red / Bottom row: CarotteSauvage, David, jem1022, moja malenkost / myself

Od žurke pa do početka prosle nedelje, cunjala sam gradom i provodila se sa Elen i Džodi, koje su kao i ja došle čak iz Evrope da bi prisustvovale promociji (Elen je Francuskinja, ali živi u Lonodnu, dok je Džodi Novozelanđanka, ali živi u Budimpešti). Moram da priznam da je Elen bila pravo iznenađenje: dok sam gledala njene fotografije na Burda Style sajtu, uvek sam je doživljavala kao mirnu, romantično setnu osobu. Zapravo, ona je poput energetske bombe, koja skakuće svuda i priča u rafalu, zabavljajući sve oko sebe :). 

U ponedeljak mi se Džodi pridružila kao stažista u Burda Style, tako da mi je još zanimljivije! Nikada ranije nisam imala priliku da šijem u grupi, i zaista je sjajno gledati kako drugi ljudi rade, i razmenjivati mišljenje i ideje na licu mesta.

From the party to the beginning of the last week, I wandered through the city and spent my time with Helene and Jodi, who came all the way from Europe (Helene is French but she lives in London, UK, while Jodi is New Zelander living in Budapest, Hungary) for the promotion party. I have to say - Helene was quite a surprise to me: While looking at ther photos from the website, I had an impression she was rather quiet and romantic-sad kind of person. Actually, she's like some sort of an energy bomb, that jumps around and talks in a heartbit, entertaining everyone around herself :). 

On Monday Jodi joined me as an intern at Burda Style, and I had so much fun with her around! I've never han an oportunity to sew in a group before, and I can say it's amazing to watch other people while they work and to exchange opinions and ideas right on spot.

Osim Burda Style drugarica, imala sam još par zanimljivih društvenih momenata. Najveći i meni najdirljiviji bio je poziv da odem na proslavu Dana zahvalnosti (24. Novembar), koji mi je uputila Klodin. Moram da napomenem: u trenutku kada mi je poslala pozivnicu, Klodin me znala samo u našem malom virtuelnom krojačkom društvu. Njen gest me oduševio, više nego što mogu da opišem. S moje strane sveta, u Srbiji, Dan zahvalnosti je praznik za koji znamo sa filmova, i o kome učimo na časovima engleskog jezika, ali malo ko ima priliku da ga lično iskusi, i zaista sam počastvovana što ću ga proslaviti u krugu njene porodice.

U međuvremenu sam i lično upoznala svoju buduću domaćicu, i zaista uživala u našem ćaskanju. Zamislite nas četiri, Klodin, Elen, Džodi i mene, kako čavrljamo o šivenju, pisanju bloga, ličnim iskuistvima i problemima; situacija kakvu nisam ni sanjala da ću doživeti (iskreno, oduvek sam potajno zavidela autorkama blogova koje pratim, koje su se redovno okupljale, išle zajedno u kupovinu materijala, čavrljale o svom hobiju, i posle još i pisale o tome!). Ujedno, dobila sam par odličnih saveta i preporuka gde da potražim materijale i knjige koje sam želela da kupim.

Along with my Burda Stylr friends, I had few more interesting social moments. The one that striked out was an invitation for Thanksgiving dinner that came from Claudine. I have to say - at the moment when she invited me, she only knew me via our small virtual society of sewists. I was stunned by her gesture more than I could describe. On my side of the world, in Serbia, we've been introduced to Thanksgiving holiday only via American movies and English lessons, but not many had the opportunity to experience the joy of the holiday in person. That's why I'm especially flattered to be invited to celebrate it with Claudine's family.

Meanwhile, I met my future hostess, and I really enjoyed our chatting. Can you imagine four of us - Claudine, Helene, Jodi and me chatting about sewing, blogging, personal experiences and problems; a situation I've never even dreamed of experiencing (to be honest, I always secterly envied those bloggers, who had their regular meetings and fabric shopping, while chatting about their hobby. And, as if that wasn't enough, they would post about it on their blogs afterwards!). I was given a lot of tips and advice on where to buy fabrics and books I wanted to buy.

Kad smo već kod knjiga, kupila sam sebi dve, koje priželjkujem već duže vreme. U pitanju su knjige iz serije Pattern Magic, vol 1 i vol 2, koje sadrže uputstva za šivenje veoma zanimljivih kreacija, koje više podsećaju na skulpture nego na garderobu. Od kako se knjiga pojavila na tržištu, videla sam brojne varijacije koje su kreativci širom sveta pravili, i divila se neverovatnim krojevima. Sada jedva čekam da i sama isprobam neke od njih!

Speaking of books, I bought myself two books I've been wanting for a while - Pattern Magic vol 1 and vol 2. Ever since they appeared on the internet, I've seen numerous variations from the books made by creative people from around the world and I've admired the amazing construction the garments had. Now I can't wait to try some of the ideas myself!

Nadam se da ću stići da napišem još jedan post pre kraja puta. Do tada, puno pozdrava iz Njujorka!

I hope I'll manage to write one more post before I end my trip. Until then, I'm sending you greetings from New York!