"Let's get you photographed!"

Today, we had a special visitor, and it was very exciting! Robert Vano, a very successful and well-known Czech photographer, came and gave us a little presentation on fashion photography. He has worked for Elle, Harper's Bazaar, shot editorials for Vogue, and many other famous fashion magazines. Right now, he's here giving us tips on how to take good pictures of our costumes we are working on so we can send in some photos for the Art-to-Wear pre-show at NC State. Now, all I need to do is actually finish my costume before I go to Berlin this weekend! But so far, things are turning out really well:
I've got the coat ALMOST finished (all I have left is the lining), pants are ALMOST done, and my top hat is ALMOST done. So I guess I'm almost there... I'll post some pictures later today :)

Tomorrow, we are working with the photography students in the program on a little fashion shoot with Robert Vano, and I can't wait. The fashion students get to be models for the day, and we're even having make-up artists come in! It's really awesome to be having a really experienced professional giving us great advice and insider tips on "the business." So if I can get my hands on some pictures, I'll be sure to post one on here!

A photograph from Robert Vano's The Platinum Collection

Busy bee

Today was so great- it's a day that I will ever forget!
A group of us went to a bee institute about 30 minutes outside of Prague (in a very small town, Dol) to see how bees behave, produce honey, wax, etc. It was really interesting, and I definitely enjoyed the free samples of honey we got :)
We left Prague at about 10am, and rolled through the countryside by train over to Dol- it was a gorgeous train ride along the Vltava River, and I got some pretty good pictures, which you can see on my online photo album!

When we arrived to the institute, we started right off by going up to see the hives. I will admit, I was a little bit nervous because I didn't want to be stung and attacked by thousands of bees (after all, we were about to go approach the homes of almost 1 million bees). But we were reassured by our guide that everything would be okay, as long as we stayed calm and didn't get "aggressive" with the bees. And it actually turned out to be a lot of fun! We were able to see up close how bees produce honey, feed on honey, the eggs they produce in the honeycombs, and even seeing bees "hatching" from the honeycombs. It was amazing! I even got to hold some of the honeycombs, and pet the bees.

Looky looky!

After that, we got to eat lunch, complete with bread and lots of different flavors of honey! There were so many different types: sunflower, lime, buckwheat, honeydew honey, and others that I can't remember. My favorite was the sunflower honey :) We also got a taste of honey wine. Honey wine is VERY strong, as in 18% strong... so we only had very small glasses to try. It was good, but it kind of reminded me of Robitussin cough medicine. Maybe it's an acquired taste. In addition to all these delicious honey treats, we also tried honey chocolate. That was by far my favorite thing I ate today, maybe even on this entire trip. I bought a bar to bring home with me, but I ended up eating it on the train back to Prague- oopsies.
The rest of the weekend, I plan on spending in the studio to get some good work done on my costume. Wish me luck!! I'm going to be very busy trying to get this done within the next week!

Making progress!

I've FINALLY started sewing my costume together, and I'm really excited about it! I'm making a suit for my costume, and I began working on my jacket this morning and have gotten a lot done. It's hard to tell from the picture, but there are going to be white flower appliques across the jacket. And, if I do say so myself, they look very pretty :) All I've get left to do with the jacket is add sleeves, a (faux) fur collar, and do some beading. I can't wait to see the finished product!

Not a whole lot has happened this week, besides working in studio and going to class. I did get a 100 on a test in my Czech Language class, which I was really surprised by. But it's nice to know that I'm actually not half bad at speaking and understanding Czech. I still feel really confused when I attempt talking with the locals, but I'm learning at least!

Tomorrow, we are taking a trip to a bee farm to see how honey is made, and also get FREE HONEY! Homemade honey, for free- I couldn't ask for anything better. It's going to be a perfect day for it, too, with sun sun sun and 65 degrees! So excited!

Here comes the sun!

It was a pretty dreary week for weather, but it has finally started to clear up today! And it looks like the weather is going to be pretty nice the rest of the week- high 40s to low 50s and sunny everyday :) That always sounds good to me.
Not a whole lot happened this week, just finished up some sketches for my costume design so I can go buy fabric for it on Monday! I promise that I will actually put some pictures up of the process, instead of just continually saying that. I'm hoping to get a lot done this coming week on my costume, so hopefully there will be some good progress to show is some blog posts later...
Yesterday, the fashion studios had a day trip to a little town called Jablonec in northern Bohemia, about an hour and a half outside of Prague. The town is mainly known for it's production of glass and jewelry, hence the whole reason we went there. We went there to get beads for decorations on our costumes, and I got some really pretty black glass beads that are very sparkly, so I'm excited to see how it'll turn out on top of white fabric- hopefully it will stand out well! Unfortunately, it was a terrible day to see the town. Because it's up on the mountains of the Czech Republic, Jablonec tends to be about 15 degrees colder than it is Prague. It was 35, and raining/snowing ALL day long. Not the best walking weather.

It was still a really fun day, despite the weather. We also got the chance to go to a well-known and very successful producer of cut crystal, Preciosa. They're mainly known for producing beads and fashion jewelry, but also make chandeliers and art pieces- they've actually done a lot of work for casinos in Las Vegas, which I thought was really cool! They even gave us a free pair of crystal earrings for visiting their headquarters. Score!

Crystal art sculpture in the lobby of Preciosa headquarters- so pretty!

Tonight, most of us are going out to a masquerade-themed dance to celebrate some birthdays from earlier in the week. It should be a lot of fun, and I'm all set with my gold sparkly mask!

The time has come...

... for spring break to end :(
I had a really great break from school, and I'm sad for it to be over. My mom and Tony left early Friday morning, and I miss them so much already! We had a lot of fun together, and I'm really glad that I got the chance to show them around this amazing city, and that they enjoyed it so much.

On Wednesday, I took them up Petrin Hill and to the Observation Tower, so I could show off the breathtaking view of this gorgeous city. From there, we went to the Strahov Monestary where they brew their own beer- had a good lunch of Sv. Norbert beer with beer-onion soup, YUM! And because it was such a nice day outside (50 degrees!), we decided to walk down the hill to drop by the castle grounds and walk around for a little while. At night, we happened upon a little festival in the middle of Old Town Square, complete with ham and sausage stands, a folk band, and trdelnik stands! Trdelniks are a traditional Slavic pastry made from rolled dough, wrapped around a stick, which is then grilled and covered in a glaze and a sugar-walnut mix. Needless to say, we ate some delicious food. We ended the night drinking some good beer, and having good family bonding time- to describe the night, I'll quote Tony: "Czech beer is so good, ya can't just stop at one!" and "It isn't a party at the Maxwell/Kings without dancing!" :)

See what I mean? And, yes, that is a bowl on top of my head...

Thursday, we took a quick train ride to Kutna Hora. The day started off very dreary and gloomy, so it was the perfect time to make a trip to the eerie old Bone Church. It was something that I couldn't let Mommy and Tony miss out on, since they had flown all the way out here! Upon our return to Prague, we were pleased to see the sun start to peek from the overcast skies. As the day went on, the weather continued to get much better, so we just walked around the city for the remainder of the day. Overall, it was a pretty busy week, but still lots of fun and relaxing at the same time.
I spent the rest of the weekend enjoying the quiet time back at the pension by reading, watching some movies, and taking some nice walks by myself through some parks around the city. I was also very productive and finally did some laundry!

Oh, and some news: I had a Skype interview with Nordstrom in San Francisco about a summer internship! It seemed to go really well, and I should be hearing back from them within the next few weeks. So, keep your fingers crossed for me- I really hope that I get it!

So that's all I have going on at the moment. As sad as I am that break is over, I am pretty excited to get back into the studio to start work on our insect costume project! If I get some good things accomplished this week, I'll be sure to post some pictures to keep you all posted on the process.

Back in Praha... with visitors!

Paris was awesome! I was able to cram in a lot in two (very short) days.
Friday, I started my day off with eating the best croissant and baguette I've ever had in my life. I wish I could've taken a million of them back with me to Prague. After breakfast, I headed over with the group to the Paris Sur Mode Atelier and Atmosphere trade shows. Basically, we just walked around and saw a bunch of different designers new collections for the spring- the show was intended for buyers, and not really for students. But, it was still a really great experience and it was definitely motivating to see several independent designers work and how they started up their business. From there, I started my sightseeing for the day! I walked over to Notre Dame, went to an amazing crepe stand in the Latin Quarter, and then to the Eiffel Tower to meet up with my friend Christine! It was so great to see her, and I'm really glad that I got the chance to gallivant around Paris with her, it was a nice reunion :)
I also went up to the top of the Arc de Triomphe to get a beautiful view of the city.

Nicole, Me, and Christine on top of the Arc de Triomphe

I ended Friday night with a visit to the Louvre, and I never knew how big the museum actually was! It was overwhelming how much art was in there, and I got the chance to see the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo- very cool.
Saturday, I went and revisited some of the same sights I saw Friday, and also made a stop at the Luxembourg Gardens. It was really nice outside that day, so I had a picnic in the gardens with Christine and Nicole, complete with baguette paninis and delicious raspberry tarts. It was a great way to end the weekend in Paris. I've posted pics from Paris on my online photo album, so check 'em out!

So, now I'm back in Prague, and I have to say that I'm very glad to be back "home." Mainly because I came back with visitors! My mom and Tony came to visit for the week, and so far we've gotten a lot done. Yesterday, we went through Old Town, New Town and Wenceslas Square, over to the Charles Bridge, and up to the Letna Gardens. I love having them here, and it's been nice being the guide around town.
Today we're heading up Petrin Hill. I can't wait for them to see the view from the Observation Tower, especially since it's supposed to be a gorgeous day- sunny and clear skies with a temp of 50 degrees. It should be a great day!

Un, deux, trois... Off to Paris!

I'm about to head out to the airport to go Paris for the weekend, and I am so excited!! Our flight leaves at about 8:30 tonight, but I'm giving myself PLENTY of time to get myself over to the airport. It's on the very outside part of the city here, and it takes a least an hour to get out there on the tram. But, we have to change trams at least twice, and then hop on a bus, and knowing myself I'll probably get lost at least once...
The only thing I'm nervous about upon arriving in Paris is figuring out the metro there. It looks crazy!

I've gotten pretty spoiled with the very basic public transportation system in Prague. There are only three different metro lines in Prague, compared to the three billion lines in Paris! I'm ready for the challenge.
My plans for tomorrow are as follows:
-Wake up, eat breakfast
-Paris Sur Mode (a fashion tradeshow and exhibition for Paris Fashion Week)
-SIGHTSEEING!

Be expecting some pictures up within the next couple of days! Au revoir!