Shecky's Beauty Night Out in NYC

Above: Maria Kucinski, Erica Swallow, Jamall Oluokun and Kriti Bhandari

I recently attended my first Shecky's Beauty Night Out with three lovely friends (pictured above). Shecky's is most known for their Girls Night Out, an event that pulls together the best of fashion, cocktails, food and fun! They also have Holiday Night Out and Getaways! Beauty Night Out is all about beauty... makeup, face, hygiene and dietary products. Even more exciting, all of the events include a HUGE Goodie Bag! The giftbag is so well-known that they call it "Shecky's Famous Goodie Bag". haha. The goodie bag was simply wonderful, to say the least. It's definitely the biggest goodie bag I've ever received at an event. Of course, there is a price to enter, but still!

If you're curious about Shecky's, I say go! It was definitely worth it! (Tip: Sign up for the Shecky's Insiders program for discounts before purchasing tickets.)

For more information, check out the Shecky's photo gallery!

Make a Dent in the World Water Crisis!

Dear Friends,

I'm trying to help put a dent in the world water crisis and I need your help. I've created three projects via charity:water, each with a goal of raising $5,000, enough funds to build a water well in a community in need of clean water. I'm asking that all of my friends and family find it in their hearts to donate, as there are millions of people without the basic need of water.

I've made three funds to match my friends' interests:

1.) NYU Fund: For all of my NYU friends that want to make a difference. This fund goes towards helping bring water to schools in need of it. Have some school pride and donate today at http://new.charitywater.org/nyufund.

2.) NYC Fund: For the city known for its water towers, atop every building. This fund is for all the New Yorkers who care about delivering clean water to people in need. Donate now at http://new.charitywater.org/nyc.

3.) Erica & Weikai's 2nd Anniversary: Today is the 2nd anniversary of dating for Weikai and me! In celebration, we're asking all of our friends and family to find it in their hearts to donate to the millions without water. We're lucky enough to have been born in societies with an overabundance of water. Let's give back. Donate now at http://new.charitywater.org/EricaandWeikai.

With all of my love and best wishes for you and yours!
Erica

NYU RAN Alumni Mixer Tomorrow

Hey NYU friends! Are you going to be at the NYU Recent Alumni Network Alumni Mixer tomorrow? Weikai (my boyfriend) and I will be there. See you there!

Click on the invitation above for more details!

No Snow Day at NYU

Today is March 2, 2009. New York City is in the midst of a winter snow storm. Let's take a look out of my dorm windows. I'm located at NYU Palladium, on East 14th Street, between 3rd and 4th Avenues. It's definitely a winter wonderland...







NYU, my university of choice, has issued a Winter Storm Alert, saying that we could experience up to 8-12 inches of snowfall, yet all classes are scheduled to open today.


Meanwhile, there are 480 school closings in New York City on NBC New York's website. Among some of the other closed universities in NYC today are FIT, The New School, and Pace University. Wow. And what's the National Weather Service saying? Let's hear a quote:

NORTH WINDS SUSTAINED AT 15 TO 25 MPH AND GUSTING
TO 30 TO 40 MPH WILL CAUSE BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW...
WITH VISIBILITIES OF LESS THAN A QUARTER OF A MILE AT
TIMES AND NEAR BLIZZARD CONDITIONS.

A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW MEANS
SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING.
STRONG WINDS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE. THIS WILL MAKE TRAVEL
VERY HAZARDOUS OR IMPOSSIBLE.

Sounds like a promising day! A bit chilly, though, so go find your honey bunny and cuddle!

Polaroids & NYU Violet Ball XX

Wow, I can't believe the organizers of the NYU Violet Ball, our annual university-wide dance, still have a Polaroid picture booth (as evidenced above). While Polaroids do add a vintage feel to any dance, I feel that students would really love to have higher quality photos that they can easily access and tag online, possibly via Facebook. Perhaps our future Violet Ball committees will realize that we live in the 21st century and start using digital photography at some future point. Until then, I guess students will continue to be amazed by the wonders of low-quality, slow-developing Polaroids. Yeah for the past!

Living in NYC's Legendary Discotheque -- The Palladium

In 1985, Interior Design magazine wrote that The Palladium:

"represents Arata Isozaki's transformation of a vacant and rundown theater (originally built in 1854 as the Academy of Music) into an extraordinary interior that can only be described as a sleek new structure, the equivalent of a seven-story building suing more than 200 tons of steel, within the restored grandeur of the original shell."

It was the party playground for celebrities, including Madonna. Unfortunately, The Palladium saw its best days in the 80's. In 1998, it was closed, sold to New York University, and demolished.



Now, in 2009, the site is the home of Palladium Hall, which houses NYU students as well as multiple NYU facilities, including the Wasserman Center for Career Development,the Palladium Athletics Facility, a dining hall, wireless study lounges and music and piano rooms.

In fact, it also houses me, an NYU senior! And these days, the only excitement that this historic site boasts include lost mail situations and troubles signing in guests with the guards in the lobby. So much for the glory days!