ace of spades

for those that don't know of my recent life change, i recently left ralph lauren after being there since day one of my journey in nyc.  i just finished my second week at kate spade as a product manager for full price and outlet clothing.  all i can say is: i'm going to have a major shopping problem.

over the last four years i have built up my closet with earth tones and riding boots to fit the RL mantra.  now i'm throwing all that out to refill my closet with black, white, and splashes of bold color and prints.  more than once since i've started at KS, friends have said to me, "i wasn't surprised at all that you are working for kate spade because it is totally your style."  i couldn't agree more, which is why i say i'm going to have a major shopping problem!

wearing a kate spade dress and shoes (not pictured) in my new digs at the kate spade new york offices.

the new job is more creatively based than i previously was doing, which is something i was really looking for.  the environment is much less corporate than my old job and filled with very creative types.  most of the employees are 25-35 year old women that are incredibly driven, and i feel like i fit right into the culture.  most of the employees have been there less than 3 years (which is when kate spade sold her brand to liz claiborne inc), so i'm really getting in at a time of major growth and opportunity.  the hours are longer and the work much less structured, and i barely notice.  glittered pumps and polka dot prints are everywhere you can see, and the cultured, classic, stylish woman define the brand and the environment of what it is to work there.

there is a quote from "sex and the city" where carrie says, "every woman in new york is either looking for a job, a boyfriend, or an apartment."  i have always felt that this was a true statement based on my experiences here; i have gone through a lot of challenges (stolen wallets, stolen identities, bed bugs, getting stood up on dates....), but i can honestly say that as of this moment: there is nothing else i want; i am the happiest and most blessed girl in the world.  how many people can really say that and mean it?

The Tale of the Locker Room Lurker

I love my gym.  You might even call me a bit of a gym rat because I go everyday without fail.  I originally joined my gym in February, after having been a member at another gym for several years.  I now belong to 24 Hour Fitness, and with my membership, I can attend any 24 Hour Fitness in the U.S., including one conveniently located five minutes from my parents’ house that I can use when I’m home.  The thing I’ve figured out though is that it’s not necessarily the gym as a whole that I like; it’s the particular location that I frequent down the block from our apartment that I’m obsessed with.

Going there every morning, I always see the same people.  I’m always in the locker room with the same women and something about seeing total strangers completely naked really makes you feel like you know them!  I also take classes with these same women and that strikes a team-like bond.  One of the girls I met when I first started is Alison.  We instantly bonded when we figured out that her husband was from Kansas and born in Salina, just like me.  She visits Kansas City to see his family, and so we always have a lot to talk about.  Chatting with these women every morning as we get ready to go to our respective jobs is a really refreshing way to start the day.

Not long after I joined, I started noticing this very eccentric woman getting ready in the mornings in the locker room also.  I had belonged there for about a month and had never seen her.  Most of the girls in the locker room are in their 20’s and 30’s and are in pretty good shape because they are there every morning and generally care about their appearance.  This woman did not really fit that mold.  She was middle-aged and had a very bad drug store hair dye job and would walk around complaining about how bad the amenities were in the locker room (which by the way, they are the best amenities I have seen in any gym outside of a spa).  She would put her make-up on and leave major streaks under her chin that weren’t rubbed in and she would dry her hair and walk around like Cousin Itt from the Addams Family with her hair covering her face.  She would do laps around the locker room with holes in her underwear and her stomach hanging several inches over the top of it, always voicing on-going commentary on the state of affairs with her accented voice; I just wanted to listen to the Today Show!  Not that everyone in there has some supermodel body or something, but most people cover up to get ready after they’ve gotten out of the shower, but this is not what she did.  In addition, I noticed that I never actually saw her work out.  Living in New York, you get used to seeing people that march to the beat of their own drummer, so I shrugged it off to her just being a bit obnoxious.  After a week, she stopped coming and I realized she had been using a 7-day free gym pass and I felt a bit relieved to go back to a quieter locker room.

Fast forward 6 months or so to last Saturday.  I was at the gym working out with my trainer, and I spotted that unforgettable black Cousin Itt hair again on a tour of the gym with one of the membership consultants.  Oh, great.  Here she goes again, I thought.  I thought about saying something to someone at the gym, but I decided that it may not be my business.  Sure enough, Monday and Tuesday of this week she was in the locker room up to her previous shenanigans.  Alison and I started talking and theorizing that she was either: a) a gym hopper that just went around the city taking advantage of free membership trials without ever having to pay, or b) she was homeless.  I wasn’t sure about the homeless theory, only because she had always seemed to have some change of clothes and makeup and never appeared or smelled like she hadn’t bathed in a while. 

I paid close attention these past three days at the gym and Alison did too, and we definitely did not see her work out.  This morning after my workout and shower, she was lurking around and pretending to get ready again.  Alison mentioned to me that she had seen her in the locker room walking around in her underwear even before we had done our workouts over an hour previous.  The final confirmation on the homeless theory came a few minutes later.  The girl that is the attendant in the locker rooms in the morning came in and appeared to be looking for someone.  I asked her who she was looking for and she said, “I have to take someone’s member pass away.”  I asked if it was the black-haired woman and she said, “Yeah, she’s been sleeping here.”

I didn’t stay to see how that played out, but now I have my answer as to her story.  I do feel bad for the woman, but she didn’t go about things in a very smart way, always making her presence known so obviously.  I can only hope that eventually she will find her way to a shelter or something.  My coworker volunteers at a shelter where the tenants are required to learn job skills and it is not far from the gym.  It just makes you realize how lucky you are to have what you have.  Even people that are employed live near poverty (the poverty level in NYC is $21,000 a year), so getting back on your feet in this town is hard to imagine.  Yet another reason it’s true that, “if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.”