I must admit, this week was kind of crazy. With graduation occurring for city colleges throughout this week, I knew I needed to make it to New York City, but had no clue how I would find a hotel on a week like this one. It was Sunday when I sat by the computer in hysterics over the number of hotels I couldn’t find, and knowing I had to be in the city for Tuesday—I searched for hours until I found one in Long Island City.

After finally being able to catch a breath, my last minute trip to the city was booked, and I had two days left to be filled with extreme anticipation.

After about two hours of sleep, I stepped onto the bus Tuesday morning and was kind of freaking out. In a day I would step foot into Marc Jacobs office, to be guided through his design studio. With no coffee in sight, I must have fallen asleep extremely quickly, because before I knew it I was in New York City.

After hailing a cab, I was soon in Long Island City, ready to relax and order take-out. It was a much-needed day of relaxation—as the next three days would accumulate 14 miles of walking and very, very little sleep.

I woke up the next morning with the help of my own alarms—as the lovely front desk forgot about my wake up call. Love it! I still woke up at the perfect time—that being about four hours before I had to be Manhattan to visit Marc’s office.

As the trip to his studio was only about a 20-minute taxi ride, I sat in a Starbucks for a half hour until my friends showed up—where we all began to freak out with excitement. Being fashion design majors, you can expect how we all felt at this moment.

The studio was gorgeous. With large white walls, beautiful collections, and a great depth of design rooms—my heart was throbbing, and I was truly in my element. I walked through the design studio, soon entering the room where all the garments come to life.

With rows of sewing machines, a wall filled with a rainbow of overlock thread, and Marc’s garments in the process of making throughout the studio, I felt like I was back on the fashion floor of the Syracuse University Warehouse where I spent most of my time this past year.

The tour ended with gifts—which neither of us was expecting, and you will likely see me strutting with my Marc Jacob’s backpack very, very often.

After parting from the amazing people met at the Marc Jacobs studio, I spent a few hours eating in Little Italy, and then was off to my next endeavor with my friends from design: Moschino’s showroom.

The showroom was a palace. As it is actually a renovated house in the heart of the city, you can only imagine how stunning it is. As we were directed through each floor, I was so excited to enter each of them, where rows of Moschino’s past collections stood.

The creativity within the work is impeccable, and both myself and my friends were inspired more than ever.

As this week was encased in fashion-related experiences, these experiences ended with me wanting more and more clothes, and there was just about nothing that could stop me from shopping. Within a few hours, my arms were filled with bags, but I promised myself I would accomplish one more thing.

As I am constantly traveling to the city, it was time to finally familiarize myself with it—or at least do my best to. After turning off the Maps app, I began wandering through the city, discovering so many things I had no idea existed. With my awful sense of directions, I knew with the downtime I then had, it must be spent doing just this.

I must say, I think it worked!

I went to bed that night wanting nothing more than an ice bath—having no idea that missing the gym for nearly eight months would make my legs feel this way. Honestly, the thought of the gym really hasn’t crossed my mind for the first few months of the first semester of college.

Constantly being extremely busy, the gym really hadn’t crossed my mind until I was wandering through the city streets with aching thighs and calves, understanding that this is the most I’ve “worked out” in a little too long.

All-in-all: shopping in the city will always be worth the leg pain, so I was totally OK with it.

The next couple of days in the city involved much more walking, and a non-stop schedule while working the Syracuse University fashion show—but I’ll save that for next weeks article.

Just know, as of now, I’m still in awe of the Marc Jacobs and Moschino studios—and my crazy fashion designer self will probably still be thinking about it for months ahead.