Every now and then, it’s okay to sit back and be proud of oneself, because, as I’ve come to understand, confidence is the key to success. I have always had a hard time doing this because I was raised with Christian values and pride is most definitely looked down upon. However, I got to do some really cool things this summer and I would like to share them with you.

As you may remember from this post, I had a really awesome internship this summer at Gothamist. Although I was mostly assisting the other writers, I did get to go to and write about some interesting events. For instance, I attended the first honey harvest at the legendary Waldorf-Astoria hotel, a press conference where Mayor Bloomberg discussed same-sex marriage on the first anniversary of its legalization, as well as a media event for the opening of Pier NYC on Roosevelt Island, where I got to eat and drink for free.

Yours truly @ The Waldorf-Astoria

I’m not gonna lie – I felt pretty cool going to these events and standing alongside actual journalists. I’m sad that the internship is over but I hope it means that there are bigger and better things yet to come.

Here is another cool thing I did:

A friend of mine works in the style department of Martha Stewart Living magazine – awesome gig, I know, and something I try not to be envious of her over (envy is also a sin, you know). Earlier this summer, she asked me to assist her for a few days because she was swamped with work and I of course said yes while jumping up and down and flailing my arms.

One of the days I worked at the headquarters in Chelsea. The MSLO offices are sleek and clean, and conducive to the creative process. And another day, I assisted on an on-location shoot at the family home of the owners of Russ & Daughters - a store on the Lower East Side that specializes in smoked fish and bagels, which is actually more of a NYC institution dating back to 1914. The story we shot was about how the family prepares for Yom Kippur. It appears in the September 2012 issue, which is on newsstands now.

By ‘assisted’ I mean I washed dishes, prepped and packed things, but it was so cool to see how food beauty photos actually come to be. It’s amazing how much work goes into getting one perfect shot, and how many things have to align together.

After I saw how it’s really done, I became inspired to take better photos of my own food. I’ve even acquired two surface boards and lots of new props. Hopefully I’ll be able to get my hands on a SLR camera one of these days.

Now tell me, is there something you want to brag about?