all warm and fuzzy inside.

so this is a little outdated to everyone in florida, but for everyone at home who have known me for years and year with my long hair, i cut over 12inches off for locks of love. i just got the thank you note in the mail and i'm not gonna lie i got a little choked up because i felt like i really did something good. i miss philanthropic activities. i need to join a service organization. but as bip asked me yesterday 'carren, do you have more than 24 hours in your day?' [in her cute little indian accent] no bip. but theres certain things that you must sacrifice like eating and sleeping. minor details. anyway, i just found my camera and came across the picture of the hair i cut off. it looks like i'm holding a small animal in my hand. no, thats just my hair.


so from this:

to this:
i'm still undecided if i should let it grow or cut it again, or about the fact that i just wrote a whole blog about hair. but regardless, some little girl has hair now. so it's worth it.

duh dun nah nah.

just as promised, here is my illustrator portrait. it still needs a few tweaks such as color correction [i currently look not caucasian] and a few minor things. but it's almost there.


and to be honest, over the past few weeks, illustrator is kind of growing on me. you can do so much with it and i've basically become a pen tool master. as a writer, it's kind of fun to design somethings every now and then. considering i used to be a painter [past tense because painting on a college kids budget is basically impossible] makes me love the control of the creation and ability to express through the art. here is a poster i designed for the red dress campaign for women's heart health.


in other news, i believe i'm involved in some miami ad school conspiracy. if not, it is all way to coincidental. i have no had a single real class this entire week. with sarah here all last week, i was feeling the pressure of getting work done, especially because my sister and maryjo are coming in less than two weeks and we're taking a cruise to the bahamas [can't wait ps.] but this tues we had a sub for strategy class. so no homework. then my class yesterday and BOTH classes today were cancelled. not only do i not have work to do, i actually have time to get my work done. i was in such shock/felt guilty about having free time today, i literally did work from 8:30am to around 6pm. as started in a previous blog, i'm a workaholic. while this all sounds too good to be true, it won't be so glorious when i have three classes rescheduled for next week since it's the last week and there's no other time. wonderful. either way, i can't believe there's only one week of Q2 left. all and all i'm going to have to say it was a successful quarter. but it's not over yet. fingers crossed we end on a good note.

redefine communication.

we are always told that we need to look to other categories in the advertising world and borrow from them to set our advertising apart. for some categories this is extremely difficult such as banks, airlines, insurance, etc. the ones who successfully do, are most certainly set apart not only in terms of the ads but the brands themselves. case in point: jetBLUE, virgin atlantic, geiko [whether you hate the ads or not they stand out]

one category that i truly thought would never be cracked is politics. whether you play clean or dirty, political campaign has had the same tired feel since the beginning of politics. perhaps the invention of radio, television and new media spiced things up a bit, but essentially its all the same messaged delivered in all the same way. however, someones finally attempted to do it. with all politics aside, not saying the message is good or bad, anyone in advertising has to appreciate the genius of this ad and it's merit for breaking apart.

back in action.

so i haven't posted in awhile. mostly because i took a five day hiatus from life. sarah was here and it was basically like i had a mini vacation. i worked my ass off before she got here so i wouldn't have any obligations while she was here. and we had the best time. we did everything from deep sea fishing with wine juice boxes [no joke. we're so classy.] to eating strawberries with fondue and champagne while watching the lunar eclipse on the beach.

the week definitely provided just what i needed and some amazing insights to miami beach.

1. nexxt cafe may be the greatest thing invented since sliced bread for a plethora of reasons. one being the ridiculous portion size that i'm sure has a direct correlation to the obesity problem in america. and two, the miso salmon.
2. weam [the world erotic art museum] is a hidden treasure that everyone should experience. only of age 18 and above of course. and catherine the great, the empress of Russia, has officially made it to the top of my list of idols [aside marilyn monroe of course, ironic? nah.]. mostly because of her throne which was featured at the museum. while a picture would be appropriate to show you what i'm talking about, i'm trying to keep this blog pg 13, so google her. but one website captured my love for her in a few sentences. "Catherine the Great was one of the great strong women in history. Starting out as a young German countess married to the heir to the Russian throne, she accused her weak and unpopular husband of treason, overthrew him and was made empress. Once on the throne, she consolidated power, expanded Russian territory, instituted modern government reforms and lavished money on the arts." i mean really, how could she not be my idol?
   
3. miami beach is ten times more beautiful off the coast.
4. if you want to catch big fish, you have to fish at the back of the boat. they give people in the front the heavy weights so you don't tangle everyones line, so you just catch the guppies. [apparently the front is more for people who plan on drinking more than taking the fishing seriously. not sure why they put us there then.] im basically a pro at fishing now. i'm available for guided tours on weekends and evenings after 5.
5. always good to have a birthday girl with you for the perks including free bottles etc. and in this case, birthdays constitute a minimum span of five days.

anyway, all and all a great week. but now its back to reality and nothing is more of a snap back than having every campaign i submitted to the clios be rejected. luckily i've become somewhat of an optimist and see it as a challenge. [that's the catherine the great in me.] so bring it. game on miami ad, game on.

nothing is as refreshing as a good bitchfest.

there are certain things that will never get old. like a quality matching sweat suit, singing at the top of your lungs in the car, or a good bitchfest with an old friend. miami ad school has kept me very busy ever since i moved here. in turn keeping me very distracted and not a lot of time to think about my past activities or friends from home or undergrad. this by no means implies i've forgotten. but i definitely don't stay as up to date or in touch as often as i'd like. which after certain news about a certain organization, i'm almost glad.

but amidst this news, i got to let loose and bitch with a one miss courtney faust [here's your shoot out. not quotes to protect the innocent], just like the old days. and i have to say, it really made me miss lock haven. the days of quarter drafts, anna nicole smith/quote unquote nights, floating on the river, and spending 24/7 with the zetas. bitching the whole time and loving every minute of it.
but to the present. sarah wilderman [note above.] will be gracing south beach with her presence tomorrow. dear lord have i missed that girl. sarah is a blend of miami beach and the rest of the world. shes an up-all-night party girl but unlike miami beach, shes the most real person ive ever met in my life. she doesn't change who she is depending on who is around and what they'll think of her. likewise, she appreciates everyone as they are, and doesn't try to improve them or judge. but basically shes just crazy. i believe the steelers tattoo on her ass is enough proof of that.

and now that i've professed my love for sarah and spent 200 words reminiscing, i need to get my work done. the next four days [one of which is sarah's birthday] is going to consist of large amounts of sun, alcohol, and quality sarah/carren time. [wow i'm gay.]

i feel like a mom. so have some doritos kids.

i love mornings. i dont know what it is, whether its the smell of the coffee or what. but i love them. just not the getting up part. right now i kind of feel like a mom. i'm up. showered and dressed, made my coffee and reading the news while the rest of the house [morgan and kristina who stayed over last night] are still sleeping. morgan's phones dead so i have to wake them up and about every ten minutes i go in, and i get the 'ten more minutes' response.

anyways, finally some concrete doritos work has arisen from doritos hell. here is our guerilla stuff. the basic idea is to paint life like doritos on real things that are going to be crunched, like monster truck cars or buildings to be demolished. input welcome.

randoms.

just a few random thoughts of the day.

first. while i may have built a resistance against doritos, i'm officially in love with the blazin' buffalo and ranch.

second. working at a gym has its ups and downs. one up is the private ab class mark gave morgan and i yesterday. not to mention a few weight loss and training tips. down side, i can't cough without pain today.

third. i will only put my heart and soul into projects i truly believe in from here on out. and sometimes i wish i had it in me to half ass something.

fourth. i want blissberry.

fifth. amanda just sent me the video from our thanksgiving here in miami. this was a little video tribute we did for jonathon to thank him for having us.



and finally. i love bubble baths. and im about to go take one.

it's bliss baby.

so it's been a crazy quarter so far and i can't believe that it's already the end of the 5th week. i thought Q1 went fast, but it felt like an eternity compared to this one. i think thats mostly in part to me becoming a workaholic. it took branden, who is in the most demanding class of the school, calling me one to finally realize it. but thats what i thrive on. and while i get a little sad at moments because i feel out of the social loop recently and like i have no life. i love it. i love the stress, the deadlines, and the 14hrs of work. i love coming home and feeling so absolutely exhausted and knowing it was from productivity. after all, thats why i'm here. and that's why i'm going to love this business.

however another thing i love about the business is all the insights and knowledge we gain on random products that the average consumer might not know. any good ad campaign is grounded solidly in research and product insights. therefore lots of research is necessary. this can be good and this can be bad.

on the side of doritos, the one show brief that literally the entire school is working on, it's bad. if i see, smell, or taste another dorito i may throw up. from making dorito bricks to shoveling handfuls into my mouth to make a crunch language, never did i image the things OTHER than advertising i would be doing at this school.
on the positive side, i was just assigned a brief for BlissBerry frozen yogurt. lots of people may have heard of PinkBerry, the now famous frozen yogurt store taking over LA and NY. well this store is 100% a knock-off of PinkBerry. however, considering PinkBerry isn't smart enough to capitalize the miami market, and PinkBerry itself is a knock-off of the asian Red Mango frozen yogurt stores, i feel no shame in highly endorsing BlissBerry.

purely for the sake of research today, christy and i found our way to BlissBerry on alton and lincoln. they combine the art of all natural lowfat frozen yogurt with simplicity. two main flavors, regular and green tea and then tons of toppings from fresh mango, strawberries, etc. to captain crunch, fruity pebbles, and christy's favorite, rice krispies. after reading the health benefits and how it's low in fat, all-natural, no sugar, blah, blah, i presumptively thought that like everything else that's good for you it must taste like shit. i was in for a surprise. its like heaven in your mouth. it's so good and knowing how good it is for you, you feel no shame eating it. in fact, with all the probiotics youre actually doing your body good. so lets just say i'm hooked. doing some research on PinkBerry, a common theme was that people just kept saying it has something in it like crack that gets you hooked. i mean people eat this stuff two, three times a day. i thought they were crazy until i experienced it myself.

sorry dad, i'm officially addicted to CrackBerry.


ps. this is the result of the dorito brick.

down with illustrator.

with every stroke i make with the pen tool in illustrator this quarter, i am more and more convinced i'm pursuing the correct career of copywriting. between illustrator and photoshop i've realized i'm really more of a microsoft word kind of girl.

i mean, im a big fan or picasso and his surrealism work and so i'm just going to go ahead and say that my 'self-portrait', which is currently under construction in illustrator, is going more for that than 'realism.' please, if people wanted a picture of me they could just go to facebook. there's some priceless ones there.

not to worry. i'll post the masterpiece just as soon as its finished five weeks from now.

people in south beach never cease to amaze me.

so i'm at work today. i work at the david barton gym. GYM. we get lots of interesting people coming and going. most of which think they own the place. typical south beach heads. but today some lady came up to the desk and goes 'can i get a coffee please. an espresso.' was like um, we dont sell coffee. and she was like well cant you just make me some? i'm just looking at her like are you serious. maybe youre confused, this is a gym.

so being polite because im at work, i say im sorry ma'am we dont have an coffee makers but theres a starbucks right up on the corner. she looks at me and replies, 'oh perfect. can you run and get me one? i want an espresso.'

wow. there are no words.

i thought this was the super bowl. where are the ads?

what an amazing super bowl sunday. despite being sick and a very aggravating soccer game earlier in the day [color for life]. exactly what i wanted to happen did. the patriots go all the way to the superbowl then lose it. although i have to admit i felt kind of bad seeing the patriot players walk off the field because i cant even begin to imagine what they were feeling. and i also stopped to think about how the entire nation united against the patriots essentially to see them fail. is it because we're the good guys rooting for the underdogs or the jealous assholes that think if it isn't our team having a perfect season, we dont want anyone too. well we all got our wish. the dynasty comes to an end.

but onto more important things. where the hell were all the amazing super bowl ads? this isn't just about football, its the superbowl for the advertising world essentially. talk about a disappointment. props to budlight and the few spots that actually tried to make an effort. however, the half time show was fantastic. i praise janet jackson for her wardrobe malfunction because i think the halftime shows have been so much better with old time classics than these over exposed pop divas that we were being force fed. because i mean really, who doesnt love tom petty?

gracias to miami ad school for providing us with free pizza and beer for the game. then a bunch of us had a 'dip' party for the second half of the game. we each made our signature dip and brought it. i made buffalo chicken dip.


a few things to keep in mind when having a dip party:

1. when everyone is bringing a different kind of dip, its probably a good idea to just halve the recipe.
   
2. wear loose pants. preferably the stretchy kind.
3. its not a smart idea to attempt to conquer an entire dish of buffalo chicken dip yourself.
4. sitting on the 'carristy' couch in front of the table where dips are easily accessible will result in entirely too much dip consumption.
5. and last but not least, a food comatose is a very real and very serious condition. dip with care.

congrats gmen and fans. sorry patriots and fans. and advertisers, lets pick it up a little. talk about a waste of dvr space.

new addiction? fantastic.

so i've heard in the past various people say that blogging can be addictive. all i could do was laugh and smile politely thinking, 'wow you really need to get a life that doesn't involve your computer. some human interaction perhaps?' but after spending the past forty minutes playing with the layout of this thing despite being extremely sick and having to work in the morning, i think im starting to realize what they were talking about. all i can think is great, i finally give up diet coke, now i have a new addiction. i suppose theres worse things like, oh say, crack? just putting it out there.

i was told that i should elaborate on my current situation more even though i'm pretty sure everyone who's currently reading this, mostly from me sending them the link via ichat saying 'read this', already know me and my situation. but for those of you who don't, i'm currently in the copywriting program at miami ad school in south beach, fl. it's already been quite the experience. i ended up here after graduating from a four year program of advertising that focused more on journalism than advertising, and upon graduation they were like 'ok well to get hired anywhere you need a book. here's a piece of paper. good luck.' wow. great. thanks for that. so instead of getting a shitty job doing something i'd probably hate, i decided to come here and get a book. so if you're in advertising, and looking for a copywriter. i'm your girl. just right after i finish this chinet brief, along with doritos, powerice, breastfeeding, and nissan altima hybrid campaigns. oh and about 6-9 months abroad.

so now after wasting a complete hour on this and writing my second blog of the day, i think im sufficiently exhausted. because the hours of concepting, photoshop work, and trying every angle possible to make doritos cool wasn't enough. welcome to the life of an ad student.

oh and feel free to comment with absolutely anything exciting about doritos. at this point, i'll take anything.

national heart disease awareness day.

so today is national wear red day and the kick-off of national heart month. makes sense given valentines day and all. and while i know breast cancer is a buzz word among many people, especially women, these days and with all the award show projects focusing on it. but this is one that is very near and dear to my heart. [no pun intended.]

without getting too personal on the second blog, my mother passed away at age 39 of heart disease. and while everyone may know that heart disease is the number one killer of women, something that hits that close to home really brings things into perspective.

but this event is more than just something that has taken a loved one from me at the age of 9. because she was so young, it now throws red flags up for every doctor in concerns to my sister and i considering how important genetics are and that we are both women. when we played sports a simple school physical was out of the question. full physicals, constant screenings, and an unconscious paranoia are now a part of my regular health regime. and as annoying as it is, its really kind of scary. my mom died when she was 39. im almost 23. it probably didn't even cross her mind when she was 23 that she only had around 15 years left of her life.

now im not one to preach. i see people smoking everyday and while i could get on my soap box and spew health facts or simply go 'thats what killed my mother. have a good rest of your life, while it lasts.' i dont its a personal choice, i choose not to, some people choose to. but as very busy young women its hard for us to make a connect between what we do now and what we eat, with our health in the next twenty years. but today and this month, take the time to just consider it. diet isnt just about appearance, its about your health and your future. because while breast cancer is important too, and boobs are nice. so is your heart.

so at least wear red today to promote heart health awareness.

and I cant end a blog like this without acknowledging my sister who basically takes care of me and bought me a red dress pin [the national symbol for women's heart health]. what would i do without you.