Sketch Effect

I'm in Paris!

Lindsay wanted to play, too!Somehow this one ended up as my g-chat picture. I g-chat with my bosses at work… awkward!SquishyPondering life?

So don’t judge me on my self-portraits. I’m not that narcissistic. I just really like this thing! I wonder how long it will take me to stop pressing “control + C” to copy stuff…

A few key points to catch all my (less than 10) readers up:

-Purchased a MacBook.. best $1000-$229 (because I lied and said I was a college student and received a free iPod touch, and then sold because I’m good like that) spent in a while

-Had a “finance meeting” with mom- decided to look into a 2nd job… hopefully will be bartending at a new bar in West Chester (replacing 15 North) soon! Opening is set for Oct 1st with Vanilla Ice (yes, ice ice baby) on stage!

-Worked at my old summer love, the Deauville for 3 prosperous weekends, hence the purchasing of the MacBook

-Made an impromtu Friday night trip to UD- attended the first pasta party, cuddled with old friends… nothing beats sober rugby friday nights

-Packed up and moved out of the shore house- a sad day, but an amazing summer… the summer of MJ and PYTs- Counting down the days until Memorial Day

-Decided it is way too confusing to decide what to wear to work in this awkward summer-fall weather.

-Got a new opportunity at work (just found out today!)- I have a chance to do some analytical work for the department- number crunching/manipulating/analyzing. Basically, getting to use Excel to the fullest (yayy– i’m a nerd!). Pretty excited about this considering my love for Excel and operations type stuff!

-Realized I need to slow down the growing up process. This weekend of teen-sitting, while my parents were galavanting in Sannibel Island to celebrate their 25th anniversary, made me realize I am sooooo not ready to be a mom for a long time!

-Attended a NACE meeting- an Philly association that meets monthly to discuss the latest trends in the wedding industry (think: photographers, florists, caterers, wedding venues, DJs, bands, wedding & event planners, etc). The meeting was on social media and how to use it in your marketing efforts- which is ironic considering that is what I research daily. I realized I have a legitimate opportunity to start a consulting-type business for some of these people who aren’t utilize social medias in the best ways. Check out this very cool video:

-Have sunk into a deeper depression- this whole real life thing is really sucking right now. I just wanna be in college for goodness sake!!! As I was watching the Eagles yesterday, I felt like I should have been hungover and doing homework- a typical routine for me in college.

-Started to grow apart from The Cabrio. It is on it’s last leg. I’m hoping to get at least a year out of it (I would be lucky). I figured if i start seperating myself from it now, it will be easier to let go. For the time being, it has a new “purr” that sounds lovely when I start the engine. I’m checking out Jeep Wranglers- I’ve wanted one every since I got to ride in my baby-sitters when I was a  little kid.

-Picked up training for the triathlon- less than 3 weeks, people! Trying to decide if I will need a wetsuit for Cape Henlopen ocean Oct 11th.

-Decided growing up sucks. And that I would give anything to be a freshman in high school like my young, innocent brother.

So, this is fitting to leave you with, considering the date. Hope it lifts your spirits after my somewhat depressing post. Nothin’ like a little EWF to get the dance party started….

I’M NOT GOING BACK TO SCHOOL!!!!!

This is the first time in my life that I will not have a first day of school. I will not get to aimlessly wander the aisles of Staples spending money on expensive rainbow Sharpie markers and fancy colored Post-Its.

There will be no shopping for new navy blue tights and brown Doc Martin’s. No skirt hemming or ribbon purchasing. I will not be searching Target for plastic bins to fit under the dorm bed or extra long sheets. No bed risers, no white boards, no backpacks.

No U-Haul rentals, no furniture finding, no painting rooms. No syllabus week, no back-to-school mixers, no torturous first-practice team runs, no more obnoxious rugby recruiting.

This is it. This is the rest of my life.

Up until this week, my summer has been basically the same as last summer. I was an intern here at PBP and then got offered the full-time position that I started about 3 months ago. The only difference is that now I am staying here indefinitely and last summer, after 3 months, it was back to the promised land, UD (of course, after a trip to the mouse house- see below, that is 3/4ths of the house if you want to even call it a house)

Real life really isn’t that bad. But it is going to be really strange not going back to school. Although I am only 33.4 miles door-to-door, when do I cross the line and become the creepy lurking alumni who can’t let go and not the exciting visitor? I think it makes it even worse that I am so close to my Alma Mater. I could go back whenever I want. I have been around the town twice so far this summer, and both times I couldn’t help but get a little choked up when driving past my old house.

I guess these next few weeks are when the post-college depression really sinks in. So if you can’t find me, I might be locked in my room listening to “I Love College” and watching my rugby slideshow on repeat…

“Are you crazy, you play rugby?”

Ask any rugger, especially a girl, how many times they’ve heard that statement. And yes, I say statement. Most people don’t even say it as a question. They are just calling you plain nuts. (here’s a great answer to that persistent question, perhaps better than mine).

It probably was the craziest decision I made sophomore year (well, after joining the team, certain decision making skills may or may not have been impaired on a regular basis). But rugby truly did change my life. I have always been into sports. I went through the mesh-shorts wearing, hair-up awkward tom-boy stage for longer than most girls. I played on countless teams through grade-school and high school- from benchwarmer to captain, state runner-up to under-500, no other team can compare to my experience as a UD rugger.

To me, rugby is so great because it is so unique. I love being different and I love trying new things, so when I went to the activities fair and saw the rugby table, it was something I needed to try. I quickly fell in love. It was my sport- and I was so upset I had been missing out for so long. Pretty soon, UDWRFC was a major part of my college career. As one of my teammates said in an interview for the school paper (and we still make fun of her to this day, but it sums it up so well):

“With rugby though, it is fast and exciting, but most of all it is the culture. It is like being let in on a secret that no one else knows about. It is a very infectious feeling.”

Rugby is all about the bond. And I think the bond is stronger because the players test the limits of their bodies more in this sport than most other sports. You can only commiserate with other ruggers about bruised legs and sore necks. My UD women had an even greater bond which was brought on by our Final 4 success– Booking flights together, running countless “jingle-jangles” in the pouring rain, auctioning off dates to raise money, plus many other events that should never be mentioned in print, especially on the internet.

If you can’t tell, I could ramble on forever about rugby and my experience. When someone asks me what a scrum is (a pictorial description below),

I can’t help but not only answer the question, but tell them why I think rugby is the greatest sport in the world and why they should play or at least watch a game sometime in their life.

Maybe I am biased, maybe I am crazy, but in my mind, rugby really is the greatest sport in the world. It has and always will be a very big part of my life. I am meeting this week with the high school team I will be coaching this coming spring. I can’t stay away.

Even though I am limping around the office after a weekend at the Atlantic Cup tournament, it is worth every bruise and pain.

“In our country, true teams rarely exist . . . social barriers and personal ambitions have reduced athletes to dissolute cliques or individuals thrown together for mutual profit . . . Yet these rugby players. with their muddied, cracked bodies, are struggling to hold onto a sense of humanity that we in America have lost and are unlikely to regain. The game may only be to move a ball forward on a dirt field, but the task can be accomplished with an unshackled joy and its memories will be a permanent delight. The women and men who play on that rugby field are more alive than too many of us will ever be. The foolish emptiness we think we perceive in their existence is only our own.” – Victor Cahn

This weekend, my parents made a visit. Good old Dave and Val. They decided to make a stop to see their first-born on their way back to OC from their fancy party in Avalon.

They got the full tour- all 3 rooms of the little shack. Although pops said he didn’t want to hang for too long, I know he was secretly flattered when we offered him a beer, and Mom- a glass of red wine.

But then came the conundrum.

Do I offer my dad a KEYSTONE LIGHT?? Well, before I had the chance, one of my roomies had cracked open a ‘stone for the old man.

“Is this water?” he asked. I was blushing, although my tanned skin didn’t show it. I brushed it off with a joke about being cheap and continued on into the conversation about how when my parents were dating, they used to frequent the now desolate Shenanigans.

So when comes the time when we can stop buying Keystone Light and start moving on up to the fancy beers? I still consider myself a broke college student. Even though I have a bi-weekly chunk-of-change direct deposited into my account. Not to mention my only expenses are the aforementioned beer on weekends, with an occasional co-pay at the eye doctor’s (that is, of course, thanks to the generosity of mom and dad for letting me squat at home until I really have to grow up).

I think the best part of the Keystone Light debacle is the follow-up from dad the next day.

Message from dad via facebook: “Thanks for the Keystone Light… my first ever!”

Definitely woke me up with a chuckle- but then it got me thinking. I communicate with my parents more via Facebook and e-mail these days than I do face-to-face. What is wrong with the world? Why am I not calling up my friends and telling them these stories I post on this blog??

I think the technological craze in our lives is terrible!! Yes, it does positively impact all sorts of things, but for the most part, what is the good in facebooking my father when I can go downstairs and talk to him?

If my pop-pop even knew how to turn a computer on, he would have some story starting with, “back in my day” and ending with “that’s what’s wrong with the world these days!”

So, new resolution to myself: Talk to my loved ones more in person than in typing.

That might be pretty hard considering this blog has me obsessed…

Before I told anyone about the blog (and don’t be confused, I don’t think I’ve actually opened my 2 lips about this thing- by told I mean facebook-ed, twitter-ed, e-mailed, g-talked, texted, etc), I changed the theme, look, and title at least 7 times.

I couldn’t come up with anything for that picture and I was getting too antsy to keep it my little cyber-secret, so I “exposed” it regardless of it’s unfinished look.

Anyway, I would love some input on what kind of picture to put up there.

I guess I could talk to my dad about it, seeing that he is an extremely talented professional photographer and all….

Not because I don’t have a job, or because I don’t like my job- which I guess are both very fortunate things.

It just takes so long to explain!

The quick explanation, given to the WaWa cashier and the bank teller: “I’m in marketing.”

The medium explanation, given to my parent’s friends and my sophomore-in-college former teammates: “I’m an audio conference and webinar producer for a small B2B company, which is basically marketing, heavy on the research.”

When someone asks a question, you know how you can tell by their tone of voice if they really care? This is what I answer to those people:

My title is audio conference producer. The company I work for is called Progressive Business Publications. It started out as a newsletter company that produced newsletters for business execs to help them do their job better. It has grown tremendously and now there is an Audio Conferences division- and that’s where I work. An audio conference, in our terms, is a 45 minute presentation given by an expert on a specific topic via phone so that many people from all over the country can dial in and listen.

How do I fit into this mix? Right now, I am [almost] producing conferences and webinars in 2 areas- marketing and higher ed. Let’s stick with marketing. Basically, I need to help marketing managers and directors do their jobs better. To do this, I research the latest marketing techniques and find someone who is really really really good at them. Then I stalk them until they talk to me- and basically hire them to give a one-time presentation via phone or Internet on the topic. Once this is all set, I write some marketing copy and send 4 emails to our lists of clients and voila- I’m producing a conference. The day of the conference- I lock myself in a conference room from 12:30-2:30 and hit the speaker phone button and that’s that! Check my first almost-solo conference.

Now you know why I say, “I do marketing”?

I’m really liking the job so far. I’m learning so much about all sorts of cool stuff. My job actually inspired this blog since blogging, facebooking, twittering, linkedining, etc are all the hottest marketing trends. I am currently researching and learning more about the business side of higher ed. Think: HR, finance, etc for colleges and universities. I’m still in the beginning training and learning stages, but I think it is going to work out well for me.

Maybe I will start just giving people a link to my blog when they ask what I do…

Stay tuned for more about my amicable and enchanting cube-mate, Casey.

I opened the folded piece of paper and in big bold red letters I read, “August Fools.” Oh, and a check for $100 fell out.

A few months prior, our team traveled to California to compete in the Women’s Rugby Collegiate National Final 4. And we almost didn’t make the trip. Five hours before our bus departed for the airport, H1N1 aka SWINE FLU almost ruined our lives. After an outbreak on UD’s campus, officials suspended University travel to ensure the safety of students. After the most emotional hour of my life, we decided to go regardless of the official decision, knowing that the University could potentially yank the [very generous amount of] money they pledged to donate to our trip.

Sure enough, we went and lost all the money, meaning we all had to write a check to our beloved team treasurer to help fund the trip.

….I promise, the point is coming soon…..

We were told that once all of the donations were collected and the finances were analyzed, we would probably receive some of our money back. This promise was quickly squashed by the team’s exec board when they realized how much debt the team could be in. Or so we thought….

This leads me to my point- we all got a surprise check for $100!

I quickly sent a “thank you” text to the powers-that-be and got a response that said: “Merry Christmas- now, go get drunk!”

Then came the realization of REAL LIFE!

No, I would not be spending that unexpected money on half priced pitchers and wings, but it would be put toward my temporary HEALTH INSURANCE plan!

Although I am still having my fair share of fun times, I’m realizing that my bank statement is reflecting more bills rather than Kate’s, Grotto’s and Freddy’s and that I’m becoming a real adult

Sea Isle City, NJ 08243.

The best $1,157 I have ever spent.

I could go on and on about the shore, but I will focus my attention on the great people I have met and incredible dance moves.

So here’s how our house works– 7 girls: Me, Emilie, Ashley, Courtney, Casey, Jamie, Kelly. The connection: Emilie and I worked down the shore together, I got Ashley and Courtney, familiy friends, and Casey, a high school friend. Emilie got Jamie and Kelly, both her high school friends. We have all meshed together unbelievably well for what has been a great summer thus far. Full of beach days, bar nights and everything in between, the weekends are truly something to look forward to.

Work doesn’t suck. At all. But it is great to get out of the cubicle and on the road to the beach every Friday. In college, pretty much every night could be the weekend. In the real world it doesn’t quite work that way. I have to wake up early, be on-the-ball from 8:30-5 and go to bed early so I can do it all over again the next day.

Weekends are much more valuable, and a beach house definitely creates more value. I, along with my housemates, have to make up for a low-key work-week during the weekend, and we have been doing alot of that.

PYT by MJ is our summer anthem. MJ is an obvious summer anthem artist, but no one really knows why PYT came to be the it-song. Regardless of it’s conception, the song is played at least once every night and starts an instant dance party. If you can find any MJ song that doesn’t have the same effect, I would be surprised.

Check out some more professional/amazing dancing to our favorite song by the Jabbawockeez, one of America’s Best Dance Crews. I applaud them for stirring such emotion thru their dancing without even showing their facial expressions.

The newest season of ABDC starts Sunday and I’m hoping to learn some new moves to show off at The Springfield…

So, I plan to blog for a variety of reasons:

1. Take my attention away from Facebook- you can only look at so many pictures posted from some girl from grade-school, scattered with corny captions from Lil’ Wayne songs.

2. Practice my writing skills- as a new-marketer, I need to improve my writing, as I use it daily in writing web copy, e-mails, etc.

3. Enhance my web-marketing knowledge. I am an marketing audio conference producer (will define later). In short, I need to know a lot about the latest markeitng techniques- enough to teach Fortune 1000 marketing execs tips and tricks (via an expert, of course). So I figured the best way to learn is to do- hence, blogging.

4. Get hired as my dad’s marketing director (on the side). I really want to help him grow his small photography business- Campli Photography- using social medias and web marketing.

5. Last and most important, vent/discuss/relay information about post-college life and anything you can think of that happens after leaving your sanctuary of dirty houses and Natty Light.

ENJOY!