Guess It's Over Now

Fresh off of a fantastic Christmas weekend filled with friends, family, love, cookies, warm fires, delicious food, and a blizzard and I'm still eager for more.  Despite the fact that New Years is coming up quickly, my hunger for more holidays will not be satiated - I've never been a huge New Years fan.  It just doesn't have the same charm as Christmas.  That's not to say that I don't enjoy the celebration it entails - I always have and I will certainly again this year.

You must forgive me if my vocabulary or wit leaves anything to be desired... I am attempting to write this post while watching Inception - a difficult mental feat, to be sure.  It's my third time around and I'm still picking up subtleties in the story.  But I must say that watching it with surround sound is the way to go: the sounds of a mini movie theater but the comforts of home (including an adorable curled up cat to my right, of course).

Holidays were a success, of course. Amazing reunion with the boyfriend, lots of baking (successful gingerbread!), and good bonding time with the family.  And it turns out I didn't have to stand the sight of grass for too long - the Christmas Blizzard dumped about 14" of snow on my area.  And of course when it's snowing heavily, winds are blistering, and temperatures are hovering in the twenties, what better thing to do than go for a walk? It was cold and slippery, but totally worth it.  Especially when we got back inside - hot cocoa, warm fire, and Despicable Me.  Perfect combination.

As you may have noticed, I now have an outlet for my travel dreams.  Well, an outlet for outlining my travel dreams. Although it is far from complete at the moment, the goal is to update my Travel Aspirations tab (above!) to include details of where I want to go (shout out to Josh for being amazing and coding the page for me! :D)  If I'm able to be more productive than just watching Inception and spending Christmas money this winter break, I might actually be able to update it a bit beyond it's current point.  My current read my help me with that:

Happy New Year!

Finally!

I'm sitting in Greater Rochester International Airport eagerly awaiting my flight home.  The melodic voices of Straight No Chaser are playing through my headphones (over ROC's lackluster Christmas music choices, of course).  I've been up since 5 am, and that in combination with my persistent cold will cause me to crash early tonight.  Early and hard.  But none of that matters because 1) I'm going home for Christmas festivities! and 2) after a long month, I am being reunited with my boyfriend this very afternoon!  I'll power through any exhaustion or illness for this.

Christmas.  I've been waiting for the past month and a half for this.  In some ways, it's bittersweet -- once it's over, I can no longer justify listening to Christmas music, decorating my apartment in pretty lights, or baking nearly as much as I have been.  But it all ramps up in the next couple days -- family, good food, tons of Christmas music, and happiness!  I really, truly, cannot wait.

Yesterday marked my last day at Martino Flynn in 2010.  We're really ramping up on a campaign for a local independent theater, and I'm totally stoked about it.  It's going to be such a great experience to go through the whole process from client meetings, idea conception, and implementation.  All the people at Martino Flynn are completely awesome and know how to make an office fun.  It's the type of culture that I'm going to be hunting for when I commence my search for the elusive post-graduation real life job.  Case in point -- this is how awesome my co-op is:





I'll admit I'm a tad disappointed to be leaving Rochester in its glorious snowy state.  New Jersey is snowless and will likely stay that way for a while (though there are some rumors of a Nor'easter Christmas weekend...) Though I suppose I shouldn't be too disappointed at the sight of grass down "south" -- I can always look forward to scraping a week and a half's worth of snow and ice off my poor car upon my return.

Looks like that's a wrap! Off to enjoy family, baking, Christmas cheer, amazing food, and warm fires!

Happy Holidays!

Addiction.

I was on withdrawal since November 13th.  Couldn't get my fix... lived vicariously through online updates of the games I couldn't attend.  Yep, that's right.  I'm addicted to RIT Hockey.

 http://www.ritathletics.com/news/2010/12/14/MHOCKEY_1214103936.aspx?path=mhock

Last night, our glorious Tigers played our ill-fated rival, the Canisius Golden Griffins.  Due to an absolutely epic mess of a fight a couple years back, our two teams haven't been particularly friendly to one another.  Corner Crew is always loud and obnoxious (of course, it's our mantra) but things really step up against Canisius.  It's common knowledge that #2 on Canisius, Carl Hudson, started the notorious fight in '09, thus dooming all #2s in D1 hockey.  Corner Crew will boo you for wearing that number, no matter what team you play on.  #3 on Canisius was even booed last night as it was closest to the no-longer-playing Hudson. We are serious about this stuff.  We don't forget.

The game was tough.  Definitely tough. We went the first two periods without scoring at all, while Canisius managed to pull off a shot with only 7 seconds remaining in the 2nd.  It seemed destined to be a close and low scoring game. But that was not the case... our Tigers pulled through in the third period with four goals to bring up the final score to 4-1 RIT.  Bring out the keys, start the bus.

Here's what Canisius senior Vince Scarsella had to say a few days before the game: “Personally, I hate RIT more than Niagara.  It’s something about going in there and their fans. I haven’t beat them since my freshman year, so it’s a long time coming and we are way overdue for a win against them.” (Read the whole article here: http://griffshockey.wordpress.com/.)

That right there makes me so proud to be in Corner Crew, and it makes victory taste even sweeter.

For your enjoyment: the legendary RIT vs. Canisius fight.

Antsy.

I recently woke up far before the ringing of my alarm... I guess my body wants no more than 8.5 hours of sleep these days.  It even woke me up at 7:00 on the dot (my weekday wake up),  and learning it was in fact Saturday was perhaps the one of the best surprises I could ask for.

While going through my morning regimen (Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, Weather, etc) I stumbled across a bunch of articles about travel (Top 10 Stops for Central America First-Timers, Classic Train Trips, Top 10 Natural Beauties of Costa Rica... and more, guess that's what I get for following Lonely Planet on Twitter).  While my desire to travel never really goes away, it sometimes assumes the back burner to other, more reachable, goals... such as being excited for Christmas(!).  Nevertheless, when I come across things like this, screw the back burner - travel is front and center.  I'm afraid that I won't be able to travel as much as I am so eager to, but for now I guess I'll just keep dreaming until I have the means to get off my butt and see the world.

Well the weekend is here again, and unlike last week, I actually need to leave my apartment.  But, not to worry, I will still be baking pretty much the whole weekend.  I have four projects in the mix, some of which are destined to be Christmas gifts so I can't go into much detail ;) but, I can say that I am, as always, super excited to (metaphorically) dive into some flour, sugar, chocolate chips, and a very hot oven.  And on the topic of Christmas, I have completed all of my Christmas shopping! And it's only the 11th!  My bank account doesn't appreciate it, but my body and mind certainly do... don't need to add frantic shopping to the list of things to do upon arriving home on the 23rd.

With that, I leave you with one of my favorite commercials from 2010.  I'm still waiting for AdAge or BrandWeek to deliver me a list of top 2010 advertisements to my Twitter, but for now I'll try to create my own.

Jersey Girl Takes on Lake Effect

I've lived in Rochester for over two years now, but I've never really experienced the havoc of lake effect snow.  Partly because Rochester hasn't gotten much in previous years, but mostly because I've never had a commute to worry about.  Well, it's the beginning of December and winter is in full force here in Rochester - the foot of snow on the ground made that obvious.  And I can honestly say that, despite the 15 minutes I need to spend clearing my car before and after work, despite the reduced speeds I need to drive at, despite the layer of gross film of dirt and grim that the road salt gives my windshield... I am in LOVE with this weather!  I don't think I could go back to Jersey winters... I'd miss the fluffy white stuff too much!

This morning was not the first snowy morning this year... but it was the first one I've come to embrace.  Here's to many more!

View from my apartment door... getting ready to venture into the winter wonderland.

Oh hey, car. You're looking fairly undriveable right now.

Roommate's and neighbor's car...

You're going down 4-inch-new-blanket-of-snow!

So fitting.

BOOYAH. Epic victory dance.

Oh hey... it's still snowing. And I'm cold.

Exhibit A: unplowed roads. Exhibit B: gross windshield (that my wipers have no hope against)

I love you, Rochester! Please feel free to keep snowing, as long as you make driving in it mildly bearable (and possible). <3

Bad Advertising Makes Me Cry.

Harry Potter marathon on ABC Family. All Weekend.  It's gotta be prime advertising real estate.  But no, I was forced to sit through some of the most terrible commercials.  And not only once.  I must have seen each commercial around 5-10 times minimum.  Damn you ABC Family for stretching 4 HP movies into 14 HOURS OF TELEVISION.  Think about it, that's got to be around 4 hours of commercials.

Anyway, here are some of the epic lowlights of the day.  If it's true that any publicity is good publicity (a mantra I do not agree with), then you're welcome Britney, T-Mobile, and Sprite.

Britney, this makes no sense.  Getting your fortune told has nothing to do with radiance. Get with it!




I despise any company that spoofs Apple's brilliant "Get a Mac" campaign.  Seriously, it's not funny, witty, or effective for you.  Stop trying.




I just hate this commercial in general...




There were a few decent commercials, however. I got sick of almost all of them, though, so none of them actually stick out as impressive to me anymore. Though, I did see this one fairly recently (and for the first time!) and it made me laugh. Not sure on its effectiveness, but it was cute. :)




Beyond advertising, my mind is on snow. I love lake effect :) It might prove to be a pain in the ass tomorrow morning for my commute to work (strike that, it will be a pain in the ass) but I still love everything about it.  It's so beautiful and really gets me in the mood for Christmas (as if I need any help with that...)  If it weren't for Rochester's deadly and notorious wind, it would be wonderful to just go outside and take a stroll or make a snow angel!  Too bad the weather's a bit more hostile than I would like.  Perhaps I'll be able to achieve my goal of making a snowman on the patio soon!

All I Want for Christmas...

Big things have happened since "Ready, Set, Go"... I'm back in Rochester (riding solo), Rochester had its first snowfall of the season, and I started my new co-op at Martino Flynn (and can already tell that it will be a valuable experience).  I'm looking forward to Christmas more than ever now... and for the first time it's not because of any potentially awesome gifts under the tree.  I can't wait to see my parents, my family, my boyfriend again... and I can't wait for the warmth that comes from being with those you love and celebrating a special time of year.  Sure, it's corny.  But I love this time of year and I am not ashamed of it!

My co-op experience thus far has been enlightening.  I now understand the structure of an ad agency and how things get done.  I understand the concept behind and how to write a creative brief.  I've also surrounded myself with the power of social media and am teaching myself how to use it effectively.  It's honestly fascinating.  While I may sometimes be bored out of my mind or just lacking something to do, I have definitely gained something useful even after a single week.  Considering some of the projects the interns have been tasked with, I'm really looking forward to the next nine weeks.

A byproduct of my submergence in the world of big brand advertising and social media is my sudden use of my twitter account (follow me @kriserick!)  While making a twitter for the purpose of promotion for my internship, the GreenHouse Internship Program @ Martino Flynn (ah, what the hell - shameless self-promotion: interested in the internship? Follow it @MFGreenHouse), I realized how I could use twitter for my benefit.  Instead of pretending to be interested in what BBC Business was tweeting (I was leading a life of twitter-lies) I now follow things/people/groups that have to do with advertising, marketing, branding, cooking, baking, and traveling.  My obsessions.

With that, I leave you with one of my favorite episodes of what I consider one of the best-executed ad campaigns I've been alive to witness:




Stay warm!

Ready, Set, Go

It's the day before Thanksgiving - one more day until the holidays have officially begun.  In celebration (and preparation), I intend to be baking all day - mmmmm apple-blueberry crisp and ginger snaps.  The ginger snaps will be a repeat from a recipe I tried a couple days ago in Vermont.  They were so perfectly soft, spicy, and delicious that they will be a feature of tomorrow's renowned meal.

Now that I'm back in New Jersey, I've got to alter my mindset a bit.  Time to focus on my co-op (4 more days!) and ramping up for Christmas.  Instead of facing the crowds of overzealous (and, frankly, terrifying) shoppers on Black Friday, I intend to unwind from fall quarter with a massage and by digging through Christmas decorations.  And, of course, watching Christmas movies (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Elf, and Nightmare Before Christmas, anyone?)  The second that Thanksgiving is over, I will be ready for Christmas carols, trees, wreaths, lights, and, of course, snow.  Hear that, Rochester? Bring. It. On.

I've recently been fighting my inability to finish book series by listening to Harry Potter 7 on audio book.  Yeah, I know - BLASPHEMY, I never read it.  Well now I am reading it.  Kind of.  So I want to reread the whole series since I can hardly remember what horcruxes are, let alone how they relate to Harry, Ron, and Hermione.  Perhaps that's another goal for winter.  With that, I'll leave you with this stroke of genius prank from New York City's subway system:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_localnyc/mta-offering-service-to-hogwarts-magical-harry-potter-train-line-appears-on-subway-sign?bouchon=501,ny

Happy Thanksgiving!

Chapter closed.

Fall quarter has come to a close here at RIT.  No more classes, no more exams, no more projects, no more presentations.  Just lots of catching up on sleep and inevitable gorging on turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes.  With the close of the quarter comes big changes - starting my internship, Christmas time ( :D ), and having my boyfriend be 7 hours away rather than 10 minutes.  Big adjustment there.

Bright side: no homework, no exams, more time to cook and bake, new experiences.
Down side: boredom, no money, daily commutes in the ill-tempered Rochester winter.

But... no time to dwell.  It's time for the holidays!  I'll admit, I cheated a bit... Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas is You" may have been played in my car this evening.  I know, I know, it's not even Thanksgiving yet.  But I can't help it.  I'm excited!  Going home this week means good holiday food, much-needed time with my parents, and hunting around for Christmas decorations that will go unused this holiday season (that is, if it weren't for me and my yet-to-be-decorated apartment :D).

In other news - go see Harry Potter 7.  It's dark, scary, creepy, and sad... but very well done.  My inability to finish reading series has caused me to not read the associated book, but I maintain that it is awesome.  Maybe I'll shlep up the entire series to Rochester upon my post-Thanksgiving return to eventually reread (hooray, distractions).  I also intend to capitalize upon ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas (no homework, remember?), which I believe will be an exquisite use of my time.  Oh and Netflix Gods, prepare to be sending me DVDs more often now.  I will make sure I actually chip away at my recently-renewed queue this time.  Pinkie promise.

Goals for the winter: make a snowman in my patio area, see as many RIT hockey games as possible, not go broke, learn lots of things at my internship, and survive in general.  See? My priorities are in line - snowman first, survive last.  Sounds about right.

Such a discovery.

I sit on my bed inadvertently listening to Ben Folds as I update (or rather, completely revamp) my long-ignored Netflix queue.  You're welcome, Netflix Gods, it is my pleasure to finally return those movies I have been hoarding since two summers ago.  The Internet is delivering to me recipes of hopefully delicious holiday desserts to the foodie in me as I simultaneously hop back and forth between Wikipedia and my Human Biology grades.  Ah week 10, how I have missed you.  Though, unlike every other RIT student, I am not procrastinating at the moment.  I really have nothing to do.  Mostly because I have one class tomorrow and the only preparation it calls for is to bring my textbook to slam my head against for 110 minutes straight.  At least it's the last class.  More like thank god it's the last class.

As the title suggests, I have made an epic discovery.  At least it's epic in my mind. While I have known that my favorite television past time (Bones, of course! And no, I don't just like it for Agent Booth thankyouverymuch.  I'm more of a Hodgins girl anyway) is based off of the life and work of real-life forensic anthropologist, Kathy Reichs, it has never dawned on me that I might actually like her novels.  Well, it finally has. And I have the first two books of her fourteen-book series en route to my apartment this very instant. Assuming Amazon is on top things. Which I'm sure they are. So I am quite excited. Because remember my previous post? The one where I mentioned that I need to find things to do to avoid driving myself crazy? Yeah, this might help.

In other news, I'm thinking about reaching back into my German roots to make some of these soon:

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/2010/10/29/holiday-baking-traditions-german-lebkuchen/

Lebkuchen.  It'll bring me back to my Kaffeestunde days of high school. Also perfect for the holidays, which I am ramping up for! Broke college student about to embark on an unpaid internship... yet I remain excited for the most consumerist-driven time of year. But not for that consumerism bit. Just all the warmth, spices, and happiness that comes along with it. Yes, I am an optimist. And I'm one of those psychos who really loves this time of year. Halloween's over and I am READY. Bring it on, Holiday Season!

Time to try this out for real.

Winter is fast approaching in Rochester and I'm getting antsy.  Big things are happening around me and I'm trying to keep track of them all.  I'm coming up with ideas of what I want to do with my soon-to-be college degree and I'm about to find out for real if I'm on the right track with an internship at local advertising agency Martino Flynn.  I'm realizing I have a deep interest in cooking (thank you, Top Chef) and am about to have time to explore that notion.  With my boyfriend shipping off to D.C. for 6 months, I'm about to have a lot of time on my hands and god knows I need to fill it with something or I'll drive myself crazy.

I'm being bombarded with glorious thoughts of travel across the globe.  I just keep on planning out what cities and cultures I want to experience - thoughts of exotic foods, famous architecture, loud and happy culture flood my mind.  I'm about thisclose to buying a world map and sticking it to my wall with colorful push pins designating where I want to go and where I need to go again.

I can't necessarily attribute my travel obsession to my current read, but I can certainly recommend it:

It's the story of a man who gets dumped at the altar.  The beginning is tragically sad, but his decision to travel the world with his brother on a two-year long "honeymoon" makes the book undeniably fascinating.  I'm only about halfway through it now, but his jaunt through Croatia, Russia, Sweden, Bulgaria, and Romania so far has proven to hold my attention.  I have to thank StumbleUpon for delivering http://www.honeymoonwithmybrother.com/ to me... it's feeding my hunger for travel (at least for now).