It's been so long!

I'm sorry I've been MIA! I finally just finished up my second semester of grad school this week, so needless to say, I've been busy. On top of that, work has been super extra busy, so I have pretty much taken the opportunity to decompress for the past two days. Today begins my productivity once again. So what's been happening, you ask? Well you probably didn't ask but I'll tell you anyway.

So, I created a website for one of my final projects for school. Well, Google Sites was kind enough to help (seriously, so easy too!) For those of you who were kind enough to vote on my poll (and let's be honest, there weren't many of you), I thank you! You actually made my project look somewhat legit. Basically, I was studying the affect that the Internet has had on the Television industry - including advertising, cable companies, and broadcasting companies. Needless to say, Internet is winning. So my question to everyone was whether or not they would consider cancelling their cable service because the Internet has all of their shows anyway. Check out the results on my webpage: http://sites.google.com/site/televisionandnewmedia/ Visit, but do not critique, cuz it's already turned in and there's no going back.

Other fun things: We got to celebrate one of Lisa's last weekends as a single lady! Chicago was our city of choice for the event, and to say we had fun would be a clear understatement. We had a BLAST and got treated like VIPs everywhere we went. It was so much fun. We went through a company called VIP Bachelorette, which included a limo van thing to take us around, exclusive specials at a few bars, express entry, and no cover anywhere we went. Eight kinds of awesomeness. Some of my favorite pics of the weekend, thanks to Bridget's amazing photog skills throughout the evening:

All the ladies

Lisa & I

Bridget & I

Molly, Lisa and I

Lisa & Bridget

All in all, a great time was had by everyone. The whole weekend we kept saying how lucky we all are because all of our guys have such great girls in their lives for us to hang with :) And a few toasts were made to Molly for her mad match-making skillz!

Other updates: Did my first pass at wedding dress shopping, wasn't super fantastic. None of the dresses really stood out to me and I think it may have been a little too soon to go. We'll try again eventually. We're also having a wedding coordinator up north help us in our search for the perfect venue. We have one that is in the back of our minds as a standby, but we want to see what other options are out there as well. Hopefully we'll be able to find something that works for us!

New Media Practices Poll

I'm taking a New Media Practices class this semester, and as part of my final project I need to conduct a poll. If you wouldn't mind just answering the one question (it's totally anonymous, no worries), I would appreciate it!

Hopefully this project - and my other final project - goes quickly so I can enjoy a couple weeks off from school, an upcoming bachelorette party, and our friend's wedding at the beginning of May :) Fun and exciting things to look forward to!

Try this audience polling system at Poll Everywhere

(psst..if that doesn't work, try the link below)

http://www.polleverywhere.com/multiple_choice_polls/Nzk0NTcwMzA0/web

Love these! They make me think of my momma (she loves hydrangeas!).

Arc of Inspiration - Phase 1

I was reading through one of my favorite blogs on the Momental Designs site, and one of their entries really interested me. She talked about an idea called her Arc of Inspiration and how surrounding yourself with images that inspire you can help naturally breed creativity. A lot of this falls in line with what I know a lot of people have been doing lately (mostly for wedding planning, but for other things too) in creating their own Inspiration Boards to drive the elements for their wedding, event, or just for breeding their creativity.

One of the things that Kristy brought up in her blog about her Arc of Inspiration was that it was a way for her to continually update and fester her creative spirit. Both at home and at work. Since I spend the majority of my time at work (and in a cube), I realized that my work area didn't really inspire a whole lot of creative energy. I've started working on this for a couple of reasons: 1) It would be nice to look at something prettier than cube walls, 2) my work space needs a little face lift and 3) I need some other pieces of inspiration at work.

I've already started Phase 1 of this process by re-arranging a little bit - I moved where my monitor is (from the middle of the desk to the corner) moved my computer tower to the floor for more desk space, added new bulletin space for me to pin up fun and inspiring things I find, and rearranged some of the stuff that was already on my cube walls. You can see (at the right) my first piece of inspiration: a Dove chocolate wrapper my dad gave me forever ago when I first started working here that says "Find your passion." It's been up in my cube forever, so that's for sure staying. You can also see my colorful tea tins, there's a pic of Allen (always inspiring :) ), and the rest is kind of a blank canvas! Kind of exciting! I'll post more as it evolves.