This week out of the blue… I’ve started “shredding”. With the influences of The Biggest Loser, yes, my roommate and I purchased Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred DVD. This DVD promises to lose up to 20 pounds in 30 days…RIGHT….but you know what, it’s fun, it only takes 20 minutes a day, and we’ll see what really is lost in 30 days. I’m thinking there may need to be a diet change involved… Discovered Pandora.com (thanks Ryan!) and now have turned the whole office onto it. Why didn’t I know about this sooner??? I attended a final campaigns presentation for an advertising class at UNF. A few students who are involved with America Ad Fed here in Jacksonville, invited me to check out the work they have done all semester for a “client”. Just 2 years ago, I was doing the exact same thing, in the exact same room. It is pretty crazy to think that this time 2 years ago I was graduating college, figuring out- what’s next? Couldn’t be happier with where I am right now in life….especially with my employment. Facebook...

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525,600 minutes. How do you measure a year? The first time I heard that song, Seasons of Love, from the soundtrack of Rent I was in a jazz class at a Dance Masters Association convention in Daytona nearly ten years ago. It caused me to stop for a moment. I took mental note of the lyrics, but never really thought about them until many years later. How do you measure a year? They measured it in daylights, in sunsets, in cups of coffee—in seasons of love. How do I measure a year? Every year we watch the seasons change. Summer to fall. Winter to spring. Every year we watch the school year go round and catch up to us again. Football season and those ever so cheap summers of Thirsty Thursdays come and go. Even the theatre experiences the ebb and flow of a season. But what makes it all worth doing it again…and again…every season? How do I measure a year? I measure it in phone calls to my mom. I measure it in the funny and unnecessarily long voicemails I leave my roommate. I measure it in the hours I have...

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I have just recently become an iPod owner. Yes, 100 years later I am finally in with the human race. My first one is the small, square Nano- 8GB, silver…you know the apple tune “1, 2, 3, 4….” and it is just perfect for me. I’m only at about half my song limit and still figuring out exactly how to use it. I have discovered iTunes, which is very dangerous- b/c those $.99 songs add up quickly! Music is a huge part of my life. I wake up to a clock radio, go straight to my computer and turn on iTunes to get ready to, on the way to work the car radio is on, and then either my iPod or iTunes is playing at my desk. In this industry you need to keep up with the fast paced music trends or you will be left in the dust. I’m still learning… We’ve been throwing around different ideas on what we should book for our next season. And before the requests start rolling in- there are a few ground rules and things to consider. Check out the Occasionally Asked Questions page on our site and find the question that addresses...

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I was hanging out with some friends the other night, and we were playing a game. The four of us were sitting at each side of the kitchen table staring down at a deck of cards delicately splayed in a circular formation, each card taunting the player with what it hid underneath. The game was Ring of Fire. And by no means was this a drinking game...ahem…The point of the game was to pick any card at random. Each card depending on the number corresponded with an action. For example, if you drew a nine, you would say a word and the next person would have to say one that rhymes and so on until one person can’t think of a rhyming word. He therefore loses and has to drink…his cup of water that is. A three is “me” so I would have to drink…my Fresca of course. A “two” is you, so you would have to sip…your diet green tea in a can. A queen is “questions”, which the players have to continually...

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Seven years ago, I moved out of my house, away from my family and came to Jacksonville. The idea of being on my own and independent was exactly what I wanted and needed. I felt moving away my mom, dad and brother would be just fine and the occasional visits and holiday get-togethers would be just enough time to spend and see. Lately I have been thinking so much about this. When you move away from your family, do you ever get to move back? I do get jealous of the people who surround me who have their families here, in town- so holidays like Easter are just a drive across town- instead of over 2 hours on 95 South. Too often, life gets in the way and the time you want to be there with them, sometimes passes you bye. So this is where I am very blessed. If you are lucky enough, you find yourself making “additional” families as you go through life. In no way can I replace the one I have, absolutely not. They are the people who put up with me better than anyone ever could and support me more than they even know....

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I vividly remember celebrating Easter at Southside Methodist, my pre-school that held an annual egg hunt in the lawn in front of the church. There was always some level of competition for these things, but being the youngest of three, for some reason the Easter egg finding gene must have been nearly depleted by the time it got to me. Let me set the scene. It was a beautiful day, breezy and cool, with the sweet smell of spring just beginning to waft through the air. Parents and children alike were dressed in their freshly pressed Easter attire. Frilly hair bows framed the faces of little girls and clip-on ties and jackets made the little boys spitting images of their fathers. All around pre-schoolers ran, with keen eyes and brimming baskets. Every now and then the sunlight would glimmer on a precious plastic egg in its secret hiding place, which most definitely was filled with...

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Breakfast- Bay Street, Jax City or The News Café. Midday Starbucks: KT- grande soy chai latte Kendall-this week venti iced carmel macchaito Anomoly in 5 points- both of us ALWAYS find a dress on our lunch break. Sushi Café in Riverside-edamame! Tuesday nights @ Mellow Mushroom w/ bartender Brett. Dance parties to Hannah Montana. Mass w/ Saul. Boy updates. Sports bar @ the Plaza for show night dinners. AAF JAX weekend getaways. Hospitality Suites. Al’s Pizza. Zen sessions on the couch. Lunches w/ bossman. “K” girl meetings. Family breakfast/lunch in the board room. Mervin’s stories in general. Buritto Gallery- LOVE THE STAFF and Chicken Salad!!! Toni’s talks in the AM on the comfy chairs. The adventure’s of Jon Bosworth. Dancing Stage right. Zoe’s! Escaping for a snack before a show. MC’s weekly office supply orders....

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I really couldn’t tell you the last time I had the flu. It has been too many years and the memory of how it felt was expunged from my brain. So every year when it came to be that time when on the news you would hear about flu vaccines, I would be smug in my thoughts of Pssshh flu shot…I’d way rather have soy chai tea latte from Starbucks. Well although I’m sure all of you may think the same way as I did, I am here to shed light on the truth. The truth that overpriced, over caffeinated and over hyped beverages are simply not the best combatants for influenza. Darn. It was upsetting to me too. Thus I found myself sitting in the office of a certain urgent care center in town. I don’t want to name any names, so let’s just call it Poclantic. The nice people at Poclantic told me upon arrival that the wait was going to be at least two and a half hours. So I sat and waited, and with every...

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Happy Friday (and Leap day)! I will admit I am still depressed after watching Robbie Carrico’s American Idol career end last night. I was rooting for him and no, I don’t think he wears a wig! Oh well, I’m voting for David now. I am however thrilled to know that it is the weekend! Mainly because I need to mend my health and get rid of the 11 day old cold! (Yes mom and dad, I’m going to the Dr. this afternoon). New favorite singer alert! Kevin So- he was the opening act for Keb’ Mo’ on Wednesday. This guy was amazing. He is one of those artists who have been around for a while; I just didn’t know he existed. Get it? He was an absolute pleasure to work with the night of the show. Very friendly, charming and graciously signed one of our “brick” templates for a project we are working on here. The first song he sang- All I Need is You, is what hooked me. His mixture between folk, pop and blues was captivating and had me downloading his songs off iTunes as soon as I got home. Check him out on www.kevinso.com....

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The 2008 ADDY Awards Advertising is an art. And art is all about expression. So what better theme for the 2008 ADDY Awards than Express Yourself? There simply wasn’t one more appropriate so the Jacksonville Marketing and Advertising Club took it and ran with it. Well first and foremost let me clear something up so that we can continue without any confusion. What was once known as JAXMAC has been renamed the American Advertising Federation of Jacksonville—yes, AAFJAX. No duck impersonations needed, thank you. The name unveiling happened at the awards ceremony along with the distribution of many awards to deserving local advertisers and creatives. The American Advertising ADDY Awards is the biggest creative ad competition in American, and Jacksonville was poised and ready to represent. With around 300 entries from local participants such as Ruckus, Brown Dog Creative and Scott-McRae...

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