(image: lovely indeed)
Hope YOU had a safe and happy and faaabulous one! One around tables covered in delicious food, surrounded by the ones who make you laugh and make you feel known… Or maybe just a good book to get lost in. Whatever floats your boat. (:
I know I’m a few days late on the fourth status, but I had an absolute great one so I wanted to share a little bit here.
Here are some photos of the day. I even (attempted) a home-made video:
HAPPY JULY! 🙂
Each month, my favorite blogger, emily @ chatting at the sky, shares on her blog some of the things she learned that month. Some things are significant and impressive, and others are small and light. For this past month, she invited all of her readers to join along and share the new knowledge June has personally brought them!
So today, I am linking up with Emily and sharing the bits and pieces of things I recently learned. (:
10 things i learned in june
1. Always, always check the expiration date. When I first came home from Italy in early May, it took me a really long time to unpack. I left my suitcases untouched for weeks, and along with it, my sacred face wash. So I just used a random face wash I found under the bathroom sink, and I noticed that within days my face started to break out uncontrollably. IT WAS BAD. LIKE WHEN YOU ACCIDENTALLY PRESS THE WRONG SQUARE ON MINESWEEPER AND SUDDENLY THE WHOLE SCREEN IS FILLED WITH RED X’S AND IT MAKES YOU SQUEAMISH. DO YOU KNOW?
I could sit still for two hours, minding my own business, and next thing I know, new raging red bumps are invading my chin. So what did I do, used that effing face wash even more. I attributed the breakout to the fact that the US doesn’t recycle and my new Italian skin couldn’t handle the polluted air and water. (No, I’m just kidding, I just feel like I haven’t said any pretentious European stuff in awhile.) Anyway, but after about three weeks, I noticed one day six digits engrained on the bottle cap. And it read: 03/13/07…… THE FACE WASH EXPIRED IN 2007. Lesson learned, Biore. Lesson learned.
2. Pic-tap-go is the best photo editing app out there. It was the best $1.99 I have ever spent.
3. The OT is great and changed my June. (see why grace is so sweet)
4. Running isn’t that bad. I mean, it is in the sense that it hurts different parts of your body before, during, and AFTER the run, but it also releases a wave of endorphins and changes the way one perceives themselves in the mirror. So, I guess it’s worth it?
5. I have a bottomless stomach for Mexican food.
6. Everything, and I mean everything, is all about perspective. An experience is not innately “good” or “bad,” it’s how you look at it. And YOU have the ability and power to choose how you want to look at it. EREGO, YOU HAVE THE ABILITY AND POWER TO MAKE A SITUATION GOOD OR BAD. So, how is today? Is it good or bad?
7. Good coffee, good handwriting, and a good journal affect my mood. Like, a lot. It is what helps my soul BREATHE and if I go for too long without it, I grow anxious, frustrated, and out of touch with myself.
8. Home videos are so cool and I really want to get into them. My inspirations: lovetaza
9. God is my boss and no one else. (there’s a story behind this one.)
10. Tina Fey is great. That’s all.
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see what other women learned this month here.
I brought my camera to work the other day, so during my lunch break I went for a little stroll – tourist style. (: Chicago is so BLUE and beautiful! To be honest, I never liked bringing my camera into the city because I didn’t want to give off an impression as a tourist. This is my house and I’m going to put my feet up on the coffee table if I want, kinda thing. But I realize that mindset is pretentious and not to mention, stupid. Because when you’re a tourist, you look at the town with a different pair of lenses and you’re a lot more open-minded to do things that are out of your comfort zone. Suddenly all those free, crowded events don’t sound so lame, and the new restaurants popping in look enticing, and sitting in Millennium park after a food truck makes for the perfect Saturday afternoon.
My motto for this summer:Â
What does that mean for me? Run a 5k, attend a summer festival for a different city/state, have a picnic, make a video, go on a road trip, host a board game night, make s’mores, watch a movie at a drive-in, play sports regularly, go fishing, win free tix from a radio show, rent a bicycle for the day, purge my closet, find a hike path, run a 100 miles, frisbee on a beach… just to name a few. Hold me to it?Â
Being a tourist in Europe was great and so fun. But this, this is the beautiful town I live in and am so proud to call home. (: And I’m ready to unlock its secrets the same way.
What’s on your summer bucket list?
XO.
Ello, ello.
Today was my first day of the internship. (: If I hadn’t mentioned it before, I am an account management intern @ HAVAS WW, CHICAGO. Never heard of it? It might be because they recently had a brand makeover as of September last year. They used to go by EURO RSCG. Still doesn’t ring a bell? You’ve probably seen their work, though! My office (CHI), specifically has done Sauza Tequila (do you remember that viral Fireman YouTube video?), Reynolds Wrap, The Laughing Cow, Pucker Vodka, etc. And Havas WW in general has done Does Equis (The Most Interesting Man in the World), McDonald’s, Evian, IKEA, IBM, Coca-Cola… just to name a few.
Anyway, it was a solid first day. Boarded the 8:00 a.m. train, arrived to Union Station a quarter til 9:00 a.m., hopped on a bus, and got to the office just in time for orientation at 9:30 a.m. Last summer, the office was on Randolph, so it was only a 25-30 minute walk from the station; but this time the office is located a little bit more North. I google mapped it, which told me the walk should take around 30 minutes, but with all the foot traffic, I’m assuming I should factor in an extra 10.
It was pretty chaotic in the office with people running around to and from meetings, trying to maintain the momentum of work from the previous week.  I think the arrival of 20 new bodies moving in and trying to set up camp probably didn’t help.Yeah, there’s nearly 20 of us interns. We’re not all together though. The interns have been divided based on department and team. So more than half went to creative, and account/strategy got split into designated accounts. I’m on Bel Brands. You know, the Laughing Cow and those circular cheese wheels that come in little rad wax packing. (I meant red. But it’s rad, too.) Those were the hot commodity back in junior high days.
It’s fun. I read through all the creative brief and strategy, watch unreleased commercials, sat in on meetings… I resonate with the brand’s voice, so I’m excited to be able to touch the campaign in whatever capacity I can. It’s a team of about 10 people, including the creatives, strategists, and president. All the interns are given a “mentor,” and mine is the Sr. Account Executive on the team. I’ll just call her M. But she’s super cool and nice and SMART and can’t wait to learn from her. Her, along with her friends, and their interns, took us out to lunch today at the Nordstrom Cafe. So we all got to meet each other and have non-biz conversation. Mostly about GOT. (It’s always about GOT these days, isn’t it?)
Enough words, though. Here’s some photos to show you! (:
^ This was on the bus. This weird lady kept trying to guess how much peoples’ shoes were. I think she thought she was on “The Price is Right” or something, Â not public transportation. (Deep apologies if this is your mother and I retract everything I just said. She is probably a lovely woman.)
FIRST DAY TOUR:
^ Sitting right on the kiddie corner of Grand + State… And only ten tempting steps from Nordstrom. DANGEROUS, RIGHT?!
^ welcome inside! 🙂 this is the lobby.
^ My office! (: My desk is the one on the left — with all those rappers’ faces. (It was there before I was, I promise.) On the left, is B’s desk. B is also on my team as the Account Coordinator. She was really busy today so we didn’t talk too much, but she was super welcoming and helpful.
^ Yes, you are seeing that right. They gave me a PC……………………………………………….. #help. #shouldirun? I have LITERALLY never felt so disabled in my life trying to operate this colossal machine they call a laptop. It took me 20 minutes to figure out how to brighten the screen because the keyboard “sunshine icon” does CRAP. The keyboards are so plastic-y and annoying. The mouse is moves choppy and in order to do ANYTHING, it requires 9 other steps, first. Also, they don’t even have an em-dash. If I want to use one, I have to do this. (see photo below):
^ In order to make a punctuation mark, you need to shuffle through 8 other things and then copy and paste it. I’ve literally been googling “how to do __on a PC” as well as g-chatting my hotdog all day. My hot dog is a PC user by choice. (I know, those exist). Sigh, learning curve, right? Lawl. I’m just being dramatic. But I really do hate PC’s. Moving on to other corners of the office… hehe (:
^ That cappuccino maker does WONDERS. So far I’ve tried the FVL and the Chai Latter.
^ Yes. Yes I did take a panorama of the kitchen.
^ The floor plan is kind of complicated… There’s a lot of winding hallways and circular rooms. I don’t think I expected the office to be so BIG (and beautiful). Havas has their own building to themselves. It’s a five-story office, complete with rooftop seating. (: Which is where we had lunch today! Floors are separated by department; lobby, hr, creatives, account, and media, respectively. So I’m on the fourth floor! All these photos I showed you are only of the fourth floor and I still get lost. Floors are organized into Chicago “neighborhoods,” and they’re written all along floors and walls to help guide your way… you just need to remember where is called what. I’m in bucktown. (: here’s wicker park!
FIRST DAY OUTFIT:
^ I wanted to look buttoned-up, but still comfortable enough to easily do whatever the day’s tasks were, so I crossed out a skirt or dress — and double criss cross on the heels. | Blazer: The Limited | Top: Banana Republic | Pants: NY&Company | Belt & Necklace: Forever 21 | Flats: Italy
DAILY TAKE AWAY:Â
Phew. That was a long one. I just wanted to document my first day. Cheers.
XO..
A Cup of J. 