STELLAAA!!

Let’s get real for a second: I love words. I love rhythms and emphases and tiny nuances of meaning. I love how a word sounds like its meaning (ever read Alphabet Juice? So good.) and how a collusion of the perfect sounds can enrich a sentence far more than any emoticon. Words are incredible. Words are beautiful.

Now, I’ve come to understand that not everyone shares this obsession. I’ve had to learn to tolerate the typical grammatical gaffes and forgive their perpetrators. Even the perpetrators who hang signs with the glaring mistake in their shop windows. I’m learning that not everyone cares enough to make their sentences sing, and that’s okay with me.

But when I see someone who is just SO CLOSE to great writing… It breaks my heart.

Stella, I’d just like to say, I KNOW YOU CAN DO IT.

Warby Parker and Me

Let’s discuss Warby Parker.

Warby Parker makes eyeglasses. Cute eyeglasses. Some might call them hipster glasses. Whatever, they’re totally awesome. AND when you buy a pair of glasses from Warby Parker, they give a pair to someone who needs them. AND their glasses cost about 1/3 of what you’d normally pay for glasses. Most frames are just $95. Talk about whoa.

Now let’s talk about me.

I’m a 20-year-old (almost 21!!) college student studying advertising. I grew up reading books and watching PBS. My mom often bought store-brand. Many very intelligent teachers and professors have been teaching me to think critically for the past fourteen years. In short, I’m discerning.

And I fell in love with Warby Parker before I ever even bought their product.

Hot and Sour Soup from a Kroger

I’ve loved Hot and Sour soup for longer than I can remember. My parents say that when I was little bitty they’d pick out the tofu for me, and I didn’t even mind the spiciness. I’ve never understood why anyone would pick egg-drop over this deliciousness. In fact, I use this soup as a quality meter for Chinese restaurants. If your Hot and Sour soup sucks, there’s a chance I might never step foot in your restaurant again.

But we can’t all make traditional Hot and Sour soups in our own homes. Three years ago, my mom and I became somewhat addicted to it, so we devised a recipe from things you can find at your very own suburban supermarket.

Ad Books: “Hey Whipple, Squeeze This.” by Luke Sullivan

One of my nearest and dearest mentors recommended this book to me a few semesters ago, but the title sounded weird so I didn’t read it. What the hell’s a Whipple anyway? If I had only picked up a copy and read the first paragraph I would have known, but to save you from falling victim to the same stigma, I’m going to educate you.

Mr. Whipple was the star in Charmin’s “Don’t Squeeze the Charmin” campaign that began in 1964 and ran for TWENTY ONE YEARS. That campaign was old enough to drink. Most, like our good friend Luke Sullivan, thought the commercials were absolutely horrid, but Charmin was makin’ money so the Whipple ads kept runnin’ until 1985. And then, according to Mr. Whipple’s own personal Wikipedia article, he came back in 1999 before finally surrendering to the cuddly, still-annoying-but-less-intrusive Charmin bears.

Improv Italian

I’m always challenging my boyfriend to try new foods, and I really appreciate how game he is when I try to feed him cauliflower crust pizza or his first raw sushi. He says he’s liked everything I’ve ever gotten him to try, but last night, we both agreed we needed a little comfort food.

Or how he put it: “Cheesy, greasy, bad-for-me Italian food.”

Hungry yet?

I decided earlier in the day that we’d make pasta shells, but I hadn’t quite thought it all the way through, and before I knew it I was standing in the produce section of a Central Market without consulting a single cooking blog.

Good thing this ain’t my first rodeo.

Pasta shells pre-oven… Success!

Ad Books: “Free Prize Inside” by Seth Godin

The first (and long-overdue) installment in my series of book reports is an ingenious marketing book by prolific author Seth Godin. I’m not going to pretend that I’ve read all of his books, but I’ll certainly say I intend to. His writing is conversational, memorable, and easy to understand. He’s one of those rare writers who can be irreverent without being tacky.

This book is based on the idea that the easiest way to make a product (or service) more interesting is to provide a free prize. What’s a free prize? Godin equates the free prize to the cheap-o toy in the cereal box (the first edition of his book was even packaged in a cereal box). The free prize is that little bit of something that makes your product/service better than all the others.

So you’re majoring in Advertising…

In case you guys haven’t figured it out yet, I’m a student, and, like most of my peers, I’ve been a student for the last 15 years of my life. I still have three semesters left before graduation, but this summer I was lucky enough to take my first step into “the real world,” for lack of a better term.
A favorite professor (and awesome mentor) of mine found out that the former owner of a national photography representing firm (e.g. HUGE STUFF HERE) was looking for an assistant for the summer to help her get her visual consulting business organized, and he tossed out my name. Melanie called me up and, well, I guess she liked me ’cause here we are, two months later and about three years wiser (at least on my part, that is).
Organizing photo shoots, talking to clients, going through Melanie’s old invoices, learning what it takes to run your own business, and frankly, just being around Melanie herself has taught me that I know next to nothing about the industry I’m going in to. Sure, I know some techniques and terms and I have good time management skills, but when it comes down to it, I understand why employers hesitate to hire kids fresh out of college. Sadly, that phrase used to be “fresh out of high school,” but that’s another can of worms entirely.

New digs, y’all

I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to finally get off Blogger. For the past few months, the interface was just feeling increasingly outdated (funny how time does that), and I just wanted something cleaner, fresher, more 2022 than 2002. Of course, I don’t think I post enough pictures to be that modern, but oh well. I really am enjoying WordPress a lot more, although it took me all morning to find a template that does what I want. Maybe someday once I have an actual personal website I’ll spend the $30/yr to make everything consistent and beautiful. But until then, I’ll be here, sporadically blogging because even though I don’t have much time to blog, I still love it.

And I love all of you for sticking with me. To make amends, here’s a kitty pic.

Are we friends again? Thought so.

Cheers!

Black Bean and Spinach Spicy Hummus

Yesterday was a day of many firsts. It was the first time I tried to make homemade mayonnaise, which didn’t thicken right but still made an excellent egg salad, and the first time Simon discovered the dishwasher.

Caught!

It was also the first time I ever cooked my hummus.

Yes, that’s right. I cooked it, and it was delicious.

Sorry Blogger, I’ve been Tweeting!

A few months ago a good friend of mine told me I should get on Twitter, and because I trust him so much and I was considering a career as a social media strategist, I did. I’d been avoiding Twitter like the plague ever since its inception, convinced that the blips of 140 characters or less were contributing to the deterioration of the English language and choosing to lump anything Twitter-related under the blanket of “vapid.”
And now I’d like to say… I’m sorry. I love Twitter. I’m addicted. I daydream of deleting my Facebook profile and kissing my “friends” goodbye. Twitter is much less demanding and intrusive than Facebook. Twitter is quirky, informative, comedic, and enriching. Twitter has news, fashion, friends, businesses, bloggers, interesting articles, and more. Anything you can share, you can share (and please comment on it!) on Twitter.
That being said, I’ve written a Twitter starter guide so other die-hard Facebookers can find the path to enlightenment (seriously, there are some really intelligent discussions on Twitter) one step at a time, and if you tried Twitter and didn’t like it, maybe this will help you change your mind.
And okay, sure, I’ve only been on Twitter for a few months, but that’s all for a newbie’s benefit! You see, I remember what it’s like to be just an egg. I remember being unsure of my hashtags and wondering if my retweet was silly. So please, learn to embrace and enjoy Twitter. You’ll thank me later.
Also, I’m working on a personal website that I hope to have running by the end of the summer. The goal is that this blog will become less of a blog trying to make its way in the blogging world and more of a way for others to learn more about me. Hopefully this will lead to an overarching personal brand and voice that I can cultivate for the rest of my career. Mucho excitemundo!

And now, Loryn’s Ultimate Guide to Starting on Twitter.

Sorry, it’s ridiculously long.