Year in Review: Version 2006

Wow - 2006 has been a busy year for me. I have been traveling all over the world, moving to a new city every 3 months. It was my second (and final) year in Miami Ad School. And now I am back in the so called "real world" of unemployment. How did I get here? Well, let us take a little look-see.

New Years 2006 - I was in Prague, Czech Republic. I had just finished my first Quarter Away location for my school in London (Oct-Dec) where I interned at Saatchi & Saatchi. While in London I took a few side trips to Paris and Amsterdam. After London I went to Italy. I spent Christmas of last year in Rome and then went to Florence. After that I arrived in Prague. I lived in a 2 bedroom apt with my partner and fellow Ad School student Eric. I arrived at the housing before he did, so I snagged the room with the TV. Although there was only one station in English, and that was only for select hours in the day. We were going to be interning together at an advertising agency there called Mark/BBDO.

My favorite pics of London:





The lady from BBDO contacted me and got me in touch with someone from the agency so I would have something to do on my New Year's Eve. I met Paval (Paul in English) at the Metro and we went to these snow covered hills and hiked to the top to watch the fireworks begin set off all over Praha (Prague). It was quite a mix of people. There was me, the American, Paval and Lucinka, the Czechs, Paval's friend, his girlfriend and their friend, the French, and then two random Russian dudes. Broken English was the communication method of choice. Mostly due to my not knowing any other language. Or so I thought. After we passed around the champagne and yelled Happy New Years! it was time to walk down the snow covered hills.

Now as you all know, I grew up in San Diego then went to Miami. No snow or winter-type weather in either of those places. So being in snow was new to me, let alone walking in it, walking down hill in it while a little tipsy on champagne. Needless to say I lost my group. I was too busy arguing with the French guy (in French mind you) because he had made some comment saying that women would never be able to reach the peak of men. Yeah. Really. So you see why I felt the need to break out my dormant French and defend women everywhere.

So I get to the bottom of the hill and realize the only person I know is this loser French guy. Great. Then this other random guy comes over and asks me if I'm lost. In English, without an accent. Turns out he is from L.A. and owns a bar around the corner. He brought me there and introduced me to a bunch of young Czech, American, and Australian people - all of whom spoke English. I met my good Czech friend Lucie there.

My 3 months in Prague were wonderful. It was cold, but seeing the snow on all the gothic buildings was an awesome sight. My partner Eric turned out to be a guy from San Francisco, so we complained about the snow together. We ended up getting a TV spot produced from our time there, and also helped the agency win the Pepsi Light (Diet Pepsi) account.

Some favorites from Praha:




I also visited Amsterdam for a second time while I was in Prague. My two good friends came to visit me in Prague and then I decided to go and visit them in Amsterdam. The beautiful thing about Europe is that traveling is so easy and relatively fast. I was able to just go to Amsterdam for the weekend.

Amsterdam:


After my internship in Prague was over, I decided to travel some more before returning to the US. I went somewhere where I ALWAYS wanted to go ... Greece. I stayed in a hostel in Athens for 5 days. I ended up going to the Acropolis twice, I loved it so much.

My favorite pictures from Athens:




It is now March, and my next qtr for school starts in April. I told my mom that I was going to go to Spain and then be home around March 20th. Little did she know that my sister and I were planning a surprise for her birthday - March 17th. I flew home from Europe on the 16th and my sister picked me up from the airport. Neither of my parents knew I was home. So first we decided to trick my dad, because my mom was at work. So my sister drives over to my parents house and takes Dixie (our dog) on a walk. She rounds the corner, then I return home with the dog. My dad was like, "Hey, you're not the one who took the dog out of the house!".

Then it was time for my mom. My sister parked her car out front and my dad got in on the action and called my mom telling her that Christy was over and upset about something. So my sister hid in the bathroom and I hid under the covers of my mom's bed. Sure enough she came in and thought it was my sister under the covers. Let's just say she was shocked when I lifted the covers off and yelled SURPRISE!! It was a good birthday :)

April-June - Minneapolis, MN. I was interning at Carmichael Lynch. I'm just glad to have been in Minneapolis in the summer and not the insane winters they have. I must say, they do have the whole downtown fixed up so that you never even need to go outside. It's like one giant hamster cage full of tunnels and mysterious food courts that seem to appear out of no where. We did make it to the lake for a Memorial Day picnic though.

Minne pictures:



June - Key Largo, FL and Miami, FL. My sister and I went on what is becoming our annual South Florida trip. First we went to Key Largo for some snorkeling, then we hit up Miami Beach (my old stomping grounds) for some shopping, beach, and fun.


July-Sept. Chicago, IL. This was my 8th and final qtr at Miami Ad School, and I was interning at an agency called Hadrian's Wall in Chicago (now Zig Advertising) with my friend Beau. Chicago in the summer is *perfect*. It was really a great city. We lived in Wicker park, and there were plenty of cute places to eat and hang out just a short walk (or train ride) away. We went to the "beach" a couple times, and to The Bean (mirrored sculpture below) almost weekly. There were so many food and music festivals going on that we were never bored on the weekend. Although the El is not as efficient as you may think. We went to the movies one night and then waited an ungodly amount of time for our train back to the house.

ChiTown pictures:





I graduated Sep 9th, then Beau and I flew out to Boulder, CO to have one last week with the rest of our classmates. They were all in a program for the school that was stationed in CO. We drove by the Ramsey house, went line dancing, were extras in some ads. All in all good times.

Boulder sunset:


After that I moved back home to San Diego to start the (what seems to be never ending) job search. My school hosted a portfolio review in NYC in October, so I went to that. I have a few friends that live out there so finding a place to crash wasn't a problem.

After my birthday in early December (26 yrs old.. yikes!)

I went up to San Francisco for most of the month. I was meeting with advertising people and showing my work around, getting myself known. The job market in December is just hard. I did attend a Holiday party though. My friend Eric, my partner in Prague, lives in SF and is freelancing at an agency up there. He invited me to go with him, so we went and ate plenty of the free McDonald's burgers that they were disguising as hours d'oeuvres.

I am now back in San Diego with the family looking forward to a nice Christmas.

I hope you all have Very Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!!

My fav pictures from Rome:




Favorite pictures from Florence:




Ahh Paris:

Life is a Waiting Room

So now I am back in San Diego. After graduation in Sept I went to Boulder to visit some MAS friends, then cam back to my home base to print and finish my book. Then I went back to Chicago and then to NY for meetings and book reviews in my attempt to get myself out there and known in this Ad world.

And you know what I have found out? Life is just one big Waiting room. You submit your name and your forms (aka your book) and you wait for your number to be called (aka your cell) or for some form of written acception (aka email). And there is not much you can do in between the submission and their response. Sure, you can submit to even more places but then that means even more places to wait for a response.

And I for one don't like waiting around.

They teach you in this biz you get out of it what you put into it. So all through school you are left up to yourself to work through the crap and the bad partners and the crazy assignments to get a good book for yourself in the end. Sure you listen to the teachers to turn in the final at the end of the term, but if you don't agree you can always change it and make it what YOU want for YOUR book.

Not so in the waiting game of getting your first job as a creative. You send them your book and that's that. You wait.

You may glance at the tv while waiting (we all know the tv lineup this Fall is actually pretty good) or pick up a magazine or two, but you can never really fully shut off your mind and train of thought. You run back to the computer every 30 min and refresh your email, hoping for something other than Spam. You sign onto ichat to complain with your fellow waiting room companions. You check MySpace for anything new, a comment a message a blog, even a bulletin. But ultimately you wait.

They all tell you it takes time, anywhere from 3-6 months usually. But in this waiting room 2 weeks feels like a lifetime.

Moving Around like Dust in the Wind

So since I last posted I have *graduated* from Miami Ad School. I am a bonified Art Director now :)
I moved back home to San Diego, and realized how much I LOVE the weather there.
I worked my bootie off and made some books and way too many CDs of my portfolio.
I set off again to hit Chicago and NYC for portfolio reviews.

So yep, I am in the middle of the trip right now in Chicago.
And yes it is Friday the 13th. But I promise, no broken mirrors for me this time. Or walks through cemeteries. (*ahem* Prague)

And I was also lucky enough (if you can call it that) to be in Chicago for some HISTORY!
That's right, the earliest snowfall in Chicago recorded history of 0.3" on Thursday October 12th, 2006.
And I was here - in all of my FROZEN glory.
Seriously, I leave So Cal and it's 70 degrees. I wake up in Chicago to snow.
Needless to say a trip to H&M for a scarf and gloves was necessary.

I am staying in a comfy hostel in downtown Chicago, and going across the street daily to Panera for free internet :)
I leave the Windy city (they aren't lying! The freezing wind is brutal!) tomorrow for New York City!

Reunions and Reviews await!

Over 1/2 Way to nowhere

That's right - I am over 1/2 way done with my last qtr of school!! Then the job search starts. I am looking forward to finally getting a pay check for my creative thinking, and getting my own apt and my own stuff, and a place to unload my suitcases for more than 11 weeks at a time. Imagine that!!

So now it's getting crunch-time like time has never crunched before. I am starting the many book reviews/interviews and am ready to hear what people out there really think of my work. *shudder* If I have learned one thing, it's that this biz is sooo subjective. I mean, one person can love one campaign, while another person just doesn't get it. In the end I just have to have stuff in my book that I love and that represents me. (but I also want a good job..)

On another note, I am loving my new haircut. It's surprisingly easier to take care of than I thought. All I really have to do is blow-dry it after the shower and I'm good to go. And if I want a little extra sass I can straighten it. Not too shabby, looks like a winner to me!



This past weekend we went to the top of the John Hancock building to the bar there - The Signature Lounge. It was pretty awesome, despite the $10.50 martinis! Apparently the cost goes up the higher altitude you're at. It was on the 96th floor and the view was awesome. You could see both Lake Michigan and the downtown Chicago lights. Here is my attempt at an artsy shot of the lights..


Here is a pic of Beau and I at the top. We decided to get all fancy, since we usually are just in jeans and a t-shirt.

We *heart* Animals

This past weekend Beau and I ventured out to the Lincoln Park Zoo here in Chicago. This is a free zoo, and it is pretty darn good. This coming from a San Diego native at that. The Zoo is located in the famous Lincoln Park with numerous entrances around the whole park. Here is the entrance we found:


Then it was off for some animal viewing. First stop, the air conditioned underwater viewing for the Sea Lions!


Then some turtles, um, enjoying themselves.


Then off to the Monkey House!! This lady was RIGHT up against the glass. Were we looking at her or was she looking at us?


Then this big Silverback was sitting there angry and staring at his hands.


Then he shot us a glance of DEATH, that I sadly did not capture on film. But Beau was nice enough to reenact for us, shown here:


Then we went to the Lion house, and it was feeding time!! I can honestly say that I have never been this close to a lion as it tore into a meaty chunk of flesh!


After the zoo we went into Wrigleyville for a post Cubs game happy hour. And it was happy because they won that day :) Here we are with Chicago's own Old Style beer - notice the can wearing a jersey?


And I close with a fine example of the usage of puns in today's world. A crappy Chinese food place near our work called ... Wok's Up.

Picture essay of Chicago

Here are some pics of Chicago - the parts that I have seen so far.

The Buckingham Fountain
(also known as the Married With Children fountain)

Street performers!



The Pritzker Music Pavilion - designed by Frank Gehry.

Part of the downtown skyline from Millennium Park.

One of the lake beaches - right next to downtown.

Me with my new towel.

All the pretty boats, kind of reminds me of San Diego.

Beau on the art/bench.

Me on the same thing.

A mall that we stumbled upon that looks to be made all of glass.

Art in front of the mall. "Monument with Standing Beast" by Jean Dubuffet (1984).

The Sears Tower! So high!!




And here are some pics of the people that I live with and the people I work with.

Me with Nina and Anna - our German roommies.

My partner Beau, our co-worker Geoff (he's Canadian) and me. Representing Hadrian's Wall ad agency!

Nina and Anna

Me and Geoff

Beau and Adam, another of our roommates.

Me and Adam.


Last Tuesday night our boss got us tickets to go see a Cubs game at Wrigley Field, it was awesome. We had seats under the level above us so we were in the shade, which was very nice. Here is our view of the field.

And we had to get the famous Chicago Dog - a hotdog on a poppyseed bun with grilled onions. Mmmm, actually really REALLY good.

And the famous Wrigley Field sign - Cubs Win!