The weekender

Another weekend has come and gone, and here we are at Monday again. I'm going to try to hold on to the weekend as long as I can :) Here's a few pictures...

Mmm, bloody mary...

Made artichoke and spinach dip, recipe to follow!

It was so nice to see the sun and blue sky on Sunday! I snapped a few pictures of my church. I have to say, I feel pretty lucky to have this church pretty much right at the end of my street. It literally takes me about three minutes to walk there, I love it! And honestly, it's inspiring to attend mass and pray in such a beautiful cathedral.

The Ads

Well, I am an Advertising girl -- so here's my take on what went on in-between the football game tonight.

This was hands down, my favorite ad from the Super Bowl. It was for Google, I loved how it told an entire story -- all through a simple Google search bar.



One ad I didn't understand all the fuss about -- the Tim Tebow commerical. Considering the words abortion or pro-life weren't even close to being mentioned in the ad I don't know what all the controversy was about. Then again, when you look at the people behind most media outlets, I guess I'm not surprised they turned it into a huge issue. Personally I had no problem with it and thought it was nicely done.

The other honorable mentions; the E-Trade commercials with the little baby talking like a grown up, those never fail to make me laugh. I think they've got a pretty good campaign going there and it doesn't feel overused or stale yet. Unlike the GoDaddy commercials, those are getting old in my opinion, found them quite dumb this year, honestly. Another campaign that's still got life in it -- the Budweiser Clydesdale, I thought this year's iteration with the bull was cute.

And I can't, not mention, an ad my agency did! I think it's pretty cool! The credit for this goes to Palm + Havas, an off-shoot of my agency.



Automobile advertising was down this year, I did like the spot for the Dodge Charger, did you guys see that one?



And now a question to my many devoted readers (haha), what ads did you like? Any favorites?

P.S. I am happy the Saints won it, I think they definitely deserved it!

Customer service & planting

Alright, let me give you the background on this story, bear with me. Last year, after looking through their catalogs for quite some time I finally placed my first order with Ballard Designs.

I was pleased with everything I got, including this cute boot tray, which is quite functional during the Chicago Winters and frankly Fall and Spring too! It's a perfect place for my worn-almost-daily Hunter wellies to reside as well as snowy Uggs.

Anyway, by the end of the season last year, my "rust resistant" tray was in fact, quite rusty. So much so that I didn't even want to set it out again this year, it looked awful. I finally took the time to call Ballard about it. They took my information down and said a product specialist would call me back. I just got the call from a specialist this morning and with hardly any questions asked she said they would be shipping me a new one!  Now, that's customer service. I am so happy and I have a newfound love for Ballard Designs!

One of the many things I have my eye on in the catalog are these outdoor planters. I have done comparison shopping and these seem to be priced very reasonably. I think they work well with the look of our building too, very classic.

These would be a replacement for the two identical planters we used to have in front of my greystone building. One cracked and all last season we were a little off symmetry. I don't think they had been planted in for quite some time either (no green thumbs in the building I guess) so last year I planted in our one pot and it looked great, but to have two matching ones again would be awesome! OK, now that I look at this picture I am kind of embarrassed by how dinky the flowers look! This was in June, but you should have seen that pot by August, it was flourishing! Honestly, the geraniums were huge and that sweet potato vine was trailing the ground.

                                                                Little bro and me, June 2009

I'll have to take some pictures again this summer when we once again have two and they are in full bloom. Sigh, summer. Let's take a moment and reflect on how awesome it will be when it's that time of year again. :) All this talk of planting is getting me so pumped up to map out what I can do this year on my back deck and out front, the backyard, everywhere!

It's all good . . .

Good game. My boys pulled out a win over our rival (although unranked) Michigan Wolverines last night. The boys in green looked pretty good (Hellooooo Raymar). Just in case you're not keeping track, we're now 8-0, undefeated in the big ten!! Oh and ranked 5 in the country, no big deal. :) I love college basketball season.

Lucas celebrating the win, he made a shot with 3.5 seconds left to give us the lead.

Raymar Morgan, my favorite and the other star of the night. He had 20 points, only missing one of his shots all night!  








Images from www.msuspartans.com.









Good weekend. Enjoyed some bubbly with friends this weekend before heading out on the town. This is my favorite sparkling wine and it hails from Suttons Bay, MI. I visited the vineyard a few summers ago and I've been hooked ever since. The only wines they create at L. Mawby are sparkling! Bring on the bubbles. Pleasantly surprised to find they sell a variety of this at the Whole Foods in Chicago. Visit the vineyards website here.

Good food. Tried my first Pioneer Women recipe on Monday. Turned out pretty good, although I should have halfed it, I have enough enchiladas for a small army! I made this after work and then after grocery shopping for the ingredients, so I apparently lost my energy to take a nice shot of the enchiladas all served up with a dallop of sour cream and a sprinkle of cilantro. Sigh. But, here they are a bakin' in the oven.

Words for Wednesday

From my kitchen :)

good morning sunshine

Have you ever had these? This has been one of my favorite breakfasts since I was a little kid, my Mom would make these as a special treat. Here's one of the reasons I like them so much, I mean look at that box! I love the retro styling and how it hasn't changed in years, if ever. But most if all, I love Jiffy because it is made right in Michigan, Chelsea to be exact.

Jiffy makes a lot of different mixes, but you have to get the Apple Cinnamon! The only store I have found right in the city that carries this is Treasure Island. Pretty easy to whip these pancakes up and oh, so delicious when they're ready!

damask

I will admit I have a crazy obsession with anything done in a damask pattern. I don't own much in the pattern besides a table runner, but I'm looking to add to my collection. Apparently I am not alone. I went to Esty, typed in "damask" and got over 12,000 items back. Here are a few I really liked!

Love these, my favorite black and pink!

What a cute idea. This lady has a really cute shop on etsy too, I saw some awesome reusable lunch bags I really wanted.

Alright, this is beyond adorable.

And last, this little gem. Would love a couple of these for my living room. That's the great thing about damask, you can use it everywhere! In your home, on your kids, on your invitations, at your wedding...it just doesn't stop. Shoot, I can use those gloves in my garden!