Always Anna

I’ve been on vacation the past few days – Baja California will never be the same.  Ha!  More about that later.

For now, I’m back at work, and yesterday’s Dilbert explains exactly how I feel today:

You know how sometimes, you get so excited about a new store or artist or anything  that you can’t stop stalking their website?  And you feel like you need to tell everyone about it, but secretly don’t want to because you’re afraid that if everyone knows, it’ll stop being cool?   Well that’s how I feel about my friend Nicole’s newest endeavor – Coley Designs.

Last December, a group of friends went to Spark Crafts to make necklaces – a girl’s activity that led up to our dinner celebration for Nicole’s birthday.  Well, Nicole loved making jewelry so much that she kept doing it, making necklaces for herself and to give as presents over the past few months.  Then, about a month ago, she decided to expand on her new found hobby and start making necklaces to sell!  I am so excited and proud of her, because her stuff – which you can see on MySpace and Etsy – is so gorgeous and fun and reasonably priced!I’m also excited about the opportunity that Nicole’s entrepreneurial skills have brought to me.  You know how I said I’ve become obsessed with design? Well, I harassed Nicole into letting me create her logo and other identity stuff.  So far, I’ve made her logo and banner for the Etsy page, and am now working on tags for the jewelry, business cards, and stationery.  It’s so freakin’ fun!  Plus, now I have a whole new side of marketing I can explore. 

The best quote I’ve heard in a long time, compliments of RealSimple.com’s Daily Thought Email:

“Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion. I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning up to do afterward.”

— Kurt Vonnegut

I think I’ll try to laugh at work from now on…

Last night we celebrated my friend DDD’s 26th birthday by going to a local bar for a few adult beverages… a few too many, as it happens, but lately that’s been my MO.

We went to PJ Ryans because two other friends were playing there – Stuckey & Murray consistently crack me up, so I couldn’t wait to see them play live.

Don’t believe me? The live performance was just as much fun as this video.

I’m not supposed to blog about the BF – he’s very against being a “public” figure – but I have to say this…

A minute ago, while I was brushing my teeth, he was snoring so loudly that I thought my phone was ringing. (My ring tone is “breaking beats” which sounds kind of like a cross between a drum roll and a beat boxer.)

Isn’t that cute?

Over the last year, I’ve become obsessed with design.  At work, I’ve been using InDesign as often as possible and am now teaching myself PhotoShop.  At home, I’m collecting interior design and crafty ideas and have started making paper crafts.  And even though – as a marketer – I always pay attention to advertisements and commercials, I’ve been paying closer attention to the visuals involved in good marketing pieces.

And I’m obsessed with Shreve, Crump & Low’s new catalog, which was delivered to my office by accident:

How great is this?  I don’t even really like pearls – well, I like them, but feel that they’re a little too old for me – but this cover makes me want a pea pod full of them!  It’s just so springy and fresh.

Obsessed. 

Dear Brett,

You know I love you.  You know I defend almost everything you do, and that I think you are God’s gift to this world.  But today, I’m disappointed in you.

I know that you play to win.  I know that all the records that you’ve broken (and are on the way to breaking) and all the adoration that you receive mean nothing to you if you don’t win.  I love that about you.  And I completely understand that you’re frustrated with the horrifying management decisions regarding free agent signings and draft choices.  I am too!  BUT, if you don’t stop acting like a child – talking crap about the team that you lead and asking for a trade and threatening to boycott mini-camp – I am going to have to give you a spanking and a time-out.

Don’t break my heart, Brett.  I know you’ll do the right thing (which is staying with the team that LOVES you and defends you to the death, and not leaving us to deal with the non-prospect that is Aaron Rodgers).

Love always (unless you leave me),

Anna

A little over a month ago, I signed up to participate in the Mellow + Yellow Swap, hosted by the fabulous Marta.

I loved the idea of choosing a color and building a gift around it. First off, I LOVE giving gifts. I love figuring out what to get, finding out where to find them, wrapping them up, and shipping them off. Secondly, I’ve become obsessed with design and crafty type things, and this seemed like a fun way to focus on the visuals of a gift.

So, last week I packaged up my blue presents and sent them off to Anna Jo. (And how fun is it that I got to send gifts to another cool and fun Anna?)

The photo in the frame is of a rainy day on a lake; I PhotoShopped it to make it more blue, and added in one of my favorite quotes – “Life is a daring adventure; or nothing!” from Helen Keller.

Just after I shipped my gifts off, I received the most gorgeous black presents:

Aren’t they gorgeous? The three cards are all hand made, with gorgeous heavy paper and beautiful photos. The black bag on the left side is tea, which looks really yummy, with a quote from the Tao Te Ching: “The sage never tries to store things up. The more he does for others, the more he has. The more he gives to others, the greater his abundance.”

I can’t wait for the next swap!

So, Earth Month is over.

As an environmental almost-nut, I love that it’s become “cool” to care about the environment. I love that now, if people say they don’t recycle, everyone freaks out. I loved “An Inconvenient Truth” – the movie and the song – and am completely thrilled that Gore managed to make everyone care about something that’s gone ignored for far too long. I love that cities and states are stepping up where our federal government is refusing to go, by requiring that new buildings be green (whether that means LEED or something else) and providing benefits for hybrid drivers. I love that practically every magazine has had some kind of “green” issue this last month, and that I’m getting more and more information on how I can make a difference.

But I’m a little worried too. I’m scared that, even though everyone is talking the talk right now, we won’t really walk the walk. I’m afraid that all this impetus towards change will get stalled, sputter, and then blow up. I’m worried that – in the end – people won’t be willing to make a change. That they’ll think that since they can’t do everything, they shouldn’t do anything.

I don’t think people realize that you don’t have to be all or nothing. You don’t have to be No Impact Man – whose blog, by the way, is awesome – to make a difference. Every little thing helps. Recycle cans, bottles, and paper. Buy recycled paper napkins and paper towels. When you can, buy local or organic food. But here’s the thing about all of these ideas – even if you do them only half the time, you’re still making a difference! If you just do one thing a week, you’re making a difference!

So… I guess I’ll just keep doing what I can, and helping my loved ones do what they can. And hope for the best.