Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Go Watch NASCAR

One thing I love about my job is discovering new markets and industries I otherwise would never know about, such as the mommy bloggers, small business owners and NASCAR FANS!! Tonight, I attended a reception hosted by the New York Times introducing a very unlikely partnership between the NYT, NASCAR, Tommy Baldwin Racing and Guy Fieri. NASCAR fans are brand-loyal, have a 50K+ average income and there's A LOT of them. The best part of the reception is Guy Fieri--he's hilarious, down-to-earth and cooked up some of his famous Cajun Chicken Alfredo.
I'm already a fan of fast cars, so this can't be a bad discovery can it?

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

What Would Don Draper Do?

I created a 'WWDDD' poster to remind Ad Men and Women of the glamour, passion and risk-taking that once was an exciting, booming industry. If you ever find yourself in unusual or difficult circumstance, ask yourself: What would Don Draper do?
Click on Image to Enlarge or Print (and post in every corner of your ad agency)

Circumstance: Your office party is serving only cheap, domestic light beer.
WWDDD: Pour a glass (made of pure crystal) of Bourbon from a whiskey collection sitting in your own office/cubicle mini bar.

Circumstance: Your new business pitch totally didn't excite the client.
WWDDD: If your client is a man, take him out for a drink and after talk business. If you client is a woman, take her out to dinner and then get down to business.

Luckily, Don Draper advice is also available @WWDDD or visit whatwoulddondraperdo.tumblr.com or whatwoulddondraperdo.org. Small steps to making Advertising fun and sexy again.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

NYC Fashion Week: Erin Wasson for RVCA

Every girl's dream is to get inside the big white Fashion Week tents at Bryant Park, and finally that dream has come true! Last night in the wet weather, Tiffany, Hannah and I went to the Erin Wasson RVCA show and soaked in the free shwag, open bar and crowd of fashion bloggers, editors and photographers. Invite!
Chambord sponsored the Open Bar--Blackberry Chambord French Martinis
Some of the tent sponsors: Amex, McCafe, Palm, Maybelline, LU biscuits, Treseme and Mercedes Benz
I could feel the bass beneath the seats of live band Gang Gang Dance, and independent filmmaker Rick Charnoski created the desert scene backdrop of the show. Great vibes. Some of my favorite looks from the show:
The nude office look
The fighter look--very appropriate for the next UFC fight
My favorite blouse--A splash of Royal Blue with giant polka dots
At The Jane Hotel in West Village for the after party--spotted Erin Wasson and the owner of RVCA

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Great Copy Makes Great Viral

I'm glad good copy is making a strong comeback. Who needs a visible logo in the bottom right corner or catchy slogan, when you can spark curiosity with a strong, witty statement.

If not an ad, could this be a promotion of Michael Moore's upcoming documentary 'Capitalism: A Love Story'?

Adventuring DUMBO

My labor day was very much laborious. I did the one thing I do best--walk. I walked along the FDR riverside park (or whatever it's called) from 10th Street all the way down to the Brooklyn Bridge. I'm always discouraged by throngs of tourist, but as you walk across the bridge, the crowds dwindle exponentially.

I've heard a lot about some pizza place and some ice cream place on the 'other side'. Pizza + Ice Cream = Enough Motivation for me to explore the cute neighborhood of DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass). Like the elephant, DUMBO is very cute with its cobblestone streets, abandoned warehouses and boutique bakeries. It's feels a little like Brick Lane meets downtown Seattle.

Two pieces of advice:
1) DUMBO is a cash-only type of place. ATMs are rare and most of them are out of service. Don't bet on finding a BoA (Bank of America).
2) Expect to wait for 1-2 hours at Grimaldi's. Local advice is to call in your order for pick-up. If they ask where you live, say the 'Eagle Storage' building.

Photo Recap:
FDR park
Yay, I'm in the BK.
Grimaldi's--great example of a mom&pop shop.
Plastic bag flags--I saw a Boston Garment District bag.
A must-go park
18" italian sausage and onion pizza for two. yummm.
Three slices each--one to go.
SUCCESS
BK ice cream factory. I wanted Strawberry. They ran out, so I got Peaches and Cream. A worthy replacement.
What the 'other side' sees

Sunday, September 6, 2009

NYC Picture Post: Move-In, Roof Deck, Teri Burgers

I haven't posted in a while, but I've been busy settling into my NYC residence! Gabs, Ted, Sean, my bro and I spent a long Tuesday unloading a packed Penske truck on the Upper East Side and East Village. The morning at Gabs and Ted's on the UES went smoothly, until we picked up a 160 lbs fridge in Murray Hill for my place...
Surprisingly, we (by 'we' I don't mean 'me', I mean Sean, Ted and my brother) got the fridge up five flights of stairs VERY SLOWLY; however, getting the box spring up was a whole other story.
Apparently a full size box spring doesn't fit up our staircase so our options were: 1) saw the box spring in half 2) carry the box spring up from the fire escape.

We had no saw or wire cutters, so up the fire escape it is! I don't think anyone has stepped on the fire escape in a 100 years. My brother and Ted carried a full box spring up the side of our building, only to find out it doesn't fit through the opening at the very top. Aaarrrggghh. 3 1/2 hours wasted. We decided to throw the box spring off the fire escape and trash the box spring.
Sunset from my roof deck--soooo nice.
Spiral staircase sealed the deal.
I threw Zack a bbq on his last night in the city with homemade Teri Burger patties and all.Empire's red, white and blue for labor day from our roof. Happy long weekend!
Finally I can relax.