End of an era

I truly feel like I'm witnessing the end of an era, after noticing this on Twitter: Condé Nast announces layoffs at Vanity Fair and GQ. Its been severely depressing year for the print industry.

Now, as a passionate PR gal, I'm of course submersed in the media on a daily basis but this one this really stuck with me. Mainly because one of my favorite non-major courses in college was Magazine Writing, where I spent many a day idolizing and pouring over the articles in VF. It's such an industry icon, to see witness these layoffs really makes you wonder about the future of print. With citizen journalism and social media developments, information is so much more readily available and accessible - a 6 month lead time is nearly becoming a distant memory.

So, in the spirit of mourning the death of pulp I'd like to reflect on the losses we've experienced thus far this year:





The diminishing magazine industry brings into question even more worries about the advertising industry (my other major), but these I'll save for another day.

Sunday Funday

It is officially, finally fall here in D.C. I've been looking forward to watching the leaves change pretty much since I moved here and this weekend, it seemed that overnight the city's trees became alive with color. I'm having to hold myself back from taking my camera everywhere with me and snapping shots of the fall foliage. Nothing says Florida freak/tourist like that right? But since I haven't truly experienced a real fall since we moved to Florida from North Carolina 10 years ago, I'm relishing in this breathtaking scenery.

Today, as the usual Sunday tradition goes, I trekked up to Eastern Market and returned with some delightful bounty. One of my favorite things about the market is the samples. You can go up and down the farmer's market aisles trying all different types of fresh fruits and vegetables and let me tell you, they're all amazing. This week I fell in love with the honeycrisp apples. Seriously, store-bought apples will never compare. And they're huge! I also returned with my weekly allotment of fresh flowers for the apartment. Aren't they gorgeous?

This picture might not do them justice, but they're the biggest apples I've ever seen!

And to make the weekend even more exciting, Rosalyn of Dooley and Me tagged me with an award! Thanks so much, Rosalyn! So here goes:

The rules: use only one word, pass along to six favorite bloggers, and tell 'em you did so.Take it away-

1. Where is your cell phone? table
2. Your hair? curly
3. Your mother? inspirational
4. Your father? supportive
5. Your favorite food? everything!
6. Your dream last night? nada
7. Your favorite drink? coffee
8. Your dream/goal? job
9. What room are you in? living
10. Your hobby? reading
11. Your fear? mediocrity
12. Where do you want to be in six years? here?
13. Where were you last night? out
14. Something that you aren't? coordinated
15. Muffins? lemon poppyseed
16. Wish list item? bicycle
17. Where did you grow up? Florida
18. Last thing you did? dinner
19. What are you wearing? pjs
20. Your TV? HIMYM
21. Your pets? home
22. Friends? hilarious
23. Your life? busy
24. Your mood? tired
25. Missing someone? fam+bff
26. Vehicle? Honda
27. Something you're not wearing? shoes
28. Your favorite store? J. Crew
29. Your favorite color? Green
30. When was the last time you laughed? minutes
31. Last time you cried? unsure
32. Your best friend? BMY
33. One place that I could go over and over? Eastern Market (haha)
34. One person who emails you regularly? roommate (again, haha)
35. Favorite place to eat? home

And I tag:

1. Susan in the South
2. Desperately Seeking Seersucker
   
3. Miss Monogram
4. Plan Acourtingly
5. Pink Cupcake
6. Summer is a Verb
   

Pearls of wisdom

One day at a time--this is enough. Do not look back and grieve over the past, for it is gone; and do not be troubled about the future, for it has not yet come. Live in the present, and make it so beautiful that it will be worth remembering.

Ida Scott Taylor

A weekend in review: cupcakes and ball games

Despite the dreary weather here in D.C., I had an extremely productive weekend. The rain and 40 degree weather made it a great time to play catch up on all things domestic - including taking time to try out the pumpkin cupcake recipe shared by KAG. I have to admit, they turned out very well!

Also this weekend, I spent some much needed time cleaning up all my social media outlets. Oddly enough, when I started this little blog here, I registered with my hotmail account. Not a good plan, friends. So, a year later, I finally figured out how to switch everything over, officially, to my gmail account, which makes my life a lot easier. But, this also means that I'm needing to spend time adding everyone's blogs to my other account, which is taking some time so bear with me.

Saturday evening I met up with the UCF alumni group here to watch the UCF vs. Miami game. Although we didn't win, I'm happy to say it wasn't a complete blowout. But it did make me nostalgic for the days of tailgating as I watched everyone's Facebook statuses as they headed to the game. As the favorite UCF adage goes, "We may not win 'em all, but we never loose a tailgate party."

Also, I found this cartoon this week in the Ft. Myers newspaper. So true. Oh, Florida, some days I really miss you.

The News- Press

Why does Auld Lang Syne come to mind?

I nearly forgot that today is my 1-year blogoversary! I can't believe it's been a year since I started this, on one hand it was forever ago and another it seems like it was just yesterday when Miss Monogram and I chatted about blogging rather than marketing before class. Thanks for the inspiration, lady. :)

Flickr: PinkBow

Looking back, quite a lot has happened. From break-ups to big girl jobs, I didn't really know what I wanted this to be when I began, but its evolved into an amazing cathartic experience being able to share my thoughts and feelings, despite the miles. So for now, I'm off to sip some more hot chocolate as it's in the 40's here. A lot has changed in a year, no more 90 degree Octobers, no more shorts on Halloween.



Cheers my dears,

Only the mediocre are always at their best

I've recently become addicted to the New York Times column Corner Office, where each week Adam Bryant interviews top executives across all industries. A bit late, today I finally caught up on Sunday's column - an interview with the C.E.O. of Duke Energy, James Rogers. As a full-time working woman now (read: professional intern), I'm finally where I want to be, within reach of my career dreams and goals. But, now that I've made it to the threshold of my future I battle with the ways in which I can improve to make myself even more marketable as an employee (especially in this economy).

I look at the people around me and wonder how they handle all that's on their plates. How and when do you transition from day-to-day duties to strategy and planning? I used to envision a time or title or age when you crossed that line, but as Rogers points out, it's fundamentally important to our success to remain engaged in the daily activites of your company, clients and employees throughout your career.

Fortunately, I feel blessed that every day I wake up excited to go work, to be a part of an industry that I love, one that incites change, advocacy and awareness. But nonetheless, my fears of mediocrity push me more than anything else. Some days, it is exhausting trying out outrun the sound of settling (no pun intended). But I find it refreshing each week to read about the successes of these executives, as I store away their insights like intangible step stones to my future.

Weekend goodies

Another wonderful weekend in The District and it's finally feeling like fall.

My Eastern Market Sundays are becoming a rather nice tradition to look forward to, especially this time of year. If you're not familiar with D.C., Eastern Market is flea market plus farmers market meets craft show. Seriously, it doesn't get any better than that. And it's 90 percent outdoors, so people bring their pups and peruse the aisles and it's just one of my favorite places ever. And lucky for me, it happens every weekend just minutes away.

This week, I was on the lookout for some mini-watercolor paintings of the city, but I didn't find the right ones so that may have to hold off till next week.

However, we did bring home our weekly fresh flowers, which are looking beautiful on our newly finished (and Eastern Market find) table.

This week's find - gorgeous.

These are last week's - we're trying to dry them out. :)

There were pumpkins everywhere! I haven't invested in any yet, but I'm in love with all of the fall goodies.

Happy Monday!

Life in the District

It's weekends like this that make me firmly believe that I could be in D.C. forever. It couldn't have been a more perfect, October weekend. With high's in the low 70's, the weather was absolutely glorious and to top it off, my step-brother and his girlfriend came up for a surprise visit!

I've become quite talented at giving walking tours of D.C., I must say. Despite the fact that my family usually hates me when it's over and we all collapse in utter exhaustion, it's always worth it. And with blissful weather this weekend, I couldn't of been happier to spend time with family in a city I adore.

Monuments at sunset, my favorite time to visit the mall.

Step-sib lovin': Chris & me

Chris & Mal

To top it off, all of my teams won this weekend! UCF pulled out a win, Auburn and even the Jaguars. Surprising, I know. Now with less than 2 weeks to go until the UCF vs. Miami game, which I wish I was attending, I'm a little stressed for my boys. But let's hope they rest up next weekend.