feeling the pressure

Literally

and

figuratively.

I always seem to get sick (and feel pretty awful) for about a day and a half. After which, I feel completely fine. But oh, that day and a half is a nightmare.

Especially when I have two media law papers due on Wednesday.*

And a short story to finish.

And a birthday present to buy/get/send to my little brother.

And finals coming up in less than 2 weeks.

All I want to do is take NyQuil and sleep for like 48 hours.

Mental explosion meets sinus pressure equals major fail at life.

*all day today I kept thinking it was Wednesday and it was stressing me out. majorly.

What you're doing this Saturday:

This is what I spent a few hours on yesterday.

It was really fun to play around in Illustrator.*

Two more reasons to convince you to come:

-My semi-famous peanut butter brownies (actually, it's my mom's recipe, but I brought their fame to my corner of the world)

-I'll be singing a little song with my friend Clark.

So come stuff your belly and fill your ears with the feel good sounds of doing some good in the world.

*slowly checking off #3 on this list.

Currently obsessing over:

Can I just say that I love everything about this?

Oh, to sing a duet with Andrea Bocelli.

In Italian.

Someday, I want to be able to understand this without having to use Google Language Tools.

Walk the World

This blog is not generally a forum for discussion, but today I feel like discussing just a little bit.

I read this interesting little article from Zen Habits.*

Lately, since I've been so busy and stressed, I've also been semi-addicted to Zen Habits. There are some things they say don't really work for my life right now, but there are a lot of really good insights about how to make life more simple and less stressful.

This section really stuck with me:

"Yes, it sometimes take longer to get places — maybe 20 minutes instead of 10-15, or 45 minutes instead of 25-30. But that’s OK, because cars (while faster) are also more stressful. Driving in traffic is stressful. So we go places slower, which is less stressful, more fun. I like a slower life."

I like a slower life, too.

I love the idea of living in a place where I can walk almost anywhere I need to go.

I love walking, and I really believe that you see the world differently by foot than you do by car.

Sometimes I don't even see the world if I'm driving. I zone out, which is not only dangerous, but takes the fun out of getting wherever I'm going.

Over the past year or so, I've really come to appreciate public transportation.

It's so convenient.

It's relatively inexpensive.

And it's great for people-watching.

What do you think about all this?

*Some of you know that I don't really like driving, but know that it's the stressful 15 minute drives that I'm not a huge fan of. I'm always up for a good road trip. But, who knows, maybe I can take a cross-country train trip. Or a cross-country bike trip like these friends of mine.

the shorter story

Some people like to go to haunted houses and watch scary movies and let their imaginations run wild to feel that thrill of utter horror and fright.

But I've never been like that.

I'm the one who watches sad movies when I'm happy.
And listens to rainy day music when it's bright and sunny.
And cries not only in movies but at the end of really good books.
Whose idea of a perfect Saturday morning is curling up in a blanket with a mug of hot cocoa and watching something like "The Way We Were."

Because there is something about that heartbreaking, purely human rush of delicious melancholy that gets me every time.

If I can make this night light enough to move*

Today I felt optimistic.

About life and love.

I just had this overwhelming feeling that it's all going to turn out alright.

And that it's alright even right now.

So even in the middle of this storm of stress and unchecked to do lists and half-baked efforts at greatness, this is what keeps me going:

1. Tomorrow I get to walk onto the dance floor with one of my best friends and have SO MUCH FUN.

2. I'm too young to have regrets. And too young to be completely realistic.

3. Lots and lots of compliments on this little success.

4. I might get to sleep in on Saturday morning.

5. Aced my Media Law test. Boom baby!

6. Life is unexpected. And that is frighteningly exhilarating.

7. I only have one class tomorrow.

8. I get to check another state off my list in a couple weeks. (Tennessee, here I come!)

9. Today I felt pretty. Really pretty.

I think next semester I'm going to start clearing out some of the junk in my closet, and cover my walls in sticky notes with dreams and goals and good thoughts for myself.

Something makes me think that will be awfully fulfilling.

image via weheartit, this

*Listen to this. Now.

Would you believe me if I told you this was my homework?

Because it was.

For my advertising concepts class tomorrow, we are having a creative food potluck of sorts.

And this is what I'm bringing.

And if you were wondering, I did eat the bite out of the corner at 1am when I finished this baby.

Baking is my yoga.

*this photo, taken by myself (this is new...) proves several things:

1. I am a copywriter, not an art director, meaning the concept is great. The visual execution....well let's just say I'm not a perfectionist.

2. I actually do own a camera. And I just discovered that my laptop has a memory card slot thingy...well, look at that.

3. I make dang good brownies.

Frankly Scarlet

Sometimes when you spend all day on campus, walking from class to class with wet feet in wet shoes and glasses covered in water droplets, it means you stay up way too late to paint your nails a ridiculously named shade of red when you should be sleeping.

And then you curl up into your many many blankets and dream of handwritten letters and pin curls and red lipstick.

please don't break me

Yesterday I divided a piece of notebook paper into six sections and wrote the days of the next week on them. I color coded all of my responsibilities into: adlab, school, dance, and miscellaneous.

Next week will be better? Hopefully. The problem isn't that I'm committed to a lot of things I don't really want to do. The problem is that I'm committed to too many things that I really want to do. But I can't fully enjoy any of them because I'm always thinking about the next one.

Next semester I am scheduling at least an hour a day to do absolutely nothing.
Or to eat.
Or take a nap.
Or write or read, just for fun.

Or maybe I really will sit and stare at the corner and think about blank pages and white walls and lists with only one to do item on them:

1. Breathe

ps: how does Colby know exactly what to post to make me feel better? Loving this quote, stolen from her blog:

"You belong among the wildflowers. You belong in a boat out at sea. You belong with your love on your arm. You belong somewhere you feel free."
- Tom Petty


image via this

No one is too small to make a difference

Hey all you blog friends who bumped into my corner of the web. Let me tell you about what has been consuming my life lately. In a gets-me-going-in-the-morning, makes-me-want-to-change-the-world, feeling-like-I-actually-can kind of way. This is the kind of stuff that keeps my blood running and my feet moving even when I'm running on little to no sleep.

Tipping Bucket is an incredible organization that has been able to do so much in the short time they've been up and running. To date, they have restored eyesight to Ugandans, lit up rural African schools that didn't have electricity, and provided support and vocational training to victims of sex-trafficking in Southeast Asia.

Tipping Bucket helps passionately charged people with great ideas but limited resources make those ideas come to life. They do this through many small donations from people with big hearts.

All of this is building up to me telling you that Tipping Bucket is entered into the Pepsi Refresh competition for November. They are in the category to win a $250,000 grant that will help them expand their organization and increase their ability to fund more projects.

This is why I do advertising. This is why I sacrifice time, sleep, energy, and a lot of other things for the BYU Adlab.

Help us help them win!

It's easy:

1) Tell your friends. (Link to this post, to the Tipping Bucket website, blog/tweet/facebook it. Don't be shy, you social media mavens you)

2)VOTE: At www.tippingbucket.org, you can vote 3 times a day. Click the two links on the website and text "104182" to 73774(PEPSI) EACH day in November.**

Thank you in advance! Every vote counts!

*If you’re inspired and would like to join the “street team” helping to make this happen, just send your name and email address to pepsi@tippingbucket.org. That will get you on the list for a daily 2-minute-task email and update on our progress toward seizing this great opportunity!

**If you'd like to receive a reminder text each day throughout November send "22046" to 27138
.