Superbowl Commercial Rundown

So – I have to admit, I am a little surprised that the “Superbowl Commercial Rundown” is the blog post that appears from my most recent hiatus – but what can you do. I spent the Superbowl in a hotel room in South Beach, catching up on work, and preparing for three days of meetings. While it may not seem like the best way to watch the Superbowl – I did have some good wine and a little Italian risotto to keep me going. Plus the TV was huge! So while I was catching up with work, I made sure to pay close attention to the commercials. Because, after all, isn’t that why people watch the game? Ha! So here are my top 10 – as well those that just didn’t come close!

Top 5: MOST EMOTIONAL
1. Budweiser #bestbuds puppy & horse: I’m sorry, does it get any cuter than a puppy not wanting to leave its horse friend. Nope!
2. Budweiser “I’m Coming Home”: Best part of this one was that the Sgt was a real person (not just a made up story) and they let him attend the game!
3. Coca Cola Multi National #AmericaIsBeautiful: In a time with so many cultural wars, this was beautiful
4. U2 (Red): Love Bono. Love that he continues to support his cause. Love that Bank of America was willing to support AIDS awareness
5. Toyota Truck Cancer Awareness: I think it is special that Toyota spent so much of the commercial time focused on cancer, not on the actual truck.
Runner Up: Weather Tech – American Made: I cannot support American-made products enough!

TOP 5: FUNNY
- Seinfeld skit: Loved seeing Jerry Seinfeld again!
- Volkswagon – Wings and Rainbows: come on…the ending – pretty funny
- Pistachios (the double commercial): Clever strategy with the two part commercial
- David Beckham – Bodywear for H&M: Who didn’t love this one!
- Dannon Oikos Yogurt – Full House guys: MEMORIES! Only piece of feedback – I wish it was a longer commercial
Runner up: John Krasinski for E-surance: Very clever being the first post-game commercial and talking about how much cheaper it was!


Didn’t love:
- Carmax – clapping: Lame
- Audi – Compromise – Scary dog: It is hard to make a puppy look scary – but they did.
- Toyota Hylander – Muppets: Terry Crews…you are better than that!
- VaporZone E-cigarettes: While I was fine with the implied “Volkswagon Rainbows and John Stamos’ yogurt spill on his pants”… could have done without the implied “jacking off”
- Chobani Yogurt with the Bear attaching the store: just overall lame.

Lastly – cannot say enough about the half time show. Way to rock, Bruno Mars. Way. To. Rock.

Well Hello Again

Well Hello Again Indeed! 

Hard to believe I took a 5 month plus hiatus from blogging. Truth be told there are several reasons, which typed "outloud" in no particular order would be:  

1. I have a love/hate relationship with social media. 

 Honestly, I feel a bit bi-polar about the entire thing. I think it is great and wonderful while at the same time scary and overwhelming. It is a freeing sensation to have the control to share what you want with the world. Like you have a say and other people "have to/get to" listen. It is equally as terrifying to think that what you share with the world can never be taken back. It could also, one day, unexpectedly, be used against you. It is fun to see pictures of friends, baby announcments, moves, new homes, etc. But it can also make you feel like you are 5 years behind in child-rearing, need to buy a bigger house, document your vacations better and feel guilty when you come home from work on a Tuesday, watch TV in your elastic waisted PJs and have nothing interesting to Instagram or hashtag about. It keeps you connected with the world and at the same time can make you feel entirely alone. You can get incredible ideas and enjoy HOURS upon HOURS of craft-time, cooking with friends and "buying things", while at the same time make you feel as though your decorations, recipes, home decorating is never going to be enough. So in a nutshell I think it is great, but then I hate it. The past 5 months I was feeling less than steller about the entire thing. 

2. Life got in the way. 

I want to say life got busy, but isn't life always busy? If it wasn't, blogging would be IMO-only posts. Where would all the real-time life activities be? But the last 5 months it has felt like a different kind of busy. It felt right to take a break from blogging about my oh-so-perfect world and spend time enjoying my real-life-blessed-but-sometimes-difficult world. i.e. Reality. Living in the moment I believe they call it. I got caught up in going to events just for the pictures so I could go home and blog about it. I got updates on my friends through their blogs rather than actually talking to them. It all started to feel a little fake. So I hit the "reset" button. I just recently read a blog (http://iambeggingmymothernottoreadthisblog.com/) that made fun of having inner peace and happiness by doing yoga on the top of a mountain, or looking peacefully upon the waves of a perfect beach. It said, do what (the bleep) you want. I like that approach, do what you want, when you want it. In the past I have been, do what you want because you "should." I started a blog, kept up with it, started veiwing it as a chore, continued doing it, until one day I just stopped. And I have not felt like blogging again until today. So who know what tomorrow will bring. Maybe a regularity of posts - maybe nothing. 

3. I started taking less pictures. 

What is a blog post without pictures (besdies this one). I mean, something has to break up all the text! For the picture queen (ahem, me!), I can confidently say my lack-of-picture took us all by surprise! I haven't used my magic making/fancy camera since the hiatus. What.The.Heck. Again, I just didn't feel like it. I think it was the whole step of having to download the pictures to the computer and then upload them. #laziness 

4. My relationship with Social Media continues to evolve. 

Social media in some form or fashion is here to stay. My question continues to be - where will our (me and the internet) relationship end up? Social Media and I started our relationship by going steady in college, my first "one" if you will, with AIM instant messanger and "awesome" away messages that let people know how cool we were because we weren't in our dorm room. It notified others that we had friends - and (wait for it) we were out with those friends. We could brag about being at our sorority house, or parties with the fraternities. And then it could hurt your feelings when other people posted they were out with your ex-boyfriend. Then Facebook came out and I thought, ok man, let's take it to the next level. Now you can see pictures and we can "poke" each other. And we kept up a solid, laid back, relationship for years. Never really sharing that much, but just enough to keep each other interested. I made sure to upload pictures every once in awhile, and Facebook didn't let me forget my password. Then Facebook decided it wanted to see other people, not just us college kids. And so it got weird. So many "adults" and "kids" started wanting to be "friends." No thanks. Being a stubborn, Italian "woman" I put my foot down. But it reeled me back in with its alluring curiousity to see what my friends were up to. Facebook and I were on and off for years. We grew in our relationship and set some ground rules like "no more bikini pictures," "keep the drunk pics to a minimum" and "do not ever accept a work colleague as a friend." Facebook understood that I needed my privacy and wasn't going to let strangers into our relaionship. I'm pleased to say we continue to follow those same rules today. Things like Four Square and Come Rob My House (I mean, "check-in") came and I said "I'm a one woman Social Media kinda girl." Games became available on Facebook and I said "let's keep the TV out of the bedroom." Twitter came and straight up irritated me. It was aggressive with its "at" signs and "hashtags." Why are there so many constanants in the same sentence. I subscribed to those who said "Social Media is taking over," "Kids these days won't know how to write in complete sentences because they can only talk in 140 character phrases." I said no to bringing Twitter into our lives. But then Twitter never went away and I got curious. Not like, "let's kiss a girl in college to say we 'experimented' type curious" but more like "what am I losing out on by only dating one social media site?" So Facebook and I continued until I couldn't resist any longer. What were all these ####s about. I signed up, Facebook understood, tweeted about 36 times, got overwhelmed and things fizzled. Twitter didn't respect my privacy like Facebook, and honestly I just felt old and confused by "the kids these days." The one thing I did take away from my relationship with Twitter was a love of #hashtaguse. Talk about exhilerating. And who knows why. I love it. Honestly it isn't that special. It is a group of words that need not be grammatically correct, no punctuation necessary and has a number sign in front of it. But still, #heartmelt! Without Twitter though I had to say goodbye to the adorable hashtag. #Nicewhileitlasted. Until, that is...INSTAGRAM. Instagram took the best of Facebook and Twitter: Pictures (that you can make look ah-mazing) with a #caption. So now I exist in an average relationship with Facebook and Instagram with blogging and Pinterst ever-so-ready for me on the side. To make my point here - social media is here to stay. We have been together for over 10 years, we have shared a lot that can (literally) never be taken back and deep down we really really like each other. So what the future has in store... who knows. Might be more blogging, pinning, posting and hashtagging - or we might decide to keep our relationship on the downlow and silently stalk our fabulous friends and (sometimes) wonder if their lives are better than ours. 

5. The last reason (although again there was no particular order to this list) is personal. And after making points 1-4, we will see if personal ever makes public.  

Until then...Welcome Back!

A True Texan in my Truck!

Why yes I do get out of this guy (Mr. Gray) in my pencil skirt and aviator sunglasses! I would have never in a million years guessed this truck would be all mine - or that I would even want it - but it is and I do! Thanks to a very supportive husband for letting me drive this beast of a "car"!

And yes, we do already have a beauty mark! Don't worry...the pole is fine!

Habemus Papam

I have been meaning to write this post since March 13. I have so much to say about Pope Bene 16 stepping down, getting to see the Conclave again, and the excitement around our new Pope, the first non-Euro Pope to be elected. While this post won't do any of my thoughts justice, I figured I better just put some words down so the time doesn't completely pass me by. 

Pope Benedict getting elected was a pretty big year for me. I was living in Italy during his first year and had the opportunity to "feel" the new Holy Father in the Vatican. I even got to see him up close and personal at Castel Gandolfo. That being said I was not immediately a fan. It was so hard to see JP2 go, and I never thought Pope Benedict looked very friendly. But sometimes you never know what you have until it is gone. I 100% support Pope Benedict stepping down. Fellow friends and Catholics may feel differently, that he is quitting. But all I feel is proud. It is an honor for any man to be elected Pope. Naturally, leading over a billion followers, there would be a sense of power I imagine. As an A-type, I bet I would love the decision making abilities. So to give that up and say, I have done all I can do, let's let someone else step up to the plate, to me is very inspirational. 

And what is even more fun...I could not be any more excited about Pope Francesco! To me, he resembles JP2 and I love his smile. I am excited the Cardinals chose a non-European to mix it up, and I am excited about the energy he seems to bring. The icing on the cake is he chose the name Francesco - and St. Francis is my favorite Saint!

The Pope opening up Holy Week at the Vatican

And while electing a new Pope isn't a joke - this cracks me up!

A (Little) Pep Talk

Just watched this video - and I'm not sure I could say it any better than this little guy. A perfect follow up to my book review!

What are you going to do to stop being boring!?!?!

No Lost Cause: Book Review

Holy Moly! When I tell you I just read the greatest book EVER, you should take me seriously. No Lost Cause, the story of the former President of Colombia, was such an inspirational book that a) I want to scream it from the top of a mountain and have everyone I know read it b) I feel slightly inadequate as a person contributing to the good of our country and c) I need to catch up on foreign news/politics.

A work colleague was reading this book on a recent business trip, and for some reason just looking at the cover, I felt pulled to read it. When they were finished I was given two weeks (before they had to pass it on to the next person they had already committed it to). I didn't need half that time because I couldn't put it down! I will probably re-read it before the month is over. I realize due to personal circumstances, this book may have spoken to me more than it will to others, but regardless - the story of never giving up, striving for continuous improvement in the face of adversity, and believing in change for the better - those things will speak to everyone.

We defnitely have some problems and issues facing our country - our world - and society right now. Five minutes of watching the news can tell you that. But at the same time we have miracles that happen every day, we have people still carrying hope, and we live in a world with brilliant minds, selfless hearts and hidden leadership. It was fun to read a book that demonstrates success, and a country that wanted to reach its potential. That being said, no person, country or society is perfect - but we can always do something to help make the world a better place. As cliche as that sounds - at the end of the day you just have to believe it and ask yourself what you are doing to help.

"Perseverance conquers waht desire does not achieve." - Alvaro Uribe Velez's mother

*Disclaimer: I'm not a political expert - so I have some continued research to do Uribe and the country of Colombia. This book was obviously one perspective - and I realize that. Even if Uribe isn't the perfect person - I believe no one is - but results speak for themselves. And not to get on a tangent, but maybe we could all focus on the strength of our leaders - and not spend so much time airing every tiny mistake they made when they were younger, or prior to being in office. We don't want unethical people leading our country, but we will lose good political candidates that can make a difference and care, if every political campaign continues to spend millions finding the little mistakes or secrets that all of us have in some form or fashion. Let's focus on now!