Find me on TUMBLR!

Not that blogger wasn't great and all but I tried out tumblr and I'm really loving it. Find me:

http://curiouschantal.tumblr.com/

I Feel Like Spiderman

I'm living a double life. I have two twitter accounts and two blogs! Fraud?

It began as just a part of an application process to grad school but I soon found out how much I truly enjoyed posting. I only wish I had more time on my hands so that I could do it more often.

When I was applying to Miami Ad School for the copywriting program, one of the assignments was to create a twitter account for a brand and to have at least 20 posts. 20 posts soon turned into 100 posts, a Facebook account and a blog and although I am no longer applying to Miami Ad School, I'm still posting. I began the account for one of my favorite clothing brands Ann Taylor Loft. I am (drum roll) LoftDoll. I use to be a manager at LOFT and although I left, I never stopped loving the clothes and what the company stands for.

I write as LoftDoll, an avid fan, who promotes the brand by letting other fans know about the latest promotions and I also give some tid bits I learned from my time working there. My friends and family know me as the local fashionista and while I don't go crazy and wear every look from the runway, I do play with accessories, bold prints and new styles that not everyone may be daring enough to wear.

I have close to 90 followers now and while adding to the bunch may take time, I'm having fun just writing and thinking of new ways to introduce LoftDoll and "her" thoughts to others.

So follow me @LoftDoll and check out LoftDoll's blog at: http://loftdoll.tumblr.com/

Post-Graduation

Seems like the second I put my cap and gown on and turned the tassel from right to left I’ve been asked the same question over and over again. “So, what’s next?”  I graduated on Monday morning and I would jokingly respond, “Usually Tuesday,” or “Lunch.”

I’m the kind of person that always has a plan, a back-up plan and the back-up plan for the back-up plan. Yes, I have a plan A, B, C, D and E.  So while I was able to answer the question well, I can’t help but think of the recent grads that have to respond, “I don’t know.”

It’s an awful question to ask really because a person can either respond in a way that will make it sound like they have everything under control or they will sound like they’re completely lost.

With the job market the way it is, most grads have to respond that they are looking for a job and everyone wishes them luck knowing the hard road ahead. My Facebook  newsfeed has become a forum for recent grads to complain about not being able to find a job. One that I found amusing was a status update reading, “Searching for jobs because they ain’t searching for me.” While humorous, a recent grad commented on his status, “Same here, you’d think a master’s degree would help but it doesn’t.”  That person did what many are doing which is to go to graduate school in hopes of  having more job opportunities with a higher degree or “waiting it out” until the job market improves.

According to USA Today, in 2010 only 44% of employers planned to hire recent college grads. It faces a decline every year so I’m sure that number is even lower now for 2011.  It is what it is so Class of 2011, let’s go out there and hunt for our dream job, or something like it.  

"Today I don't feel like doing anything,"

     "....I just want to lay in my bed." Bruno Mars knows what I'm feeling. My alarm went off at about 6:45 AM and my brain turned on about 15 minutes later. Its first thought was, "Augh, I don't want to go to class today." I then rolled over and pressed the snooze button. While I snoozed, I couldn't help but think,"At least there are only three weeks left of waking up early for class."
     My eyes then opened when I realized that if I do get into the graduate program of my dreams, I'll be doing this for the next two years. "Maybe I should re-think grad school," was my next thought, "but then I'll have to wake up early every day for work."
     After careful deliberation and a bowl of fruit loops for breakfast I came to the conclusion that my first choice is still the right choice and I'll be going to grad school this Fall (upon my acceptance to my dream school).

Should I write this in my application essay when they ask, "What made you decide to further your education with our program?"

"Well... there was this morning..."

What's in a name?

     I've heard of people changing the names of their pets but never changing the names of their children, that was until yesterday anyway. It was in the middle of my average day working the registers when in between a few beeps and a couple of, "Have a nice days," I over heard a co-worker tell a customer that her friend changed her baby's name when he was five months old. 

     I'm surprised my neck didn't snap off with how fast I turned around to say, "Are you serious?" She smiled and said, "Well it's not like the kid will ever know the difference. One day my friend decided that her baby didn't look like a Jonathan and he actually looked like a Thomas." I decided to butt out of her friend's business and ended the conversation with an "I guess so."

     I can't help but think, what happened to the letters on his wall. You know those letters in 99% of nurseries that spell out the baby's name. Where did those letters go? Did they re-use the "A" to cut costs? What about the birth certificate?

     I keep thinking, if one set of parents did this, i'm sure they're not alone. Imagine how many re-named kids there are out there! Another thought is, what if you went from a good name to a bad name? Does that mean the parents thought less of the child. 

     Imagine you start off as Ace, a name associated with winning and being skilled, to a name like Eugene, often thought of as a "nerdy" name. Names are important. I was supposed to be an Ashley, but luckily half of my hispanic family couldn't pronounce it so I became Chantal. 

ROAD TRIP

     When I was a little girl, I would watch movies like Crossroads, starring Britney Spears, and I would tell myself, "When I'm older I'm going to drive a red mustang, look like Britney Spears and have a road trip with my friends." Finally, one of them is going to come true!

     This will be the first summer I'm not taking a class, working full-time or in an internship in four years! With this new found freedom comes time to travel! My friends and I will take a road trip to who knows where. Hopefully it will be to serve as a celebration that we all got into great grad school programs (so far one of us has, two more to go). 

      North Carolina is in discussion but think of all the places in between Miami and North Carolina! The road will be long and I'm sure one of us will be cranky at more than one point but I can't wait. 

I'm Graduating. Here's the Proof

This week's excitement revolves around none other than my upcoming graduation. I purchased all of my graduation memorabilia and said cheese for a picture. In a little over a month I will have a degree! The next focus is how to decorate my cap. Yes, it's time to pull out my handy dandy hot glue gun and put something bright and shiny on my head so that I may stand out in the sea of navy blue gowns. I could do the traditional "Hi Mom!" or "We Did It!" but I'm thinking of doing something more unique. Looks like I'll be making a trip to Michaels very soon.

Press Delete

    

     When the thoughts in my head seem to jumble, I write. I write, or type rather, until my fingers beg me to stop. It's such a great release for me. Everyone has some sort of an outlet, singers sing and runners run; I write until my thoughts go numb.
     I usually create a page on Word that goes for miles. It has the good, the bad and the ugly. It has the reason I smile everyday and the things I question in life. It rarely rhymes, it's not in AP format, it doesn't usually have big and fancy words and it has grammatical errors galore. When I'm done with the brief novel I scrounge up, I read it over and think about it one last time and then press delete. If only we could do that with everything in life, pick and choose what to keep and what to delete. In the words of Louis Armstrong, "What a wonderful world."

The Final Cut

After a few drafts, I completed my friend's son's first birthday invitation. I am very happy with how it looks and I can't wait until she sends them out. I love how he's wearing a bib that has the #1 on it and he's holding up one of his little fingers. Believe it or not, this was totally unplanned.

Fishing through Fifty

Here's an invitation I am working on for my father's 50th birthday. He is a die hard fisherman so the theme is none other than fishing. I am also going to be editing him into the front page of his favorite magazine "Sport Fishing." 

Lightning Mcqueen

I have always been a DIY (do it yourself) kind of person. Seems like with the economy the way it has been, the trend is catching on. My friend is planning her son's first birthday and it's all about Disney's "Cars." She knows she can always count on me for ideas and with me practicing my photoshop skills it made me an easy fit when she needed someone to design the invitations. She showed me a couple that she saw online that were asking her to pay an arm and a leg just to put a picture of him on it so she asked if I could do it for her. Here are two rough drafts. We plan on having a photo shoot with her son decked out in "Cars" but for now I used random pictures I had of him, just so she can have an idea of what it's going to look like. I'm happy with the two drafts I have come up with so far but we won't have the final draft until sometime next week.

LASHtastic

I'm a huge fan of mascara and I like to switch it up every now and then to see which brand is better. I usually stick with Cover Girl Lash Blast but to my surprise, Ulta was giving away free gifts. One of the gifts happened to be their mascara. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked it. Here are some pictures of my lashes on Ulta. The eyeshadow and eyeliner are also the Ulta brand, usually BOGO. Sorry Drew Barrymore, I love you but I love my lashes on Ulta more.


COUNTDOWN TO MY BIRTHDAY: 17 DAYS!

Not So SMOOTHie

     Because of my life long war with my weight, I tend to always make healthier choices when it comes to what I put in this mouth of mine. Today I decided that I needed to start drinking protein shakes as a meal replacement. I went to Smoothie King and was about to buy a 2 pound jar of a strawberry protein powder to make shakes. Luckily, I convinced myself not to commit to 2 pounds of something I've never tasted before and opted for the pack that only gives you enough for one serving. Thank god!

     I knew the second my blender stopped "liquifying" that it was not going to taste very good. Isn't strawberry supposed to be pink? I guess not when it has 45 grams of whey protein because it was whey beige. I took a sip and quickly regretted it. 

OH MY MARCH?

     It was shortly after I published my last post when I realized that February was over and it was March 1st. As a proud pisces I am 19 days away from turning 22. On my last birthday, a co-worker gave me a copy of an encyclopedia of birthdays. I don't live by horoscopes but they're always fun to look at and even more fun when they actually relate to reality.
     According to the book, March 19 is the birthday of a true grit. (Not sure if that's a good or bad thing, all I know is that this is a sign that I should really watch the movie). Apparently I am a determined, charming and thorough person but unfortunately I am also inflexible, depressed and materialistic. Like all people, I agree with the good and deny the bad.
     Enough with the star searching. This is a bitter sweet birthday. Sweet because as a person who lives on a diet (I gain weight by breathing air) I treat myself to what ever I want on my special day. I invented this rule "You don't gain weight on your birthday" when I was about 15-years-old and have been very loyal to it ever since. Unfortunately, even the sweetest cake can't take away from the fact that last year was my 21st birthday and anything after that is just another year added to the bunch. Still, I look forward to the food and of course the family and friends.

COUNTDOWN UNTIL MY BIRTHDAY: 18 DAYS!

The Oscars

     The Oscars made it very evident that they were trying to reach a younger demographic by hiring Anne Hathaway and James Franco. They even joked about it within seconds of the show starting. Being that I am part of that younger demographic, I enjoyed watching them. I do agree with some of the critics when they say they were a bit awkward at times but overall I just can't forget how amazing Anne Hathaway sang. I really didn't know she could sing so well.
     While I was rooting for Black Swan to win best picture, the fact that The King's Speech beat them out makes me look forward to my next movie night even more. Of course, the best part of any award show is the fashion. My favorite look came from Mila Kunis who, of course was in Black Swan. I could be a bit bias because my room is dripping in purple but her look was so romantic; I absolutely adore it.

A Day at the Cages

     It was practically impossible for me to escape the world of sports as a girl measuring 6 feet. I never complained though because I had an incredible passion for them. Growing up I tried a little bit of every team sport. I gave soccer a shot but I realized very soon how very slow I was. I played basketball for a while but I didn't fall in love with the game. I even tried out and made my high school volleyball team just because I was bored on the off season but my real and consistent love was softball, a sport I played since I was in the second grade.
     For most of my high school years, softball was my identity. My goal was to play division 1 softball but it was soon after my name hit the FIU roster that I decided that it was time to say goodbye to my dear friend, the game. I still visit every now and then and I am even starting to get my little cousin to like the sport. This weekend I went for one of my visits to the batting cages with my boyfriend and I took both of my little cousins. I watched behind the fence as they waited for the machine to pitch the ball. I thought of all the hours my coach put into me, standing behind that same fence analyzing each swing. I hope she develops a love for it but if she doesn't, I just hope she finds passion for something in life. So many people in the world go through life without finding anything they love enough to dedicate themselves to it. I'm just glad I will never have to go through that.

Campaigns

     For the next two months, I'll probably see these girls more than I'll see my parents. In our last semester at FIU, public relations and advertising majors take a class, called campaigns, that can be compared to an agency bootcamp. Our agency is called Immerse Media and we "Dare our clients to dive into a world of creativity." This intense course is going to involve a lot of sleepless nights but overall, it's a taste of the fast-pace environment I'm looking for in advertising. Although I dream of creating tag lines and slogans that follow brands forever, for the sake of this class, I took the position as the account executive. A month into it, and I can already see why past students warned us but I'm ready for it.

Four Years Later

     I always knew I'd graduate; I just didn't think it would happen so fast. I just finished purchasing my commencement tickets and it's all starting to sink in. On May 2, 2011 at approximately 10 AM, I will be declared "educated" and ready to start a successful career in the real world. The only problem is that the real world isn't hiring much these days. Good thing I plan on going to grad school.

Arts & Crafts: They Call me Martha

     When friends and family have an event to plan, I’m usually one of the first to get a call. Everyone knows the creative work I do and how much I enjoy putting it all together. Below are a few pictures of my latest creations for a friend’s baby shower. They struggled to find a centerpiece for the jungle theme so I stepped in and created these. I also adorned the party favors with personalized ribbons and for a finishing touch of sweetness, I made white chocolate jungle themed lollipops for each guest.