"Reality"

I know that most don't listen to music the way I do, but growing up listening to country music is like growing up listening to hundreds of short stories about love, heartache, family, war, first times, last times, little moments...

Today I heard a song (sorry I cant remember the title or the artist) it was about this fast paced world we are living in. It talked about how most of us go on day to day letting the media tell us how to live. We turn the television on to what the media calls "reality" television just to compare our own realities and find that ordinary is not "in"

You may not agree with the fact that there is a comparison taking place, and maybe there isn't but I believe subconsciously we are making these small comparisons which in turn make us question who we are.

I am going to do myself a favor, and next time I go to turn on the television (unless its 3:00 and Ellen is on) I am going to pick up a book, read a blog, write a letter to Grandma, or just simply breathe. I think we all owe it to ourselves to take a little break from "reality"

Peace, Love & reality

Elisabeth

Branding...just when you thought you had control.

As consumers we are constantly being subjected to brand placement. Whether it be on your favorite sitcom or the game show your family all gathers around the television to watch ever Tuesday night. We are all being introduced to new products as well as being acquainted with products that have been around for years.

As a marketing student I have become more aware of the advertising swagger an ad agency has; therefore when I see brand placement I can quickly acknowledge it. To an every day consumer, you might be strolling through the grocery store and suddenly wonder why putting a family size bag of late night dorritos in your cart somehow seemed to be a good idea. Not fully aware that Leonard and Sheldon had been sharing a bag of those very same dorritos the night before on The Big Bang Theory.

Take a look at this clip and discover where brand placement was born, and how far it has come!

Click here!

Peace, Love, and brand placement!

Elisabeth

Back to School

HelloOooOoo! I am back, weird that it took being the busiest I have been in a long time to get back on here and create a blog. I am all kinds of wacky these days, but being back at school after 3 weeks of vacation has inspired me to get back into it! I am surrounded by so many creative minded individuals everyday and I cannot help but be inspired by each and every one of them.

I enrolled in a Journalism class this quarter which means I am out of my comfort zone just a bit. I am not a writer, although I would love to be, this writing stuff is not such a natural thing for me. I am the kind of person that recognizes beautiful things, has opinions on things, and experiences wild and crazy things on the daily, but can never seem to want to communicate any of these wonderful experiences at the end of the day. Besides updating my Facebook status way too often I really choose to not communicate too much.

I hate talking on the phone and unless I am in a comfortable relaxing setting I can get over a conversation very easily. I guess what my point is, is that I am growing. I am slowly stepping out of my comfort zone so I can share all the things I experience and enjoy with all of you.

So stay tuned for exciting new changes in my life and others around me. I have had the honor of being assigned the feature article for the school magazine, along with that I am also going to be producing a fashion show with some of my closest friends at school. All kinds of great things are on the way!

Oh and here is a lil teaser.....I am working on a very interesting concept that is going to empower woman all over and communicate very important information for all the ladies in your life! The 411 coming soon!

Peace & Love

E

Folky Polky

I am very inspired by Mexican folk art for a number of reasons. But the most predominate of reasons are the colors used, the symbolism, and the history behind the art. Being that I am mostly English, I am not sure exactly what drew me to the Mexican culture as a whole. But I believe it was the lack of culture in my own family that lead me to explore the art and the culture of my neighbors to the south. I find a lot of Mexican Folk art has a romantic or passionate undertone. Mexican Folk art inspires me to remember the most basic things in life, which are love, life, death, and family, oh and don’t forget the fiesta!

Peace, Love & Folk Art

Elisabeth

Her name is Frida

Mexican painter Frida Kahlo born in 1907 created striking, often shocking, images that reflected her turbulent life. She became an inspiration of mine just last year when I discovered her works of art in my Contemporary Arts text book. She is not only an amazing talent when it comes to painting portraits of herself, she is also an amazing role model for young woman. She overcame so many obstacles from surviving polio at the age of 15. To surviving a near fatal bus accident which resulted in her being unable to bare children at the age of 18. Although Frida was in chronic pain the remaining years of her life after the bus accident. She did not let it slow her down. Frida Kahlo is the snap shot image of a woman with determination. Looking at her artwork which portrays her turbulent life grounds me and keeps me counting my blessings.

Click here for more Frida!

Peace, Love & Frida
Elisabeth

The Name Game

Kate Moss creates a clothing line and we are supposed to be excited. Frankly being a marketing student I am not falling for it. This article written by Mark Holgate talks about Kate Moss’ new line for Longchamp. He goes on to talk about how the calobo went down. Basically Kate has been the face of Longchamp for years and even during her scandal the Moss/Longchamp relationship stood strong. Longchamp loves Moss so much they offered her the design reigns and reportedly Moss created a collection inspired by her love for vintage thrift store finds. If you ask me that seems a little fishy; seeing that the trend this fall is to look sheik while being thrifty at the same time. I believe this is just another marketing ploy to keep people shopping designer even in this down swirling economy.

Peace, Love, and Marketing at it's best
Elisabeth

E-commerce Economy

This past April many bloggers, column writers, and fashion journalists, wrote about the economic downturn and how it might affect the fashion industry as a whole. Donna Wood wrote for W magazine “When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping – and get superwily at covering their spending tracks.” (pg. 98, W magazine, April 2010, D Wood.) Donna’s take on this down swirling economy is a positive one as far as the fashion industry is concerned.

She breaks it down in her article saying that a true shopper will work their budget around the things that may not be a complete necessity. She goes on to say that most women that plan to keep splurging throughout the recession will just be using different shopping techniques to bag those must have items.

One example of a stealth splurge technique is, instead of going out on a Sunday shopping spree and coming home with a handful of non-essentials; the loot lover will shop online and have their latest splurges shipped to their place of work. Or simply have it shipped to their homes while their hubbies are away. Author Donna Wood is blowing the stealth splurgers cover, but at the same time giving hope to all e-commerce retailers out there. Because in reality how many husband or boyfriends are really going to read her article? Therefore, e-commerce is the retailer’s survival tool throughout this recession.

Peace, Love, & Splurging
Elisabeth