Mad.

As an advertising student I take great interest in anything that correlates to my field of study, but wait... have I watch Mad Men you ask? No.. what's that?

Yes somehow in my very busy schedule I have not been able to pick up the hit show about an ad agency in the 60's. What I had heard is that it really has nothing to even do with advertising and some people told me that the show was very slow paced and boring. I still wanted to see for myself what the plot of this series was and if it would hit home on the ad junkie I am.

As I watched the first season I realized, yes, I could see where some may say it is slow paced but there was so much happening in the episode. Did I mention I love vintage probably more than advertising? This series if full of vintage everything! Clothes, phones, language, habits, culture, styles, logos, advertisements all from the 50s-60s era. Amazing and on top of that it has so much do do with advertising! There are jokes, major ad campaigns that came out those years and lots of other things like drinking and smoking at the office and well everywhere else!

On a deeper note I realized that this show displays the raw truth about the culture our country lived in that time. Not so long ago either. What's funny is that today we thing that the world is so bad and scary. What this show shows is that people were just as bad back then as they are now probably even worse. Just over 50 years ago we lived in a country that allowed you to smoke at the office, on a train, in a hospital or even while pregnant. People did not know or believe that smoking was harmful to your health. Back then in corporate America people drank all day long at work and then cheated on their spouses like it was no big deal. Actually in the show it seems very common and almost mandatory when your married. I feel like these things still happen in today's society but not like that.

In one episode, the neighbors were over for the son's birthday party and as one of the children knocked over a vase a man slaps him on the face. Then the father of the boy comes over and say "what is going on over here?" I'm watching, thinking that the men were going to argue because he just slapped his son but then the father of the boy asks his son "Do you want some more?" What?! That guy just slapped you kid! Thats just how it was in those days I suppose. This thought brought me to realize that maybe the reason parents today are so lax with their children (making them little hellions) is because they were scolded as children and do not want to subject their children to the same thing. Who knows...

One of my favorite characters in the show is a neighbor to the main character. She is the told of the neighborhood because of the fact that she got a divorce from her husband. So uncommon and frowned upon in that era. As a single mother of two working a low paying sales job to pay the bills all of the other women think of her as foolish to leave her husband. The best thing about this situation to me is the fact that she stood up for herself and is showing everyone that she does not need a man. I love it. Basically the show is letting us watch the era of when women started taking a step to be more independent something women display on a daily basis.

So would I recommend this show even though it does not educate you on the field of advertising and you will probably feel like your getting lung cancer just by watching them chain smoke? YES!! It s more than just a show about the scandalist lives of advertisers, it is a show that is telling America's history in a raw but truthful manner. Watch it. Thank you.

NaNoWriMo

November 1st marks the beginning of NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month!

Ever thought about writing a novel? Well now is the perfect month! Not only are we celebrating all of the amazing Novels out in the world and those who wrote them, but you have the opportunity to join them!

Go to nanowritmo.org and set up your account to get started! This group has created a website to help you complete a 50,000 word novel by November 30, 2012. They have inspiration, pep talks, ways to get help and many other tools to get you through "Thirty days and nights of literary abandon."

Don't know what you would write about in your novel? Doesn't matter! Just start writing! You never know what you will create.


Hopefully I will see a lot of you at the finish line on November 30th and until then Good Will Writing!!

Remember that Time I had Writers Block?

Well I have been thinking about what I want for my life and I am still in the process of deciding some things but on the other hand I have created my ultimate goal for this blog.

So I am really into making old unwanted things into something beautiful that people will love. Hence the name "Reasons to Love." Unfortunately with being a full time student and a part time worker I do not find too much free time to go picking and redo pieces to either use in my home or sell for someone else to use.

I would love to be able to just do that and make a living off of this hobby that my mom and I could do together. She has taught me everything I know and I would love to be able to do this with her everyday.

People who I have seen and researched that do this type of work get most all of their publicity and clients through the use of a blog and various social media outlets. Now with me being an advertising major with a lot of public relations experience, this is right up my ally. A co-worker helped me shape this plan for the future of my blog and here is the gist --

• After the blogging class I am in is over I will be moving over to Wordpress
• I will purchase my domain -- reasonstoloveblog.com
• Malory (my lovely co-worker) will be helping me design my web page and brand myself
• I will create correlating facebook, twitter and other social pages
• I will be using my personal pinterest page for the business and inspirations for my blog
• I will set up an account to start buying, reclaiming and selling my products.
• Hopefully with my determination to reach this goal I can be a successful entrepreneur.

This is my life, this is my dream and I am going to reach it.

Yummy Creamy White Chicken Enchiladas

In my quest to become just like June Clever (From Leave it to Beaver.) If you don't know who that is than you need to learn this one thing about me: I love everything about the 1940 and 1950 eras, EVERYTHING. Alot of my inspiration and morals are based on things from that time. You should look into it.

Anyways....


So I found this simple recipe for enchiladas and decided yesterday morning that I would have a small dinner party to get feedback on how my cooking turned out. Needless to say everyone loovveed the food! They now are no longer afraid to come back and have more of my cooking. The recipe was so easy and very yummy I thought I would share it with you.

What you need:

6-8 corn tortillas (enchilada size)

1 pre-cooked plain rotisserie chicken, shredded (I just used a few pieces of frozen chicken breasts)

1 cup sweet corn

4 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese, divided in half

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons all purpose flour

1-1/4 cups chicken broth

1 – 10oz can cream of chicken soup

1 cup sour cream

1 – 4oz can chopped green chiles

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

¼ teaspoon sea salt

 

Instructions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Fill the center of each tortilla with a handful of shredded chicken, a tablespoon or so of the corn, and a pinch of the shredded cheese.
3. Roll and place in the bottom of a baking dish with the seam side down.
4. In a pot over medium heat melt the better. Add flour and whisk into a thick paste.
5. Add chicken broth, cream of chicken, sour cream, chiles, salt and pepper.
6. Whisk gently for about 5 minutes until warm and smooth.
7. Pour the sauce over the enchiladas and top with remaining shredded cheese.
8. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes and serve warm.

Serve with your choice of side dish (I chose spanish rice)

 

Here is a picture of your finished product!!

 

 

Writer's Block in Life

We all know how it can be to have writer's block. From the professional novelist to the average college student at some point in our lives (or maybe more) we go through a time where we just simply have run out of words to write. Even now as I write this I am struggling to type what it is that I am wanting to say.

I believe writer's block can be more than just not knowing what it is you want your next term paper to be about. Writer's block is when you have lost inspiration, lost sight of what you want or just don't know what you want.

I think it has been a long time coming but I have finally hit my writer's block in life. I had known what I wanted to do with my life, but now those goals seem to have been lost in my life's current path. Some people who have this happen to them see it as a good thing or as something that was meant to happen. Maybe the path they were on was not a good one and some new variable has put them on a brighter one. 

For me, I am currently not sure whether it is a good thing or a bad thing that my goals are changing. I have hit a writer's block in my life story. I had all these plans and ideas of what I wanted to do with my life but now I am just not sure. The things I want to do and enjoy doing don't have a spot next to what is currently taking time out of my day.

No I do not have some addiction or bad habit. I just simply am lazy. I don't know what I want to make of my time so I waste it. That is a hard reality to face but that's what I believe I have been doing. I don't make time to ponder what it is I'd rather be doing and if I do come up with something, I never act on it. It is an awful rut to be in. I can't decide what I want my blog to be, I can't motivate myself to apply for those internships or go to the gym and I have lost sight of what I want in my personal relationships. Like I said an Awful Rut.

What are the steps needed to figure these things out. Do we as humans have what it takes to just let things happen or do we need to take control. Do I have what it takes to do what is necessary?? How do I know what is best for me when I can't seem to grasp what it is that I want?

I see a challenge that I can't muster the energy to take on.

The Future of My Blog

While taking this blogging class I have been able to really look at blogs and see how they are set up and what they talk about. They seem to have everything together! They have a subject or theme to thier blog and they stick to it. Now, i've never been one to be a copycat buuuttt I really think I need to take notes of what I like about the blogs I follow because I don't have a specific subject or theme...

A friend of mine just recently launched a blog and shortly after turned it into a website then created social media sites to go with the site. With in a couple of days of doing this she has already gained tons of readership and gotten an interview with a "Big Time" Celebrity. She wouldn't tell me who so she wouldn't jinx it, but I am so proud and amazed that she created an idea, something she is passionate about, and worked hard to make it happen.

Now alls I gotta do is MAKE IT BIG! I want my writing to have a purpose and create loyal readership so that maybe I can provide some type of help, entertainment, education for people. Sound more like I'm the one who needs help...

I'll practice my writing and figure out what I will be best at writing about on my blog. Until I feel that my blog is ready I will not go seeking for reader's. I want the first impression to be the best impression. 

Inspiration for My House Decor

My Inspiration...

I have finally figured it out!!! After all the years of not knowing what my design style was I think I have finally figured it out.

Rustic Shabby Chic.

Thats it! After all of the criticism that my house looks like an old lady's well its because it is! I love all of my vintage, reused furnature. When I bought my house I had recently started watching Once Upon A Time on ABC and the decoration of Mary Margaret Blanchard's (Snow White) Apartment is sooooo cute. With all of the whites, light pinks, yellows, green and blues it is a fresh breath of air. But here is my problem somehow when they do it, it can work for any season. Winter, Fall, Spring. But when I tried I always feel like it should be spring.

Here is my inspiration...



This is Snow White's house. So crisp with all of the rustin furnature and colors. I truely believe that this style matches her character perfectly and just so happens to match mine as well.

Love Love LOVE the table with different colors and styles of chairs. Can I please just get rid of all my stuff and mimic this apartment???

I can't get over this white washed wood! All of the furnature is so different and goes together so perfectly!

I'm thinking I may need a trip to The Rink...


You can bet there will be some Mary Margaret inspired project coming your way!!!