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Thursday, April 1, 2010

Bridal Faire Extravaganza

It is amazing how far life can progress in just one year. March 6, 2009 was the day that David proposed to me and we began our journey down the road called "Engagement" before we could get to our destination "Marriage." (Or for some.. destination "Golden Rung.") We loved being engaged, and one of our favorite parts was going to Bridal Faires. David and I went to several Bridal Faires and we LOVED them. We loved having people try to sell us on things, looking at all of the options for weddings out there, and of course eating all of the free food! Who knew that just a very short year later we would be on the other side of the Bridal Faire fence?

Last Saturday we were able to attend the Bridal Faire at Riverwoods as a vendor! We had so much fun and it was really successful. A shout out to my dearest sister, Jenna, and my amazing father, Scott. This wouldn't have been possible without the both of you!

Here are some pictures of our booth!

 The full shot of the booth. 

The fliers we handed out.

Samples for potential clients to take.

Closer Up. 


The mantle of the fireplace we just so happened to get stuck in front of! It ended up working out really well, even though I was really nervous at first. 


Our BEAUTIFUL red ladder. My dad and brother, Jacob, spend hours helping David and I make this vision of mine turn into a reality. Dad, Jacob, David... YOU ARE AMAZING! 

We ended up talking to about 250 engaged couples. It was awesome and I loved it SO much. David was incredible and we had so much fun working side by side! The whole thing was a success! Now I am pretty much swamped with phone calls and e-mails from brides who need their wedding invitations done ASAP! I love it and I am SO excited to be able to actually be DOING this!

Thursday, March 25, 2010

The good and the bad...

Life is full of the good and the bad. Here are some from my life:

Awesome updated website = Good

Freaking out in front of my students = Bad
"Mrs. Peaden? Do we need to stay for next hour to make sure you are okay?" ... "No! No, thank you dear student... I will be just fine."

Pizza for dinner + cuddling with David on the couch while he watches basketball = GOOD

Syracuse loosing their basketball game = BAD 

Spring Break in one week = GOOD!
Syracuse loosing their basketball game = BAD! 
(Oh, did I already say that? Well.. I am really upset about it. This was probably the only year for the rest of my life that I even had a SHOT at beating David in his bracket. Syracuse!?! Why did you let me down?)

 Being Super Teacher = GOOD!


What are the good and bad's of your life? Is your bracket as trashed as mine?

Sunday, March 21, 2010

NCAA Tournament Commercial Critique

David and I spent our entire weekend watching the NCAA college basketball tournament and we loved every second of it (except maybe the times when our teams lost). Naturally David's favorite part was watching so much basketball. However, my favorite part was watching the commercials. You need to understand that because we don't have TV, we were watching the games online. (We hooked our laptop up to our television.) With the online player, all of the commercials were the same. They just kept repeating the same commercials over and over again to the point that we basically have them all memorized. It was interesting to see that some of the commercials got more and more annoying but other commercials got funnier and funnier the more we watched them.


David and I had differing opinions on some of the commercials and we got to the point that we would analyze each one as it came on the screen. Below you will find our summary of the 2010 NCAA basketball commercials:


(Click the name of the commercial to watch it.)


7 Second Demos - Windows PC

D- Thumbs Down - I don’t like it because I don't like the "I'm a PC" phrase. Also, this commercial gets old. Quickly.

S- Thumbs Down - I don’t get it. It took me about 20 times of watching the commercial to be able to understand what he says at the beginning of the commercial. Then the weird noise in the background annoys me.


Bud Lite AutoTune Party Song


D- Thumbs Down – Their voices annoy me.

S- Thumbs Up - I love this commercial, I hate that I love it... but I do. Favorite parts? The wife at the beginning: "What are you doing?" "What party?" Also, the girl on the bus looking at the boy like he is crazy. And I love the teched out sound of the music. This makes me laugh EVERY time. Even just thinking about it makes me laugh.


Lexus Hybrid


D – Two Thumbs Up - I love everything about this one. Especially the wheels. It looks really cool. The car driving looks awesome and I always wish that the commercial would last longer so I could look at it more.

S- Two Thumbs Up - Two words: Incredibly Awesome. (Go Lexus, you rock.)


Chad Ochocinco Reebok ZigTech


D- Thumbs Up – I like the music, I like Chad Ochocinco, I like the drawing. I think it’s really creative. AND they make the drawing move like Chad Ochocinco actually moves in real life.

S- Thumbs Up – Did you know that Chad Ochocinco used to be named Chad Johnson or something like that and he changed his name to Ochocinco because his jersey number is 85. He wanted to put Ochocinco on his jersey and they wouldn’t let him, so he officialy changed his name to Ochocinco. I think that’s cool. Also.. this commercial makes me want to dance.


Ivan Brothers- Capital One


D- Thumbs Up AND Thumbs Down - I really hate it when commercials make you go to some other website, and so that really annoyed me. However, I think that the idea is really cool and I like that they had actual college coaches talking about it. Plus, what really won me over was when we finally went to the website and watched the whole video and it made me happy. I think that the ending is stupid, but I won't ruin it for you. (This link takes you to the the full 6 minute video, and all of the 30 second commercials.)

S- Thumbs Down - What does this have to do with Capital One? I have no idea. It's a poor attempt to try to get the basketball audience involved in their credit card commercial. However, as a side note... we did go to their website so I suppose it is at least somewhat effective.

D- (Shantel decided to go to their website during the halftime of one of the basketball games. I adamantly opposed giving in and going to their site, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.)


Axe Antiperspirant


D-Two Thumbs Down - It's gross. Really gross.

S- Two Thumbs Down - I second that. Gross.


Intel Lunchroom


D- Thumbs Up - I love everyone's faces. I don't like that the lady at the end sounds like the robots mom. She should sound like a friend.

S- Neutral - The only thing I would change is that I want the robot to drop his tray before the guy stops talking and looks at him. It would have been more dramatic that way. I would give this a thumbs up, but I just love the other Intel commercial SO much (see below) that this one doesn't even hold a candle. However, it's definitely not a thumbs down.


Coke Zero - Time Machine

D- Thumbs Up - “Man, you dance like… Man” “What? I dance like a man?” Great comedic effect.

S- Two Thumbs Up - This is a clever commercial and I like it a lot. Coke… way to stick it to the scientists. Who doesn’t want to go back in time? Also, I really want to know what happened to the guy at the very end of the commercial.


Coke Zero - Cloning


D- Two Thumbs Up - I'm all for this cloning thing. Everyone is up in arms about global warming, lets put some heat on the scientists to get this cloning thing done. This makes me laugh.

S- Thumbs Up - This makes me laugh, which is why it gets a Thumbs Up. However, part of me is offended/feels awkward about the whole thing.


Super Cuts (All of them - Sorry we couldn't find any links)

D- Thumbs Up - I like the idea of it, and I like the facial expressions.

S- Thumbs Down - These are fine… but for a haircut commercial they should make the haircuts look better. I don’t like any of them.


Sonic's Tater Taunt (This isn't the commercial, but it links to the Tater Taunt Website)

D- Thumbs Down - I don’t like this one, but I do like to quote it. Maybe I do like this one.

S- Thumbs Down- We decided to go out to eat for lunch, drove right by sonic, and did not go. Tater Taunt has nothing on Subways 5 dollar footlong.



Miller Lite Girlfriend -1


D- Two Thumbs Up - I love how it convinces you that it's just another dating website and then smashes you with humor.

S- Thumbs Up - This makes me laugh, even though I don't actually like the commercial.


Miller Lite Girlfriend - 2


D- Thumbs Up - It makes me laugh and I can't help it. Plus the dogs angry face is classic.

S- Thumbs Down – Sometimes this makes me laugh, but overall I think that it is dumb.


HP Beats Audio


D- Thumbs Up - I really like the noise the Australian/Scottish guy makes. “Bidibibibooo yeah yeah.”

S- Two Thumbs Down - I do NOT like the Australian/Scottish guy.


HP - UPS


D- Thumbs Down - They should have thrown the “Bidibibibooo yeah yeah” in this commercial too.

S- Two Thumbs Down - HP and UPS... I think your arm scanner thing is really cool. But.. I really, really don't like the Australian/Scottish guy. Sorry.


Angry Bags Fly Free - Southwest (Sorry no commercial, but apparently they are VERY upset that their competitors would have the audacity to charge for bags.)

D- Thumbs Down - Too Angry. It's okay to be upset about baggage fees but they are at the "Obama's health care just passed" angry instead of the "I have to pay an extra 20 dollars to get my bag on the plane" angry.

S- Thumbs Down - Your attempt at making yourself seem like an equal opportunity employer for women was poor at best. The one woman was awkward. Better luck next time.

(S- p.s. Southwest... I appreciate that bags fly free! I really do. Thank you.)

(D- Me too.)


We found THIS commercial when looking for the Angry Southwest commercial. We like it a lot better. It's so happy. (S- I like the carnival music in the background, who can be angry with carnival music around? D- "In the dark... no peanuts or nothin!" Love it.)




Cisco – The New office


D- Thumbs Up- I like the girl’s sarcastic remarks. "That's pretty far..."

S- Thumbs Down - Am I supposed to know who that girl is? Because I don’t. (This is influenced by my heavy dislike for THIS commercial.) (p.s. In my research I found out that this girl is named Ellen Page. Yeah... still don't know who that is.)


Intel - Generations


D- Three Thumbs Up - Do I have three thumbs? No. But if I did they would all be up for this commercial. So many favorite quotes to choose from... "This is completely and totally awesome!" ... "Ohhhhhhh... What?" I absolutely love this.

S- Two Thumbs WAY WAY Up - We saved our favorite commercial for last. This kills me. I seriously have to stop whatever I am doing every time it comes on because I love it so much. So true to life, so clever, so incredibly hilarious. Also, I want everyone to notice that in every shot there is a girl that walks by in the background. Little details like this are worth buku bucks in my book. Please... go watch it again. I know that I just did... and probably will again.


Also about this commercial:

D- The casting on this commercial was brilliant. It really does look like the same two guys. Their voices are perfect. They deserve Emmy's.

S- We have no idea what this Intel thing is, but David and I both agree, we want one.



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