A weekend in Colorado!

In high school, I made a goal to visit all of my best friends’ at their respective schools. I wanted to see everyone where they were comfortable and enjoy time with friends in their college lives- so I planned visits to see them. After visiting University of Illinois, Iowa State, Georgetown, DePaul, Northwestern, Notre Dame and a few more universities, I spontaneously booked a flight to visit Jessie at University of Colorado-Boulder!

Boulder (CU) is about 25 miles from Denver, so I flew into Denver and Jessie and I had a packed weekend enjoying everything there is to do in Colorado! In fact, besides Denver and Boulder, we also made it to Estes Park, Lyons, Thornton, Louisville and Aurora in just two days! The cool thing about Boulder compared to other “college towns” was how much it offers to do- in terms of activities, entertainment, food and more. You have some places like DC and Chicago where you’re at the school to enjoy the city, and others like Ames, Columbia and Champaign where the school CREATES the city- physically and economically. The city of Boulder reminds me a lot of a newer version of Evanston, Ill. All the buildings are new and there is an endless variety of restaurants, unique stores and entertainment. It expanded outside the college campus and being Colorado, is very environmental as well (recycling, organic, the list goes on).

The beautiful Boulder apartments

I arrived on Friday morning after leaving Columbia at 2:45 a.m. and taking a 6 a.m. flight out of St. Louis. Why I thought this was a good plan, I have no idea, but the combination of my car, 5-hour energy and Jessie’s willingness to pick me up at 7:30 a.m. in Denver made it work. I was immediately astonished at the beautiful sight of mountains from the highway. We stopped off of Pearl Street (one of the main strip’s in Boulder) to eat at a breakfast restaurant called Snooze- where we had the most amazing pancakes in the world. Their flavors, I kid you not, were pineapple upside down cake, sweet potato and oreos and cream. After a brief nap and Jessie signing her lease for next year (yay having somewhere to live!), Jessie gave me a tour of campus. I always love to see how other campuses differ from my own at Mizzou, and was happy to see how similar everything was! Like Mizzou, all the buildings have the same architecture and brick on the outside, and there was always construction. Everything from the library to the student center was similar, but I have to say that CU has an amazing football stadium. Can you imagine being at a football game surrounded by mountains?

Taking a tour of campus

Being in a mountain town of Colorado, I felt like we were taking a vacation to a log cabin. Between the snow and the layout of Jessie’s apartment (see below), it was very home-y and comforting. Jessie even gave me bottles of water constantly to stay hydrated with the change in elevation, something I hadn’t even thought about. After our campus tour, we went to T.G.I. Friday’s in Thornton to meet up with some MOJO alumni from Mizzou who work at Integer, an advertising agency in Denver! They all had great insight about the current MOJO project and it was nice to see how Mizzou alumni who I was close with from The Maneater and Relay are adjusting so well to their new jobs.

The next morning, after some car trouble and random lights turning on, we drove to Estes Park, Colorado to hit up Rocky Mountain National Park and go sledding. The park was beautiful and much to my surprise (actually), the mountains had an interesting variety of rocks, and elk. We did the park our own style by having a picnic in the snow with our brown-bag lunches and roaming various areas. It was nice to observe how beautiful nature can be and how silent it was as well!

Self-timer pictures are the best!

Playing in the snow!

Lion King pose!

We stopped in the small town of Estes Park for some fudge (caramel pecan marshmallow fudge!) and drove back to Boulder. While at the park, we saw many families with young kids teaching their kids how to sled, at very young ages. Jessie pointed out that when living in Colorado, it’s normal to do that because you have to eliminate the fear of mountains early. The state itself puts a huge emphasis on mountains, nature and FAMILY fun; we passed a family fun amusement park, go-kart area or mini-golf station pretty much every 20 minutes we drove anywhere. It’s nice to know how the businesses of an entire state can rub off on its citizens’ values so strongly.

Later that evening, we had dinner at a typical Boulder sandwich place and saw the movie The Vow, ironically set in Chicago! I highly recommend it. We ended the trip by going to the Denver Art Museum and stopping by the Capitol Building to officially walk the stairs that put us “one mile above sea level” in the mile-high city. It was a wonderful weekend getaway and I’m so thankful Jessie was such a great host and had so much in store for us! 

Denver Art Museum

Seeing an acrylic painting of Estes Park, where we were
sitting the day before! How cool!

The Capitol Building

Sitting at the stair "One Mile Above Sea Level"

The phone game

Last week after the amazing win over Kansas, my friends and I went out to dinner to celebrate. Plus, we hadn’t eaten all day from waiting in line so why not grab a bite to eat? One of my pet peeves has always been when people pay more attention to their cell phones than the people they are with. I’m guilty of it myself, especially with the iPhone, but I’ve always had the goal to focus on what’s going on in front of you and not on the screen.

My friend Andrew tweeted an article he found last month about a game some people created. Everyone puts their cell phones in the middle of the table at dinner and isn’t allowed to touch them the entire meal. If someone breaks the rules and uses their phone, they have to pay the entire check. Sounds fun, right? The objective is to get everyone to focus on having a conversation with each other during dinner rather than texting the entire time. So naturally, we tried it!

At Applebees, eight of us put our phones in the center- seven iPhones and 1 Droid (ha). At first, I had turned my volume off and phone facing down, but we really decided to torment ourselves. Everyone’s volume was on and phone was face up so we could see that people were trying to contact us, but realize that it didn’t matter. We were all together, friends hanging out, having a conversation, enjoying each other’s company. What needed to interrupt that? What can’t wait 20-30 minutes?  

Luckily, no one lost the game and everyone got their own check! The game succeeded. We all resisted the temptation to text others and had fun conversations with each other too. Everyone talked about what they were doing for the SuperBowl, what their favorite parts of the weekend were and what was going on in their lives.

Would I do this again? DEFINITELY. It’s upsetting that we have to make a game of it to put our phones away and can’t just do it unconsciously. But it taught us to appreciate the time we have with each other and chill for just a few minutes, rather than constantly thinking about what we were doing next or who we weren’t with. The waitress thought we were incredibly strange, but it didn’t even matter. Give the game a try some time!

Phones in the middle of the table

The Mizzou-Kansas Game

Last week was one to remember in Mizzou sports. Dorial Green-Beckham (DGB), a top football recruit in the nation, signed to be a Mizzou Tiger next year and Mizzou BEAT Kansas 74 – 71 in an intense game where even ESPN College Game Day was in attendance! Here is the story in photos, enjoy!

At 6:30 a.m. on Saturday morning, Alyssa, Alex, Kathryn and I
arrived at Mizzou Arena for ESPN College Game Day

Students do the Missouri Waltz for the camera at GameDay

We welcome the team with fireworks and cheers!

Sherman, me, Jordan and Kathryn stand by the ESPN College GameDay
table on the court!

After getting in order outside to line up for the game at 8 p.m., when GameDay
ended at 11, Kathryn bought a tent and pitched it outside for a comfortable day.
It kept everyone warm, and I was the one that brought my friends pizza
while they chilled in line out here. Props to them!

Andrew, Alex, Alyssa and I in our row at the game. Doors opened at 6:30 p.m.
and we got our usual seat next to the Antlers, AND made it on the jumbo-tron!

MIZ! Let the game begin!
Look at those gold pom-poms!

After an INTENSE game, Mizzou beat kU 74-71.
MIZ!

MOJO Blog

As a part of MOJO Ad, staff members take turns contributing to our staff blog. Since we specialize in the YAYA (youth and young adult) market of 18 to 24 year olds, we blog as members of the target so marketers can see what has gotten our attention lately.

Check out my first MOJO blog post and bio page!

Comic relief

Just a comical image I found on my pledge daughter's blog! 

Single Bridezillas

Today on Twitter, my friend Laura shared the following ABC article with me:

'Single Bridezillas': First Comes Wedding Planning, Then Comes the Groom

This article explains the recent phenomenon of single bridezillas- women who are happy to finalize their wedding plans before their marriage proposal. It tells the stories of various women- engaged, single, those who have chosen their dresses for themselves and their bridesmaids, those who have been planning the day since they were 6 years old, the fables continue.

I know myself how realistic this is. I have a notebook document on my computer with a tab for each friend who has told me I am planning their wedding or helping out in some capacity. The document contains pictures found online of everything from flower bouquets, dress styles to color tones. Lists of who the bridesmaids will be, who must be invited, what the first dance song will be, potential venues. Let's face it: I AM a single bridezilla.

The last subhead on the second page of the story said "Is planning ahead a mistake?" I sighed of relief thinking this is where the writer acknowledges that these women don't have partners yet, and how they are still going to put effort into their relationships. Care about the man more than the wedding. Be patient looking for the right person and not just rushing to marry someone to have the wedding, but to marry that individual. And you know what it said?

"Attitudes change, weight changes, styles change." said Urshel. "So to [plan a wedding] way ahead of your wedding date, that is going to be a very difficult thing."

What kind of society do we live in where this is an acceptable thing to say?! The biggest mistake of planning ahead is that you might have to hem your dress? Buy a new one? Choose a new centerpiece?

I think the biggest mistake of this "planning ahead" is rushing into marriage to host an event! Not putting enough time and effort toward a relationship because you'd rather look at what's next- the engagement/wedding- rather than the present. One woman in the article tries to acknowledge this by saying, "I've made myself a promise that for every hour I spend wedding planning, that I'm going to spend an equal amount of time working towards the marriage." 

Well you know what? She should spend a little more time than that working toward her marriage if she plans to not get divorced the first few days after she's married. As crazy as single bridezillas (like me) are, and like to have fun planning things, let's at least begin to acknowledge ourselves and in the media that a solid foundation for a good relationship is more important than a wedding.

Español

Although I completed my Spanish minor in Argentina, I decided to take a Spanish class this semester just for fun. Spanish 4471: Spanish American Literature. While originally contemplating why I would voluntarily take a 4000 level, three-credit hour, reading course "for fun," the first week and a half has already proven my gut feeling correct.

The literature on the syllabus is all short stories and poems written by Latin American authors, which carry not just new vocabulary- but a lot of meaning and symbolism. Today, we read a story called El Matadero by Esteban Echeverría, a writer born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It described what happened during Lent in the early 1800s when a poor neighborhood near Río de la Plata in Argentina flooded, and the city of Buenos Aires had such a huge beef shortage (going on 15 days) that they were killing their own citizens for meat.

Regardless of the crazy plot line (which we read many stories like in Argentina), it was so fulfilling to read this story entirely in Spanish and know that I not only gained this skill by studying abroad, but so much background knowledge along with it. El Matadero had a lot of references to the corrupt government, specific neighborhoods and culture of Argentina, and I understood them perfectly. It was truly a feeling of accomplishment to so easily pick up on the cultural hints and the value of how much traveling and familiarizing yourself with different places and cultures teaches you. Who knew that it would take reading literature in another language to get me to appreciate English literature and the significance of analyzing authors, their whereabouts and more!