ethan preston

Ethan Preston is my 2nd nephew. He is so darling, and I was there when he was born. My brother-in-law Ben was stuck in Colorado Minnesota or something for work when I got the call from my sister telling me I needed to come meet her at the hospital.

So I did what any logical person would do when knowing it's going to be a long night. I grabbed Seinfeld season 4, and was on my way.

Little E-hee was born June 11th, 2008.
(actually, not so little. he's chubs. he and his Uncle Andre' call each other "chancho" and "chanchito". translation: pig, and little pig)

we fell in love at first sight and all over again the very first time we had carls jr. star nuggets. this little boy and I love our food. he is so funny. He loves music, and loves to wrestle his older brother Aidan. when he begins to lose, he just sits on him. case closed.

He also loves to antagonize his brother, as well as his poor mother.

A little while ago, he ran into Aidan's room screaming, grabbed Aidan's transformer, and then ran out of the room screaming with Aidan chasing him. Boys.

he also loves to shake what his mama gave him. this is how it's done folks.

Ethan's favorite song…Gatorade commercial! from jaclyn on Vimeo.

this kid has got some serious swagger.
HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY ETHAN!

your Aunt Yan loves you!

time to update your resume

everyone knows the current economy makes it tough, if not virtually impossible
to find a job upon graduation.

I've heard from more than a few recent graduates that they are struggling to get hired, and
are unsure what to do about it.

during the P.R. trip to New York this March, I asked one of the hiring directors at MKG Productions what they looked for in new hires, and in hiring interns.

He said, "Be creative with your resume."

Be honest everyone--how many of you think that by taking the time to create a resume and cover letter in a Microsoft Word document template is going to get you hired?

I know we've all been guilty of this, and most of us still are. But in an economy that is making it less than comfortable to graduate, you need to be doing more.

"A template resume can be spotted a million miles away," said Bonnie Vieira, Director of Client Services at j. simms agency. "You may as well tell them you don't care, and aren't creative."

Harsh. But true.

Especially in the fields of advertising or public relations, your competitive counterparts that are looking to get hired are doing more than you. Although it may not seem like much, the content of a resume is just as important, if not more so, than its design.

Elizabeth Jenkins, fellow P.R. grad from BYU, recently updated her personal blog (which you should all have) with a link to her "professional portfolio" blog.

She has taken it upon herself to upload her working portfolio to a blog she keeps online.

Generally speaking, all resumes should be kept to one page. Especially if you are recently graduated, there is no reason to have a lengthy resume.
(no matter how talented you think you are)

The resume should present all of your information clearly, concisely, and in a way that makes your experience relevant to the position you're applying for.
(this goes for cover letters too. do NOT use templates, and tailor the letter to the company you're applying to.)

All resumes should include:

• Contact Information: Full name, address, phone, (a Twitter account is always a good idea, especially for PR)
  
• Education (start with your highest education first, gpa is optional)
  
• Skills (include all skills that are job-related, try to use action verbs)
  
• Experience (always list most recent experience first, and make sure the verbs are correct in their past/present tense)
  
• Activities (campus activities, memberships)
  
• Personal (honors/awards, certificates, etc.)

And most of all, be creative, and appropriate to your job field.
These resumes would not work for someone applying for an accountant position.

I'm definitely not the bees-knees here, but I did update mine awhile ago following the advice from Peter St. John at MKG. Now we'll see if I get hired.

I need these

ASAP.


aren't they so darling? I would wear them with everything.

things that really chap my hide

1. huntington beach law enforcement
what a douche.
2. people who read out loud while they're typing
3. couples who sit on the same side of a booth in a restaurant
4. the mercy rule in baseball and soccer, now also instituted in the baseball for wii
(why would you ever teach your children to stop playing when they're ahead, or to stop trying when they're behind? this is not the way the world works.)
5. Fat people told they are too big to use the gym
it never hurt any of the Biggest Loser equipment.
6. media trying to convince everyone that Sara Jessica Parker is "sexy" or any kind of attractive
also, Maggie Gyllenhaal. nothing personal Mags.
7. LA students being taught that the new Arizona immigration laws are "un-American"
(this coming from a Mexican)
8. Couples that find out they are siblings, and decide to still procreate
9. Lakers fans
*especially Lakers fans not from California
10. Students who ask inane questions to make themselves look smart, and end up prolonging the class period. You're not impressing anyone
Pre-law is not a major.
11. the use of "yer" in text messages.
Maybe worse than lol'ing.
12. talking ten minutes to a tele-prompter before you get to an actual employee
13. identity theft
14. old asian women texting while driving in their mercedes-benz
15. people you've met at least three times who refuse to remember not only your name, but having met you at all
16. robbery that is now considered to be ok, as long as it's perpetrated by a well-known umpire and the victim's last name is galarraga

As long as it ends up smoothed over with a new Corvette.

make-a-wish

so I mean, it's not that big of a deal...

but it is.

I wrote a press release last week for a j. simms client, the City of Imperial Beach, who was partnering with the Make-A-Wish Foundation to grant a five-year-old boy from Nebraska's very special wish.


Braden Van Eperen was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy in December of 2007. Duchenne's is a progressive and life-threatening disease, characterized by a decrease in muscle mass, and loss of muscle function in male children.

Although Braden is still able to walk, he will be confined to a wheelchair most likely before the age of 12, and may not make it past his teen years.

The Make-A-Wish Foundation asked Braden what his wishes were, and he replied:

1. Go the beach.
2. Go to Saturn.

He learned about the beach in his kindergarten class, and wanted to build a sandcastle.
The Make-A-Wish Foundation flew him, his sister, parents and grandpa to San Diego, the sandcastle capital of the world.


Braden arrived in style Friday morning, chauffeured by a limo to the beach. This was his first time to California, first time to the beach, and first time building a sandcastle.

Volunteers from teams that compete in the U.S. Open Sandcastle Competition were already there to help make sure everything went smoothly, and to help build any kind of castle Braden might want to during his time at the beach.

While here, the family attended Seaworld, the San Diego Wild Animal Park, Legoland and Disneyland.

This was such a neat opportunity for me, and a little bit outside of the clients I'll continue to be working with this summer. I arrived at the beach on Friday morning, ready to direct media where they needed to be and to make sure they knew who to talk to.

The story was picked up by the San Diego Union Tribune, and featured on the 6p.m. and 11p.m. news on Channels 6 and 9 in San Diego as well as here.


I was able to talk to Braden's mom, who has tried to stay optimistic about future treatments for Braden, and does not take moments like the ones we shared Friday for granted.


How often we all get caught up in our everyday, and forget things like being grateful for normal days. I've been living in San Diego for a month now, and have already forgotten how beautiful I thought everything was, or just stopping to take the time to feel warm sand between my toes.

Coming from a five-year-old who may only live 1/8 of his life normally, going to the beach is a simple wish.

Tomorrow, I may have to do just that.

hire me

I am now officially published. NBD.

And Mom, just because I'm designing for tequila doesn't mean I'm drinking it.



Lisa Barlow, owner of Vida Tequila hired me to do some freelance design for her last month, and it just happened to turn up in this month's issue of Aspen Magazine. Maybe this is the beginning of the end of working for free. It is just another 2k10 miracle.

addicted

I used to think I was a pretty well-rounded person.

Until I realized that I have addictions. It's not okay.

I am addicted to having a routine, addicted to Diet Cokes, a bebis bit addicted to shopping...

(the first step in breaking an addiction is admitting you have a problem. I take back what I said about the Diet Cokes.)

But the worst one of them all is that I am addicted to staying up late, for no good reason at all.

I will literally be struggling to keep my eyes open by 9pm, and instead of getting ready for bed I have a Diet Coke. Or frozen yogurt. Or both.

Every night, I brush my teeth first. And then I will check Facebook. Nothing good. Then I will put on my pajama top. And then I will be so tired I will sit back down and look at blogs. And then next is the pj pants. And then I lay across the bed and start watching Hulu. Parenthood..Modern Family...And then I'll get the stupid commercial about cat food, and then I get up and floss. Twitter...email...design projects. The possibilities really are endless.

This process literally takes me no less than two hours.

TWO HOURS.

My eyes will be burning, and I will finally go to sleep around 2am.
I am always exhausted the next morning, never not exhausted.
And then I will do it again tomorrow.