They're just things, silly little things

   For the past 20 days now I've seen Facebook statuses from people listing something they're thankful, one per day. I think it's a great idea. I think 30 days of these statuses on my timeline is a bit excessive, but at least they're trying right? More than most of us can say. So for today's 10 things list I'm gonna give this notion a whirl. I'm gonna try and go more for the spiritual things more than the material things, but I am a millennial so don't judge me. It's the perfect time to take a step back and truly be thankful for all my blessings; Joe comes home today, I just spent four wonderful vacation days with my best friend who just happens to be my mom, and it's just under 48 hours until turkey day itself. And who knows, maybe this post will inspire you to take five, ten minutes, or even the whole day to really think about all you have been blessed with in your life.

                                                            10 things...I'm thankful for:

1. My incredible, supportive, out of control, shambly, blessing before dinner saying, budget book keeping, yard work Saturday doing, football watching, sit down family dinner having, talking to the dog, always loving family

2. My health

3. My education, paid for by my hard working successful father so that I may be hard working and successful too

4. BOHAN Advertising. My media director. My amazing senior planner. Our whole team.

5. Having had and lost that first love. I now know that can exist.

6. Some of the best friends. Never judging, always loving.

7. A mother who is also my best friend, never being afraid to share her past so I can learn/grow from it. A father who has taught me to be driven and hard working. And their marriage, a model for me to base my future relationship on. 

8. My faith. I wouldn't trade having #catholicgirlproblems for anything.

9. Living in the same house for the 22 technically 23 years I've been on this earth. Right across the hall, sharing a bathroom and secrets with my crazy little brother.

10. Being so young with so much life ahead of me.

Happy Thanksgiving y'all. Remember the real reason we all venture home for this holiday.

Pink Champagne

  I had always been dreaming of this day and then all of a sudden it was happening. In the blink of an eye I was hanging up the phone call, about in tears, that had delivered my first job offer. It had lasted all of seven minutes.

  My momma was the first person I told. We cried together. I will remember that moment forever, "Mom, I need to tell you something." I about scared her to death. "I got it." That was it, the moment we had been talking about for years. 

  From the moment I got up, something was different about Thursday April 5th. My roommate and best friend Lauren was abnormally home that morning, we had a random roomie Sonic date for lunch, and my favorite pair of Nike shorts and my favorite long sleeved t shirt were both clean on the same day. This never happened. We had planned to walk to our 2:10 classes together that afternoon but instead found ourselves jumping up and down in the hallway, screaming, and both crying after that magical call came. Celebration was in order and we knew just how to do it. You see, Lauren and I had been talking about this moment for months. 

  

















    
Pink champagne was our drink of choice at 2pm on a Thursday afternoon. In fact we bought every pink champagne they had. Bottles were popped off the balcony, multiple toasts were made, and it still didn't seem real it. It still doesn't. The next day a surprise delivery from my wonderful family arrived at our door complete with balloons and a pink vase. I officially signed my offer letter and contract Friday morning. We celebrated all weekend.

  I had blogged last week that multiple friends were sharing their good news of job offers via social media and if I was lucky enough to have news of that matter I would, of course, do the same. Don't worry, I made good on my word. I even tagged BOHAN in my Facebook status and attached an Instagram picture of their building to my tweet. I don't just talk a big game, I am a social media queen.
  






So now it's unfortunately back to real life. Only three more Mondays left of college with 31 days to go till graduation. Graduation announcements have been ordered, my graduation dress has been purchased, my cap is decorated (Lilly print with monogram of course), graduation tickets have been reserved, job offer has been accepted and signed...now all that's left to do is actually graduate, oh and win that XPS 13. But it's all worth it because May 15th, 2012 my career in Media starts as soon as I walk through those gorgeous doors at BOHAN Advertising in Downtown Nashville. Watch out y'all, little person in high heels coming through!

38 days till it all gets really real

Little Person, Big Aspirations

  If I got to name the weeks of my life like I name my pin-boards on Pinterest, last week would have been called "Interview till you drop." To quote my mom, it was "stupid exciting!!!" The next weeks are going to be full of final projects, presentations, a half marathon, and craziness but it will also be full of exciting job announcements from tons of friends who are entering the real world right along with me. And because we are the online generation, I would say a good 99% of these announcements will come via social media. Just last night two of my sorority sisters shared their good news, one on Twitter and one through Facebook. Immediately the congratulations started pouring in through wall posts, status comments, replies, and DMs; Mark Zuckerberg would have been proud. 
  I have a huge passion for social media, not just personally but professionally as well. Being Social Media Rep for Rent the Runway University of Tennessee along with being enrolled in Advertising 490: Social Media has really opened my eyes to everything social media can do. But at the same time respecting traditional media and learning how to connect the two to take a campaign to a level it could have never reached before. I like to view media as a puzzle. Every aspect of the campaign has to be taken into consideration and then like a 1,000 piece puzzle carefully analyzed. For an uber-organized girl like me this department of the industry is heaven. So now it's the waiting game, waiting to hear back and then time to make a pretty huge life decision. You're first job offer only happens once, right? But don't worry everyone will know when the call comes because I too will share my good news on the media platform that has gotten me this far, social media.

It's the little things

  There is a tradition in my family that on the way home from Knoxville to Hendersonville for Christmas, Spring, or Summer break we stop at Taco Bell, or as my mom calls it "Taco Hell." So after surviving the most hellish 48 hours leading up to break that seemed more like a month, I couldn't wait to get my hands on a Crunchwrap Supreme. I am now embarrassed for myself that I just shared that for the entire internet to see. Any who, as we were driving down I-40 and the usual Pekarsky family shenanigans were commencing I noticed something different about my cup than my dad's. Mine had tweets and FB status on them talking about the new Doritos Locos Tacos. Clever clever marketing on Taco Bell's part, letting the customer speak for the product. All the while enticing other consumers to tweet or share their thoughts on their new menu item with the chance of their tweet or status being on the a Taco Bell cup! Heck, I'd do it! However, I still don't have the guts or stomach to try that taco..

  And now for my favorite social media nugget of the month, it involves the man of the hour himself Tim Tebow. This billboard was put up in Denver the week of the "big decision" between Peyton and Tebow. Props to Multiline International Imports for their clever attention getting billboard. I'm personally still mourning the retirement of my beloved Hines Ward, but my condolences to you Tebow fans out there all the same.

And though she be but little, she is fierce

   I'm Caroline and I'm a Social Media addict. I have a legitimate problem. I'm obsessed. 

                                                 And it just might pay off. 

  I was once told that the "perfect job" for me would be to run a company's social media so I could sit on Facebook and Twitter all day, look pretty, and get paid for it. Well look at me now... I am currently the Social Media Manager for Rent the Runway and just applied for the Digital Marketing Intern position with McCormick Spices in Baltimore. So it looks like I found the "perfect job" for me, huh? 

  I used to just be obsessed with social media. Now, I eat, sleep, and breathe it. I spent half of my Barnes and Noble Valentine's Day gift card (yes, I'm single and my mom sent me a Valentine's Day present) on Mark Schaefer's new book, Return on Influence, and another book about social media. I can spout off facts about Facebook Ad statistics like I used to run my mouth about sorority gossip. I am a changed woman. There is SO much more to a social media or digital marketing position. Heck! I didn't even know all there was to know until I cracked open The Social Media Bible, thank you Mr. Lon Safko. I'm not just some pretty girl in heels who farts around with Twitter all day. There is an absolute science and skill to this job and I am one of the lucky few at the University of Tennessee who gets to learn this invaluable information while getting class credit for it. Who knew it was actually possible to find a job doing something you truly love and are passionate about. With all the amazing career opportunities the field has to offer me it's easy to be teeming with excitement to graduate and join the lipstick jungle of 9AM-5PM.

  So here's hoping, fingers legs and arms crossed, that I get that phone interview with and then a final interview and then the job. And then I can send that person my graduation announcement complete with my job position and a pretty picture of me and my diploma to let him know I did in fact find that "perfect job."  

oh and p.s. 66 days till graduation! 

"Now you wouldn't believe me if I told you, but I could run like the wind blows. From that day on, if I was going somewhere, I was running!" -Forrest Gump

  Exactly two months from today I will run the Music City Half Marathon. And let me tell you this day's been a long time coming. I made a promise to myself the weekend after my birthday, which also turned out to be the end of my relationship, that I would run 13.1 miles and in the process get over him and let go of it all. I come from a family of runners and have run on and off my entire life, mostly as means of staying skinny, but Junior year of high school I used it to get over a boy and here I was doing it again four years later.

  I am blessed with an incredible family who loves me like no other and has supported me through it all. However, I also come from a family who will tease your pants right off you. I am not the most graceful person in the world nor am I the most elegant in every day life; so when I announced at family dinner downtown one July night my marathon plans my dad about choked on his burger. Nonetheless, when we got home that night Joe helped me pick out a new pair of running shoes for training and the half-marathon. Mom put the date in her planner and Dad wished me good luck. And here we are. I would bet I will be more emotional after I cross that finish line and find my family, especially my momma, than I will be on graduation day. There is something so emotional and personal about running, it takes everything you have to give and then some. The most raw moment you can have is finishing a run in tears, legs shaking, knowing you did it. 

  After training for a good solid seven months now I can say in confidence I couldn't have done it without my little brother or Map My Run. Map my Run is an amazing website that I seriously would not have been able to train without. It's like Facebook for runners but so much better. You can find friends, or in my case little brothers, to share runs, workouts, and diet plans with. I've mapped every run on the site to get my exact mileage for the day and Joe has sent me runs he's mapped out for me through the site as well. It's simple and fast and has a huge array of resources for runners along with an iPhone app that has definitely come in handy. So once again social media has found another way into my life along with Pandora for a nice soundtrack during workouts, Pinterest for inspirational running quotes along with finding the coolest running gear, and of course Facebook to share all those sweaty "I DID IT" pictures. 

  I started this goal as a means of getting over someone and finding a way to heal. But it's grown into something so much more. I'm doing it for me. And let me just say I am pretty dang proud of myself. So here we go, sprint those last 100 yards no matter what. I'll see you at the finish line.