BLOOD & THUNDER

This weekend, Dec 1-4, the first EVER Blood & Thunder Roller Derby World Cup rolled into Toronto. Hosted by ToRD (Toronto Roller Derby), games are being held at The Bunker in Downsview Park, 13 teams from all over the world are skating their way to the top. Countries represented are: Canada, USA, Sweden, Finland, Scotland, New Zealand, Ireland, Germany, France, England, Brasil, Australia and Argentina. 


I was lucky enough to be able to get a ticket for Saturday before everything sold out. And I mean sold out. The entire event sold out really fast, and I was really happy to be able to go out and watch some of the action. I went with my friend Jenn and it was a totally awesome day!


We got there at about 10 and there were already tons of people there. There was so much energy in The Bunker, it was totally infectious and I got super pumped as soon as we went in. There were two bouts going on, and we quickly found places to sit and watch New Zealand take on the US. What a game! The US killed it - 470 to 8. It was intense, and the crowd was going nuts! It was so cool to see derby players and fans from countries all over the world. Derby is really taking off in popularity and it is awesome to meet people that you share that common interest with, even if they are from the other side of the world!


Then we walked around to look at all the stuff that was on sale. We were both thinking of getting our Fresh Meat package that day, and not going to lie, I was a bit apprehensive about dropping that much cash in one day. For those of you who don't know what a Fresh Meat package is, it's basically everything that you need to start out as a new derby player (Fresh Meat). You get skates, wheels, pads, helmet and mouthguard. We were talking to some really nice girls from RollerBug who let us try stuff on. They had my size in Sure Grip Rebels, black with hot pink wheels (exactly what I want!) I tried them on and they fit like a glove. The only problem is that they're made of leather. As a vegetarian, I really don't want skates made from a poor cow's skin, just so I can play derby! The awesome thing is, with derby being a bit of an 'alternative' sport, they recognize people with 'alternative' lifestyles, and they actually make vegan skates! (I know alternative is totally the wrong word, but I couldn't think of anything else haha) So anyways, when I do end up buying my first gear, I'll definitely be buying vegan skates! And I'll probably get it from My Roll Life which is the newly opened skate shop owned by our team captain GoldieLockN'Load.


They didn't have Jenn's size at RollerBug, and I kind of wanted to get our stuff together, so we just ended up getting some Derby Skinz shorts, and Jenn got a really cute black cardigan with pink rollerskates on it :)

                                                     
                                                        

guess which shorts are mine? haha I also wanted to get a PivotStar  hoodie, because they have a purple and green one which are the exact colours of my team, the Rollergettes! 

unfortunately, they didn't have my size left, so I'll just have to order it online (cough cough, Christmas cough) 

Anyways, after that, we got ready for the Finland Canada game. We were sitting on the floor, right at the top of the track aka we had a wicked view! We brought a ton of snacks (looove bulk barn!) so we were sitting there chowing down on sour keys and beer nuts, watching this game that was actually amaaaaazing! Literally, in the first jam, Canada got 35 points! It was unbelievable. They kept playing like that, with the score rising and all of us going nuts on the sidelines. 300, 350, 400.... everyone was wondering if they'd be able to make it to 500! It was the last jam, maybe about 2 seconds left in the bout and Canada was at 499. I don't exactly know what happened, but the ref made a call that I guess wasted those last 2 seconds and didn't allow our jammer to score one more point. It was madness! Although we didn't make it to 500, I'd say a 499 - 31 game isn't something to shake your head at. It was a mind blowing game, and I am so happy to say I was able to be there! After that, we were pretty much all tuckered out from being there all day and screaming basically all day, so we headed home, with visions of roller skates and derby skinz dancing in our heads. 

All in all, my experience at the Roller Derby World Cup was absolutely amazing. It totally made me even more excited (if that's possible) to start out next season with the Rollergettes. It was so cool to see all these wicked derby players and to give us something to look up to. Also, it was neat to see everyone's different style. Roller Derby attracts some pretty wild characters with equally wild senses of style and it was great to be able to see that all day and get some inspiration. Lots of pin up style outfits and hair, lots of fishnets, booty shorts and Doc Martens. And LOOOTTSSSS of tattoos. It was pretty amazing to see all of that :) 

Then this morning at 10:30 was the Canada vs England game. SEMI FINAL! AHH! It was broadcast on Derby News Network as all of the games had been. I sat on the couch in a blanket and my jammies (may or may not have been wearing my pink sparkly Derby Skinz haha) and watched that one on my laptop. It was a really physical game. England played some great defence, but couldn't keep up with Team Canada who came out victorious! 161 - 90. At the end, they played the Hockey Night In Canada theme song as they did their victory lap. It was a great moment! On the other track, USA was playing Australia in the other semi final. US pretty much kicked ass with a 532 to 4 final score. AKA CANADA VS USA IN THE FINALS!!!! omgggg!!! so excited! That game is going to be live broadcasted at 4:30 on Derby News Network as well (thank god). So basically, no one call me or text me during that time because I'll be watchin' derby!!! :)

So that was my wonderful, wacky weekend in a nutshell. If anyone wants to know anything about roller derby, or the team that I've just started playing with, just let me know and I can (with my limited beginner knowledge) hopefully help you out, or ask one of my derby sistas who know! 

I <3 DERBY!

Glitter Gunslinger, signing off

free hugs! ... i mean... granola bars

well hello there! it certainly has been a while since my last post. with our portfolio show a mere 8 days away, i am surprisingly prepared. i am just waiting on two campaigns (one is in the works now) to put in, get my book printed and off we go! i really don't know why i'm so calm, everyone in my class is understandably scrambling to get everything done. must be florence's new album keeping me sane. i'm gonna go with that :) and... if anyone hasn't heard it... GO do that now! it is beautiful. what else can we expect from miss welch? 


this is my new dancey song: 
"spectrum"

anyways, all that aside, what i really wanted to write about was a wicked piece of DM i received in the mail last week. about 1.5 months ago, i found a promotion on the Kashi website where all you had to do was fill out your information and they would send you a free bar. i filled out the info, choosing blackberry as the flavour i wanted to receive. i pressed "send" and then forgot about it. i was only reminded when i saw the commercial which talked about the promotion, as well as the fact that if you didn't like it, the spokes-dude would eat the box. THE BOX! ew. well, knowing Kashi products very well, i knew that i would most definitely enjoy my free sample when it arrived. 

it was after one long tiring day at school when i checked the mailbox on the way in. low and behold... a box from Kashi! was i ever pumped

that was the front of the box, note the little bite mark die cut in the bottom right corner. such attention to detail! 

i opened up the box to find my blackberry bar tucked in there along with some info about the product and a call to action to visit the website, and i'm pretty sure you were supposed to vote for your favourite flavour. which i didn't do, not going to lie.

so i pull out the granola bar to eat it asap (i was starving) and omg! underneath is a coupon for a FREE BOX! baaaaah! ok all you fellow poor college students know how hard it is to afford healthy food when you have no money, so this was awesome for me to get! those kashi bars are like 5 bucks per box, so this was like christmas to me :)

all in all, i thought this was an aaaaawwwweeeeesssoommmeee thing for Kashi to do! way to tie in the tv spots, the online as well as drive future purchases with a free coupon. i was so happy, i told everyone about it. great word of mouth starter. so last week, when i went to buy groceries, i brought my coupon and got me some free granola bars. i was one happy camper thats for sure! one thing i am insanely curious about is how big their budget is. i can't even imagine how freaking expensive something like this must have been to execute. i really hope it pays off for them, Kashi is a great company that makes yummy healthy food. love it. 

that's my advertising-y bit for now :) 

also, just updated my website today, everyone please check it out! sophiehebert.ca

8 days till portfolio show! follow @CABAInterns2012 and use the hashtag #lastinterns

humberportfolioshow.com

happy daylight savings day 

soph

listening to: never let me go - florence + the machine

COME GET OUR BRAINS!

just a quick update on portfolio show situation:


portfolio website is live http://humberportfolioshow.com/ check it out 


twitter is also live @CABAInterns2012 follow us! #lastinterns


youtube channel up and running http://www.youtube.com/user/CABAInterns2012




spread the word!


peace
soph

stop . . . . portfolio time!

hiiiii everyone! so it has been about 1.23 million years since my last post, and i apologize. i tried starting this little youtube video adventure showing my portfolio pieces etc etc. i don't know how to use imovie so it was basically a complete failure. everything is moving along over here in caba. school is kicking my ass, as usual, as well as planning the portfolio show. we've been shooting videos and photos and all kinds of craziness. it's going to be awesome. on top of that, i have to re-write a tonnnn of stuff for my book, and do homework. so, needless to say, i'm going to be taking a bit of a break from this whole blogging thing for a while (until after nov 14th to be precise).  


anyways, quick preview of the insanity that is the class of 2012 apocalypse interns:

hammered on the pride of nova scotia

accounts

art directors

copywriters

so, this will be it for a while. hope everyone is kicking school's ass, not the other way around. for those of you with portfolio shows coming up, good luck! we're in this together :) 
for updates on the show, check out my tweets @sophie_hebert_ and soon there will be an apocalypse intern twitter up and running!




sophie, out.

one of a kind

last night, i went to a show at the horseshoe tavern on queen st. i am so excited about the music that i almost don't even care to write about the rest of the night, but i will because it was amazing. two of my friends leanne and jess (ns roadtrip partner in crime) came up from ottawa to see the show with me (that how awesome it was). we met up with my friend jenn and the four of us shivered our little tooshes all the way to fresh on spadina for a meal that was basically a religious experience it was that good. 


i split the jerusalem bowl with jenn (pretty sure i have blogged about its amazingness before, so i will spare you), leanne had the bbq burger as a wrap, and jess had the holiday wrap. now, these girls are by no means vegetarian, but to quote leanne "that was the best wrap i've ever had". see guys?! vegetarian food can be just as epic and delicious as non veg food, and it is much nicer to our animal friends :) 


anyways, we then headed over to the horseshoe to watch the show. met up with one of my classmates josh and a few of his buddies. he had literally walked into a tree moments before and had a goose egg forming on his head that was in the shape of harry potter's lightning scar. it was priceless and i made fun of him the whole night for it! 

the first band to go on was july talk. jenn's friend's boyfriend, eamon mcgrath, plays in the band aside from having his own amaaaazing solo act that you guys definitely should check out. saw him perform live at the silver dollar room in the spring and he is super talented. july talk was really great, catchy, and had a ton of energy. you could tell that they weren't just playing music but actually performing and having a great time doing it. sort of a country, bluesy mix they really pumped up the crowd and had everyone dancing and stomping their feet. 

after a short break to move around all the equipment, it was time for the coppertone! if you haven't heard the coppertone before, i am telling you; get your ass on youtube and look her up. that girl can fucking rock. lead singer amanda zelina puts her heart and soul into the performance. her guitar playing is amazing and she has the kind of voice that sounds perfectly gritty during a bluesy rock song, but during the slower numbers it softens, still maintaining just the right amount of bad-assery. not to mention that she is hot as hell. huge girl crush. josh told me about 5 times that he would marry her right then and there. 


we were standing literally front and centre, so we could see everything, including the set list. i was waiting to hear the song 'black water' which is my all time fave coppertone song. it was third on the list. i basically went nuts when it started, i was so happy i couldn't even handle it. there are very few bands i get this way about, and the coppertone is definitely one of them. they sound better live than they do recorded, and i haven't heard many bands that i can say that about.  i am still so stoked about it today, and it has taken me like 45 minutes to write this blog post because i couldn't even put the feeling into words. 

in short; the coppertone is an amazing band, and if you like bluesy rock type music at all, please do me a favour and listen . . . then come thank me. 


as soon as they were done, i went up to her and told her how great the performance was and how i was basically crying i was so happy. she seemed super down to earth and totally chill, not even realizing how many minds she had just blown haha then i went over to the merch table to buy a shirt. was going to buy the ep but i don't have a record player booo 

the set list!

then the headliner, the dirty mags came on. the lead singer was about 7 feet tall and looked like he was trying to be russell brand (skinny jeans, pointy shoes, shaggy hair, blazer) it was funny because it made me feel soooo small! i mean, i always feel small at shows because i'm like always the shortest person there, but he was like a giraffe! it was crazy. they were really great too, although we didn't stay for their whole set cause we were sooo tired, and there was a mosh pit and we didn't want to get stuck in it. although i did for a second and it was really scary lol josh and his friends basically started it and i was trying to get by before they started their next song, but he dragged me in ahhhh! i guess now i can say that i was in a mosh pit? lol quite the experience. 


all in all, it was an amazing night. great friends, great food, great music. i had never been to a show at the horseshoe. i really liked the venue, how it was set up and the all around vibes i was getting from the place. now after all this time trying to get my thoughts into words, i'm gonna say bye, go get ready for class and get back to the real world ;) 


happy friday everyone! 
PEACE
soph 


listening: nighttime wishes - the coppertone


PS. starting a new project in regards to my portfolio... stay tuned to my youtube channel for more deets! 

bffs 4everzzz

just wanted to share this photoshop creation masterpiece with everyone. even though i should be doing readings for soc, i thought this would be more important....

paaahaha hope everyone else had just as productive of a monday as i did ;)


PEACE! 
soph

visual identity

hello everyone! happy sunny Sunday and VegTO Vegetarian Food Festival weekend! yahoooo :) this weekend has been pretty awesome so far. went out with my class on friday for 90s night at the wreckroom which was totally fun! then on the way home, we stopped at sneaky dees for some food. i can't believe that i got sneaks dinner two days in one week. can't even handle it haha! saturday i spent, well... recovering. later that evening, my gal vanessa and her bf russell came over and we went and got some apps at kelseys. and i swear to you, selena gomez was sitting on the patio, no lies. russell did the whole "im taking a pic of you soph, but actually pointing the camera at selena's doppelganger" thing. it was sketchy and silly, and i felt like a massive creep, but it was hilarious. we blared "love you like a love song" on the way home and sang our lungs out.

woke up a bit too late today, waiting for the rogers guy to come and fix our internet/cable (getting a cheap-o student package whoo!) and then probably gonna go down to the harbourfront with my pal and fellow veggie allison for the vegetarian food festival. saw another caba's pic of the vegan dessert table yesterday and that's what convinced me that it is something i can't miss haha those desserts looked amazing!

anyways, the whole point of this post... a couple months ago, i signed up for the beta version of vizualise.me, a website that uses your linkedin info to create an infographic of your resume. cool, right? so i had totally forgotten about it until today when i received the email with the sign in code. so, here is my resume check it out! vizualize.me - Sophie's profile

the website is super easy to use, allowing you to choose from several layouts, then you can change the fonts, colours etc. and you can add jobs/education/whatever and also edit the description, but it pulls everything from your linkedin so if you're happy with what's up there then you don't really have all that much editing to do.

thought it is a cool concept, and a hell of a lot more fun than reading a boring ol' resume on a white piece of paper :) just wanted to share it with everyone! for those interested, the website is vizualise.me and the sign in code is vizme

everyone enjoy your sunday, i know i will! :)
smileeeeee

soph

listening to: you make me happy - sophie madeleine

the times they are a-changin'

well helloooo there! happy friday my lovelies. hope the first week of school has treated you all well. on my first day, i could tell that my mind/body was definitely still in summer mode and was rebelling against me trying to get ready in the morning. i stubbed my toe, dropped my mascara on the floor, dropped frozen fruit on the floor when i was trying to make my smoothie and then apparently, i've regressed to infancy and forgotten how to drink from a cup, because more of the smoothie ended up on my face than in my stomach. and that was all before 9am and my advanced flash class.... oh boy!! haha

the class was alright, if not slightly intimidating (computer programming and me do not mix, we have a sort of oil and water relationship) but i managed to make a flash animation of a bunch of shapes swirling around and a tiny kitten going across the screen while slowly turning pink. it was a small accomplishment, but something it was quite rewarding, being able to do something that you thought you'd never be able to do in a million years!

then i came home on break with my roommate, and tried to figure out our lame internet situation while eating lunch. we ended up going with this rogers student deal thing for 65, in which we get really shitty cable tv (ch 2 - 28) but super fast internet! sooo i'd say it's worth it because we can just watch all of our tv online. phewf problem solved. no more dropped connections.

then was my sociology of technology class. i think it is going to be really awesome. the prof seems like he really knows what he is talking about, and he is funny and interesting to listen to. reminds me of good old mr. morden, if any of my high school friends are reading this ;) love him.

after class, the plan was to go to sneaks for some late dinner nachos and then go upstairs to dance our butts off. best plan ever i'd say. for those of you who don't know me, i am a huge lover of sneaks. i know, i know, it's a dive bar, it's disgusting blah blah blah. make fun of me all you want, but i think all of its flaws are what gives it its charm, i love the food, and i love all the plaid wearing, pbr drinking, beardy hipster boys... so there. lol.

anyways, the girls were over pre-departure, having a few little celebratory dranks (for finishing our last first day whoo!) and i noticed that something had changed. we were still talking and laughing like we normally did. but it was what we were talking about that really struck a chord in me. no longer were we talking about new bands, shopping, shoes and gossip like we normally did. we were talking about weddings. weddings for god's sakes! we are 21 years old, wtf are we doing talking about weddings, mortgages, and the number of babies we want to have eventually?!?! as appalled as i was, i found myself drawn into the conversation like a moth drawn to the flame. i think that over the summer, something changed inside all of us. that realization that yes, we only have one more year of school left, and after that we are grown ups. adults. "mature." this stuff is actually going to be our reality pretty soon. i think it freaked me out so much because i think the end of school is really that time in which your childhood ends. you can't dick around anymore, stay up till all hours of the night, get up at 11 and roll into class in sweats. this is real life, and it's starting soon. (i want a big poofy wedding dress and 1 baby, most likely adopted haha) 

randy <3

i'm going to take a guess and say that most fourth years are feeling this way, and i'm sure my anxiety is going to rise as each month goes by and we get closer and closer to adulthood haha. just needed to vent about it! today is my first ad centre class, the sun is shining, and it's friday. what could possibly be bad about today? :)

tgif ladybugs! enjoy your sunny day
soph

holy lord liftin!

TOMORROW IS MY LAST FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL...... EVER!!!!!!!


let that sink in..... ok. 


what a better way to end the last day of summer than learning a new song on my ukulele and discovering new bands :) 


new song = tonight, you belong to me (a very popular uke song)
new bands = mirah [http://www.mirahmusic.com/]
                       sophie madeleine [http://sophiemadeleine.com/]


i went to google sophie madeleine and wrote sophie hebert baaaahaha


so everyone have a lovely sleep and wish me luck tomorrow on my last first day of school! 


xoxo
s

stress free summer

ever realize that although summer is our time off, our vacation, our time to reenergize, it is mostly spent being busier than we are during the year? time is divided into working (gotta pay that tuition) doing stuff at home like cleaning and all that, trying to have a social life, and then maybe if time permits and the weather gods are smiling that day, squeeze in a trip to the beach. i long for the lazy summer boredom of elementary school days. the summer seemed so much longer, even though it was half as long. you had no plans, and the biggest drama was that the dickie-dee truck went down your friend's street and not yours. 


that is the kind of summer i set out to have this year, and it is exactly what i needed. by the end of  the school year, i was burnt out. i needed to get away and recharge. i took a break from everything. no blogs, no advertising, no keeping up with everything as it was happening. i just stopped. and it was fantastic! i did work from may until july at the yacht club full time, but i was outside by the water all day so it was lovely. then i went home and got ready for a two week roadtrip around nova scotia with my best friend and talented photographer, jess deeks (jessicadeeks.com).


with the car packed up, boogie boards and photography equipment in tow, we hit the road to halifax at 3am on july 12th. we made it there in one day, a 17 hour drive but it was actually pretty easy. we stayed with her great aunt who coincidentally lives about a 2 min drive from my dad! what a small world. we had lunch with the gang from chester + co, where i interned last summer, shopped around and then hit the road again! we drove north east with lawrencetown being our first stop, and you know what that means: surfing! we continued up to cape breton, then back down through pugwash (heeheee) and down to the south shore, hitting yarmouth, lunenburg and all those lovely towns, all the while setting up and taking portraits of cool people we met along the way. back to halifax for a day or two to sleep in a real bed after 'roughing it' in a two person pop up tent haha and then back home to ottawa we went! 


side note: i had tried to set up a portfolio review with shawn king from extreme group (they have an office in hali) while i was there, but the timing just didn't work out... i was tres bummed out, but hey everything happens for a reason right?! 

our route!

now, if you guys have ever had the privilege of travelling with a photographer, you will know that you basically don't even need to bring a camera, as they will be doing most of that for you. i think i ended up taking maaaybe 100 photos, because jess always had her point and shoot out, so i just stole all of her pics! which are awesome. to see the portraits she did (and she wrote a bit about each person/place we were when we took them) check out her blog jessicadeeks.blogspot.com there is also a video she made of the trip which is sooo great and the background music is "don't stop" by foster the people. aka basically our soundtrack for the whole trip. foster the people on repeat. 

that is just a small sampling of the about 400 pictures i have from our trip. all photos copyright jessica deeks. check out her blog for more photos! 

it was an absolutely amazing trip! we had sort of a plan/route we were going to take, but we had all the time in the world and didn't care if we made changes to it. such a free feeling to just be able to get up and go wherever and whenever you wanted. nova scotia is so beautiful, i'm lucky to have been able to go there and spend a lot of time there in my life so far! check it out if you have the chance :) next stop: west coast!!! 

we got home the last week of july, and thats when the chilling started. the adventure was over and now it was time to relax! i spent all of august reading, sleeping in till 11, hanging out with my cat tiger, growing tomatoes, spying on deer in my backyard, watching countless episodes of how i met your mother, and perfecting my recipe for homemade iced tea. it was the best.

i got back to toronto two days ago feeling very happy to be here! i'm stoked, creativity re-amped, ready to go. i still get super scared when i think omg i'm in 4th year and in four months i will be an intern, but it's more a excited scared than a 'watching scary movie home alone at midnight' kind of scared haha portfolio show on november 14th btw so that's the countdown date waaaaah!!!

now i'm sitting here, on labour day, with the last first day of school EVER looming in front of me, two days away. it is a weird feeling, since basically all i've ever done is be in school. definitely not ready to be a grownup and have a 'real job'. stress. i'm just going to take this year one day at a time and see what happens, because i can't get stressed over things i have no control over! zennnnn. breathe in, breathe out. ok, good to go. bring it on fourth year! 

now i'm looking forward to seeing all my classmates who i've missed terribly over the summer, going back to all my toronto 'spots', and .... sweater weather whooo! cozy and cuddly. hope everyone enjoys the long weekend (i have tuesdays off, so it's an extra long weekend for me!) and kicks butt on the first day back at school! 

stay stress free peeps :)

soph

sunscreen and surf wax

it has been a whiiiiiile since my last post wow! i went home last week for madison's baby shower and i was able to be home for a week so it was really nice, i actually had time to see everyone unlike easter weekend. the shower was so fun, she got so much cute stuff!

madison wearing sunglasses my mum bought her :P

that week i also hung out with my girls, had a bonfire, snuggled my kitteh and sat outside on our lawn in the woods and worked on my portfolioooo! it is all done, printed and ready to go for portfolio night on thursday coming up. sneak peak: sophiehebert.ca ;) also, i was featured on their ready to shine section, cause i filled out some questions when i bought my ticket... check it out! http://portfolionight.com/9/archives/5303

hmm what else... got back on monday, worked tuesday and then wednesday i spent the day with my friend from school victoria (@VictoriaSturges) in kensington market. such a nice day, thought it was going to rain but it ended up being super sunny. friday i went for a nice walk by the lake. i even had to put sunscreen on it was SO sunny and hot. i loooove the smell of sunscreen :)  that night, i slept over at my sista-from-anotha-mista jenn's (@jennkeenaner) she had never seen harry potter 7 ... i know right? lol so we watched that and ate caramel rice cakes yummmm! preparing for our saturday adventures. 

we woke up and had some brekkie and hopped on the bus to boardsports. for those of you who don't know, i love surfing. i went in halifax last summer, and i can't get enough of it. jenn is the same way. so boardsports outings for us are both fun and depressing. i ended up with two bars of mr zogs sex wax (cool-cold) and a billabong wax comb complete with a trusty bottle opener, and jenn ended up with the wax and a rashguard to match her catch surf beater board she is getting for her birthday! this thing is super rad and i am so stoked to borrow it haha at 46' with a single (removable) fin, you can skim it, bodyboard it and once you get really good, you can even stand on it and use it as a little surfboard. sooo fun! affectionately nicknamed 'frankensurf' 

 

came home, made a sweet dinner and now im just chilling. start work full time on monday so i must achieve maximum relaxation this weekend before i start the getting up early-going to bed early routine. gaaaaah. at least i get weekends off yay! so anyways, i just needed to ramble for a bit and now im done. 

portfolio night on thursday, i will definitely be doing a post about that after its done, probably on the weekend. hopefully i will meet tons of people, most of who i will already be following on twitter haha, and get some feedback about my book! wish me luck :)

hope everyone is enjoying the weather! 

peace

soph

ps my cat is cwaaaazy

listening: bird flu - M.I.A

itube, youtube!

sooo a while ago i started a youtube channel with the hopes of video blogging my final year of college and the intense-ness of job searching and all those lovely things that come with starting out in the "real world". my page was looking pretty empty without any vids, so today i just decided to do a quick lil thing introducing myself and the purpose of my channel. anyways, it is pretty thrown together, unrehearsed etc and i sound like a 10 year old boy, but it gets the message across :P anyways, check it out and subscribe to my channel yo!

happy summerrrrrrr!!!!

ps claritin sky writing (live claritin clear today) downtown = super cool! fearless client what whaaaat! anyone know which agency did that?

check it out

http://www.youtube.com/user/sophieh1231

listening: tremendous dynamite - eels

wanderlust

ever since i was a kid, i made plans. to do lists, weekly schedule plans, and as i approached the tender age of 12, a plan for my future university, life in the big city of toronto and a glamourous career as a fashion designer. we all know how that one turned out haha. needless to say, i absolutely love where i ended up, and i think it was a blessing in disguise because advertising is definitely for me! 

i think that all this planning is finally catching up to me. while i still am a huge sucker for lists and dreaming about what award winning ad agency i'll work for after graduation, i find that lately i have this sort of 'cabin fever' thing going on. i do love toronto a whole heck of a lot, but i feel this need to move. yesterday, i googled ad agencies in hawaii. looked into getting a working visa for the united states. craiglisted apartments in santa monica, and their approximate walking distance from cp+b's santa monica (LA) office. what's going on?! california dreamin' baby. i don't even want to live in the states, i mean, i love canada, but i am drawn to the beach, the warmth and the sun. every time i see a california tourism commercial (betty white is so cute in them!) i just feel like i belong there. nevermind the discussions i had with my lovely cousin and her husband, who live in san jose, when they came down for christmas. it just seems like the place for me. maybe i don't need to move there, but i definitely need to travel. it's movies like eat pray love and into the wild that make me just want to drop it all and get away from here. i just want to forget about everything and go to places i've only seen on tv, and the occasional time when i google street view them lol, and experience new culture and see how different people live. 

maybe it's that college "finding yourself" phase i'm going through, but i seem to be much less concerned with my future and figuring it all out before it happens, and just giving it the time to let it happen. don't get me wrong, i am stoked to work really hard on my book and get a wicked job, but maybe i just don't have to stress about it so much anymore, and that whatever is meant to happen will happen. maybe i won't start working the minute i graduate, which has been drilled into our heads since high school. i feel like we were put on this timeline in high school, and if you deviated from it, you were frowned upon. i think it's taken me this long in a creative learning environment to realize that maybe that timeline isn't right for everyone, and that it is okay to do your own thing. try as many things as you can. if it doesn't work out, you learn from that experience and move on. who knows? maybe i'll take a year off after school to travel, get that cabin fever out of me, and come back to toronto to work. maybe i'll get a job right away. maybe i'll move to south africa and shark cage dive and catch sweet waves in between my days as a copywriter. i've come to realize that that is the beauty in life, you never really know what is going to happen, and as hard as you try to plan for it, you just gotta go with what it throws at you. hopefully it will be something exciting :) 

sorry for that huge rant, i think it is all this free time on my hands that has given me tons of time to think about things, and i just needed to get that out! is this wanderlust cabin fever thing just something i'm going through, or do a lot of students near the end of their programs get that too?? is it a creative person thing? does everyone have this urge to explore the world? i mean, there is only so much you can see through other people's travel photos ;) 

soph

listening: you and i - ingrid michaelson

this is NABS

hello everyone and a happy royal wedding day!!! i tried to wake up at 4 am to watch the ceremony, but kate didn't even get there until 630, so i went back to sleep and woke up to watch the actual wedding. realized that i missed the vows so i went back to bed. it was a huge fail trying to watch it live, but thankfully by the time i woke up at a decent hour of 10, someone had already posted the videos so i got to see the majority of the ceremony. and can i just say, wow? she looked absolutely stunning in a dress by sarah burton of mcqueen. it was pretty lovely of kate to wear a mcqueen number, paying tribute to this amazing designer who took his own life last year. i also really loved how there were trees in westminster abbey. so gorg. although, the abbey is designed pretty strange, a lot of people who were at the wedding didn't even get to see it, they had to watch it on a screen. so random. ok one more thing about the wedding then i'll shut up.... the hats. <3. that's it.


yesterday was a whirlwind. i went to the pool down my street with my friend from school mina (@SpreadTheCheer) for an hour or so to swim some laps. got ready to go downtown, as we were volunteering that night at the NABS Spring Break themed fundraiser at This Is London. for those of you who don't know what NABS is, (www.nabs.org)

"The National Advertising Benevolent Society (NABS) is a dynamic support system for all Canadian professionals in the communications industry facing personal, career and family challenges due to illness, injury, unemployment or financial difficulties."


it is a great organization, definitely something we should all become a part of as we enter our careers.
first though, was a trip to fresh :) 


i got the baby buddha bowl on soba noodles: thai peanut sauce with marinated tofu cubes, tomato, cilantro, cucumber, bean sprouts, chopped peanuts, herbs & spices. HEAVEN! or should i say, enlightenment ha-ha. one change i made to this lovely dinner was instead of marinated tofu cubes, i substituted the crispy tofu cubes. i def recommend this little change. not that the marinated tofu isn't good, but the crispy tofu is just so frigging delicious! it tastes like fried chicken, and for us vegetarians, it is always cool when you get to eat something that tastes like meat, but isn't. whoo! i'm not going to lie, i do miss a good old chicken drumstick every now and again, so this fresh vegan alternative is just perfect!

we paid and dashed out the door and down the street to This Is London. our contact, Tim Lamch, communications planner at dentsu, greeted us and assigned us our volunteering duties. mina and i were on lei duty, selling them for two dollars with all proceeds going back to NABS. there was also a 50/50 draw, that a fellow CABA was doing. rachel kennedy, from second year rocked that job. 


people started coming at around 730, but the place was really busy by 830 or 9ish. after we sold all the leis, mina and i grabbed a roll of tickets and went around to sell them. this was actually really hard! imagine trying to sell drunk people raffle tickets while walking around a packed club. it was nuts. we ended up selling a ton though, and a guy won the raffle and was super stoked. after our volunteering duties, we were free to party it up, and the drink tickets kept coming. 

i'd never been to that bar before, and let me tell you, it is faaaaancy pants! the bathroom is bigger than my apartment and has a lady who turns the taps on for you and gives you hand lotion! whaaat! there was actually SO much food i couldn't even believe it. pizza, crackers and cheese, brownies, cakes, tarts, a candy bar and tons of drinks! we were waiting at the bar for drinks and this guy comes up and orders 4 shots of tequila. the bartender pours them, and he's like no no, i ordered 40 shots. 40 SHOTS OF TEQUILA! my god, ad people know how to party. it was wild. by the end of the night, people were breaking it down on the stage doing the worm and other crazy dance moves.

there was also a photobooth provided by transcontinental, which we took full advantage of! :)

basically it was an amaaaaazing night! if this is what ad parties are like all the time, i think i made the right career choice ;) thanks again to NABS for the opportunity to volunteer and i was happy to help out! everyone had an awesome time, and was successful in fundraising for this great cause. 

one more exciting thing... remember how i went to the next gen dinner series this week? well, my twitter pal tim (@timinyli) let me know that cp+b, whose table i had the privilege of sitting at, had created a specific job posting for those of us who had attended 

sooo, i'm thinking this sounds pretty rad, but i'm a little on the fence as to whether to apply or not. i'm not done school and my book needs some work... obv i fit all those criteria (went to the dinner, met sub, and want to work at CP+B CANADA!) lol but i just don't know if it's the right thing for me... yet. maybe i'll throw caution into the wind and give it a go, what's the worst that could happen? hmm, decisions. anyways i will keep everyone updated as to what i end up doing :) 

in the meantime, i'm going to get groceries, make a wicked dinner and learn some more songs on my ukulele! i've already learned i will follow you into the dark by death cab for cutie <3 love. 

tgif everyone!!! sorry for rambling... again. 

soph

listening: the good times are killing me - modest mouse