Watch:

Ferris Bueller? Check. Beautiful day? Check. Calling out sick? Check.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the best commercial of this year's Super Bowl (alright, we still have another 6 days. But this is awesome--it's going to be tough to top).

Want:

I've been in a little shoe drought lately, and these cuties are just the thing I need to get out of it. I mean, look at the navy, with the red treads! How adorable! 

All in a day's work:

My office is located about 20 steps from my bed. So, once the kids are where they should be, my commute is not hard (Oh, don't be jealous; you'll see where this is going in a second).

However. Every once in a while, I'm asked to work in someone else's office. Which is awesome--I get to be around other real, live human beings! When I speak aloud, someone answers back! Sometimes there's food! We might order lunch! Or hear a funny story about someone's weekend! (OK, there's work involved, too--it's not all fun and games). 

But. Getting to that office? Every time I have to commute to work, I have a new appreciation for those that do it every day. Even more so for those that do it WITH KIDS.

Yesterday, for example: we had to be out of the house at 7:30 because there was a breakfast thing at the 8 year old's school. Great! We don't have to do breakfast at home! That'll shave SO MUCH TIME off of our morning. This day is already shaping up to be SO EASY!

8:15: Get back home with the intern. We have a half hour before we have to leave to drop her off at school. 

Did I mention that last night, I made lunches--even mine?? I'm SO ORGANIZED.

8:20: Jump in the shower. No time to wash my hair, so it looks like today's a baseball hat day (fortunately I can get away with that at this particular office). Shower, brush teeth, throw on minimal makeup so I look well rested... and make my first mistake of the day: check email.

8:35: Read email on phone and boot up computer to make client-requested changes to a document. Changes can't wait until the afternoon.

8:40: Still waiting for the Photoshop document to open.

8:45: Still waiting.

8:50: Finally! Make changes and send them off. Whew! Looks like we're not going to be late to school after all!

8:59: Get intern buckled into her car seat. Realize that it takes 10 minutes for the intern to get her coat and shoes on, so yeah; we're going to be late.

9:03: Run back into house to grab both the intern's snack and lunch (already packed!).

9:17: Get the intern to school, 17 minutes late.

9:30: No traffic? SCORE!! Get to Westport in record time! Think of something funny to tweet on the way there, fish around in my purse for my phone, only to realize... IT'S AT HOME.

9:31: Turn around to go back home.

9:40: Get back into Fairfield. Drive past Starbucks when I realize that this day isn't SO EASY, it sucks. And the only thing--THE ONLY THING--that is going to get me through it is a Venti skim Chai. Hit the brakes and run into Starbucks.

9:50: Get home and retrieve phone. Tweet my funny thing. FINALLY.

10:05: Arrive at work. I am completely proud of the fact that the only thing I have managed to do right today, was to pack food for myself (LAST NIGHT). 

1:00: Leave work (that's right, I worked for a whole 3 hours) to pick up the intern at school.

1:30: Pick the intern up, and immediately drop her off at the sitter's--last night I volunteered (WITHOUT A GUN TO MY HEAD, I might add) to switch "Mystery Reader" spots with a friend. They don't allow siblings to come with the Mystery Reader, so it's off to the sitter's for the intern.

2:00: Get to school. The smile that spreads across the 8 year old's face when she sees me as the Mystery Reader (hence the mystery part) makes my day worth it. Almost.

Read for half an hour, go home for 5 minutes, just to pick her back up from school. Get home, do snack and homework supervision, and work in the peace and quiet for a few more hours.

5:00: pick up the intern. Wow, those few hours went by fast.

5:15, get home, get the 8 year old changed for basketball (SCORE! I don't have to drive to or pick up from! Carpooling might be my favorite), and fed.

5:40: Tell the 8 year old that if she DOESN'T HURRY UP, THERE WILL BE NO BASKETBALL PRACTICE. NOW OR FOR THE REST OF HER LIFE.

5:45: Get the 8 year old off, get the intern dressed to go back out (remember from this morning, it takes her 10 minutes to do this), and pick up the teenager from work.

6:15: Drop the teenager off at the library for study group. Head home to make dinner. Collapse.

People who leave the house every day, I salute you. Seriously, you guys are my heroes. Now, if you need me, I'll be in bed, under the covers; hoping to never have to leave the house again.

Airbrush this:

Fotoshop by Adobé from Jesse Rosten on Vimeo.


(OK, OK, I know I haven't gotten to my goals for 2012 yet--or much of anything, for that matter. But this was too great not to share).

I think my favorite part of this video is that they use actual Photoshopped examples that are recognizable: Faith Hill's infamous Redbook cover, Gabourey Sidibe's skin tone on the cover of Elle, and an actual model from Ann Taylor's website.

Pretty awesome.

(via Adverve)

Hello, goodbye (part 1):

Hello internet friends! It's good to be back into a normal routine now that the holidays are over (although, I do love me some Christmas; and this year the entire Christmas/New Year's week seemed especially laid back and relaxed). Some reflections on this past year...

This past year, I think the biggest lesson I learned was to separate work and life. I realized that my business was not going to crumble apart and fail if I let the intern play with her friends for a half hour after school. People weren't going to stop calling if I took a week off in August (which is typically slow anyway). The world wasn't going to end if I took some time for myself and my family; and even though in the back of my head I knew that, it was still reassuring to find out first hand.

I also blogged more. Probably wasn't as much as I would have liked, but this year had more posts than any other year. Looking back on that, it makes me feel good. Still striving to blog more often... so this is a step in the right direction.

I rode in my first big group bike ride. I bought a bike this past spring, and really made a commitment to riding it. So much so that I signed up for the CT Challenge, and completed the 50 mile route. The Challenge was a great way to force myself to train, and the feeling I got at the finish line was sooooo worth it all. I rode my bike 50 miles! All in one ride! Yep, that's one to shout from the rooftops.

I participated in my first gallery show. Last summer, I was asked to be part of the Hang in There Poster Show, which was a group of posters with a positivity theme. Even though I was terribly nervous leading up to the show (holy cow, it was like a who's who of graphic design in CT!), I was really proud of my work (and incredibly honored to be included).

I saw Derek Jeter's 3000th hit. OK, not really a personal accomplishment so much as stupid luck on my end (we had bought the tickets really early in the season, and had he not been injured, or had the previous night's game not been rained out... it would have been just another Yankee game), but still: cool.

My work won some pretty cool graphic design awards. That's always a good feeling. As Sally Field said it best: "You like me! You really like me!"

Stay tuned, tomorrow's post is my goals for 2012.