Category — general commentary

The Sheley baby is here! Leo Mason Sheley arrived a week ago today (yes, he’s my St. Patty’s Day baby). He was 9 pounds and 12.5 ounces, and 22.5″ inches long.

After seeing how much time I’m going to be spending doing this “mom thing”, I wanted to let you all know that I will probably not be posting on my blog much. To keep up with me and everything that’s going on, please read (and check out the photos) on the baby blog, baby.sheley.org, or add me as a friend on Facebook.

Saturday morning I had the opportunity to enjoy my very first pedicure, thanks to my in-laws! For Christmas this year, they gave me a gift certificate to His & Hers Salon & Spa here in Topeka. I used the gift certificate for their deluxe pedicure, and it was fabulous!

For an hour I sat in a massage chair and had my feet pampered. A whirlpool soak, a exfoliating scrub and massage, some general nail maintenence and some fancy polish.

Last night the American Advertising Federation of Topeka (AAFT) held their annual ADDYs Gala to recognize the best creative produced in the Topeka area this past year. As Second-Vice President on the AAFT Board, I’ve been very active these past few months helping plan and organize the gala, as well as participating in the competition through my work at jones huyett Partners.

I am happy to report that we were successful on all fronts! The show went off without a hitch, and everyone I talked to seemed to be genuinely enjoying themselves at the gala. I’m sure it helps that we had a free Boulevard Wheat keg tapped, but I think the big score for the AAFT Board was the highly successful video clips incorporated throughout the program! The clips were shot and produced by some of the best talent in town (Gizmo Pictures/Gadget Video, Shannon Reilly and his Laughing Matters crew from the Topeka Civic Theatre and the coordination/planning of Ms. Andrea Koker).

The jhP team also faired very well throughout the evening, coming home as the big winners in the medal count, pocketing 6 gold medals and 10 silvers! We were fortunate enough to see one of our dear co-workers, Leslie Palace, selected as their year’s Silver Medal Award recipient. And, I (as well as the rest of the AAFT Board) was the recipient for the Caroyln Terhune Volunteer of the Year Award.

Below is a list of the projects and clients that jhP won medals for. I am proud to say that I had a direct hand in many of these projects, but more importantly, that they were produced for some of the best clients in the world!

Golds:
- Mulvane Art Museum “Paper Dali Illustration”
- jhP 2008 Holiday Card
- jhP Pet Partners Holiday Card
- United Way Campaign Photography
- jhP Super Bowl Commercial
- Greenwave Electric Vehicle & Trailer Wrap

Silvers:
- Stormont-Vail HealthCare TV Campaign
- Penwell-Gabel Funeral Homes Coffeyville Calendar Photography
- March of Dimes “Chef Illustration”
- Mulvane Art Museum Outdoor Campaign
- Advanced Manufacturing Institute Brochure
- CoreFirst Bank & Trust Community Campaign
- Stormont-Vail HealthCare Healthy Times Newsletter
- Topeka Symphony Orchestra Branding TV Spot
- Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas Employee Campaign
- March of Dimes Campaign Materials

There are so many people and things that I am grateful for this holiday season, but here’s my Top 10 (although listed in no particular order):

1. My family

2. My husband

3. Our impending bundle of joy

4. Working at jones huyett Partners

5. Great friends

I’m so over this election.

Don’t get me wrong, I know it’s important and will forever go down in the history books, but we’ve been hearing about it non-stop for almost 10 straight months now. I’m getting a little burnt out.

Technically, the election is over for me. I voted by mail and sent off my completed ballot last Monday. But the candidates don’t know that. They keep sending me campaign junk mail and filling the airwaves of the shows I watch with campaign commercials.

At least it ends soon.