which is why my company, Switch, has decided to give away all the stuff in my boss’ office this holiday season.

we’re giving away a ton of sweet stuff, including the massage chair that i love sooooo very much :/
from hockey sticks to a computer to a bass guitar, the items are definitely grab-worthy.

check it out and pass it along if you like it!

-jess

okay, i think this is a bit excessive, yet still pretty cool.

so i’ve been buying skittles from vending machines basically my entire life.  there was a laundry mat (or is it, laundromat??) across the street from the house I grew up in, and we considered it QUITE a luxury to have access to multiple different kinds of candy whenever we so pleased.

i dug that.  it was kind of our thing to walk across the street, get some candy (i can still remember the way it smelled in there….ahhh warm laundry and dirty feet), and then hang out on the front porch.  it’s funny to me, when i look back, because it was never a place to do laundry for my sisters and i, but simply a place to acquire some delicious candy.

anyway…back to the present…so in the past few years, i’ve noticed vending machines are getting even cooler.  not only do they serve full meals, make your coffee just how you like it, and dispense a cold, unshaken soda, but they sell ipods, headphones, garmins, and other sweet electronic stuff.

i thought it was pretty awesome the first time i saw one of these machines at macy’s, but this new “luxury” machine has totally blown me away.

at the Mondrian South Beach hotel in Florida, one can buy practically anything out of their luxury vending machine.

here is an excerpt from the Seattle Times:

“In a postmodern echo of the early 20th century’s Automats, where office workers could buy coffee and comfort food without talking to a soul, the Semi-Automatic peddles a jumble of more than 60 items priced between $10 and $1.2 million in a large, sleek rectangular display….

…Never mind the Jean Paul Gaultier dress, the 1965 Corvette convertible or the 24-karat gold hand cuffs. Visitors who really enjoy themselves can spring for a penthouse condo on the property….

…The giant white-framed and purple-accented display holds row upon row of white, high-gloss boxes, identical but for terse descriptions: “Sunset Dinner Yacht Cruise for 2,” “Sony PSP-2000, Black,” “2000 Bentley Azure Convertible,” “Gunpowder Tea Candle.”

Customers can view product images and details on either of two small screens. To make a purchase, they simply swipe a credit card, tap on the product and watch as a motorized arm scoots behind and retrieves it. Products too large for one of the machine’s glossy shopping bags are assigned cards that can be exchanged at the front desk for the purchase.” (i guess the motorized arm doesn’t drag the Bentley around…)

They call it a semi-automatic vending machine, and it all sounds pretty awesome to me.  I guess it takes something completely different to draw attention to yourself in an economy like this one…kudos Mondrian hotel!

-jess

our plane landed in st louis just after 11pm last night

needless to say, i’m quite dead today, however, before i pass out for a nice long nap, i would like to share some of my trip with you.

not all of it, though, because as they say “what happens in vegas…” well, you know the rest.

going for work is quite different than going with friends, but regardless, it was still a lot of fun.

here are a few shots of our booth WHICH, btw, won the “Best New Exhibitor Booth”….sweet!

^our truck, breaking through the wall of traditional media (also see our pile of old tv’s to the left!)

^some of our banners

^switch liberate your brand!

^paintball aftermath..messy messy messy. (but fun!)

^liberate yourself from the confines of traditional media by shooting up this tv with a paintball gun :)

^yes.  we rock.  go switch!

^ate my first oyster..i also ate my first snail..and just some of the best food i’ve ever eaten in general

^it’s 5 degrees in the red square vodka freezer…so you have to wear a fur coat and hat with flaps

^so you can see how big he is.

^dancing, posing, i’m not sure, but we certainly had fun at rumjungle

^jeannie sported the switch dots to dinner at mon ami gabi (best salmon i’ve ever had, fyi)

so we never saw the sun, and we barely slept (basically we became vampires for 4 days), but we accomplished our mission, and had a lot of fun doing it…

yay switch!

-jess

until recently, i didn’t know how many or how often people were visiting my blog.  little did i know, quite a few folks are stopping by (despite my low comment count..i’d love to hear from you, by the way)

google analytics has shed much light on the traffic to my happy little blog.

my favorite part is about organic search results (or basically, what they typed in google that led them to me)

i wanted to share a few of the more interesting ones with you:

• i just like cows
• being productive at mcdonalds
• little pubes
• hot librarian pictures
• john mayer pubes
• thug life tattoos
• pube pictures

(apparently if you write just one post about pubes you will generate some traffic…maybe not the kind you wanted, though…)

-jess

so i leave in 11 days and i must say i’m getting pretty pumped about the whole thing

 why am i going back to vegas, you ask?

 well, switch is headed to the 2009 exhibitor show.

ahhh, well, you have no idea what that is…no worries, i didn’t either until i started at switch.

 quick snippit!

“EXHIBITOR 2009 is the 21st annual educational conference and exhibition for exhibit and event marketers. Sponsored by EXHIBITOR magazine, this event is corporate America’s top choice for serious education, hands-on training, new product launches, career networking, and special access to industry experts and thought leaders.”

mayyyybe it sounds boring to you, but i assure you one thing that will NOT be boring is the switch booth.

 intrigued at all?  we’re covering our progress on the booth and explaining our liberation manifesto through our event focused blog “the liberation begins”

it’s pretty sweet, so check it out if you want to see what i’ve been up to at work lately!

 -jess

and every time i pass it i can’t help but giggle.

for your viewing pleasure:

i think i’m going to head to jack in the box now and purchase one of the teriyaki bowls.  i’m serious.

**EDIT** The bowl wasn’t as awesome as the billboard.

-jess

Whenever the weather starts to get a little nicer and the sun stays up a little later, I start to miss summer…a lot. (odd that I should write this post considering it is 25 degrees outside, but the sun is deceiving, and it appears much warmer through a 5^th floor window).

I mean I pretty much miss summer every moment from that first awful frost until the first shorts-worthy day each year…starting to think I might belong somewhere with a warmer climate.

 

When I was little, the warmer weather meant summer vacation was coming.  Which meant school would be out soon.  Which meant sleeping in, playing tennis whenever I wanted, trampoline slumber parties, campouts, riding bikes, rollerblading, vacations, and endless hours of free time.

 

Now, while I still look forward to it, chances are not much will change because I’ll still be working the 8 to 5 dutifully.

 

Not to say I do not enjoy my job, but I do miss the good ol’ days of few responsibilities and even fewer worries.

 

My 2 sisters and I used to get summer pool passes each year.  We basically went to the public pool every single day from 1 to 5 pm, and usually attended the once monthly “midnight madness” (pools are super cold at midnight, but staying out until midnight was a rare occurrence until after I hit 18).

 

Dad would give us $1.00 each day to purchase chips and a soda or candy.  I usually got a coke and funyuns.  (friggin loved those things) and at break we would sit around outside the gates under the trees on our towels chatting about boys and whatever else it was we talked about those days.

 

We also had a thing for Abercrombie and Fitch back then.  I’m not sure what made us so label crazy back in middle school, but a shirt wasn’t a shirt if it wasn’t plastered with the logos of Abercrombie, Gap, American Eagle, etc (JcPenney was not acceptable, though it was certainly tried…neither was FUBU..somehow we missed the meaning of “for you by you…”)

 

There are a lot of songs that take me back to those lazy junior high summers, but one in particular sticks out…LFO, Summer Girls.  Yep.  It’s probably why we all felt so compelled to become walking billboards for Abercrombie & Fitch (see lyrics below)  Cause hey…if LFO likes girls that wear abercrombie & fitch, I’ll be sportin’ the A+F.

 

And, they made a sweet NKOTB reference, so I’m happy.

 

Lyrically genius, I must say.  We all knew the words, and secretly, you do too.  (it’s okay to admit it and even to sing along if you like).

 

Anyway, for your viewing pleasure, here is that sweet summer video.

 

 

 

-jess

New Kids On The block, had a bunch of hits
Chinese food makes me sick.
And I think it’s fly when girls stop by for the summer, for the summer
I like girls that wear Abercrombie and Fitch,
I’d take her if I had one wish,
But she’s been gone since that summer..
Since that summer 

lfo ~ summer girls

so i’ve seen this commercial multiple times, and it always bothers me.

there is an elephant. with a British accent. married to a centipede.

there are a lot of issues with this match. no, i’m not doubting the ability of 2 creatures, though very different, falling in love, marrying, building a home.

however, the physical implications here simply make it impossible. PLUS, I think the commercial suggests that the 2 have somehow come together to bring a giraffe into existence(their son–perhaps he is adopted.)

i know, i know, i’m reading too far into this, but come on, couldn’t they have at least chosen a sizable animal to marry the elephant? something a bit more feasible?

just saying.

in another airwick commercial, a raccoon is happily married to a mole. whaever works, i ’spose.
-jessica

I’m nowhere and you’re everything