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

this is where i’m going tomorrow:

it’s on the panhandle…santa rosa beach…close by seaside where the truman show was filmed (i’ll definitely be stopping by!)

it’s quaint.  bicycling, kayaking, walking on the beach.  no parties.  just relaxing.  there is a hot tub, too.  yay!

i absolutely cannot wait to get there.  i can’t tell you how much i need a little relaxation!

be back on Monday night!

-jess

dear winter,

let’s consider this your last hurrah.

thanks much,

jessica

rumor has it the midwest is in for a bit of snow fall.

it’s officially spring.  almost april.  and we’ve got snow in the forecast.

i’m not happy with this news.

summer, come quickly!

in other news…i melted a junior mint on my crotch today.  not on purpose.

-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

during our time at the Exhibitor Show, we are required to wear black dickies button up shirts with our dots and logo, and black cargo pants.   (oh and let’s not forget the comfy, BLACK tennis shoes…i’m thinking of packing the chuck’s and seeing if they will make the cut for the show floor)

wait, wait…cargo pants?  i thought those went out of style 3 years ago.  oh yes.  they did, my friend.  which is why i found it to be such a difficult task.  making my mission even more difficult is the fact that i had no desire to invest more than $20 on the pants (which i will most likely never wear again…perhaps they can become my painting costume, though)

no, not cargo shorts, or cargo capris (which did exist in some stores due to the onset of spring), but cargo PANTS.  in black.

after scouring the oldnavy.com, target.com, and multitudes of other online stores, i trekked to the mall in search of the elusive black cargo pants.

after all, how can you really get a feel for a pair of pants without trying them on?

i visited nearly every store in the west county mall.

while shopping for black cargo pants, i also located a number of other key items that i felt i absolutely could not live without: a necklace with an orange feather, pink tennis shoes, a long sleeved purple t-shirt, and a jumbo box of junior mints.

i did not intend to purchase any of these things.  i also wanted to purchase a kayak, but it wouldn’t fit in the car.

finally, our journey led us to jcpenneys.  ahhhh jcpenneys, it’s been a long while since we’ve crossed paths. 

guess what they had hidden away in the back of the juniors’ secion??

oh yes…there they are…black cargo pants.  in my size.  no alterations necessary.  they even make the tush look nice.

 good job, jcpenneys.  i suppose i can always count on you in a bind.

-jessica

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

this is what engineers are best for:
http://www.octopustap.com/

yes, that’s right…4 beers at one time.  no more waiting in line at the keg…

i don’t even like beer that much…but i like this.

saw it on the news this evening.  thought you might like it too.

-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