The NEDA Walk!

The NEDA Walk!

It has been a long time since I updated, but I wanted to post some information regarding the National Eating Disorder Association's 5K Walk that will be taking place at Fred Beekman Park this Saturday, May 14, from 10 am -2pm.

I am really excited to have been a part of the volunteer process for this event, and if any of you will be in the Columbus area this weekend,  we would love for you to come out and support us!

Here is a link to register if you are interested:
NEDA Website

In other News, I have added a blog about my fitness and health journey to the days leading up to Miss Ohio.
I hope to continue it after the pageant, as my ultimate goal is to make working out a part of my lifestyle.

And my other website is  up!
You can follow the link here to check it out:
alyssahanson.com

More updates to come this week!

-Alyssa

Last Week.

Last week was...
Chock full of many things.
Many to do lists, and checkmarks, and arrows. (indicating the things that I wasn't able to do, didn't get around to, or simply didn't have the mental capacity to decide.
Last week was full of...
lots of bills.
And reminders of bills.
And three parking tickets.
Also, don't go to a wine tasting on an empty stomach. (boy did I learn  my lesson...)

Last week was full of....
baking and food!!!!

Including, (but not limited to..)
Red Velvet and Lemon Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing.










Snickerdoodles.

My Crazy To-Do List






Last week was...
Getting Accepted into the Disney College Internship Program...this one was kind of a big deal.

Last week was...only working out twice!? Fail.
Working my butt off serving people Prime Rib? Great success. I still have not returned to the status of "closer", but we shall see if my coworkers can resist the epicness of whatever yummy treat of bribery I decide to bring in this week. hehe. I have a brilliant plan.

Last week....was hearing my best friend sing "And so it goes" on a Face book message and  getting introspective for an entire day...
Because I realized that I haven't sang an entire song in months.
Last week was missing music.

Last week was letting go. Of things I still haven't let go.
Of things I should have known how to hold. And keep safe.

Last week was an idea! Many wonderful ideas.
Many thoughts of life and grandeur.

Last week was pacifying my indecision with subsequent events and minor decisions that led to an overarching set up of the fact that I am still running..from what I know that I  must do.
To leave the  mental space.
The subdued hue. .
It is only in this place that I can breathe.
Without the clouded vision.
I can see.

So what will this week bring?

More doubt?

No. 

I won't leave this time. 

Without

a solid frame of mind 

or song to sing. 

I place where I 

intend 

to 

Spread my Wings. 

"It's not the load that breaks you down.. 

It's the way you carry it. "

            -Lena Horne

Circular Patterns lead to no direction.

I don't know entirely where this post is going to go, today.
I only know that my coffee is strong this morning.
At 6:59 a.m.
Because I pushed the "strong brew" button today.
I think it's going to be one of those days.
You know those days? Where you get up, and you don't quit for one second?
Yeah, it's kind of going to be like that. But I suppose that's what college life is;
moving a light speed without having a solidified direction.
I suppose that's why so many of us feel a little lost once post-graduation hits.
We have been busy creating our lives for the past four years inside the "It's okay to try everything" bubble...and then we receive a diploma, and we are pushed out into the media saturated, technology dependent world..and expected to get it right.
Right?
What is right?
Is this some sort of a pageant question?

Okay, fine. I am going to appease myself.
Pageant question of the day: (this seems like a good idea, maybe I shall start it)
-"Where do you see yourself in 5 years?"
(note: I have been asked this question on multiple occasions...in multiple pageant and job interviews...ugh)
-Typical BS response...."Well, I can definitely see myself in a Broadcast Journalism stint for ahwhile, but ultimately I want to end up in the field of Corporate Public Relations or Communications.

Okay...Does anyone have an idea of what that even MEANS?
Have we ever fooled anyone with such malarchy?
If I could actually answer this question.Today. With the copious amounts of caffeine that I have had, and mentally transparent state to which I currently prescribe, I would perhaps, instead, render a response similar to this:
"Well, I am currently pursuing a degree in Strategic Communication. I'm not really sure what that is, but when I transferred to OSU, and I was looking at a document that listed all the different types of overly vague degrees that I could consider, this seemed to roll of my tongue in the best way. Nope, I don't really love this degree, because I have no idea what to do with it. But I'm going with it, because for once in my life, I need to finish something."

Wow. That's real inspiring, isn't it? hmmmm....
This, my friends, is the reality of most of us after we finish college. Truly. I see it all the time. I work at a steakhouse with people who have LEGIT degrees and no focus or motivation or marketing skills to thrive in the job market.
So this begs the question of..

What the heck should we do to change this? How do we become solidified in a career by age 22? What do we even know about life at age 22?

We, as college students (I am mainly referring to women), become accustomed to several unique forms of living, which include, but are not entitled to:

• Binge Drinking
• Less than 4 hours of sleep on a daily basis
• Casual sex as an acceptable form of dating
• Bartending jobs
• Slutty clothing in negative degree weather/ ridiculously casual, pajama like outfits during class 
• Thinking that someone cares about the fact that we are trying out a new Jazz class. 

In the end, we end up spit out of a huge university, where everyone seems to be a slightly different shade of the next person, with the same unfocused degree....

I don't know about you, but this scares the H-E-double-hockey-sticks-outta-me.

I have to find a way to stand out in a school that promises nothing for an artist like me. 

We all must find a way to pursue happiness without falling subject to the 

circular patterns of the college experience that lead 

us in no direction. 

That being said, I find that my tangent made my 

coffee cold. ...

So I will wrap this up. 

The goal I had in my previous post was to begin to challenge myself by changing my way of thinking. 

Today, the goal is to SEE THE BIG PICTURE and hold onto the dreams that I eagerly had before the tainted, darker mixture of paint settled into my moldable, young soul. 

So today, I will make one decision that leads me to a direction that I can follow in the days to come. 

But today I will avoid the 

Circular Patterns. 

-Lys

Balance...And where to draw the line.

I sit here in my dimly lit kitchen; my fridge quietly humming in the background, and I think to myself :

Right now is a good time to blog.

Granted, it's been a long time since I really sat down and blogged, and I was only persistent on this particular site a few times.

Nontheless, I feel that it is  time. 

The topic of discussion this evening?

Balance. 

The concept is simple. 

The execution, however, alludes many of us on a daily basis.  

 In this constantly changing series of events we call our lives, it seems that one particular event, idea, or circumstance continues to take precedence in ways that disrupt the pattern of balance that so many of us desperately seek. 

A lack of balance can manifest itself in many ways. 

For the growing child, it could be too many video games and not enough sleep. 

For the adolescent, perhaps it's too many extracurriculars and not enough time to study. 

For the business woman/man, the meetings are long and the drive home is longer. 

And for the soccer-mom of three,it could be a lack of self preservation taken in the form of her family and their demanding schedule.  

So she puts off her manicure. 

Her own needs can wait. 

After all, sometimes there just isn;t 

enough

time. 

Time. 

That's what it really boils down to- 

we fill our lives with 

remedial productivity 

that ,in the end, will only merge into  other

•  tasks and
•  meetings and
•  bullet points;

The checklists that we throw away at  the end of every day. 

Or we stash them somewhere and a few days later give them no second thought. Because chances are, we have created an entirely new list of things that we must accomplish, and while it no doubt contains some of the same "To Do" list elements that never really get off the paper, this set of checkmarks no longer matter. 

Our mindset has already moved on. 

To another time. Another place .

Another bank deposit. 

A different workout. 

A new week of groceries, or a higher utility bill, or an exam in a class that we didn't have last quarter. 

Everything is circular. And yet time is relative. 

Because we spend our entire lives trying to 

get everything done...

 so that we have time to spend doing 

the things we  love.

That is  the irony of living itself..

 the things that we love..

Rarely even end up on the list. 

Balance. 

Without it, our lives will pass us by, and we will end up with nothing but a stack of

 Repurposed tasks on lists that we

 never finished. 

So think about it...

What penetrated your life today that kept you from doing something 

that you love?

And how can you eliminate it for tomorrow?

" Yesterday has gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. 

We have only today. Let us Begin."

-Mother Theresa

Mirror Lake in the Wintertime.

This picture doesn't do it justice. 

This picture doesn't tell enough.

Of the memories I've shared here.

Of the reminiscing. 

Tough, bitter mornings

 Of the windy, lonely cold. 

Of the flesh and of the beating. 

All these stories aren't told.

It doesn't tell of fires that rage within the water.

It doesn't show how winter's icy breath 

made cold air  hotter. 

The way your cheek felt warmer, somehow ,

 thawed out in this place. 

The way I pressed against your jacket. 

 The way I pressed into your face.

To delight in arms that held me. 

As a girl denying who

I truly was in  Lake's Reflection.

Without solace.

without you.

And I have seen this mirror's secrets. 

I have run along the lines

of the patterned, worn out pavement

Aged as it's 

transcended time.

Held up to the rattled freshmen

who, drunken with their youth

and free with new derision. 

Jumped together.

Inside you. 

And I have watched you,

Mirror Lake. 

Remain so glittered in my path

that I've often sworn I heard

inside your water

Mem'ried laugh.

And as I sit among the benches, 

among your silent water's chill, 

and I bend to see if I can 

see the moments on the hill

that I have spent as an old child. 

 and with whom I've shared my heart. 

A girl who felt the time go by. 

And somehow found her art...

I looked upon my left side. 

And I glanced upon my right. 

And in my sweet depravity, 

in the winter, 

on this night. 

I relived all the places 

and the love that I had lived. 

On this campus. 

In these winters. 

By the lake I sat within. 

And I bled for those who loved me. 

And I bled for what I lost. 

And I sought some sort of solace 

in the gravity of cost. 

But the irony of Mirrors

Is that when you shatter glass..

You leave behind the flecks of 

all the pictures of the past. 

So many will run through you. 

and they will then leave and live. 

But you'll remain a frozen part 

of heart that we did give. 

As children of the tainted world. 

We'll all return to say.

We walk such different paths now. 

Still bleeding

scarlet and grey. 

The History of my Pageant Career : Read on! It's kind of Interesting. And not that politically correct.

Alright, friends of the social blogging lifestyle.
This is my first official "non-school-related" post on blogspot.com..which means..
I have joined the ranks of obsessive writers and information- givers alike!
Be patient with me as I attempt to navigate the site and figure out how I want to run this blog.
Be it Platform Based, News Related, PR Directed, or filled with useless personal thoughts and goals of my own (that one will probably sneak in there most days), this is sure to be a therapeutic experience for me, because I really do get a lot out of writing. It's how I have been wired.

Anyway, this post is also about my last pageant, Miss Maumee Valley 2010! It was held at the Maumee High School Performing Arts Center last Saturday, October 30th. Yes, we wonderful contestants decided that it was collectively more beneficial to pursue our personal desires and goals by competing in a scholarship program for money, than by getting dressed up and making a series of potentially dismantling decisions on all Hallow's Eve.
That being said, it was my first pageant since 2009, and that means that I have had quite a long break since I came back to this scene.
Let us go back in time with a few pictures:

Miss Heart of Ohio 2007. My first title ever! I was barely 18, and it took me four tries to win this first local. Before that I was 1st runner-up in Miss Greater Dayton (of which the current Miss Ohio, Becky Minger, was crowed the previous year). She was the first "local queen" that I had ever met, and now she's Miss Ohio! Blows your mind, doesn't it? Anyway, this local led to my first year at Miss Ohio. I had a blast. I had no idea what I was doing..Which is probably why I had a blast.


One memory.....So the Miss Ohio System operates on a collaboration of volunteers and sponsorships, right? Held in Mansfield, Ohio, local sponsors from all over the area help us out with scholarships. So we pay them back by volunteering, making appearances, and wearing rehearsal shirts with various sponsorship logos on them. I was told to bring black pants and jeans by another contestant. Sabotage. lol. (It's okay though, maybe she honestly made a mistake.) I show up and have No pants to wear. Seriously. This actually happened. Melanie saw my dismay and went to her own suitcase and let me borrow a skirt, pair of shorts, and pants in white for that week. I will never forget that. She'll always be a very respected Miss Ohio in my book :)

Miss Miami Valley 2008. This picture was taken at Miss Ohio 2008, during an after party. Melanie Murphy, Miss Ohio 2006, posed with me and her crown. For any fellow Miss Ohio-ers out there, I wanna ask you this question: Do you ladies remember the very first Miss Ohio that you ever met? The one you had never personally gotten to know or competed with? The one who's butt you hadn't helped put glue on or snuck late night brownies with in the snack room? The Miss Ohio that you met and you were like  "Wow, what an amazing woman. I want to be like that." For me that was Mel. (See story above for more unnecessary details.)

Miss Ohio 2008 was an interesting competition year for me. I hadn't gotten to the physical shape that I had originally planned, and I was dealing with a series of personal issues that I had not yet learned to compartmentalize.
A word of advice to anyone who wishes to compete in Miss Ohio: Learn to Compartmentalize. It's not you and your boyfriend, or you and your mom, or you and your sorority sister up on that stage. It's just you. 
A culmination of factors led to a breakdown in the bathroom, and I experienced a lot of behind-the-scenes soul searching. That year at Miss Ohio was a huge growing experience. As difficult as it is to admit, I learned a lot about myself that year. But: I was not finished learning! Onto Miss Ohio year 3:

Miss Scioto Valley 2009: This was taken shortly after crowning at my first local of the year. It was the first time I had won a local with sister crowns= made the experience a lot more bonding for me. Winning a title with more than one queen doesn't take away from your own internal appreciation, it enhances it. It's like "we're in this together, let's go do it!" Miss Ohio that year was better for me in a number of ways, but I was still struggling with some issues that, unfortunately, I was not able to leave behind the stage.

I was the only girl to wear a one-piece that year.
Anyway, after year three of competing and not exceeding my own personal expectations, I decided it was time to take a year off. So I did .

I will pick up next time with pictures of my year off, why I decided to jump back in the saddle, and details of Miss Maumee Valley that you would only know if you were backstage too :)
 

And plus, my coffee's cold. 

In love and coffee grinds, 

-Alyssa

PR Blogging: What is it, is it effective, and how can I get in on that?!

I recently evaluated the information contained in several different online PR blog posts and found a number of similarities as well as differences.
Hang on. I just realized that I'm writing in my coffee blog with no coffee.....
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To anyone who is reading this..I feel much better now. Blogging and no delicious, rich, caffeinated beverage is like Christmas morning with no bedroom slippers.
Anyway, as I was saying, there were three blogs in particular that had a significance that I feel like discussing. With myself. Because that is, essentially what blogs are, right? (Clearly it is evident that I am new to this. )
Basically, I wish to talk about the unique perspective that each of these websites bring to the world of strategic online posting.
So. Let's talk about Blog #1.
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/ is a very informal, largely simplistic, rant-type blog concerning personal views (which is common) and interesting facts about life as Seth Godin sees it. Now I'm not sure who Seth Godin is. I should probably know. But I was primarily turned off to this blog initially because of the format. The stark white background made me feel like I was reading an advertisement and I found the layout to be uncomfortably plain in general. The blank space on top of the most recent post is screaming "Put something here" and there is no description that deals with the content of his posts. The reader does not know what to expect.
That being said, I think that Seth did a great job with the artwork and labeling himself as an author on the sides of the page. I was inclined to click on all the various links that he posted. In terms of what he actually wrote, however, I found no real relevance or significance. Most of it was like a journal entry. It it was meant to be read by others, it certainly wasn't meant to be analyzed any further than the simplistic, bare minimum undertone of sarcasm that he projects in his posts.

Now, in contrast to Blog #1, Blog #2, http://www.davidwmullen.com/, set the tone of his company's blog with a snazzy layout, lots of graphics to keep the reader entertained, and a varying but complementary font template to catch the reader's eye. The headline clearly reads: David Mullen on PR, Integrated Communications and Social Media, which I thought was great. Not only did I enjoy the headline, but he integrated his company's logo into the headline and then posted his own underneath. That makes me want to have my own logo...hmmm.
Mullen's approach to PR blogging is definitely not personal but professional. He caught my interest my posting about job opportunities: what PR professional doesn't stop and at least graze over a line about a new job?
All in all, I enjoyed the professionalism of his posts, and thought that the information was valuable for a PR person individually and as a person working for an organization.

This brings me to Blog #3:http://bloombergmarketing.blogs.com/bloomberg_marketing/. Or, The Diva Marketing Blog. I was immediately drawn to the unique use of colors, the martini glass logo, and, of course, the name of the blog site! This blog was my cup of tea. I mean coffee. Toby Bloomberg, the author of this blog, is a seasoned PR professional, with awards and recognitions up the "wazoo." But her approach to writing is captivating and possesses a sense of fun and flirtatiousness that lacked in the other two blogs.
This could be for a number of reasons, but I suspect that it's mainly because:
1)Toby is stressing the PR market for women because she is one. Not as easy to do for males. Nor is it as fun.
2)Her approach integrates a diva-style approach to marketing, and I suspect she has spent a lot of time developing this position and has found that it worked. I really love this approach. I am inspired to create my stance on marketing utilizing her format. 

But what is it, really, that I love so much? Is it her savvy content about the Friday Fun Bathroom Blogfest?
Is it her seemingly numerous links on the right side of the page, or do I just feel a sense of wittiness and female aggression emanating from her lipstick and compact graphics? I think that a culmination of these factors make for a truly great blog, and what I like so much is that I am not only interested in what she had to say because of the way she presents it, but I like the way she appealed well to a particular PR audience. This equals a higher level of absorbancy for those of us who, well, wear lipstick and drink martinis.

So there you have it. A brief analysis of three blogs that I found to be of particular interest/disinterest within the PR world. What, then, can we ultimately take from reading other's blogs and noting the surrounding elements?
In PR, it's all about the packaging. 

In love and seasonal peppermint mocha creamer,
Alyssa