Fireworks, family, & fun

Wow — this week has been a crazy one for us thus far (I guess with a name like Crazy Savvy, it's no more than we should expect!). As the 4th of July weekend approaches, we've been hustling and bustling, running business errands, updating our books, and — most importantly — getting a major project draft for an out-of-state client out the door. All this, though, so we can have a long weekend of (relative) peace and relaxation as we celebrate not only our nation's independence, but also our own.

Yours Truly will be heading out of town with her sweetie and some good friends, enjoying the comforts of cabin living in Minnesota's northwoods. (After the adventures of the past few months, we're all hoping there are no more poisonous spider encounters!) My dear biz partner will be sticking around closer to home, holding down the C/S fort and basking in some much-deserved R&R. This is the first year in the past three that Erin and I won't be spending our 4ths together (alas!) — but I am confident we will persevere.

When we're at last reunited next week, we'll have plenty to catch each other up on. In addition to the requisite recounting of holiday stories, we'll be putting our freckled little noses to the grindstone, finishing up a ginormous, content-heavy writing project (among other things) and starting some fun design and photography work. Some of us will also be awaiting with bated breath the conclusion of the World Cup (Spain, Spain, Spain). (Others may also be awaiting its conclusion, if only so I shut up about the whole thing!) In any case, the dog days of summer are nearly here. Happy Fourth, to all our U.S. readers — we'll be tuning back in next week for more!

My dream campaign, and other stuff

OK, now that I've managed to scream my vocal cords into non-existence after the dramatic U.S. World Cup win to advance into out-rounds .... I think I'll sit down and write a blog post. Because I surely can't talk right now, or perhaps for the next few days. Yes, adoring readers: World Cup fever has set in. The recent paucity of blog posts mayyyy be somehow attributable to this little distraction; usually I am more than content to scribble a post during my downtime, but the past few weeks have perhaps found me planning my free time around certain soccer matches. (Particularly matches in which Spain is playing.)

Anyway, I'm here now, and glad to be with you (albeit a bit breathless still). Mid-June already, no? This month has been a blur for us here at C/S. We've been getting rolling on some projects, figuring out logistics for others, and doing some in-house cleaning, planning, and tidying as well, as we look forward to the next quarter and beyond. We should have some sweet new stuff to share with y'all soon, so be sure to stay tuned!

On a broader industry note, I've been enjoying (of course) all the advertising hoopla surrounding the World Cup. Ad Age this morning leads with a great article about marketing and the games, highlighting Nike's amazing "Write the Future" campaign (um, more Cristiano Ronaldo, yes please). If you're watching the games en español as I am (thank you, Univision, for giving me coverage of every game on network tv and brushing up my Spanish skills in the process — te amo!), the campaign becomes "Escribe el Futuro" — but no less charming for all that. Basically I watch this with severe agency envy .... if I could work on one campaign, it would likely be that! But until Crazy Savvy gets to shoot C-Ron and the rest, I guess I'll amuse myself with this piece of ad candy. Enjoy your Wednesday, one and all!

The name game

Happy Monday, Crazy Savvy Nation .... hope the weekend treated y'all well. If you were in the Twin Cities, hope you managed to stay dry, too — this weather is soooooo not pleasant!

Just a quick Monday update to announce a change — I have at long last returned to a family name and will now be going by Jen Fluke. For anyone who had to spell — or try to pronounce — Emelianova, this will no doubt come as a huge relief.

More updates on the biz later this week, so stay tuned! (And if you're not in MN, please send some sunshine our way.)

Thursday musings

Can't believe it's already Thursday (again) .... this month is absolutely flying by. Although both Erin and I have been done with the classroom for quite some time, there's something so very school's-out-for-the-summer about this time of year.

We've been busy all week trying to find the best printing solutions for a fun new client project with some nifty (but thought-requiring) environmental components. Fortunately we have a slew of talented printing and production experts at our disposal, and they've been weighing in with fantastically helpful advice. We're also gearing up for some bigger content-driven projects on the horizon. From messaging manifestoes to annual reports, development consulting to social media campaigns, our brains (and coffee makers) are busy as we begin assimilating project specs and tons of information. Of course, we wouldn't have it any other way!

Yours Truly is also gearing up for another very special event, one that only happens once every four years (alas!) Yes — it's World Cup time. If the next month's worth of posts find occasion to link to information about Mr. Fernando Torres, well .... indulge me.

Fortunately a few members in good standing of Crazy Savvy Nation are lucky enough to find themselves in South Africa for the World Cup, so I'm sure we'll have all sorts of exciting postcard updates. Let the games begin!

And, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that this weekend heralds the birthday of my beloved biz partner. I'm wishing the fabulous Erin the very best in the coming year — and I know you all share my sentiments on that account, too!

June so soon

Wow, it's June so soon — happy summer, one and all! Our apologies for a post-less week last week, but things in Crazy Savvy land have been, well, crazy busy. Last week found all sorts of exciting new projects being thrown our way — great news, but it left us little time to write, alas!

Fortunately after all the hustle and bustle of getting contracts signed, scopes of work written, and creative briefs solidified, we had a lovely long weekend at our collective disposal. Yours Truly relaxed at a lakeshore cabin in the northwoods of Wisconsin with her sweetie, Pushkin (woof woof), and some dear friends. Despite some scary creepy crawlies, it was a great time .... and I even managed to come home with a bit of a tan! My biz partner better half, on the other hand, stuck closer to home, enjoying the Minneapolis sunshine with plenty of cookouts, walks in the park, and even a new patio set. Much excitement abounded.

But now we're back in action, getting ready to dive into some great new work (which, of course, we're so excited to share with you!). And, we're also able to kick off the month of June with a bit of fan-mail — this time from our upstairs neighbor, aka Canada. Thanks, Krystal! Now, let the summer fun commence.