Anna Nicole Smith is dead

No matter what you thought of her, the passing of Anna Nicole Smith is sad. Reports are coming in that she overdosed in a Florida hotel room this afternoon and paramedics were unable to revive her. Anna has been under fire for the her unwillingness to cooperate with finding the paternity of her new daughter. On top of that, Smith also lost her son Daniel late last year under suspcious circumstances concerning prescription medication. More details available on MSNBC.com. Needless to say, it will be a busy day for the gossip mags and blogs in the next hours and days. RIP Anna!

The Coldest Day Ever

Today was the coldest day ever. Actually, I'm sure there have been days colder than this, but today was definitely the coldest day in 2007 so far. When I woke up I turned on the Today Show like I do every morning and checked out the bug in the bottom right hand corner. The graphic said it was 9 degrees out. I didn't believe it. I was sure there was some short of typo or error. Unfortunately, I realized that the graphic was correct when my face instantly froze and cracked off after a few seconds outside. I'm telling you, had someone flicked my ear they would have been able to take it home with them.

Shifting gears, I've been updating my resume lately and just trying to make it the best it can be. I'm finding it really hard to decide what to remove and what to leave on as I update. I'm thinking about making one large resume (and not removing anything) and then putting it together on a case-by-case basis in the future so I can gear it towards the position at hand. I just never know what potential employers are looking for and what till turn on (or turn off) someone who's reviewing my resume.

In other career-related news, I'm learning that it's never too soon or too late to start your rolodex. Every person that I've interacted with in college or in my career has the potential to help me out in the future. I'm surprised that it's taken me this long to actually realize that I should be saving the phone and email for anyone I talk to at work. I've always known that keeping up with my contacts was important, but now more than ever I'm seeing some of that support come through.

And in non-career-related news, Saturday Night Live had a great episode this past weekend with Drew Barrymore and Lily Allen. My favorite sketch was The Dakota Fanning Show. A pretty hilarious look (and great impersonation) of what this well-spoken teenager would be like ask the host of her own show. Take a watch from NBC and Youtube.com

Revamping the Blog

As you may (or may not) have noticed, I have removed a lot of information from my blog in the last few days. If you want to get an update on what I'm working on professionally at the moment you're going to have to call or email me! Hope you have my number!

There are PLENTY of other things to write about, though, so let's get at it!

My beautiful and talented roommate, Carolyn, turned 25 years old this month. To celebrate her decent towards over-the-hill status she had two weeks of wining and dining. I was at home for Lindsey's wedding for her actual birthday, so we went out the following weekend with a few of her friends to celebrate.

Clearly Carol was really excited for the night

I was happy to show her love on her b-day

Unfortunately I didn't have a date for the event

But I found someone wonderful to share the rest of the evening with

The Blog is Back in '07

Happy New Year, everyone! It's been quite some time since my last blog entry and I have no excuse other than I'm lazy... but isn't that was the holidays are all about? I'm finally back at work after a glorioius two-week hiatus and had to hit the ground running. Unfortunately, the world doesn't stop spinning when we go on a break, so I had a lot to come back to upon return. Who'd a'thunk?

Over the holidays I had a chance to head back to the 'burgh for a week to visit friends and family. Unlike Thanksgiving break I was thoroughly entertained for my whole stay. It was nice to get out of the hustle and bustle of NYC for a week, although it did take me a few days to calm down. In case you care, I'd like to give you a photo narration of my time at home.

My mom picked me up at the airport and (after waiting like 30min for my bags... Pittsburgh Int'l sucks at baggage claim.) we headed back to the 'berry. Upon entering my home I had this frightening painting staring me in the face:

Oh ya, that's the boys of "Good Fellas." Someone jokingly bought that for my Dad for Christmas and he was very excited to display it in our entryway. I'm assuming it's been disposed of at this point (or at least I hope so.)

Not to be outdone, my Mom soon produced this lovely new item she picked up for the holidays:

It's a Swarovski crystal encrusted, tin Pittsburgh Steelers purse. I ask, "What has happened to them since the last time I was home?" Haha... gotta love the family!

Of course we made the requisite 500 trips to New Castle to visit all the extended family members, and it was great to see everyone! I think the highlight of the holiday would have to be my cousins and I paying my brother to eat all the disgusting, leftover chocolates that were half-eaten by the rest of us. Way to make five bucks, Drew. And speaking of eating, my cousin Erin (the princess... barf) is currently eating for two! She's about 5 months pregnant now. As you can see by her shirt she did NOT infact let herself go. There's someone else in there, too.


Great times at home, but glad to be back in the city (for now) and staying busy at work (but not too busy to write this blog!) I'm sure there will be some better updates in the near future, but for now you can entertain yourselves with some additional holiday photos. Enjoy!

Networking is everything!

I've been hearing it for ages from everyone from my parents, to teachers and mentors at work, but networking really is everything! It's all about who you know in this business that can help you get ahead. Get ahead isn't even the right thing to say, even... it's more about partaking in different opportunities. I am very thankful to the contacts I have made throughout my life, and especially during my time in New York.

I was fortunate enough to get paid a visit from one my past mentors and good friend Melissa Batulis last weekend! Melissa is an '03 Westminster Grad who has been working as a news reporter since she left WC. Melissa was in town with a colleauge from WFMZ-TV 69 News in the Philly region and stopped by for some dinner.

It was great catching up with Melissa about what life been like for each of us since graduation. Although we're both on very different paths, we have encountered many of the same obstacles and desires along the way. Melissa brought up the point that there's basically two ways to be successful in television; You can either start out in a small town with a bigger position and work your way up the markets, or you can start in a big market with a small position and work your way up that way. Each of us is on the opposite path from the other, but it was really great to see how we can meet in the middle. Melissa and I also had a very professional moment when swapped business cards. I'm such an adult.

Not only is networking important for the professional aspects, but you can also get to do some really cool stuff, too! One of my best friends, Kelly, is an assistant at the Today Show and invited me to come see Beyonce perform on the show live on Monday. We were right up front and I took some great photos with my camera. Thanks, Kelly!

I also learned that my camera takes some pretty great video, too, so I tried it out with much success! I've been noticing that Mr. Weaver and many of the other current WC students have been including video on their blogs and it's making me very jealous, so I'm getting in on the action.

Here's my contribution:

Beyonce "Irreplaceable" clip


Beyonce "Listen" clip


Here are some additional pix: