All Posts By

Carly Chevalier

Food

The Best Food in Los Angeles

My office is really into food. We talk about where we are going to eat lunch starting at 10:00 am. Sometimes while we are still eating breakfast. We do laps around upcoming restaurants under construction in Santa Monica and make predictions of the food before the menu has even been made public. My coworker Ellen was recently highlighted on the Tender Greens blog as their official duchess after she checked in to their Santa Monica location over 100 times. Yes, 100. Multiply that number by a work team of 30 and you will see why TG gives us free cookies and drinks on the house. Here are screenshots from John Liu’s Facebook page (another coworker) to further prove my point.

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

Exhibit C:

Now that you understand our love for food, you should also believe me when I say that this Pinterest map I made of all of our top restaurants in LA is an ongoing effort to make sure your taste buds are spoiled as much as ours. It not only shows the best restaurants relative to you, but each one links back to it’s corresponding Yelp page to give you more information. Bon Appetite.

The LA Foodie Guide ❤

Click on the board below to access the full Pinterest map showing the locations of our top foodie picks.

Follow The Carly Bird’s board LA Foodie Guide ❤ on Pinterest.

This is a public service announcement.

Image Credit: RoamingHunger.com

July 17, 2014 by Carly Chevalier

Westside Wisdom

Westside Wisdom: Amazon Fresh and Google Shopping Express

I have become one of THEM. One of those bloggers who sold out and writes about products and life hacks. If you think I’ve become trivial, this video from last year is proof that Carly Bird has been this way all along.

That said, there are many services, products, and hacks that can make a big difference in your life. This is one of them. Please welcome: Amazon Fresh and Google Shopping Express.

Amazon Fresh

Amazon Fresh is a grocery delivery service revolutionizing the way white collar first adopters fill their kale holes.

The service delivers food right to your door and also gives you access to Amazon Prime (Prime gives you two-day shipping on non-grocery items including everything from skating helmets to ridiculous plastic medallions for your birthday party absolutely free.)

Amazon Fresh costs $200 per year. If you are a numbers person who already uses Prime, this comes out to roughly $5.00 a week to have your groceries delivered to you.

If you are still thinking, “wow, that’s expensive,” here are ways to justify it.

Snappy Deliveries

This price includes getting deliveries of $35.00 or more with a short amount of notice. I can order groceries at 9pm on a Monday and receive them by 7am the next Tuesday morning. Ask me how much I value this feature on sick days. You can’t attach a price to waking up to fresh orange juice, bacon, and medicine when you have a cold.

Fresh Produce

Their fresh produce is amazing. Amazon sells organic fruits and vegetables as well as grass fed beef and free-range chicken. Eating healthy would normally mean you would have to visit the store twice a week or deal with the smell of rotten mangos in your fridge.

Grocery Trips Become Obsolete

A grocery trip in Los Angeles takes a minimum of two hours if you include traffic and parking in lots that were built for go-carts. Time is more precious than money. Two hours a week adds up, especially if you multiply it by your hourly rate at work.

Two is Better Than One

You can split your Fresh account with someone. Proof: I am leaching of my boyfriends account right now. Amazon will lets you have two addresses and two credit card numbers saved onto the account.

Free Coolers and Ice Packs

The fresh bags they deliver food in are reusable. You leave the old bags on your doorstep with each new order and the Amazon Santa Claus to takes them back. In the meantime, these bags have built in coolers and are perfect for lugging food to the beach or moving things. Don’t believe me? Ask all the homeless people who are having a hay day with them right now in Santa Monica.

Google Shopping Express

I was hesitant to use Google Express at first. Why? Because I am fiercely loyal and prefer to be ignorant. That said, when I realized I didn’t have to create an account (you can just use your current gmail or G+ account) and that they would give me $10.00 up front (this may be a limited time offer) just to try the service, I couldn’t say no. Google Express is a similar service with a different strategy. They pick up items from a variety of stores and deliver them to your doorstep. Here are the benefits of using this service.

6 Months Free

Right now they are working out the kinks of their new service so using it costs you $0. Take advantage of it while it lasts.

Store Line Up

Here is a list of the stores they can deliver items from:

Smart & Final
Costco – Must be a member
Target
Walgreens
Guitar Center
Whole Foods
Fry’s Electronics
Toys R Us
Staples

Yes. You heard me. You get all of the benefits of Costco without having to get sucked into a maze of bright lights and zombies with big carts. You miss out on the free samples, but keeping your sanity is worth it.

Delivery Time

Google Express has an impressive same day delivery set up competitive with Amazon Fresh. Let’s say I want a guitar, a stapler, and a tickle me Elmo by 6pm. I could order by noon that same day and have it all delivered to my doorstep when I get home.

Google Shopping Express does not deliver perishable items (fruits, vegetables, etc.) It also delivers items separately from each store. So for example, if you order items from a few different stores, expect to have a lot of Google visitors dropping off your orders. This can get old, and also makes you feel guilty that a human being just had to drive 5 miles to bring you a set of razors.

So there you have it: a meaningful small talk conversation about something that has become a problematic solution in my life. That’s as deep as it gets friends. Learn more about Amazon Fresh here using this affiliate link (full transparency brought to you by Russell Stevens.)

June 20, 2014 by Carly Chevalier

Life

Because Today You Don’t Feel Mormon

My friend looked at me from across a table with complete honesty as he slowly put together a string of words to tell me that he felt he could no longer be Mormon.

“You’re the first friend I have told.” He said and waited for my reply.

The next few seconds were a blur as I thought about my good friend and others like him. There is so much I wanted to say that I couldn’t express at the moment. So I ran home and wrote a letter to all the people I love so much who at some point or another have confessed something similar and with heavy hearts waited for me to say something.

To you:

Dear friends,

Nothing has changed. Not since yesterday. Not since years ago when we became friends. I think you are just as funny, just as smart, and just as capable of being happy as you have always been. I think you are strong to say how you feel. I think you are brave to search for answers that are significant and intimate to your life and situation.

I once heard a Rabbi tell this story:

I remember my student saying to me, “Rabbi Hartmen. I want you to know, but don’t get upset with me, I’ve become an aethiest.“

I said, “When did you become an aethiest?”

He said, “Wednesday.”

“Oh boy that’s a remarkable thing. What were you Tuesday? You were a believer right? And what happened on Thursday?” I said.

“Is there any difference between the way you lived when you were a believer and when you became an atheist?”

And that’s the criteria for me.

Labels and titles don’t define us. Our actions do.

In Matthew 7:20 it says, “By their fruits ye shall know them.”

You would have helped me yesterday, the same way you would help me today.

And I love you the same way today, that I loved you yesterday.

You aren’t the first to wake up not feeling Mormon, Jewish, Atheist, Agnostic, Christian, Muslim, or Buddhist. Our faith is a wave that pulls our souls in directions we sometimes don’t anticipate at different times in our lives.

And you have been there for me when it has pulled at mine.

I remember when you hugged me when I broke down in tears in a church parking lot. You were gay, I was anxious and we both felt like we didn’t belong there that day.

I remember the time we laid on the Idaho grass with the sun in our faces while we tried to figure out life. You were homeless and heavenless but we held on to each other.

I remember the first time I taught Sunday School and you sat in the second row telling jokes to break the ice so I wouldn’t be so nervous.

I remember the day I knew God existed, because you answered a prayer that was so unique and timely to my desperate circumstance.

And I remember the day I cried on the couch because I couldn’t find the answer to a question and I didn’t know what I was. You held my face in your hands and said you would love me either way.

This letter is to many friends, not just one. Because you aren’t alone. And because we need each other regardless of our circumstance, level of faith, or type of religion.

I am grateful for you as a friend. No matter what you are. Because you have loved me when I needed you most and to know you is to know God.

Whatever God or overwhelming happiness you believe in.

Love,
Carly Bird

Image: Cannon Kangaroo

May 1, 2014 by Carly Chevalier

Why Experiences Are Better Than Things - on CarlyBird.com

Ideas, Travel Explorations

Hey, Let’s Get Out Of Here: Why Experiences Are Better Than Things

I would like to argue that experiences are better than things. I recently read this article about the idea of Communitas by Bob Horan.

Here is my favorite excerpt from the article, but you should probably read the whole thing here.

In 1969 an anthropologist named Victor Turner took an existing ritual theory and described something he observed as “Communitas.”

You see, there are stages to a ritual. It begins with being separated from the normal, then there’s a transition into another realm of being, and ends with the reincorporation into everyday life.

Turner found that when people are together, and they make that transition into this “new realm” then they suddenly have something very unique and special in common. A togetherness is formed and this is called “Communitas.”

People experiencing the same event, at the same time and in the same space, are in that sense “equals.” This has tremendous binding power.

I don’t know why, but this was earth shattering to me. So much so that I started to reevaluate my priorities and my means of getting closer to friends and family.

Often times, when it comes to birthdays my first thought is, “what should I get for them?” But what if I shifted that thinking to, “What could I do with them?”

And when it comes to budgeting, I put a lot of my priorities into things I would like to buy instead of places I would like to go or experiences I would like to have.

Even when it comes to future priorities, I am shifting my ideas of the perfect house, to the perfect lifestyle.

Because at the end of the day, the people I am closest to are the people who I have at some point or another been in a communitas with while experiencing or exploring something outside the norm.

Whether it’s locking yourself in a car with your arch nemesis for 8hrs to discover a hidden rope swing.

Experiencing a whole new world called Freshmen Year of College

A last second camping trip with coworkers

Or skinny dipping with your gurl friends.

(NO image available)

If there is a relationship you are trying to strengthen or mend, don’t get that person a scented candle. Ask them to do something with you that you don’t typically do. Even if it’s just a short walk around the block. Get out of your normal routine together and you’ll see the power that comes from a communitas.

I’ll get off my soap box now.

Should we go do something?

April 24, 2014 by Carly Chevalier

Explore LA, Life, Los Angeles

Explore LA: Trapped in a Room with a ZOMBIE!!

The greatest piece of wisdom I have ever received at work came from my coworker John Shi.

What zombie thing you ask? The ‘experience’ is called Trapped in a Room with a Zombie presented by Room Escape Adventures. Yes, there is in fact such a thing as having to problem solve your way out of a room with a zombie in it and for a limited time only you can participate. Don’t ask me details. My zombie team isn’t going until next week. All I know is:

The zombie is on a chain that extends every few minutes
There is a disclaimer about getting eaton by said zombie
You have to find a key to get out
Less than a handful of teams have made it out in the 60 minute time slot
This is every Walking Dead fan’s dream
This sounds way better than seeing another movie with Liam Neeson (referring to Nonstop, don’t see it) or taking a date to ride the same ferris wheel that everyone has already ridden at the Santa Monica pier.

You can over think it and read more about the experience here OR you could just assume that being locked in a room with a zombie and having to use your critical thinking skills with a team of 12 people to survive would be AWESOME and buy a ticket here.

Also, because I sit next to the world’s best search engine, Vince. I have a code you can use to get 50% off. Be one of the first five people to share this post, tag @thecarlybird, and I will send you the coupon. This experience isn’t limited to LA. You can check their locations here to find a zombie room near you.
^ Offer Has Expired

Cheers!

The After Math

This was awesome. I wish I could force you all to do it. There is something hilarious about the chaos that comes from being trapped in a room for 60 minutes with a room full of locks, puzzles, mind games, and codes, while simultaneously trying to tame a zombie into not eating your best friend John Liu. If you have ever wanted to feel beads of sweat dripping down your face as you tried to save the world, you will love this experience. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Note: Some people in this photo look displeased – ahem, Eric – this is because we lost the game with only one more lock to open to get the escape key. This does something to men that I can’t explain. If I had to guess the emotions are comparable to Whitney Houston singing “DIDN’T WE ALMOST HAVE IT ALL?!” at full volume. Not for the faint of heart.

April 17, 2014 by Carly Chevalier

Life, Popular Posts

Why You Should Walk Away From Car Salesmen and Mediocre Boyfriends

A few years ago, I needed a new car. I had finally killed my college vehicle that had become my second home and a loving graveyard for all of my mix tapes and fast food wrappers.

Overwhelmed, I quickly went to the nearest dealership and test drove two cars. Within a half hour I was talked into potentially buying an orange Honda Fit by a salesman. Could I get it in the color I wanted? No. Was it long enough for my pencil arms? No. Was it the right price? No. Did it have a hatchback, a good warranty, and smell super nice? Yes. Lets take a second to let the stupidity sink in.

I really wanted this car. More than I wanted the one other car I drove. I was convinced it was the best new smelling car I could get and because negotiating makes me uncomfortable, I made the decision that I was going to get this car no matter the price.

Until, a friend called me.

“I can’t let people think I would hang out with someone who drives an orange Honda Fit,” he said. “I’ll help you shop tomorrow.”

Ironically enough this orange-Fit hating friend was a red head, but he was also insanely good at getting what he wanted. The next day he taught me one thing that has changed the way I buy cars, but more importantly, changed the way I date. It’s called: walking away.

After spending an entire day at dealerships, I learned two things:

There were more fish in the sea, and more cars in my budget than I had initially researched
Salesmen negotiated the best deals and made better recommendations if they knew you weren’t afraid to walk away.

It wasn’t a game of cat and mouse or a game of who cared less. It had nothing to do with either. It was a game of not settling, and getting exactly what I wanted.

I drove a bunch of cars and my friend quickly helped me make a list of what I had to have and couldn’t live without. Once I finished my checklist it made it simple to talk to car salesmen. Can I get it in this color? Yes. Can I get it for this price? No. WALK AWAY.

Easy right?

Not really. Not all women are built like red-headed men. We can sometimes get attached to things more quickly. You could give me a rock and by the end of the day I would have given it a name and be emotional about leaving it outside in the cold. So, it doesn’t come naturally for me to find a car, get attached to the sunroof, and pretend I am not crying inside as I walk away from it because the salesman wouldn’t fix the dent in the bumper. What if he didn’t come back with a counter offer? What if I didn’t find a car I liked as much? And most importantly, what if I never got to experience driving through Las Vegas with my torso through a sunroof?

I didn’t believe in the system until one day I finally got the car I wanted.

And I didn’t believe they system applied to dating until a couple years ago when I used that car to drive away from someone that I honestly believed I couldn’t live without.

Over the years, I have seen many friends stay in dead-end relationships and settle for what they don’t want because they are scared that if they walk away they won’t find what they are looking for. But the truth is: if you don’t walk away you GUARANTEE that you won’t find what you are looking for.

There are men that won’t commit to you, because they know you won’t walk away. There are men who won’t allow you to be true to yourself, because they know you will cave. And there are men who will continue to hurt you because they know in a game of chicken you would lose willingly.

I know because at different points in my life I have been there.

But I am grateful for the friend I had that told me Honda Fits were ugly. Just like I am grateful for the friend that helped me drive away from someone who was a really great person, but couldn’t give me what I wanted.

In short, if you need to buy a car or find a soul mate:

Find out what will make you happy
Ask for it
Be true to yourself, and walk away if you can’t get it

Some guys don’t counter offer.

Some guys don’t follow you when you leave.

But inevitably one guy will step up to the plate if you give him a chance. And these boots were made for walking toward that one.

Image Creds: Featured Image – 8 Tracks, Honda Fit – Edmunds

March 12, 2014 by Carly Chevalier

Life

11 Things To Do At Work Besides Working

I lie every Monday morning. Someone gets in the elevator, we awkwardly make eye contact, and a millisecond of silence sets off a chain reaction of default small talk beginning with, “Ah man, back to the daily grind.” The conversation ends with someone grumbling in response at a very low decibel as we shuffle out of the elevator. But let’s be serious. What are we, lumberjacks? What daily thing am I grinding? Why do we say that?

Some people have to walk into a coal mine on Monday mornings. I walk into an office with delicate Macbook Air computers and a meeting room with a leather couch that is actually called ‘Lounge Town’. Anyway, my point is this. Work is work, but it doesn’t have to be a grind.

And it could be amazing if you took a moment to appreciate your coworkers and the greatest gift that comes with working in an office.

Distractions.

Today marks my two year anniversary at BLITZ. Over those 730 days in the same 800 square ft sea of Ikea desks, I have seen a wide range of entertaining distractions that I honestly believe could not be fully appreciated in any other atmosphere. These moments are rare and can only happen when a group of people have hit the highest level of boredom possible, triggering a chaotic stream of creativity.

Creativity that couldn’t reach its full potential any other way.

Creativity that makes me love being an average human being.

Creativity that proves no man can be tamed, even in khaki pants.

I have documented some of my favorite ways that my coworkers and I have found to escape our Excel sheets and Keynote presentations to reach a higher level of office stimulation.

Here we go. 10 Things To Do At Work Besides Working.

1. Assign Theme Music to Impassioned Coworkers

Play it whenever they energetically start talking about pie charts, Yelp reviews, conference call etiquette, Jeff Goldblum, Oxford commas, or search engine optimization.

2. Make opening packages a team effort.

Ship everything you buy online to your office. There is nothing more captivating than an unopened box.

Especially if it’s muffins.

Protein powder.

Or Warby Parker sunglass samples.

3. Test out tactical gear.

4. Learn to unicycle.

5. Work out

6. Discuss hypotheticals. Constantly. Until all possible scenarios have been exhausted.

Lately, my personal favorite debate has been:
How many John Shis would it take to beat up one Eric?

Would you purposely sacrifice an initial wave of John Shis to distract from the John Shi that would finish him off? Would the John Shis have time to train? Would the John Shis have an advantage because they are lower to the ground? Discuss.

7. Determine Office Feats of Strength

Hypotheticals can only take you so far. When it is undetermined who could actually win in a fight (and HR won’t let you start a fight club) you only have one reasonable option. Determine competitions to predict the outcome of a potential fight. These feats of strength could be:

Showcasing fight techniques in slow motion

Taking turns punching someone’s arm to let them judge the hardest hit.

This.

Ramming cubicle walls.

And finally, the Harry Carry (a race to see who could carry one of our designers, Harry, across the office fastest.)

8. Throw magnets at the ceiling.

Buy bucky balls on the black market. Draw dry erase targets on the ceiling and shoot away.

9. Conversation hop

Walk in circles near areas known for interesting conversations. When you hear something you like, chime in. It doesn’t matter if it’s private, it just matters that it isn’t about work.

10. Open a coconut

With a survival knife.

Or a four story building

11. Join a Space Team

A new app called Space Team syncs up smart phones so that four people can hone their skills of yelling space commands at each other while furiously swiping levers on their screens to get a ship home safely. I promise it looks more ridiculous than it sounds.

And there you have it. Everything I have done in my corporate life instead of grinding.

Projects come and go, but coworkers never do. These guys are my space team for life and my sanity during late-night storms of proposals and presentations. We have accomplished a lot of great things together when it comes to innovative digital strategies for clients, and I attribute it to our ability to take a minute to think outside the box (or ram through it).

While I am stoked about the things we have done in the advertising realm over the last two years, everything I love about working has nothing to do with work.

Cheers guys.

March 3, 2014 by Carly Chevalier

Ideas, Los Angeles, Westside Wisdom

Westside Wisdom: Hair Hacks From a Fortune Teller

I decided to start a new series on my blog called West Side Wisdom. Why? Because some of us thought we had street smarts only to move to LA and realize we were useless.

Lucky for me, I live in a city that is a smorgosborg of human beings who have mastered life hacks worth noting. As a result, one of my goals this year is to stop looking at my phone when I go places, and start picking the brains of West LA’s finest.

Round 1: Hair Hacks From a Fortune Teller

I was at a beauty supply store pretending that my hair wasn’t over bleached and suffering from grocery store soap, when I met a fortune teller. I call her a fortune teller because she had a flawless accent and eyes that defaulted to looking directly into my soul. I normally don’t ask questions, but I had hit a breaking point. I held up a bottle and asked her from across the store, “Will this fix my hair?”

She hung up her landline phone while slowly unravelling the chord wrapped around her fingernails, and leaned forward. “Can I touch your hair?”

“Yes.”

She touched my hair, twitched, and let the silence build up before opening her arms to the entire store and saying, “these products will not save you.”

A unique sales approach.

“In Santa Monica the water is terrible,” she continued. “If you don’t drink it. Why would you wash your hair in it?”

And just like that my juvenile mind was mildly blown.

I have been searching for years for the perfect shampoo and the answer was right in front of me. It had nothing to do with the shampoo. It had everything to do with the one other substance that goes through my hair daily, water.

The WHOLE time?

She then explained how this cousin and that cousin and this neighbor and her mother all use shower filters from Home Depot. They are $30.00 or less my friends and anyone can install it.

She drew me in for the next half hour with hair advice that cost less than a bottle of fancy leave in conditioner from Beverly Hills and has single-handedly saved my hair from feeling like straw. So from the fortune teller herself, here is a glimpse into a better future.

1) Get a shower filter. It’s like dancing in a fountain of youth. (And is also better for your skin.)
2) Never brush your hair wet. You are basically ripping it out. Use a wide-tooth comb like this one. Don’t use a brush until it is at least half-dry. I even prefer to comb my hair out in the shower to lose less hair.
3) Trim your hair often (at least every 3 months). Your hair is like a plant. If the tips of a plant are dead, it can’t grow so you have to trim them. Same concept here. Long healthy locks start from the ends of your hair.
4) Wash your hair less. Make a shower cap and dry shampoo your best friend. Try only shampooing it 3-4 times a week.
5) Give It The Magic Treatment. Once a week, put conditioner on the bottom half of your locks while it is dry. Let it sit for five minutes before getting in the shower. While in the shower, shampoo the roots of your hair only, and leave the bottom half of your locks alone. Let the water naturally rinse it out. (I like using Moroccan Oil Hydrating Shampoo, and Moisture Repair Conditioner).

Bonus tip: Use no crease hair ties. These ties are softer on your hair and don’t cause as much breakage.

And there you have it. Two cents that make sense.

One thing I love about where I live is that no one keeps personal boundaries. People aren’t afraid to ask about your life and instantly invite themselves to become a part of it. So warm up a little (it’s 80 degrees here) and start chatting more with strangers. If you listen, more often then not, they have something valuable to say.

And even if it isn’t valuable, you can pretend it is an abstract metaphor for something valuable.

We could go either way on this.

Images: Shower Filter – Amazon, Comb – Sephora, Plant – Sunset Magazine, Dry Shampoo – Klorane, Shower Cap – Pinterest Puppy, Shampoo/Conditioner – Moroccan Oil

January 23, 2014 by Carly Chevalier

❤, Ideas

Oh How The Tables Have Turned: An Open Apology to Husbandless Females

“I couldn’t do what you do.” I had a friend tell me the other day as she debated about getting married at the tail end of her senior year of college. Her fear of graduating husbandless was confusing to me, until I remembered the way my brain used to think when I was going to school. For my friends who aren’t familiar with Utah or Idaho culture, a good majority of girls get married off before they graduate.

I remember being halfway through school seeing 23-year-olds leave my college without a rock on their hand and thinking, “wow, that would be terrible.” I felt bad for the hags, and I KNEW that would never be me. There were many times I laid on my bed sulking with friends after break-ups and saying, “at this rate I won’t be married till 2014.” Then we would laugh and choke down more ice cream, because we KNEW that would never happen to us. Fast forward to yesterday when we hit 2014…

Oh how the tables have turned.

This isn’t a post about why I didn’t get hitched years ago. There are plenty of resources for that; starting with half relatives who somehow bypassed getting blocked from my Facebook posts, and ending with strangers who were convinced that forcing a 2nd date with a guy who made me pay for valet parking would do the trick.

No.

This is a post about not fearing what you don’t know and not being worried when your life doesn’t turn out the way you planned it.

I wish girls realized that they have more than one option. That there really isn’t just one way to do things. And that when your idea of perfect happiness dies, you can still choose to live. After sulking around Utah as a post-grad for two years, I moved out of state and had a roommate that changed my perspective completely. She was beautiful, smart, funny, and living life to the fullest. She was 29, had a boyfriend, a successful business, and was making plans on a weekly basis to try things she had never done before. She operated opposite the ‘norm’ and was the happiest person I knew because of it.

From that moment on, I made it a point to find out what really made me happy, and even if it wasn’t the traditional route for someone like me, I did it anyway.

I would never have guessed that at 26-years-old, I would love a life that has turned out to be so different than the cookie cutter lifestyle I had always envisioned for myself. But I am. And I am so grateful for people I have met along the way who have lives as odd as mine that have taught me to enjoy all the elements of surprise that come with being a human being. Life is unpredictable. There is a lot we can and can’t control. But regardless, happiness is yours for the taking if you fearlessly look for it. The road less traveled, my friends. That’s what I’m talking about (or Robert Frost if we are getting credit hungry).

You want a new start? Do it. You want to go back to school? Apply for it. You want to start your own business? Why not? You want to climb Mount Kilimanjaro? Hike it. The Babcock did.

Cheers to 2014 from the happiest hag to ever eat her own words. And a toast to the abnormal and the unexpected.

**Note: Most this post was written mid-2013 before more recent events, but I didn’t want to leave it unpublished. My personal life may have changed since then, but the beliefs have not.

January 2, 2014 by Carly Chevalier

Music, Popular Posts

BLITiZen Kane and the NO SHAME Tour

The most wonderful time of the year has come and gone and I am left with a hole in my stomach where bad junk food and poor dance moves once built a crater. But just like the movie Braveheart couldn’t take away Mel Gibson’s freedom, no one can take away the smile slapped on my face from AdJam 2013. Our agency killed it on stage in a battle between advertising professionals covering whatever sub par hits they could find after the 90’s (Nothing good ever happened after the 90’s).

These are stories I plan on telling my grandchildren daily, pretending I have a bad memory so that I can obnoxiously replay my glory days at a moments notice. But, because there is a good chance I will remain single the rest of my life, I am sharing them with you now. So without further adieu, here are 10 things I loved about AdJam this year so that we can all soak in the limelight known as BLITiZeN Kane.

1. Eric’s passionate eyelids

Sometimes AdJam is too much to handle with both eyes open. This post is for Eric, because I don’t think he saw any of it.

2. The Body Roll

Harmonies aside, the body roll was our biggest struggle this year.

3. Gagnam Style

Yes. Tim Richards looked at flash cards for at least 10 hours straight to learn to speak Korean. And yes, this may have been the greatest moment in BLITiZeN Kane history. It was the only time we have ever been able to dance in sync. Every dance rehearsal before this was ruined by my hip shuffle. (10 style points go to Jasmine Pae.)

4. Phil in Locked Out of Heaven

Phil is the most comfortable man I know in his own skin and his choreography for both Gagnam Style and Locked Out of Heaven are unmatched. Had he put more energy into his dance moves, he would have been flying. Had he put more energy into his tantrum when no one danced during sound check, he would have been in tears.

We learn an important lesson from Kiczula, live life to the fullest my friends.

5. Christina Aguilara Meets Icona Pop

I will never be happier than the time I wore a snowsuit and jumped around in a motorcycle helmet on stage with my soul sisters Jasmine Pae and Andrea Gedrich. Nor will I ever have the chance to use my entire wingspan to sooth a crowd into realizing how beautiful they are.(Apologies for not having the full video for Icona Pop.)
Beautiful

Icona Pop: I Love It

6. The D#$* in the Box Explosion

AdJam got wind that we were going to start the show with an explosion. They notified Ken Martin, cofounder of BLITZ Agency, that it would be a $1500 fine if the confetti explosions went off on stage. You know you work for someone great when they take less then 3 seconds to shrug and answer, ‘Okay that’s fine with us.’ Unfortunately, the second card they threw down was banning BLITZ from AdJam FOREVER. For the many disappointed fans who watched the contraption get built, here are some videos for you. [Note: I try to censor my blog because I am, for the most part, pretty PG and because my grandmas read this. For that purpose, I wanted to put a little disclaimer that these two videos are not within that rating.]

The Explosion:

Here is the whole AdJam Performance

7. I Believe In A Thing Called Love

The only thing missing from this performance was the full body suite with a lion printed on it that was originally mapped out for this number. However, I have to say that the Johnny Depp meets full body tattoo suit thing looked pretty awesome.

8. Trying to Trash Talk Other Agencies

It’s hard to trash talk via Twitter. But we killed it right?

9. The Facial Hair

This is a text photo I received the morning of AdJam. It felt like the first present you open on Christmas morning and I wasn’t disappointed by any of the flawless mustache combinations to follow.

The only thing missing from this display, was the arrow Eric tried to shave into his chest hair. It turns out geometric shapes are hard to manscape, and BLITiZEN Kane was left with a hairless Chip N’ Dales waiter with sideburns on rhythm guitar.

10. Losing… Again

I love that someone caught this moment on camera. It expresses how I felt being ranked 3rd by volunteer judges in PacSun hoodies. It is hard to walk away from something you put 40+ hours into empty handed. However, it makes me feel better that the winners of Think LA’s AdJam don’t walk away with anything either. Unless you count the guitar they give out on loan that has been defiled by girl-handwriting with metallic Sharpie markers.

I could keep this list going, but will sum it up with this: I love AdJam. Not because of the artificial fame, unlimited pizza, or free mesh t-shirt from H&M, but because it is the one time a year I get to work with creative geniuses to do something totally ridiculous and completely out of our comfort zone. Sometimes the best side projects are the ones you do because you ‘love it’ regardless of what anyone else thinks. No Shame = the greatest gift of all.

Special thanks goes out to my friends at BLITZ who stewed through LA traffic during rush hour to make it to the show, BLITiZen Kane – my bandmates for life, Miguel for teaching me the same 3-note harmony over 30 times, Shelly for taping these videos and making surprise guest appearances, and Chris Morabito for designing rad t-shirts. I had the time of my life, and I owe it all to you.

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October 10, 2013 by Carly Chevalier

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