This kid is rad. She gets radder everyday.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star from Monica Danna on Vimeo.

Peace Out from Monica Danna on Vimeo.

Texas Pie Company, Kyle, TX

Laura and I were celebrating the 1 year anniversary of both of our blind leaps into the world of entrepreneurship. Last April 15th, both Laura and I quit our corporate jobs, and headed into a world of the unknown. And neither of us has looked back since.

The last year has been a blast, to say the least. It’s taken me from Soho in NYC to SLC in UT. On a road trip across the country, working on the campaign of our next Texas Governor, and meeting countless number of new friends and clients. Whew. It feels like it’s been 5 years.

At our recent Block Party with my partners, Primer Grey, we installed a quote on the bathroom wall, just visible as you glance in the mirror. “Are you where you’d hoped to be ten years ago.”

I’m not sure how many people can answer this questions with an honest “Yes.” But I know I’m lucky to be one of them.

—

I’m unpacking tonight, and re-packing for Marfa, TX in the morning. I’ll be taking a group of media to the sleepy west Texas town on a press junket as part of promotion for John Demers novel, Marfa Shadows.

I’m not sure if I even remember where I thought I’d be a year from today, but I’m pretty sure the answer wasn’t Marfa, TX.  Wonder where I’ll be headed April 15, 2011?

thanks to this amazing community for making last night so incredible.

it was perfect. just perfect.

thanks to everyone who stopped by. big hugs to Smart Meals, Saint Arnold, DJ Good Grief + Young $quaddy, Noah of Noah’s Kitchen for keeping us entertained and all of our wonderful neighbors for putting up with us all night.

we’re still taking it all in, but in the meantime upload your pics and vids from the party to our pg+co flickr group. cuz we just can’t get enough of yo’ faces.

you can check out the tweets from last night here. reading them makes me want to do this again. like, tonight. who’s game?

love you all, peeps.

—

image: Mark C. Austin

Many, many lessons learned, and many more to learn. The most important lesson? Entrepreneur does not equal alone. Sure, there are times when I feel like the world is coming down on me, and I’m holding it up with a pinky. But the single thing that has gotten me through this year? Support from others. Not my own skill. Not my knowledge. But support from those who believe in me. Support from my best friends her and him. and these incredibly amazing BPs. and this wonderful person. and this consummate partner and friend. and of course, my lovely accountant whose visits bring me dread. and hope. And my incredible clients for whom all I cannot thank enough for taking a chance on me.

The list would take up this entire post if i let it. SO instead, I’m throwing a party. for you. and you and you. If you’ve ever read a tweet I sent. Or 14,000 of them. Commented on a blog post. Attended an event, gave me a much needed hug, a thumbs up, a vote of confidence in this last year. I want you there. This is your celebration. Because it truly does take a village. And you are mine.

Join my company, colab, and my brother company, Primer Grey, this Thursday, April 8th as we host a Block Party for our family, friends, and clients in our new-ish loft space at 1305 Sterrett St. in Houston’s Downtown Artist District. We’ll have beer, oh yeah you bet it’s Saint Arnold! And food, and fun, and friends. It’s a Block Party, y’all. And we hope to see you there.

All the deets are here on the Facbeook invite, Because, you know it’s not a party without a Facebook invite.

Really, truly hope to see you there. Cuz YOU got me HERE.

Just heard from Marc and he has recovered his iMac this afternoon! He saw a suspect ad on Craig’s List and it ended up being his machine. Great news! He’s still out a MacBook Pro. Thank you all for your kind donations. You guys are RAD!

Yesterday, my good friend, photographer and musician Marc Brubaker //@clickwindrepeat’s house was vandalized and 2 of his Macs were stolen. Thankfully, all of his photography and music equipment was not, but many priceless photos remained on both of his computers.

If you know Marc, I ask that you consider helping out in replacing his machines. Marc has been an integral, creative staple in many of our Houston lives. His dedication to the photography, art, and music worlds have contributed to making Houston a more rad place.

Please join me in helping show him how much his talent and friendship means to us.

No amount is too small. Thank you for considering to help.

click here to contribute

Click.
Give.
Repeat.

Cliff + Cassidy by Clint Shuttlesworth

Oh Love. Or in the words of one Ashley Simpson Ello, Ello, Ello, Ello, Vee, Eee.

Like a JoBros concert, I usually try and avoid V-Day like the plague. But this year, in lieu of spewing hatred on the infamously industry-created “holiday” I decided to confront it head on, and face the demons. So what’s the big deal anyway? This will be the 6th year in a row I won’t have a Valentine. And most of those years that was a conscious decision. Most of them.

I’m known to be pretty outspoken on my views of romantic relationships, moreso that I’m writing a book about it. But rarely do I ever discuss the L word. It’s not that I’m afraid of love (an all too common misjudgment of a 31 year old single gal). I’ve been in love. I’ve been loved. I cringe when coupled up friends remark, “oh, you just haven’t met the right one yet!” It doesn’t often occur to those people that maybe I’m not looking for the right one. Just yet, at least. I refer to this as couple-tunnel vision. Or love goggles. Most people in a relationship (at least happy, healthy relationships) can’t imagine why everyone wouldn’t want to be. I’m not going to get into that in this post, but suffice it to say, not every single person is actively looking for love.

—

Growing up in the South has had an adverse impact on my views on marriage and relationships. I’ve traveled all over the world, and the stereotype that Southern folks tend to get married at an earlier age, seems to be pretty spot on to me. Speaking in general terms, of course.  Not that I am judging this at all, just an observation. When writing for the book, I focus my audience on young women, girls in their late teens, or early twenties. You change SO much in your twenties. How challenging of a situation to be in for two people, both changing so drastically, to try keep the same ideals? In no way am I saying this can’t be done. I have many happily married friends who were married in their early 20’s. I just want to offer that there is an alternative. A happy, growing, fulfilling alternative. I don’t think that quite gets through to most people. At least in the South.

—

As cliche and predictable as it sounds, the HBO series Sex & The City had a tremendous impact on my feelings on dating and relationships. Not in a way that I sought to emulate these characters, but for the first time in my 26 years (the age at which I discovered the show) I finally felt like someone GOT me. For the first time I felt like someone was telling MY story. I’ve dated these guys! I’ve had these issues. Married guys hit on me WAY too often. Some guys are horrible kissers and, yes, some women, even in the South, have healthy, active intimate relationships. I’ve been told flat out to my face that “no one acts like those women.” By golly, they do. I DO.

I have an eternal argument with two of my closest friends about Fiction vs. Non-Fiction. I wouldn’t label myself an avid reader, but when I do read, it’s usually history or other non-fiction books. Why? Because it ACTUALLY happened. I understand the talent it takes to create a world of fiction. And I understand the delight of being drawn into a fantasy world, especially in the fast-paced, quickly changing world we live in. However, I like to base my idols on REAL people. People with real flaws, emotions, and experience. Both Maggie and Andrew will argue with this, but just as well. That’s why I love them.

I know what you’re going to say. Say it. Sex & The City is fiction. Or is it? Personally, I feel like the details of these women’s lives and situations are too intimately documented to be made up. A vast majority of the writers on the show are women, and I’m confidant that Monday morning writers meeting consisted many times of weekend tales from these women. Nevertheless, these characters, dialogue, and relationships portrayed are comfortable to me. Or rather, a comfort. Or both.

—

A few weeks ago I attended an Opera in the Heights Performance of Un Ballo en Maschera. As many operatic plots goes, the protagonist is destroyed by his flaw of loving a woman too much. For the woman to only be discovered by her husband, who threatened to execute her in front of their son for her transgression. In book after book, and movie after movie, we see love portrayed as an all consuming emotion that leads seemingly sane people to crazy, self-destruction. I often have wondered if this kind of love exists in real life? Or are these acts merely machinations of mental psychoses within one’s self?  If in 2010 a man cut his ear off and sent it to a woman as a Valentine, he’d be arrested, thrown in jail, and evaluated for mental stability. But 150 years ago, this act was “romantic”, the ultimate act of “love”.

On the way home from the opera, I commented to my date, “At what point did men stop loving women so much that they would endure pain, suffering, and ultimately death?!”

“The same point at which it stopped being acceptable for a man to execute his wife in front of his child,” he quickly remarked.

—

I heard from a friend this morning, that in Australia only couples celebrate Valentine’s Day. More specifically, “V day is an annual holiday celebrating love and affection between intimate companions.” As if people not in relationships aren’t capable of giving or receiving love. Psshhh. I happen to actually enjoy showing extra affection to everyone in my life on Valentine’s Day–Mom, Dad, best friends, Grandma–as an act of reminding myself how lucky I am to have these people to help me through my life.

–

When talking about love, I’m constantly reminded of Carrie Bradshaw’s desperate admission in one of the last episodes in the series:

“I’m looking for love. Real love. Ridiculous, inconvenient, consuming, can’t-live-without-each-other love. And I don’t think that love is here in this expensive suite in this lovely hotel in Paris.”

And good for her for knowing the difference.

LOVE,

Monica

I spent the day at the beach with my sister, her BF, Matt, and his boys, Matthew and Jacob.
Matthew spent the day capturing jellyfish.
Jill spent the day getting stung.
Jacob spent the day peeing in a bucket and pouring it on Jill’s stings.
We all spent the day laughing.

tumblers, by slightclutter

It feels as if this post is way overdue. On the other hand, it also feels to be entirely immature.

I’m going to cram a lot into this post, so for you ADD readers, here’s the short version:

• Update on Baby Kailey: she’s doing great!
• I moved in with my parents to help with the baby!
• I still have my place, so there will still be a Christmas Tree Viewing Party 3.0!

• I quit my job!

• I’m freelancing! (yes, read above: i quit my job!)
• I’m really, really happy, excited, and scared as all hell!
• Wedding Bells

Whew. That wasn’t so hard?  Now what took me so long to write this post? (Besides painstakingly searching for the exact right image. Which I will always obsess over.)

First things first. I’m doing GREAT.  In the last 4 months I’ve made some of the biggest decisions of my life, and I couldn’t be more excited about everything. The recession be damned! I know it’s a very real thing, but I’ve decided to not participate in it.

Secondly, there is entirely no way I would have been able to make any of those decisions without the wonderful friends and family who have surrounded me with support and encouragement. I’d be about 2% of a person without you all.

Update on Baby Kailey + Home Again

Before I get into too much detail with my new career direction, I wanted to give an update on Baby Kailey. Many of you have asked about how she is doing, or who that cute baby is popping up on my Flickrstream.  If you didn’t read my original post on Kailey, it’s here. Short version is…since November my parents have had custody of my cousin’s baby girl. She was 2 months old when she came to stay with us, she is now a healthy 7.5 month old.  Mom has since started back at work, and I have moved in to help out with the day to day awesomeness of having a baby around. I swear, everyday I wonder how single mothers do this. There are 3, sometimes 4, adults in this house, and we are all exhausted!

In February, after the awesomely successful Mom 2.0 Summit, I made the decision to move in with mom and dad to help out as mom started back at work. I was a little worried about leaving my place, but I found a friend who needed a place to stay for 6 months, and it just worked out perfect.  I only had to move my clothes, and he lets me visit whenever I want. Thanks, Trae!

I made the decision so quickly, that I really didn’t have time to think about what a big transition this would be.  Barring a few post-college months, I hadn’t lived with my parents since high school, nearly 12 years ago. In one day I went from being an independent, single, urban, museum district-highrise dweller, to a diaper changing, baby-talking, suburban daughter living in my parents house in Jersey Village.  Head spin!

But every moment’s been worth it.  I’ve been here nearly 6 weeks and I haven’t missed my apartment once. Due to an open invitation from Trae.   I’ll never forget what the wise Laura Mayes said to me when I was contemplating this decision: she said to me, “You’ll never regret spending this time with your family.”  And that really stuck with me.  And has continued to. What is 6 months in my life? A time to be there for my family, to spend time with my mom and dad, and most importantly to experience the first year of a child’s life. There really was no decision to make.

Independence Day

After a few weeks of being home, it started to occur to me what a financial benefit this was becoming. I had not intended on moving home for the sake of saving money, but it was certainly an ancillary benefit. I quickly came to the realization that the time was here and now for me to make another decision I had been struggling with for years.

Most of you know me in one capacity or another, and at one time most of you have asked the question, “So what is it you DO?” A question I’ve struggled with answering, usually with a chuckle.  It usualy starts like this, “Well, my day job is _____, but I also do _______.”  About 4 years ago I made a decision that my traditional (well-paid) Oil & Gas marketing career would never fulfill my career passions.  I tried many companies, much to the dismay of my resume and friends’ skepticism. Over the last few years, I’ve reached out for ways to explore my creative passions in the form of PR, event planning, design, and most recently, social media. As a result, I’ve built up a network of amazing people, dream clients, and many, many new friends. It’s always been a means to an end, as I knew that one day I would make the jump from corporate employee to self-employed. And last Wednesday, that day came.

Yep, in the midst of an economic depression turned recession, on tax day nonetheless, I finished my last day at Halliburton. For 3 days now, I’ve officially been self-employed. And I can honestly say, I haven’t been this happy in a long time. And of course everyone says I will eventually say, why didn’t I do this a long time ago.  But I disagree.  This was the right time.  I had to be ready.  All the elements had to be ready. And this was the time.

I’ve have the amazing opportunity to work on some dream projects over the last few months. Starting with the Mom 2.0 Summit, where I met so many amazing folks.  One in particular, author and wife of Houston’s Mayor,  Andrea White. Since then, I’ve been working with Andrea, and with the Bill White for Texas Senate Campaign on social media strategies, and it’s been a wonderful experience.

COLABorate

So that brings me to my plans. The number one question I get these days is no longer “what do you do?” but rather, “so what ARE you gonna do?” And it seems like an easy one to answer. But it’s been difficult.

I’m not a graphic designer, a web developer, or a traditional public relations person.  Both my undergraduate and graduate degrees are in Psychology. Go figure. And most of what I do relies on the collaboration of those within my network.  I can take a decent picture, but I know a helluva lot of incredible photographers. I can open Photoshop and tell you what color looks good next to pink, but I am friends with some incredibly talented designers who can design circles around me. I can Google CSS lines of code, but call some of the best programmers around friends. Where I’ve found my strength lies is in the communication of an idea with a client.  The development of a strategy.  The execution of that strategy with a team of creatives. This is where I excel.  Bringing my network of talented people together. And it’s taken me 10 years to figure that out. So here I am.

I’ll have much more details in the coming months of my newly formed company, COLAB, and about the projects I’ll be working on. For the sake of cohesion I’ve dubbed it “interactive creative services,” which includes PR, event coordination, graphic design, web design, and social media strategy.  Website launched soon, and planning a networking event to officially announce the start of COLAB. I’ll post all the details here on my blog.

So here I am.  Back in my parents house.  In the suburbs. Eating my words. Remember “Midtown Monica”? I haven’t forgotten her. My new found independence, undoubtedly dependent on dependence of my family, who has never once wavered to help me get to where I want to be.

Wedding Bells

Hahahaha, GOTCHA! Knew THAT would get your attention. No, no, I’m not headed for the alter!  Leading a double life for the past 4 years or so can really take it out of ya. So I’m also looking forward to getting back to some of the things that I so love, but haven’t had the time for. Like writing.  I have a few projects I will be working on, that you will hearing more about soon, including more blogging and a few books I am working on.  One book that is super imminent, A Single Girl’s Guide to Weddings. Why so?  Well, as of today, I have 15 this year. Yep. FIFTEEN weddings. I’m in 4 of them. And 3 are out of the state.  Not only do I have 15 weddings. I have 15 bridal showers. and 15 bachelorette parties. Couple’s showers. trips to Crate & Barrel. In all honesty, I LOVE weddings.  No pun intended. I thought this would be a fun way to share my experiences and observations on love, dating, marriage, and (to borrow a phrase from MagsMac) the ultra important debate between taupe and off-white. I’ve attended 3 already this year, and have 3 chapters so far.  Very excited to see where this goes.

I’m still blogging over at Houstonist, and on my design blog, Design Junky, which recently got a facelift, and of course here on Cosmopolitician. Will be blogging for a new fun blog, deets on that soon!

There’s More?!!  Dang.

Thanks for lasting to the end of this post.  I know it was a bit of a marathon, and I promise to be more brief in the future.

I can’t tell you how much all of your support, encouragement and confidence has meant to me. This community is my world and my backbone. I hope this doesn’t sound to Grammy acceptance speech, but there are a few people I REALLY must thank for helping me get to this point.

Maggie McDonald for your huge smile and constant determination, you inspire me;

Laura Mayes who’s infinite wisdom and grace pushed me to quit my job (so that she wouldn’t be alone in her self-employment!);

Ed Schipul for pretty much everything: every token of crazed wisdom, every vote of confidence, and every “what the eff are you waiting for” speech;

And last but the very UNleast, Mom and Dad, who never let me believe for a second that I could fail at anything.  Even when I have. I love you, I love you, I love you (now what day does the maid come?)

Gwen, and her lovely fiancé Joel Longtine, had been quite the talk of the Twitterverse + Social Media world, ever since their love affair bloomed online for all to see last year.  They embraced it, and continued to celebrate the role that technology has played in their relationship.

I’ll never forget the first conversation I had with Gwen about Joel.  It was June, and Gwen was in town for the Caroline Collective opening party. I could tell she was bursting at the seams to share a bit of information with me, but I couldn’t tell what. When she began talking about Joel, and their initial courtship, I swear I never saw it coming, from the one who I gab with about technology, and business ideas, and social media.  The one who we could talk for hours on the importance of brand, and community, and Mexican food. Never did I expect that the news she was so excited to tell me. was. about. a boy.

This boy, who I would over the next few months, get to know as a caring, loving, intelligent, lovely person. This boy, who had turned this girl on her head, and allowed her to experience true companionship. I watched as a strong partnership was formed. Amidst skeptics, and drama, and naysayers. I watched. As these two friends shared their lives. Online. Offline. Who made their networks of friends and acquaintances a part of their relationship.

On my 30th birthday, Oct 5th, I got a text message: Joel Proposed! It was a wonderful ancillary birthday gift.  And over the next 5 months, I looked on as they planned the celebration of the beginning of their lives together. A day I was so fortunate to be a part of.

So as I traveled to Boulder, a town I once called home, what seems like decades ago, I was ever conscious of the relationship I was in at that time. And how much I have grown as a person. And how these two technology-clad lovers have shown me that love does exist. Even with wires, and no wires, and http’s and twitterstreams, iPhone applications, and custom gmail scripts. At the end of the day it’s still love. And it’s bold.

Other highlights of the trip included spending extra quality time with my Maggie, who will never know how much I adore her.  There’s just not enough words in the world to express that kind of appreciation and gratefulness that she’s my friend. I’m so blessed to have her in my life.

Hanging out with the phenomenal photographer (more about Holly’s talent later), and amazing friend, Holly Hoyt and her sweet hubby Matt, as the four of us drove into Estes Park and visited Rocky Mountain National Park. It was a BLAST and I’ll never forget that trip because of it. More pics from that excursion here. Including Maggie’s snow angel. In jeans. and no gloves. Bravery and stupidity share a dotted line.

Urban Pearl Hair Salon

Got to hang with the Kirtsy Girls twice in 2 weeks which was a rare treat!  And our adorable house that we rented right off Pearl Street was perfect for some girl time.

Thanks to Denver folks Amy Greeblemonkey Giese + Jeffrey Larrimore who kept us entertained and escorted.

Was in heaven for few hours at Ten 20 Nail Salon with unlimited Diet Cokes, M&Ms, and Sex & the City episodes.  And watched as Gwen got her hair did at the hip and quaint Urban Pearl.

It was the perfect wind down to the crazy months leading up to Mom 2.0 Summit.

A much needed rest and relaxation, before the impending changes that were about to occur in my life.

It’s a trip I’ll never forget. More pics from the festitivites here.

So, yeah. It’s been awhile since I’ve cranked up the old Wordpress. Looks like she’s still working fine. Whew!  I could come up with tons of excuses for not posting for awhile, but I think when you are done with reading the next few posts (yes, shooting for a marathon session today), you’ll form your own opinion.  And hopefully, it’s of the opinion that you’re glad I’m blogging again. Because, well, I am glad to be blogging again. And we should get along just fine.

There’s so much to share and I’m really not sure where to start. The majority of this year has been consumed by the amazing, wonderful, successful the 2009 Mom 2.0 Summit, who will get her own post, as she deserves. Sprinkled in will be weddings (yes, 13 this year; 3 down, 10 to go!); new projects, all of which I’m extremely excited about!; and lots of new, big changes (and one little one).

Some tibits before I jump in:

• I’m kicking back up Design Junky, my “design admiration blog” as I like to call it.  I’m not a designer. But I can’t get enough of it. Check soon for a new redesign of that site, too.  Follow DeJu (i totally just made that up. right now.) on Twitter @designjunky

• Dang, y’all.  Twitter done blew up, for realz!  Over the last few months,  it seems everyone from E! Online to Christopher Walken has jumped aboard the Twitter Train. Major news stations, Politicians, and Real Estate agents. It’s a free for all, and I, for one, am intrigued about how the landscape of social media will change over the next 6 months. I’ll be blogging about that often this year.

• My mom’s on Facebook. Awesome.  True life convo between me and Mama Danna:

Me: “Hey, I’ve been meaning to tell you and Dad that Andrew’s band, Runaway Sun, is playing at the House of Blues next week.”

Mom: (totally unphased) “Yeah, I know I saw it on his Facebook wall. The Battle of the Bar Bands.”

Me: (surprised she even knew what a wall was) “Oh, um, yeah. Cool.”

Mom: “Yeah, and his mom and sister are coming in from Lubbock for the show.”

Me: (nodding like I knew that, but really didn’t) “Um, yeah. So I guess you’re in the loop on that. Great.”

• I’m going to start blogging again over at Houstonist. It’s been one of the things I’ve missed the most in the last 8 months or so. There is an incredible group of contributors there these days, and I’m really looking forward to getting back into the swing of things in the Gothamist world. I’m grateful they’ll have me back after a hiatus.  Read It. Feed It. Love it.

With that, I’ll jump into a few more dedicated posts to some awesome events that deserve their own space.