While we were served a delightful salmon lunch, Craig Wessel from the Portland Business Journal presented Orchid Awards to 25 deserving women. As defined by the PBJ, the Orchid Award winners exhibit “leadership, engagement, decisiveness and resilience in the face of adversity” every day, as do many other working women in the region. Though their introductions were brief, it was clear that each award winner was a force. Not only are these women pioneering through their careers, but they are raising families and volunteering wherever they can. They are real leaders and it was truly an honor to be in attendance.

Thank you, Portland Business Journal. And a giant CONGRATULATIONS to all of the winners. I can’t wait to come back next year!

xo – LN

Her name is Juliana Ereno, but you can call her Jewels. She was raised on a tropical island, enjoys road trips and loves to create awesome visuals. Graduating from the Art Institute of Portland in 2011, Phoogoo found Jewels at the portfolio show and fell in love with her colorful talents. Jewels took the time to answer these highly cognitive questions, please enjoy:

What is your favorite karaoke jam? Dyer Maker (Led Zeppelin)

What is your addiction? Currently, I’ve been obsessed with playing my electric piano.Aside from that, I love authentically ethnic food.

What’s your favorite color? It is turquoise these days.

Blended or on the rocks? Blended, please.

Her name is Lacey Neddo. She prefers savory snacks, loves her pit bull and is obsessed with office supplies. She graduated from Portland State University in 2008 with a double major, Marketing and Advertising. Get to know her a little better:

How do you take your water? 3 ice cubes, shaken with lemon

What is the last book you read? Half The Sky – Nicholas Kristof

What is your weakness? cheese, any and all cheese. and a good laugh.

Who headlined your first live concert? Tim McGraw, yeehaa

Phoogoo attended the 2012 Rose Bowl in STYLE. Zach, along with six others, boarded a private jet at 9am, with Playmate coolers in hand. After a short and hydrating 1.5 hour flight, they landed in Burbank where a limo awaited their arrival. The day was exciting from start to finish. At some point during the limo ride, Zach even found himself in a WWF wrestling match. Never a dull moment! (If you are wondering, he didn’t win.) After a FANTASTIC win by the Ducks over Wisconsin, they boarded the limo again. The trip wrapped up with a limo stop at In ‘N Out Burger and the crew landed back in Portland by 10:30pm.

A very full, but very awesome day in the life of Phoogoo.

What started off as a private holiday party last year far exceeded even our own expectations, and we have our partygoers to thank! Please join us again (or for the first time, as it may be), and invite your friends to come along this year, because we are ready to take this party to the next level. In 2011, we return bigger and better than ever, to bring you Mistletoe and Martinis 2.0: Roaring 20′s.

Hosted at the Secret Society in Portland, this event combines a few of the things we love: holiday cheer… a reason to break out the fancy attire… and a chance to support an amazing charity. All of the evening’s proceeds will benefit the Children’s Cancer Association (www.joyrx.org) as they help to support Portland families with children afflicted by cancer with medical treatments and goodwill free of cost.

Tickets are on sale now at: http://mistletoe2.eventbrite.com/. Your ticket cost includes:

Entry to the party, of course!

• A donation to the CCA.
• A live performance by the Brian Copeland Band (www.facebook.com/briancopelandband) to start the night off right!
• A night full of swinging tunes by none other than Portland’s FINEST, DJ Hasselhoff (http://www.phoogoo.com/djhasselhoff
  )!
• 2 complimentary specialty cocktails mixed with sponsor Northwest Distillery’s (www.nwdistillery.com) flagship products: Liquid Vodka and Lavishmint! YUM!
• Sweet treats to nosh on!
• Professional photography by Sweetbird Photography, including photo props (please feel free to bring your own cameras, as well).
• A few very special…very festive…very swinging surprises to be unveiled through the night (a girl can never give away all her secrets up front)! Trust us, you won’t be disappointed!

*Full bar with beer, wine and other beverages (including the non-alcoholic variety) will also be available for purchase.

Semi-Formal attire is REQUIRED. Period costumes are encouraged (hello, lovely flapper ladies and dapper gentleman…) if you like, but are NOT REQUIRED. 21 and over ONLY, please!

PLEASE NOTE: This venue is limited and will sell out. Please pre-purchase your ticket to guarantee that we have the chance to celebrate the holidays in style with you!

Give, Drink, Dance… and stay fabulous,

The Good Time Girls (Amanda, Beth and Meghan)

The Phoogoo crew was at this year’s Rosey Awards in full affect. Delicious drinks, awesome entertainment, amazing work, great food, fun people – it was everything we expected and more.

Any party that has Koi Fusion, circus acts and whiskey is a great party to us. Three of our favorite things!

The creative community runs thick in Portland and we are so happy to be a part of it. We browsed the Interactive work and are fired up to throw some Phoogoo projects in the mix for next year’s show. Congratulations to Struck Axiom and Weiden+Kennedy for their gold-medal-winning Interactive work. We also saw some quality entries from NORTH, Pop Art and Harlo Interactive – to name a few. There was plenty of inspiring creative to be seen.

Hats off to the Portland Advertising Federation for yet, another great awards show!

1. Make lists.
2. Carry a notebook everywhere.
3. Try free writing.
4. Get away from the computer.
5. Quit beating yourself up.
6. Take breaks.
7. Sing in the shower.
8. Drink coffee.
9. Listen to new music.
10. Be open.
11. Surround yourself with creative people.
12. Get feedback.
13. Collaborate.
14. Don’t give up.
15. Practice, practice, practice.
16. Allow yourself to make mistakes.
17. Go somewhere new.
18. Count your blessings.
19. Get lots of rest.
20. Take risks.
21. Break the rules.
22. Don’t force it.
23. Read a page of the dictionary.
24. Create a framework.
25. Stop trying to be someone else’s perfect.
26. Got an idea? Write it down.
27. Clean your workspace.
28. Have fun.
29. Finish something.