I took the kids to their very first concert last night…

If you live in or near Philadelphia and have never been to a show at The First Unitarian Church, you’re missing out. This place is by far the coolest place I’ve ever seen a musical act. It’s a real church (yep, you can do the worship thingie there every Sunday if you want) but it’s like no church I’ve ever seen. It’s old (established in 1796) and colorful (check out that photo I snapped last night…those colors are real) and the acoustics are otherworldly.

St. Vincent, one of my favorite performers ever, played last night (Swedish duo Wildbirds and Peacedrums opened for her and holy moly, were they awesome.) and it was the first show I took both of the girls, ages 9 and 12, to. We sat in a pew no more than 10 feet away from the stage and the view and sound was spectacular. Annie Clark sounded angelic (wow, I’m totally dropping all of these church references accidentally, I swear!) but the best part of the night by far for me was seeing Lola’s reaction to the entire event. My sarcastic, often-sullen tween was mesmerized. She was happy. She smiled and clapped and sat on the edge of her seat the entire time. She couldn’t wait to buy a tee shirt and when we arrived home around 11:45, she promptly updated her Facebook status to read “Just got back from a St. Vincent show!!! EPIC!!!!!! : {D” By far, it was one of the proudest parenting moments of my career. Now she wants to learn the guitar. Words can’t express how amazing I feel about this.

R5 Productions booked the event and, as usual, did a fantastic job. The shows at First Unitarian are all ages and the average ticket price is $15, so you can take your kids or younger siblings or current hottie out without getting a second job to pay for it. I saw Metric here in the basement about four years ago and it blew my mind. R5 Productions deserves lots of love and praise; they’re responsible for helping to bring brilliant artists to our city at a price that most of us can afford.

Last night was a historic event for my girls and me. We all remember our first concert (mine was Shaun Cassidy in Raleigh, NC). How fitting that theirs was in such a special place.

I’m a busy bee today so instead of “telling,” I’m “showing.” Here are a few fashion shots I’ve taken that I’m quite fond of. Enjoy!

(all images copyright carrie estok. if you want to feature them somewhere else, please be a pal and give me credit. thanks!)

It’s a terribly long, dull drive down I-95 from Philadelphia to Murrells Inlet, SC. A “let’s leave at 5:30 am and drive all day by myself with my two kids,” kind of drive. The landscape is dotted by countless Cracker Barrels, truck stops, surly State Troopers and the occasional outlet mall. Oh, and a couple of billboards for this low-key joint called “South of the Border” that’s totally trying to fly under the radar…

Those guys at South of the Border must have really taken the whole Rule of Repetition Marketing to heart. Never heard of South of the Border, which lies right on the North Carolina/South Carolina line? Then clearly you’ve never made the trip down to what has been occasionally referred to as “The Redneck Riviera.” (See, my parents live down here so I can joke about that. It’s like someone insulting your spouse; you can say whatever you want but a pox upon anyone who dares to utter an unkind word about your lovie. But I digress…)

Starting about 175 miles away, strange and slightly surreal neon-colored billboards dominate the sides of 95 advertising a mini universe of tacky tee-shirt shacks, an ice cream parlor, restaurants, gas stations and my favorite, “The Dirty Old Man Shop.” The fictitious host of this mish-moshed place is a character called Pedro, who, up until 1997, was such a racist stereotype that I’m amazed that they were allowed to remain as long as they did. In 1993, the Mexican Embassy complained about the billboards in a letter to South of the Border owner Alan Schafer. His response was to suggest the embassy consider the $1.5 million in merchandise he imports from Mexico each year. In a statement to The Raleigh News and Observer, Schafer stated “We have to communicate with the present generation — these baby boomers do not have a sense of humor.” You stay classy, Mr. Schafer!

Our pal Pedro is still the affable guide to all the tourist poo you’ll ever need, but he’s a kinder, more sensitive Pedro than he was before. With taglines such as “Pedro’s Weather Forecast: Chili today, hot tamale!” and “You Never Sausage a Place! (You’re Always a Wiener at Pedro’s!),” these ads aren’t exactly going to win you over based on their original copy or groundbreaking delivery methods. However, you sure as hell aren’t going to drive by Exit 1 without noticing the 165-ft. tall Sombrero Tower, and I’d bet my allowance on the fact that they don’t get everyone in the car assessing their need for fireworks and tequila. Are the South of the Border billboards annoying? Oh yeah. Did they achieve what they set out to do, which, I’m assuming, is build brand recognition?

Pedro and I both agree: without a doubt, the answer is sí.

Repetition works for them, but does it work for your brand? Are your customers tuning your message out unless you slap them in the head with it at least 100 times, or will they slap you if you even think of trying? Unless you’re paying close attention to exactly what people are saying about the way you speak to them, you have no serious way of knowing if all those ad dollars are being well spent. Statistics and impressions are one thing, but nothing will ever take the place of getting the scoop straight from the source. And what’s a solid way to find out what the word on the street is? Social media monitoring.

But we’ll get to that later. These Roman Candles and sparklers aren’t going to light themselves.

I took this photo on my most recent trip to LA a few weeks ago. My obsession with taking pictures is at an all-time high, and now my trusty camera goes wherever I go. This isn’t so good for my back (it feels like I’m smuggling a newborn in my bag) but it’s great for my imagination and my spirit. Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about the things I want in my life, which then leads me to making decisions about what I need to get rid of. Here are a few things I’ve come up with…

I want…
…to spend more time with my family and be more present instead of thinking about my to-do list.
…my work to be challenging and inspiring, and I want to work with people who are passionate and honest.
…to devote more time to nurturing my creativity, like taking photos and working on my screenplay.
…to exist with integrity and passion and leave my fingerprint on something amazing.

I don’t want…
…to take on work just for the paycheck (because I always regret it and it’s about time I learned that).
…to smile and nod when I really want to scream and shout.
…to try to be everyone’s best friend (wish I had realized that back in high school).
…to surround myself with people I don’t respect and situations that don’t make sense for me.

This is my personal inventory. My “taking out of the trash,” if you will. It keeps me honest. Keeps me on my toes, and, in the words of the great Casey Kasem, reaching for the stars. Whether you’re a bartender, artist, stay at home mom, entrepreneur or President of the United States, taking inventory of yourself and your goals is a pretty nifty thing to do. You don’t have to share it with the world (only nerds like me do stuff like that); you just have to be willing to tell the truth to yourself. Scary, yes, but most of the things that are worthwhile are, right?

Maybe you’ll find that you’re right on track and you should stay the course. If that’s the case, mazel tov! You’re ahead of most of us. But maybe you’ll discover that somewhere along the way, your priorities got a little out of whack. No biggie. Just figure out what you need to do to get back in the game. Your customers will thank you. Your family and friends will thank you. And most of all, you’ll have spent a little quality time trying to reduce all that bad mojo out in the world. And for that, I thank you.