Jam-packed with events and fun holidays, autumn is our favorite season to be outside and enjoy the color inspiration, fall fashion and crisp air.

Here are a few of our favorite things to do:

“The Fall is my absolute FAVORITE season.  In addition to the usual pumpkin carving and Halloween costume party traditions, one of my absolute favorite things to do every October is visit Markoff’s Haunted Forest with my friends.  This particular Haunted Forest beats ANY Haunted house/tour/forest/etc I have ever been to.  My friends and I love to go out each year, clutching to each other as we frantically make it through the terrifying forest.  Even their website is scary!“ – Amanda Butterworth, Senior Director, Creative Services

“It would have to be our annual drive into the Colorado Rockies to view the changing aspen trees – the colors are just delicious!  This year we drove over Boreas Pass which takes the route of an old rail bed from Como to the south and drops down into Breckenridge.  Breathtaking!” – Martha Kirkpatrick, Director, Member Services

Martha's photo of some gorgeous Colorado foliage!

“My favorite fall activity is college football.  As many of you know, I am a HUGE Boise State football fan (as an Idahoan) and greatly enjoy watching them trounce the competition on our controversial blue field.  In Charlottesville, it’s nice to get out, tailgate, and watch UVA try to hold it together in the ACC.” – Alexandra Gibson, President and CEO

Alexandra (in the hat), with Katherine and Martha Jane (both GDM Advisory Board members) on each end, and Bevin (GDM fan always, new Broncos fan)

“My favorite part of fall is throwing on my favorite fleece and watching football. Go tigers! (Hampden-Sydney).” – Lolly Rush, Project Manager

“I love visiting Martha’s Vineyard on fall weekends – eating clam chowder, checking out that famous New England foliage, and bundling up to take my dog for a walk on the beach.” – Jessye Aibel, Associate, Social Media & Online PR

The Gibson Design Management team has been on the road a lot recently– from New York City to  California to Boston and Anguilla (and beyond)– ’tis clearly the season to vacation.  Out of a great appreciation for travels past, present and future, the team has gathered some of their best jet-setting memories:

“My funniest vacation memory comes from a much earlier family vacation at Club Med in Florida.  There were a lot of fun acrobatic activities that my sister and cousins were all excited to try.  I had my first trapeze experience and loved flying (and falling) through the air.  The embarrassing part comes in when they asked the kids in our family to participate in their weekly circus performance.  Not only were the routines humiliating, but the outfits made it so much worse… bright pink unitards (I wish I was kidding)!” – Amanda Butterworth, Senior Director, Creative Services

Amanda flying high in Florida

“On our family road trips I was always the kid who had a knack for having to use the ladies room in the most unpleasant parts of town. It coined me the nick-name ‘ghetto-bladder.’” – Lolly Rush, Project Manager

“One of the funniest vacation memories is one that I am sure many share with me.  My parents, two brothers and I took a road trip to Yellowstone in the mid-60’s, and the assault on our olfactory senses made for many giggles, both then and now!” – Martha Kirkpatrick, Director, Member Services

“I have quite the arsenal of embarrassing and funny family vacation memories. One that really stands out, however, happened during our family trip to Disney World when I was about seven years old:  my little brother (maybe three at the time) accidentally pooped in the pool at our hotel. Of course, it wasn’t just any pool but instead a gigantic, snaking resort water park that meanders between all sorts of crazy slides and fake islands.  Needless to say, not too many people enjoyed the water that day.  But on the bright side, the hotel really took its sanitation policy seriously.” – Jessye Aibel, Associate, Social Media & Online PR

And here are some of our favorite vacation spots & best vacation memories:

“I love traveling to the Caribbean for short vacations.  It’s typically not too expensive, is easy to get to from DC, and, although I’m someone who seems to be going full-throttle all the time, the Caribbean is good for my necessary downtime.  Funny part about the beach is that I don’t really like salt water getting in my mouth so I only like swimming in the pool.  I blame my parents for making me gargle salt water when I had tonsillitis as a kid… I also have an unnatural fear of being eaten by a shark.  I like the tropical drinks though, so that balances out the shark fear.” – Alexandra Gibson, President/ CEO

“My favorite vacation was my family’s summer trip in 2004.  My mom’s side of the family is Cuban and everyone (aunts, uncles, cousins) went to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for a big family vacation.  We stayed at a beautiful resort, enjoying the sandy beaches, perfect water, great pools, and fun cocktails.  Even though I was too young to legally drink in the US, I was old enough to have a few margaritas in Mexico!  We also enjoyed a lot of perks because some of my family could speak fluent Spanish with the resort employees.” – Amanda Butterworth, Senior Director, Creative Services

“My family used to travel once a year to the house my grandfather built in Jamaica. We have an old family video of me dancing with my dad to Bob Marley when I was about three years old, and albums and albums of funny pictures.  Some of my best childhood memories were in that house, and I’ve missed it since the day it was sold!” – Jessye Aibel, Associate, Social Media & Online PR

Me (Jessye) and my little brother Mike in Jamaica

“My favorite vacation was my honeymoon 14 years ago.  My husband, Brent and I, decided to do something a bit off the beaten path.  We rode his motorcycle from Denver (our home) to California, along the PCH and then back!  3400 miles, 11 days, sights and sounds of the beautiful Western U.S., a trip never to be forgotten.” – Martha Kirkpatrick, Director, Member Services

“My favorite vacation was our family trip to Bermuda. I was only 8 but still have a vivid memory of the beautiful beaches of horseshoe bay, and falling asleep to the sound of horse hoofs from the horse drawn carriages carting visitors down the cobblestone streets.” – Lolly Rush, Project Manager

Practical, judicious and well-dressed, Scarlett O’Hara embodies more than just the charm of a Southern belle.  Her character gives us plenty of business-savvy lessons to work with– applicable to any time period, and regardless of proximity to the Mason-Dixon Line.

Here are four lessons to be learned from Scarlett:

1. Be resilient. Scarlett did not have an easy go of it after the Civil War.  She was forced to work the fields and manage the house after the death of her mother and the onset insanity of her father.  Furthermore, she had not a penny to her name and was deeply indebted to the tax collectors.  However, she pushed through.  We’ve all lived through the last 2 years of a terrible economic storm.  Even without poor market conditions, businesses will go through very tough times.  Resiliency, and will power, can often be the only thing to push us through the difficulty when it seems like everything is going to mud.  Sometimes it is about putting one foot in front of the other when things are really dismal.
2. Dress the part. When Scarlett goes to Atlanta to visit Rhett Butler in jail and ask for money to pay the taxes on Tara, she dresses the part despite being destitute (and wears the velvet drapes that Mammy fashioned into a gown).  As Thomas Fuller said “Good clothes open all doors.”  When you want something from someone—a sale, an investment, etc.—you need to look and act like you will survive without it.  Dress the part, inside and out.
3. Think about it tomorrow. Some days are overwhelming.  If you think about eating the whole elephant in one sitting, you will be sick thinking about the enormity of your task.  Not everything has to be done today.  Don’t bury your head in the sand but give yourself a break and realize that you are one person with the same 24 hours that everyone else has.  As Scarlett says, “I’ll think about it tomorrow.”  Some days you should do just that.
4. Don’t be foolish chasing after something that is not meant to be. Occasionally, we all really believe that a certain product or service is what is going to be our savior for our company.  We continue investing money and time, putting other lucrative services and products on the back burner.  Be honest with yourself about what areas of your business are really producing revenue.  Focus a majority of your efforts there.  Don’t spend your business life chasing after Ashley when Rhett is really the best fit.

“Associate with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for it is better to be alone than in bad company.”

-George Washington

The 4th of July not only marks an important date in history– America’s birthday–  but it’s also the perfect occasion for spending time outside and enjoying good food, beverages and company.  This 4th of July, the Gibson Design Management team will be celebrating another birthday, too: the newest member of our company wolfpack, OttoPilot Media, which helps to propel businesses using social media and non-traditional marketing.

In honor of Independence Day, the GDM team has compiled some of our favorite festive recipes:

Patriotic Fruit Pizza (from Lolly)

Ingredients

• 1 (18 ounce) package refrigerated sugar cookie dough
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).  Press dough flat into an ungreased cookie sheet or pyrex. Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes, or until lightly browned. Cool. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese with 1/2 cup sugar and vanilla until light. Spread on cooled crust. Arrange desired fruit on top of filling, and chill.

Panzanella (from Alexandra)

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons good olive oil
• 1 small French bread or boule, cut into 1-inch cubes (6 cups)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 large, ripe tomatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1 hothouse cucumber, unpeeled, seeded, and sliced 1/2-inch thick
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1/2 red onion, cut in 1/2 and thinly sliced
• 20 large basil leaves, coarsely chopped
• 3 tablespoons capers, drained

(for the rest of the recipe and directions, check it out on the Food Network website!)

Martha’s Fresh Guacamole (we hear it’s pretty famous!)

Ingredients:

(Makes 4 cups)

• 4 ripe avocados
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tomato, peeled & chopped
• 1 fresh, mild green chile, chopped
• 2 green onions, chopped
• coarse sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
• garlic salt to taste

Directions:

Peel, seed and lightly mash avocados, so that they are still chunky. Add lemon juice, tomato, green chile, onions, and season to taste with salt, pepper and garlic salt.  Fold together gently.  In order to prevent the guac from turning dark, place the avocado pits on top (to be removed upon serving), cover and refrigerate no more than 4 hours.  It’s best when it is freshly made!

We hope everyone has a great 4th of July weekend!

I just returned from Sonoma for a wine-tasting whirlwind with some friends.  As a typical type-A, I made a list of the wines that I really enjoyed while I was out there.  I thought that today would be a fitting day to post my wine list as it’s Christmas Eve and many of us are spending time with our families.  Whether you’re drinking with your family or because of them, these are all great wines to enjoy.

Chalk Hill Winery- my favorite winery that we visited

Simi 2007 Chardonnay

Simi 2007 Merlot

Cline 2006 Big Break Zinfandel

Cline 2007 Oakley 4 Whites

Cline 2006 Oakley 5 Reds

Cline 2007 Syrah

Murphy-Goode 2004 All-In Claret

Murphy-Goode 2003 Sarah Block Cabernet

Coppola Sofia Blanc de Blancs 2007 (sparkling)

Ferrari-Carano Fume Blanc

Ferrari-Carano Chardonnay Alexander Valley

Lambert Bridge 2007 Sauvignon Blanc

Lambert Bridge 2006 Zinfandel

Toad Hollow Risque French Sparkling

ANYTHING from Chalk Hill Winery

Enjoy!