A few months ago my sister said she was eliminating the word busy from her vocabulary.

"Hi! How are things?"
"Oh busy..."

It's a conversation I'm so familiar with. But why do we have so much pride in being busy.

Ask someone who the hardest working person at the office is and often we point to the harried worker who's there later than everyone else. Never do we ask if maybe they need to take a workshop on time management and maybe they could benefit from being a bit more organized: a gift basket of post-its and hi-lighters.

Despite having a full time job and a business I never feel like I don't have time for the people and things that I love.

The reality is, I've worked my butt off to be a highly efficient and competent worker. I'm great at what I do. I take a lot of pride in that.

True, having a bad ass business partner has everything to do with the success of chikmedia, but neither of us ever feels the inability to relax.

When we made the transition from an industry to knowledge based society we didn't adjust what hard work looks like. In fact, we punish efficiency.

We punish efficiency.

If I can finish something in fewer hours that should be rewarded. Instead we see it as not working hard enough. Not being stressed equates to not having anything to stress about. As a dear friend pointed out - this creates a cycle where people who are stressed and aggravated are promoted into management hiring more of the same.

But here's the reality. By working a sane number of hours this is what life gives me.

Time to surround myself with my friends. Incredibly intelligent women and men with their own success and enormous amounts to teach me.

Time with my husband to talk about feminism and global issues. To form opinions about what success looks like and the world we hope our niece will mature in. And eventually, time to have children if that's what we decide we want.

Time to explore hobbies I'm passionate about.

Time to relax and come up with big ideas.

So the next time I ask you what you're up to and you say you're working, or your busy, and I cock my head and smile, know that I am not impressed. Know that what I want from you is to hear about your passions and your family (blood or otherwise), I want to know about your life.

We are all busy, there's always more to do, but I can't help but wonder, what does a full life really look like?

I'm not impressed that you're still working. I'm too busy enjoying a cocktail and learning about how many other things in life we have the privilege to enjoy.

So unless you’re living under a rock, you watched the Super Bowl last night. And if you’re anything like us at chikmedia, some of the most exciting moments for you were the ads. In case you missed it, here’s a recap of what we loved and what we… well… didn’t.

1) Budweiser – Puppy and Horse are BFFs. Ok, so did anyone else tear up at this ad? The puppy accidentally finds himself lost from home, but prevails after days of travel. He arrives back at the farm at night only to have a nasty wolf trying to start a fight. The horses break free from their stalls and come to the puppy’s aid. All is well in the world.

Why we liked it: We all know that puppies and babies are the key to a successful marketing campaign. (Unless of course, you’re the idiots over at GoDaddy and you think puppy abuse is funny). The ad was simple, emotional, cute as hell, and the man in the commercial was easy on the eyes. Although it had absolutely nothing to do with beer, we have learned to recognize Clydesdales as the symbol of Budweiser an therefore the ad stuck. Per usual, Budweiser nails it.

2) Dads & Kids – This was a huge theme among ads this year. Dove and Toyota were among the companies who decided to feature men involved in their chidren’s lives. Can we just say it? It’s. About. Damn. Time.

Why we liked it: First of all, we’re all tired of seeing “traditional” homes being portrayed in the media. Stay at home moms, disinterested fathers… it’s not realistic anymore and it’s time we start recognizing that. Secondly, dads deserve a moment. Fathers are more involved in their children’s lives than they have been in the past and when we continue to portray them as horny, lazy oafs it hurts everyone. So give a big thumbs up to the new trend of dads who care!

3) Objectification of Women & Depressing Death – Nope, nope and more nope. A big “woof” to Carl’s Jr. for continuing to produce disgusting ads that alienate 51% of the population. What’s that? You’re going to feature a half naked woman sexually eating a burger that she’d never eat because she’s most likely anorexic? Original. :eye roll.: And WHAT was up with Nationwide’s ad about accidental childhood death?!?! Way to completely pray on the fears of parents around the country!

Why we didn’t like it: I think it’s obvious why we can’t stand commercials that perpetuate unhealthy body image issues and use women as sexual objects to sell terrible products. We’re just over it, so stop it. As for Nationwide, you guys nailed it with Invisible Mindy and then you come back and talk about kids dying? It was highly inappropriate for the occasion (for any occasion really) and didn’t make sense. Just because you’re an insurance company watching out for my kid, it doesn’t mean you have the right to scare the hell out of me. Spare us the absurdity and stick with Mindy, Matt and a bit of humor. –Meghan Rothschild, Director of Marketing & PR