4 Years Unplugged

I love pumpkin spice lattes and boots as much as the next person, but for me fall is all about my anniversary of moving to New York City and the beginning of my life without cable television, or any television at all. And look, I'm still alive to tell the story!

Four years ago this October, I moved to the Upper East Side of Manhattan with one of my college friends. We both got jobs at the same time, achieving a goal we both had to move to NYC after graduation. Not surprisingly, our salaries were entry level, making it hard to survive financially in the city. So, I was faced with choosing between my two loves: food or the Kardashians.

I mean, I seriously should be the 6th sister, my name does start with a "K"
Photo from vibe.com

I chose food. Our first year in New York we had an old boxy TV but no cable. Then, we moved downtown and never plugged the TV back in (gotta love tiny NYC apartments). I remember in the beginning when I would mention that I did not have cable or a TV, people would look at me like I was a freak of nature. But in the past few weeks I've heard a few people say they do not have TVs and no one else in the conversation seems to think it's strange. Also, some of my friends have cancelled their cable subscription. Finally, I'm fitting in!

To be fair, I might be a cord cutter, but I still watch TV. Here's why and how I've survived these past 4 years:

1. I didn't grow up really watching TV. Not because my parents didn't let me, but because in our first house the TV was in the basement and I was afraid to go down there.  I'm fairly certain that is where it all started. Once we moved, I had already discovered how much I loved playing with Barbies and using my imagination, so TV seemed boring. I then became a competitive swimmer in middle school and swam all the way through college which meant I had swim practice every day during prime time viewing hours. All of my friends were swimmers, so they missed out on TV as well, causing me to think it was normal to not watch TV.

2. The CW put all of their shows online, and since the only show I ever fell in love with was 'Gossip Girl' I really had no reason to pay for cable. Now that Chuck and Blair ended up together and all is right in the world, I can move on with my life.

For this photo and more  C & B click here

3. My parents live in Philadelphia, only about 2 hours away and barely use their DVR so I just load up all of the shows I want to watch and go home once a month to binge view.

4. Netflix... the perfect way to binge watch anything that you know will suit your interest. House of Cards has currently distracted me from all of my schoolwork. I've been telling myself it is giving me inspiration for my thesis on political communications strategies, but we all know that's a lie.

Find out why you'll love it as much as me

5. Shady websites where you can stream episodes of Mad Men. I really could only do this my first 2 years in Manhattan, now I have to use #3 because I don't have the patience or effort to find and load these sites.

6. The gym... I legitimately cannot workout on a machine without a TV because I get so bored. I'd like to thank E! for replaying the Kardashians all the time so I can keep up with my favorite all-American family.

Over a year ago I started babysitting for a family that my cousins put me in touch with. The kids were great, and I thought it would be awesome to be able to watch their TV after the kids went to bed. As it turns out, the TV wasn't that great. First, TVs have become a lot more complicated in the past 4 years and I have a hard time finding the shows on DVR or On Demand and finagling all the remotes. Try explaining to a 3 and 5 year old that you "don't know" how to use the TV. They look at me like I'm an alien or lying to them. Then, I discovered I really have no interest in surfing channels or just watching TV to pass the time. Good thing I have that thesis to work on!

I still get comments from people who ask how I survive without cable, but I'm more concerned as to how I would survive without food. I'm still a true believer that TV rots your brain, and even if I won the lottery next week, I'm not sure I would get cable. It's just something I've learned to live without.

Summer Love

I cannot go home to Chester County, Pennsylvania without coming across Victory Beer. I don't even need to go to a store or bar to find the beer, just this past weekend I went home to lounge by my best friend's pool, and her brother came home wearing a Victory shirt because he is doing a summer internship there as part of his Tourism & Hospitality Management degree at Temple University.

I'm not much of a beer connoisseur, but there is a cult following for this stuff, which I only discovered after I moved out of PA and found myself face to face with people asking me wide eyed about growing up in the same town as the brewery. People fall hard for this beer - it's no wonder they named their summer ale "Summer Love" - finding Victory beer in a bar outside of PA brings happiness akin to the memory of a first summer love.

MacBook view: victorybeer.com

Victory knows it has a cult like following, which they take full advantage of on their website. The content features a beer finder allowing users to find the bar closest to them that carries Victory (anywhere in the US), an explanation of all of their beers, the restaurant menu, an event calendar and facts and videos about how the beer is made.

On all platforms (laptop, tablet, mobile device) victorybeer.com creates a very classic and traditional American feel by utilizing a red, white and blue color scheme (and of course the name "Victory" helps with American pride as well). But, America is the "new world," just as Victory is a relatively "new" beer, so they remind you that they know what they are doing with the tag line "European Tradition. American Integrity."

If the phrase "American tradition" alone does not let you know you are drinking a quality beer, the website is so aesthetically pleasing (simple, yet artistic) that it just screams "QUALITY!" reminding consumers that paying premium price is worth it for this beer. Good looks go a long way, and the page featuring all of their beers is so creative it feels as though there is something for everyone, from the traditionalists to the day dreamers.

Just a few of the Victory brews! Check out the full list and find what is right for you at http://www.victorybeer.com/beers/

The text is a bit small on the website, but the blue space on the sides of the main content help the eye know where to focus. There is a lot of content on each of the pages, so utilizing all of the space would make it too cluttered.

Find a Victory event near you at http://www.victorybeer.com/events/

iPhone view: victorybeer.com

 If it isn't apparent by now that I think Victory is a great beer with a great marketing strategy, let me tell you about the experience loading their website on my mobile device:  it's brilliant.

Upon opening victorybeer.com on my iPhone I noticed that their main content best viewed on a laptop is downplayed, but easily viewable and most prominent are "Upcoming Events" and the "Beer Finder." Victory knows  that people on the go are pulling up the website because they're trying to find an address of the event Victory is at, or a bar that carries the beer. Brilliant. Plus, their text is huge and easy to scroll, which almost negates my comment about the small text when viewing on a desktop.

Victory does fall short on the iPad experience, where users are not as on the go as an iPhone viewer. The tablet experience appears to be very similar to the desktop experience, which makes sense, until you struggle to hit the arrow keys which are too small for fingers on an iPad. Additionally, the scrolling images are not able to be viewed by swiping a finger across the image, which seems strange to a tablet viewer who navigates by swiping their fingers across the screen. 

Easy to click text on iPhone

iPad view: victorybeer.com

Now, if only Victory would move their social media page links to the top of their website from the bottom, Victory Beer might be successful at achieving world domination.

Victory's Facebook page is pretty cool, despite the fact you can barely see the link on their website

Cheers!