The Next Apple Commercial?
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-jhElp6WJs&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1&w=425&h=344]
Coffee Tour!
If you haven't read this article in the New York Times yet about the best coffee places in the city, I highly recommend you read it here. I'm tempted to print out a copy and leave it in my purse at all times just in case. I can't believe how many places opened in the East Village area since I left for the Upper East Side about 8 months ago. Enjoy!
Mini New York City Guide
Mini New York City Guide
Cheap massage for when you're whole body is in pain and you can't wait for spa week. And are too lazy (or chicken) to try some random place in Chinatown.
Try Graceful Spa 56th on 56th street between 2nd and 3rd. I've gone there twice for hour long massages that cost a discounted $60 and is well worth it. Hey, some women buy lots of shoes and get regular manicures. I prefer a massage every few months. Anyway, the massage itself isn't much different from going to a regular spa. But you will miss having your own separate room (it's one big room separated with sheets and curtains. The massage oil doesn't have a particular sent. It's probably cheaper and more generic.. and you won't have access to a steam room, etc. afterward like you may at an official spa.
Coming up - where to find cheap but great haircuts for women.
Amazing Video
Show Some Love
A very good friend of mine's sister was recently diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) and is currently being treated. Two of her friends are raising money towards Leukemia and can use your support. Hillary has a few thousand to go. She'll be riding a 100 mile bike ride in June. You can donate here please! And Shayna has already surpassed her goal, where she'll be participating in a triathlon, but if you're feeling generous, you can please donate here.
Spread the love. I'm always struck at how brave and positive people are when they're faced with real issues beyond the typical job, dating, living woes and from what I've heard, Melissa is no exception.
Kitteh!
And then I'm going to train him to do this - and he'll be a YouTube sensation.
Long Overdue - Linchpin
Hey folks. This post is long overdue. I had the pleasure of seeing Seth Godin and Steven Pressfield speak at Borders Monday night with Natasha from New Age of Marketing & PR. We both felt the talk was inspiring. And personally, I think both of us have already started applying Godin's ideas in our lives. Natasha has a great writeup of the event here. In addition to what Natasha wrote, I'd add some other interesting ideas that Seth and Steven brought up.
Guiding principal of life; whatever you feel the most resistance to, that's what you're soul feels it's the most needed to do.
That in the end, the satisfaction from working and conquering your "resistance" is much more gratifying than the immediate happiness from avoiding work.
When you're trying to achieve a long term goal, let go of negative thoughts. Let it pass. It's resistance and it's horse shit.
Think about making a positive impact in the world.
Keep doing what you're doing over and over again. This goes in line with what Malcolm Gladwell talks about in Outliers (10,000 hours) and what Anne Lamott discusses in Bird By Bird. The more bad ideas you have, the more good ideas you'll create. It (life, success, entrepreneurship, art, creating) is a marathon and not a sprint!
I can happily say that my public high school (Teaneck High School) and the great teachers it contained, prepared me for this kind of thinking. For the most part, I've envied my friends who took a more traditional path to life and work - grad school, job with specific rules, timely promotions, etc. But now I realize that my zigzag, crazy path full of temp jobs, entrepreneurship, retail, sales, etc. will be just as beneficial in the long run.
Wrap A Nap = Genius
I found this website while fighting the resistance (Linchpin/War of Art talk); i.e. procrastinating, on my photography assignment. You know those moments where you desperately need a nap but you're at work... or in a car, or traveling elsewhere and nature just did not equip you with the perfect napping pillow. Well.. this is definitely one of those ideas that I wish I had thought of, especially as an avid napper. I found it through Tanveer Badal's photography website. After reading reviews, I'm convinced it's comfortable and will put you right to sleep. The Poseidon Wrap-A-Nap has my name on it. Maybe the Wrap-A-Nap will prevent me from having weird dreams about Paris Hilton like I did during my half hour snow storm nap today. Hmmmm.
TED Prize
I interrupt my Vermont Ski trip recap to bring you this message. Congrats to Amy and Chris at TED for being interviewed by CNN. I'm looking forward to seeing what Jamie Oliver will come up with and would love to support his cause in some way. It's amazing how working towards curing obesity can solve so many problems in the US. I'm going to try and follow his teachings, cook food from his cookbook and bring in my lunch more often.
TED Prize
I interrupt my Vermont Ski trip recap to bring you this message. Congrats to Amy and Chris at TED for being interviewed by CNN. I'm looking forward to seeing what Jamie Oliver will come up with and would love to support his cause in some way. It's amazing how working towards curing obesity can solve so many problems in the US. I'm going to try and follow his teachings, cook food from his cookbook and bring in my lunch more often.
Smuggler's Notch Part 2
And so the drinking began
So where was I? My car (three guys) and I arrived at our spacious condo, had some shots then dinner at the resort. Post dinner, we decided to hit up the pool and hot tub. One brave soul attempted to bypass the lifeguard wearing only his skivvies but was harshly reprimanded. After quickly changing, we ran over to the "Fun Zone" in the hopes that we would find ping pong, as the resort website promised. Instead, it was a gym area fit for five year olds and we were told to head to the teen zone. Hoping that the term "Teen Zone" was somehow meant for the over 12 crowd without children, we headed over. We entered a room fit for a church basement with one ping pong table, a few pimpled teenagers and some couches. My boyfriend spoke to the attendant who demanded his age, to which he replied 28 (he's 30). We were promptly kicked out and told to go to the bar. Why is drinking synonymous with the one "adult activity?" Large purple book bag in hand, wet hair and glasses, we made ourselves comfortable at the resort bar and were informed that, naturally, they were hosting karaoke.
A few drinks later and I was singing Kelly Clarkson in front of the crowd by my lonesome, completely abandoned by my boyz who had initially intended on singing with me. Among the crowd was, of course, a fellow college alumni also at the resort with about ten other friends. Our group was anointed the "New York Group" and at one point, I think we were even booed. Yeah, I'm really glad this photo is blurry. All in all, it was a fun night and I'm glad we got to see everything the resort had to offer. A little La Bamba, an ill chosen Benny and the Jets, and we returned to the condo, dignity partially intact. The rest of our crew arrived that night and we all crashed at midnight prepared for a full day of skiing.
Smuggler's Notch. Oh Snap!
I had an amazing weekend. I went up to Vermont's Green Mountain, and rented a condo with my boyfriend and 6 others. My boyfriend made us meet at Grand Central at 8am on Friday morning, which I've probably mentioned a few times. But to his credit, it was actually a great idea and felt pretty good to be out of the city by 9am. I had so many life changing "Firsts" this weekend. I experienced Cracker Barrel for the first time which was glorious and kicked my two day French Toast craving. What genius came up with a restaurant that also contains a country store full of goodies.
Boyfriend's friend. (Ladies, he's single!)After taking what ended up being an hour detour through Stowe and then back around the mountain, we finally got to the resort around 4. My boyfriend planned the trip, reading that it was a top rated ski resort, but he missed the line where it mentions top resort for "families." So we were surrounded by families and got dirty looks throughout our stay - mainly because they thought we were going to tear up the joint. On the bright side, it meant that there were ample "Green Trails" for us beginners. Which was especially good since we missed our hour of free instruction and instead, received a 30 hour lesson from our friend Mike. I also felt comforted knowing that five year old's were fearlessly doing everything I was about to do.
To Be continued...
One More and Then I'm Out
by John Alber
Happy!
Today I went a little Tumblr crazy. You can see my posts here. I have to figure out how to use it. As a competitive Aries, I find blogs are no fun until you can figure out how to track your viewers.
OMG OMG, 2 more hours until quitting time. My boyfriend is making us meet at Grand Central tomorrow at 8am to leave for our Vermont Ski trip. I kindly tried to explain to him that he was on crack but he just laughed at me. Oh well. I can sleep in the car and I understood his thinking - that he wanted his vacation to start as early as possible.
High and Lows
Thank you Casey and Jordan once again for the shout outs. And if you want a more detailed recap of the event along with a book list, etc. please check out Natasha's blog New Age of Marketing & PR here.
So funny story, the hot water isn't working in my building. Again. I guess it's good I know this now instead of 7am when I'm trying to rush to get ready for my ski trip. So looks like I'll be staying at bf's place tonight after all. On that note, I'll be on the road tomorrow with limited access to the web but I'll try to sneak in a few Tumblr posts here and there mainly cause I haven't figured out how to Blog on Blogger via my iPhone. So catch those update HERE.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone. I'll keep you posted on my skiing adventures. This is actually the first time I've gone skiing. Yikes!
P.S. I haven't hawked my wares in a while so here it goes. See here for RedBubble. And because you can never have too many random canvas bags. See here.
Happy!
Today I went a little Tumblr crazy. You can see my posts here. I have to figure out how to use it. As a competitive Aries, I find blogs are no fun until you can figure out how to track your viewers.
OMG OMG, 2 more hours until quitting time. My boyfriend is making us meet at Grand Central tomorrow at 8am to leave for our Vermont Ski trip. I kindly tried to explain to him that he was on crack but he just laughed at me. Oh well. I can sleep in the car and I understood his thinking - that he wanted his vacation to start as early as possible.
Absolutely Inspired
Just got back from a panel discussion via Social Media Week: Women in Social Media Panel. It was amazingly inspiring and most definitely needed. Let's just say I've had to look at the LolCats website a few times since my last post to get me into a happy place. And I'm pretty sure my boyfriend thinks I'm a highly dramatic, emotional wreck to which I've tried to assure him that this is only temporary ... I swear!
Each panelist gave valuable advice and all seemed to come from similar places. They graduated from top colleges, attempted to go into traditional media or dying industries, tried to encourage their companies to utilize social media and eventually struck out on their own when they realized their companies were slow to change. Everyone seemed to have been struggling when literally one moment, introduction, or idea changed their lives and catapulted them into success - the kind of success where they have control over their own destiny and enjoy what they do. Jordan Reid's genuine kindness was a good reminder that if you smile at the world, the universe will smile back. Alexa offered practical advice about starting a business - Seth Godin's "Purple Cow" and "Free Prize Inside" are on my book list. I'll be sure to follow Meghan Muntean's soon to be launched website ChickRx, a brilliant website idea that answers questions we may be too afraid to ask our mothers. And Casey Carter may have encouraged me to move my blog to Tumblr for the community of people and dashboard feature. The moderator, Neha Chauhan kept the conversation going and asked insightful questions, leading to informative answers. All in all, a successful event.
Meghan, Jordan and Casey
Neha and Meghan
Casey and AlexaThinking Happy Thoughts
There was a significant amount of anger on the 6 train this morning. It came late and was packed. For a few seconds, the lights went out. Then, about 5 ft away from me, two women got in a tiff. The woman sitting had way too much anger in her and her language was fairly inappropriate considering her child was sitting next to her. A young, blond girl's bag accidentally touched this woman since the train was packed. The lady sitting yelled at her to move her bag and the blond girl defended herself. The lady sitting called her a bitch and a dumb ass, or something like that. Pretty harsh. I felt like the argument extended beyond boundaries of personal space, into race and social economic tension. Eesh. Way too much drama before 10am.