Archive for ‘Thoughts’

February 1, 2012

Get Happy with Me at DailyHap!

I teased you guys hereherehere, and here, and it’s finally HERE!

Daily Hap logo

DailyHap.com is a website designed to create a community of happy people and encourage people to openly, genuinely pursue happiness. It will guide people to Achieving Happiness 1 Day at a Time through a daily action item.

It is also my labor of love, my grand adventure, and now that it’s live, what will consume my life. :-D

We’re launching with a really cool campaign called Penny for Your Thoughts, where a visit to the website donates a penny to Austin Smiles. Sign up for a profile, and contribute Your Two Cents, another two pennies to Austin Smiles. Three cents donated for very little effort! We want to show you that it can be as easy as a click to start on your way to happiness.

What are you waiting for? Click on over to DailyHap and get happy!

January 11, 2012

Teaser #3: Are You Happy?

November 28, 2011

Literally Nike

November 24, 2011

Feel Good Friday (Thursday) 112511 Thanksgiving Edition!

We’re going to suspend our regularly scheduled Feel Good Friday for one big, massive FEEL GOOD things I am thankful for list. Here are 73 things I am so grateful are in my life: (please join me and leave yours in the comments!)

  1. My amazing, supportive, happy family
  2. PLPs of both sexes in Aspen, Austin, Arizona, D.C., Cali, and all around the world. PLP
  3. Denali’s 5th birthday and her new off-leash walking skills
  4. All four of my grandparents are still alive
  5. Texas
  6. Being raised in Texas (You Know You’re a Texan When …)
  7. Hymeadow
  8. Pumpkin
  9. My adventure to Aspen
  10. Knowing what Love Is and loving it
  11. Learning to ski and snowboard

    Skiing

    Yep, those are still dumpster poles

  12. Blake Lively, for constant style inspiration and a huge girl crush
  13. The colors teal and orange together
  14. Wool socks
  15. Airplanes, for visits to and from friends
  16. Washington D.C., for being a wonderful home to my fb gf and my second fall home
  17. My many friends who have found true love
  18. Pickup basketball
  19. Hot tubs
  20. My new skis, which are long, fat, and badass
  21. Pigeon pose, for eliminating IT band pain
  22. Glitter nail polish pens
  23. Confidence and grace, gifted to me by my parents and their raising of me
  24. Press trips
  25. My blog and her loyal followers, who read even when I don’t write about Austin :-)
  26. Football
  27. Rekindled romance with reading
  28. Learning how to curl my hair with a straightener (again)
  29. Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert, Kate, Voegle, and Taylor Swift
  30. Wine
  31. My new travelin’ buddy, the iPad2
  32. Gossip Girl, Hawaii Five-O, Hart of Dixie, 90210, Covert Affairs, Ringer, and Pan Am
  33. Deep Hip & Leg Stretch yoga class
  34. My life experiences
  35. Lowered blood sugar
  36. My new mittens, which are teal and warm
  37. Pinterest
  38. Pinterest
  39. Pinterest
  40. Handwritten notes and cards
  41. Hot pink temporary hair dye
  42. The Pitkin County Library and its incredible inter-library loan system
  43. My hand-me-down down jacket (again … seriously, I would die without it)
  44. The ocean
  45. The internets
  46. Adobe Creative Suite, I’m still holding on to the pirated version from my first-ever job (shhh don’t tell)
  47. Kale
  48. Newfound photography obsessionand friends who happen to have closeted photography interests

    Polar bear!

  49. Twitter
  50. The blow dryers with the nozzle attachments at Aspen Club
  51. Ashley Turner
  52. Bubble baths (with non-toxic bubbles, obvi)
  53. Free Pints of Ben & Jerry’s
  54. Free Pints of Ben & Jerry’s for Ripples of Hope for Children (more details coming soon)
  55. US Weekly
  56. Change … as in life, not coins
  57. Drake
  58. My mobile storage unit (aka yellow land rover)
  59. Blogs and the bloggers who write them
  60. Aspen Extreme friends who force me to do things I never thought I would do
  61. Theme parties
  62. Jhorts
  63. Denali’s reflective collar so I can find her in the snow
  64. Bubbly water
  65. CrossFit
  66. The Blind Side, it never gets old
  67. The knowledge that you can hard-boil eggs in a toaster oven
  68. ViX bikinis
  69. A spiritual, open-minded family
  70. Sunshine + Vitamin D + warmth
  71. Cold-brewed coffee
  72. Love … luv … lurve … loooove … I love all love
  73. That the proliferation of infographics and cute pinterest sayings makes me think at the end of this post that I should have probably made it a graphic in Illustrator, and made it pretty. Instead of a list. Then people might have pinned it. PIN ALL THE THINGS!!
Previous goodies: Thanksgiving 2010 / Thanksgiving 2009
November 3, 2011

Lil Holiday Comforts

tempurpedic This post is sponsored by Tempur-Pedic, the brand millions of owners trust to deliver their best night’s sleep every night. Enjoy our Buy 2, get 1 free pillow offer now and give the gift of custom comfort to someone you love.

I remember when “going home” for Thankgiving and Christmas was not even a question. Now, I don’t even know where home is. Is it Austin, with my parents, brother, and friends? Is it Houston, where we inevitably drive from Austin to see grandparents and extended family during the holidays? Is it Aspen? Is it somewhere new?

Last year was my first Thanksgiving and Christmas away from home—Austin—that is, my first Christmas away from my mom, dad, and brother. I must admit, I am at times a bit of a Scrooge: putting up a tree is a lot of work, shopping for presents a lot of pressure, and all that baking my waistline can’t take (I can’t bake and not sample). But the moment you are away, on your own, making your own holidays happen, there are lots of little comforts that make the holiday season special, and suddenly wherever you are is home.

mini CHristmas tree

Here are my holiday comforts: Aspen’s Hickory House Thanksgiving Dinner: SO cool, the place just fills with locals. Donation for all-you-can-eat free range turkey, dressing, sides, and pie … My thankful lists (that have now spawned a weekly series, but there’s still a Thanksgiving special) … pumpkin … pumpkin … pumpkin … Thanksgiving Day football … cable-knit sweater blankets … Mini Christmas trees… Magazine-page-wrapped presents … Nali’s Christmas bow with a jingle bell; highly annoying yet simultaneously hilarious … Sugar cookies decorated by little cousins—ok, and everyone else … and really, really comfy? My Ugg moccasins.

This year, I vow to also find new comforts! Anyone have any suggestions?

Comfort is the perfect gift for everyone on your holiday gift list, so be sure to take advantage of Tempur-Pedic’s Buy 2, get 1 free pillow offer! I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective.

October 19, 2011

PARAPROSDOKIANS

It’s been awhile since I got an email forward worth sharing. Email fwd from my mom:

Fw: Paraprosdokians 

PARAPROSDOKIANS

I had to look up “paraprosdokian”. Here is the definition:
“Figure of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected; frequently used in a humorous situation.”
“Where there’s a will, I want to be in it,” is a type of paraprosdokian.

Ok, so now enjoy!

1. Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.

2. The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But it’s still on my list.

3. Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

4. If I agreed with you, we’d both be wrong.

5. We never really grow up, we only learn how to act in public.

6. War does not determine who is right – only who is left.

7. Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.

8. Evening news is where they begin with ‘Good Evening,’ and then proceed to tell you why it isn’t.

9. To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal from many is research.

10. A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. On my desk, I have a work station.

11. I thought I wanted a career. Turns out I just wanted paychecks.

12. Whenever I fill out an application, in the part that says, ‘In case of emergency, notify:’ I put ‘DOCTOR.’

13. I didn’t say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.

14. Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.

15. Behind every successful man is his woman. Behind the fall of a successful man is usually another woman.

16. A clear conscience is the sign of a fuzzy memory.

17. I asked God for a bike, but I know God doesn’t work that way. So I stole a bike and asked for forgiveness.

18. You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive twice.

19. Money can’t buy happiness, but it sure makes misery easier to live with.

20. There’s a fine line between cuddling and holding someone down so they can’t get away.

21. I used to be indecisive. Now I’m not so sure.

22. You’re never too old to learn something stupid.

23. To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target.

24. Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be.

25. Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.

26. Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.

27. A diplomat is someone who tells you to go to hell in such a way that you look forward to the trip.

28. Hospitality is making your guests feel at home even when you wish they were.

29. I always take life with a grain of salt. Plus a slice of lemon, and a shot of tequila.

30. When tempted to fight fire with fire, remember that the Fire Department usually uses water.

July 25, 2011

Friends

… we all know about Things We Forget by now, right? This and this are my other fave post-its, but today I’m loving, and missing, my friends. Also, as both of my parents are therapists, I do want to add that there is a time for therapy. But there is also a very important time for friends. They are awesome.

And thankfully, I get my therapy for free. Often over a home-cooked meal. So here’s to friends!

July 17, 2011

World’s Greatest Dad

yahoomail

Thank you to Yahoo! Mail for sponsoring this post about staying connected. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.

Sorry for the random “Email 2″ post all weekend! Sometimes things go awry when you’re on the road back from Denver and you have no internet and then you get home and immediately fall asleep … Anyway, onto our regularly scheduled thisislifeinawesomeness …

Last week, I wrote about Modern Courtship. Today, let’s talk about my emails with another man in my life—my dad. Consider this my belated Father’s Day post.

When my dad first got a computer, he’d need help with basic stuff like turning the thing on. The first IM he got resulted in him calling me and exclaiming, “how did YOU get on to MY screen???” But he’s come a long way, so far that he’s switched from PC to Mac, edits his photos using open-source software, and sends around those ubiquitous LOLCATZ and isn’t-this-amazing-this-3d-sidewalk-chalk-painter-man emails.

However, the most wonderful thing about email and my father is that he sends pictures. Lots of pictures. He loves to take pictures, and he loves to send pictures. Sometimes they have funny subject lines (“I sat down to watch the Texas game and” followed by a shot of Nali sitting in his chair); often they have funny pictures of the family pets—and occasionally the family. When I first started visiting Aspen, I sent tons of photos to Dad because Dad has always wanted to live in the cold, so it was something we could share. While I often talk on the phone with my mom, email keeps me connected to my dad.

But some vestiges of old remain. Most emails contain some iteration of the following:

Pretty fucking A-W-E-S-O-M-E!

Luv ya!

Dad

Since he also subscribes to my blog via email, I fully expect a response to this post with some version of the above. I’ll be looking for that email tomorrow…

July 8, 2011

Modern Courtship

yahoomail

Thank you to Yahoo! Mail for sponsoring this post about staying connected. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.

You guys may not know, but the Vermonster and I took a very long time to get together. I very very sneakily pursued him for many months before he’d date me. A few months into us officially dating (but about a year after we first met), he went on a long vacation. I had the idea that I should start emailing him photos of me and Nail at home. My first email simply read:

Subject: Nali dawg

photo nali dawg

He replied:

Are you sending me these pics so I won’t forget you guys?

… and so a trend was born. I emailed him photos whenever he or I was gone, even for a few days. Don’t tell him, but I even have a email folder called “Pics for G.”

But I have to admit, the best use of the photo email came when we actually broke up for a short spell. I went out to a friend’s ranch for a weekend trip that he was supposed to come on, but didn’t, since we had broken up. We rode four-wheelers, played in the river, and shot skeet. My friend snapped a pic of me in short-short daisy dukes, aiming the rifle high in the air.

HOT.

So obviously I had to email it to him.

And we got back together. Not because of that photo, of course.

Possibly because of some intense emails.

Thank god for email. I mean really. Where would modern courtship be without it? A safe place to be a little bolder than you would be in person … a private communicado between you and your love …

It’s sort of like this video:

Email. Love.

July 6, 2011

BeKnown

I will preface this entire post by saying that I love LinkedIn. I love that it’s all professional. I love that it’s clean, white, and boring in design. I love that I can see who has viewed my profile—at least, in what industry—and then guess at why they were looking at me. I hate when random people I don’t know on LinkedIn attempt to connect to me. That defeats the purpose! To me, LinkedIn is legit.

So when I landed a part-time gig as a community manager for BeKnown, job search giant Monster.com’s networking site within facebook, I was a little wary. I’m not a huge facebooker. I like keeping personal and professional separate online. I separate people into groups on facebook and control their privacy settings like crazy (sorry, anyone who is reading this and doesn’t get to see much of my profile—it’s for your own good!).

BeKnown

BeKnown, however, essentially does this group-sorting and privacy-protecting for me. I can connect with people I’m not friends with on facebook through BeKnown—while staying within facebook. The ability to stay on one site and use the same interface is a huge bonus.

BeKnown also has the incredible capacity to socially refer friends to and for jobs. That is the crux of BeKnown’s innovation, and as more and more users join (there were already 108,000 just 7 days post-launch), that ability will become priceless. Well, and possibly profitable for refers: you could actually earn money, real money, for referring connections to a job.

I think there’s good reason to be on both: generational differences. Check it:

  • Of 600 million people on Facebook, 72% are between 25 and 54.
  • LinkedIn users are 35-54.
  • 91 percent of college seniors have a Facebook profile—but less than one-quarter currently use Facebook as a job-search tool.
  • Only 1.1% of college grads find LinkedIn helpful in their job search.
  • The average FB user logs into their page 1-2 times/day while the avg LinkedIn user logs in once every 2-3 weeks.
Like professional networking at cocktail parties, happy hours, and wherever else you network IRL, you need to be building a network all the time, not just when you’re looking for a job. That way, when you are looking, the right opportunity has the ability to manifest, through your connections. BeKnown can facilitate that. Employers know that. (For privacy concerns, don’t worry: you can control EVERYTHING that shows up.)
Here’s what it looks like:
BeKnown on Facebook example
I think that if you’re serious about your network, you need 25 year olds AND 35+ year olds, so you need to be on LinkedIn and BeKnown. I am. Find me and let’s connect.
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