Change with the times or they'll change without you

A perk for being a Boston College employee allows me the opportunity to take free classes. I'm taking a Marketing course right now and I'm in the midst of writing a paper on a case study of the Levi Strauss Co. Baby boomers: remember them? They were the super cool jeans you wore out on the town when you were a kid. Well, after researching this case study, I found out why the cool factor didn't stick with the jeans through the 90's and into the 21st century. The Levi Strauss company didn't change with the times. Therefore, the times up and changed without them. The baby boomers became parents and "mommy jeans" were about as cool as hangin' with your mom on a Friday night. Secondly, the level of variety that Levi's offered was slim. The new generation wanted choices. What did all this mean for Levi's? Their branding took a turn for the worst and so did their sales.

History does tend to repeat itself as today there are similarities with companies who aren't changing with the times, the social media times that is. If you're reading this blog, you're most likely in the know of the social media world and it's aggressive impact on business today. Yet we live with such a span of generations, the social media knowledge can be far different between the 20 somethings and the 50 somethings in the work force. So what's the consequence of someone who's out of the loop on social media yet trying to market their business effectively? Well, for all intensive purposes, the consequence is most likely lower visibility and lower profits. We need to go where the customers are, and they aren't the eyes in front of a magazine or ears next to a radio. Chances are, they are at a computer screen on Facebook, YouTube or Twitter. The many companies who have been able to embrace this fact have done well and will continue to do well. Those who refuse to get on board may face an imminent downfall. (unless of course their only clientele also refuses social media) What are some of your favorite brands and products out there? Try googling them and see where they come up. Do they have a facebook page and a twitter account? If the answer is yes, you can bet they'll be sticking around for a while! Ahh, back to paper writing I go, but thank you for allowing me to think out loud.

How many contacts on LinkedIn do you have?

I was reading a post on Graduated Learning's blog the other day regarding LinkedIn contacts and how many is too many. So, how many is too many or is there such a thing?

It all depends on how you use LinkedIn and how you benefit from your contacts. I'm of the school of thought that says you should only connect with people with whom you've had enough correspondence with that should your name be dropped, they would know who you are. I have a handful of contacts who I barely know and haven't actually had a real conversation with. While it's rude to turn down a connection invite, is there a point to connecting with people you hardly know? For instance, several weeks ago I was researching a company I was interested in applying to for a job. I noticed a friend of mine is connected to an employee there so I asked for an introduction. My friend's response was that she doesn't really know this person and they probably wouldn't remember her should she contact her. So, I can't help but wonder how that's helpful.



Insight?

My day at The Mass Conference for Women

Image courtesy of Mass Conference for Women

I'm home from the Mass Conference for Women which was held at the Convention Center today in downtown Boston. I went in early this morning, as many mass women did, not knowing exactly what I would get out of it. I left satisfied and with a renewed sense of optimism and confidence in myself, my life and my career. Now I just hope that elated feeling lasts!

The Highlights from my point of view:

1) Tory Johnson: A NYT best-selling author, CEO and GAM contributor, her career advice is up there with Oprah in my opinion. I found her inspirational, yet down to earth and reachable at the same time. When she was done speaking, she wasn't whisked away in some limo, but I was actually able to talk with Tory at her booth later on in the day, letting her know how in awe she left me. She asked her audience "When was the last time you felt like a rock star?" You can do what you love and you should. So many women, myself included, get down and out about our achievements and feel that we'll never make our dreams come true. If anything, we'll settle for a life that is just ok. But we don't have to. Find what makes you happy and go do it! If you don't know of her or her organization Women for Hire, go look her up! She is a great motivator.

2) Suze Orman: I didn't go in being a huge fan of the financial genius, and to be honest, all I could think of when her name was thrown out was the SNL parody they do on her (which is quite funny) I must say I was a bit star struck when she spoke and I found her to be quite inspirational as well. Not just in the money field, but she encouraged us as women to reach for our dreams and told us the "only thing stopping you is you".

3) Marcus Buckingham: Oprah's career guru was only so many feet from me today as I listened to his awesome speech on life and "living your strongest life" He's got great data to back up his claims, so definitely check him out and his book!

4) Brittany Bergquist: Haven't heard of her? That's probably because she's only 19 years old yet has done more for the world than most women twice her age. When she was 13, she and her younger brother saw a news segment about a solider in Afghanistan who rang up a cell phone bill that equaled about $18,000. He was trying to keep in touch with his family and lent his phone to fellow soldiers for the same reason. She felt for the soldier and consequently created the non-profit Cell Phones for Soldiers which has now received over $2 million dollars in donations and over 500,000 prepaid calling cards to soldiers overseas. You go girl!

All in all, I may not have left with good concrete job interviews or contacts, but I feel inspired and sometimes that's all you need. Looking forward to next year!

Are you ever done working on your resume?

How many of you would say you are continually working on perfecting your resume? Do you ever find a point where you think it's perfect?

I've found in the last few years that while looking for a job, my resume goes through so many revisions and not only do I end up with several different versions, but after sending it to employers, I continually update and re-work. The work of making it better is never done!

I've also found that asking for help from family, friends and professionals can sometimes be more than I hoped for. In the end, even if it's perfect, there will always be someone who has a different idea of how it should look. The same is true with employers. No matter how hard you work, there will always be some hiring manager who feels it isn't presented in the way they'd like.

To prevent yourself from over-dosing on resume advice, start with a few people, maybe one friend and one professional. Then put it down for a few days and look back when you have a fresh set of eyes. You can only work so hard, and if you allow an opinion from everyone, you will be glued to your desk forever!

What do we think about this?

Oprah's leaving us!

Photo above courtesy of Harpo Inc.

I came home last night and upon checking my email, I noticed the headline "Oprah Ending her Talk Show"....whaaaaat? I immediately clicked on the link with the sub-caption "see her end date". Ugh, my heart sank.

Yup, it looks like she will make the big announcement on today's show at 4 p.m. Man, only Oprah needs to make an announcement that she's going to make an announcement. Who else can do that?

What is she going to do next? Where will her loyal viewers of 25 years go? Is there truth to the rumor that she is starting her own network called "The Oprah Winfrey Network". What would that be like? Ok, obviously we all have burning questions, but we can only hope that whatever her decision to do next may be, she'll continue her wonderful work of helping so many people every day and inspiring them to live better lives.

As a twenty-something, I know that her advice is wonderful and inspiring. She's always encouraging us to live our best lives, and that's so pertinent to us twenty-something's who are looking to make our way in the world, make a living and enjoy it at the same time. Seriously, if you don't currently follow her advice, you should start!

Well, I suppose if anyone knows what they're doing, it's Oprah. For more info, go to www.oprah.com

Let's chat after the show today and share thoughts!

How I use Facebook

Above image courtesy of instructional.com

With the ever evolving use of social media platforms for business and personal, I find the two ways to use them are overlapping and becoming more blurred. When I started out with Facebook how ever many years ago, it was strictly for myself and my friends to connect. I don't think I was even out of college, so using it for business contacts, wasn't my main goal at that point. I continue to use facebook to keep up with my personal friends, but as my professional life is becoming more marketing oriented, I'm finding the pull to start using it for professional networking as well. I wouldn't normally have a problem with this, but there really are some areas that I want to keep "for friends only". I typically use LinkedIn and Twitter for my professional networking. Can I keep it this way? If I want to evolve with social media (as it's evolving every few hours practically)should I ditch the media platform as a "friends only" form? Social media experts, what do you think?

Hey Ladies!

I just stumbled across a cool career website, targeted just for women! I found it while I was "googling" career fairs in Boston. It's a cool site with great resources and there are some great career fairs (a bit pricey but check them out!)

http://www.womenforhire.com

Is it wrong to ask for feedback?

When you get a job rejection (which are a plenty right now if you can even get an interview)do you ever want to flat out ask "So what did I do wrong?" Of course! However, there are usually more diplomatic ways of approaching this. Hiring Managers would much rather give you the blanket answer that you were not chosen and move on. However for me, I always feel I could learn from the process and want to know why I wasn't picked, mainly so I can either work on the skills I don't have or stop blaming myself when I find out it had nothing to do with my qualifications. Maybe the manager would say "well, you had great experience but we found someone who had more." Or, they could say "you really didn't match our qualifications, here's what we're looking for" That would be great! If Hiring Managers gave that kind of feedback, I feel that I'd be all the more knowledgeable to go into the next interview. So, what's the best way to approach this? Thoughts? Best of luck to all those out there looking....

In need of some clarity...

Well, I’ve been away a long time. I know, I know. Trust me, I feel badly about it. Why did I leave for so long you ask? Well, there may not be an easy answer. I could say that between April and the present, things have been crazy. Sure, that could be true. But, is it? In a way, yes. There have been circumstances in my life recently that have made it a tough time. Maybe I’ll decide to write about this in a future post. Mostly, I have been confused. I have been confused about what I want to continue writing about, what I want to do with my own career, hence have good material with which to write and whether or not this blog will help me get anywhere I want to be. In the midst of this befuddlement I have decided to put it on hold. As any blogger knows, it takes a great amount of time and effort to keep a blog successful. We all know that actual posting is only half of the work needed to keep up a great blog. Unfortunately too many new bloggers decide to abandon their baby blogs on this reasoning. I certainly don’t want to be one of those people. This is why I have decided to return today, maybe in hopes that my readers can help me find some clarity. Maybe they can help me find a path to continue writing that will both satisfy my needs and the needs of the readers.

I have been writing about careers and life during our twenties. It isn’t that I have completely lost material. I mean, I live life every day as a twenty something and there is always something that could be interesting. Maybe the problem is that I don’t think it’s interesting, so I doubt my readers will think so either. Maybe I have to make it interesting no matter what. I have always known that I do my best writing when I am writing from my heart. Perhaps I feel I haven’t been writing from my heart here, thus not keeping myself engaged.

I don’t think I want to change the topic of my blog. I just want to figure out the best way to keep writing and keep both myself and readers engaged. I’ll keep thinking and be sure to get back to you. In the mean time, let me know your thoughts as well.

xoxo
Roaring Twenty Something

Thanks for the feedback!

Just a quick note to thank all of you who responded to my last blog with wonderful feedback. Many of you alerted me to the fact that, not everyone's success is well received, even www.dooce.com had some serious repercussions initially! I guess it's safe to say that it's all ok because she is now doing wonderfully.

As for me, I am going to continue to plug away at my fine line between honesty and necessary constrictions in the blogosphere. With time, I'm sure I'll be able to come into my own and be very happy / hopefully successful!

Hope you all are having fabulous days, thanks again for reading and Happy Tuesday!

Do you want your blog to be completely honest?

I know that people have blogs for several different reasons and some use the blogs on a professional platform, while others type in brutally honest opinions on life that may or may not be the best idea if they don't want to anger any of their loved ones, or work colleagues. Yet, I'm starting to think these are the blogs that become successful.

I've been studying some successful blogs lately to figure out which traits make them so popular. I think that many personal blogs, which may inevitably become business blogs as well, hold very authentic material where readers appreciate the brutal honesty and relate to it. For example, a wildly popular mommy blog, www.dooce.com was featured recently on Oprah and tells the tales of the REAL sides to being a mom. She isn't afraid to let loose and say it like it really is. Now, here is the thing. Who does she have to worry about angering? Probably no one. What if, like me, you want to have a blog about life and work in your twenties. I'll inevitably be dying to tell some great stories about some jerk at work one day. Would that be a good idea? Probably not. I know it's always possible they could read the post and well, then I'd be in trouble.

So, if I want to be honest in my posts, to attract readers, yet I have to remain very constricted as those readers may not like what they see, I think I'm in a bind.

I can still write on millions of topics, but if the reader doesn't feel I am coming across as genuine, is it worth it?

Thoughts?

7 ways to position yourself now for the upturn

It feels a bit pointless to be sending out resumes right now and hoping for many signs of hope, simply because so many companies are not hiring. Is there anything you can do instead of sit around and wait? Yes!

Work on ways to position yourself now, so when the inevitable upturn does come around, you are ready to go. Here are 7 things to work on right now:

1) Network, network, network. Did I mention network? Economy good or bad, it's the single most effective way of getting a job. Join networking groups and go to as many networking events as possible.

2)Market yourself on the internet via facebook, twitter, linked in and blogs now and brand yourself (see previous post about Personal Branding with Dan Schawbel)

3) Do your research and target specific companies so you know who you are looking for at these networking events. Research them and be ready to talk about why you want to work for them, on a moment's notice.

4)Update your resume and have it critiqued to make sure it's perfect.

5)Seek out volunteer opportunities in your area as a resume builder. Try to volunteer in the field you are hoping to work. You never know, they may keep you as a full time employee!

6)When the time comes for you to answer why you are interested in working for this company etc, be ready with a sharp and articulate answer. It sounds easy, but practice now so you don't stumble around when the time comes.

7)When a job opens up, find ways to get there first. DON'T wait for the job to be posted on monster.com. Do you know how many resumes they are going to get? Most likely in the thousands. This can easily be accomplished though networking and that way you'll hopefully have the direct email of the hiring manager.


Good luck and let's hope companies start to hire again soon!

Re-inventing yourself as an adult

How many of you longingly hold onto your childhood, teenage and early twenties years for as long as you can? How many feel that you have truly come into your own as an adult and only look back occasionally at those effervescent past times? Do any of you think you know exactly who you are as a child, yet you have no idea who you are as an adult? Welcome to my world. I'd say for the past 5 years or so, I have essentially been in a quarter life crisis that I can't work my way out of.

On this blog, I write about life and careers of our fellow twenty somethings. I can spit out a load of things about my career aspirations, yet I have no idea what type of person I want to become, what kind of mother I'll be and most importantly for me, which friends I'll have by my side throughout.

See, I grew up with the best friends a girl could ever ask for. I didn't exactly live with the Partridge family, so my best friends were very important to me and they truly were like family. Growing up, I always thought these brothers and sisters of mine, would stay that way forever. We'd be at each other's weddings, we'd have babies together and while the babies would go to the same play groups, us moms would sip tea somewhere on a patio and chat. Everything felt this way until the time we were were graduating from college. (5 or so years ago) As people moved to all sides of the country, things began to change. Phone calls happened less often and life became routine without these people in my life. It has always made me sad, but I didn't realize the true heartbreak of it until some of us started getting married. I haven't been invited to some weddings that I always thought I'd be at for sure. I understand, we simply don't keep in touch enough and weddings can get very expensive. But it hurts. So, I have attempted to keep in better touch. I will send emails and call and do my best, sometimes with success and sometimes without. What can you do if it just doesn't work? Should you keep trying or just focus on the few that really matter and who do make an effort to stay in touch?


Maybe, I just need to focus on creating more exciting and happy things in my adult life, instead of wishing for the past. Perhaps my adult life isn't getting as much attention, and it's waiting for me to do something amazing with it, while always having those past memories. Can anyone relate?

Self-Analysis tests: friends or foes?

Image courtesy of ehow.com

Have you ever taken a personality or career test? What did you think? Odds are the test didn’t exactly give you a miracle. Yet, it didn’t hurt right? For the past year, I have been taking classes in the Communications Dept, working to obtain a post-graduate certificate in Communications Studies. Unfortunately, the school doesn’t offer any grad programs in Communications. I am currently taking a course called Organizational Behavior. As a piece of the course, we are instructed to take several Self-Analysis tests that help us to determine our working and learning styles. They’re strikingly similar to personality tests you may be acquainted with.

Upon starting the first test, I couldn’t be convinced I would learn a thing from it that I didn’t already know. I was mostly right; however it did get me thinking more about what I want out of a work environment and helped me to conceptualize my thoughts in a more organized manner. If I ever need to come up with an on the spot speech of what my basic needs for a work environment are, I am all set. I suppose that’s always better than stumbling around, trying to articulate them in a manner that makes sense to others. So, here we go. I have a high level of need for achievement. This I know. I always want to appear in the best light possible and hope my supervisors and colleagues sing my praises as long as I am here. I don’t know if I a perfectionist, but I may be more of one than I thought.

I have a very high need for affiliation and work best in a group setting. I think this is attributed to being a part of many groups growing up. It’s where I am happiest, and thus when I am most productive. Sure, everyone needs their independent times to focus and get things done, but generally I am a people person.

Since I am young, I haven’t been in to many situations where I have most of the power, but the few times I was, I loved it. I love supervising others and feel I am a great listener, honest and fair. This will be good for my future, I hope. What does everyone else think of these and what do you think about your own basic needs in a work environment?

Are you mad, but left with no choices?

So, my sister, just returned from a "job interview" which she started to tell me about, by saying that it would be good material for my blog. Well, hey, I never leave good material in the dust, so shoot. Yet this made me very curious to find out how it went! Quite the opener.

Laid off a few months ago, she clearly is in no position to be picky about possible interviews or jobs at this time, plus this possibility sounded like a good one. So, after driving about an hour into Boston and arriving 15 minutes ahead of her "scheduled" interview time, she was ready to go. A lovely HR woman came out and met with her, had a great conversation and then instructed my sister to wait while she went to get the other woman whom she would be meeting with.

10 minutes and 2 magazine flip through's later, the same woman arrived looking very flustered. "I am SO sorry, but it looks like she is caught in a meeting and she cannot meet with you right now; we'll have to re-schedule. So sorry to make you come all the way out here."


Wow. Now, if this were to happen to you, would you even want to go back? It would clearly leave an awful taste in any one's mouth, but when you are unemployed in this economy, what choice may you have?

Personal Branding with Dan Schawbel

Last Monday evening, I attended an area networking event where I had the good fortune to hear Dan Schawbel as the keynote speaker and his expertise on personal branding. What is this “personal branding” you ask? Well, it’s something any job seeker, or success seeker for that matter, should be aware of. It mostly applies to folks well attuned to the social media world, but can be used for almost any field. As he put it, it is the way in which you market yourself to others. It greatly increases your chances of standing out in a crowd and bringing in new opportunities, whatever those may be.

For those who are job searching: personal branding, when done correctly, will keep you consistent and creative, help you stand out and hopefully the hiring managers will already have heard your name around from your blog or twitter. These seem to be the keys! Network yourself and keep yourself consistent so people get to know you!

As I said earlier, it applies very strongly to those in the blogosphere who will most likely be on twitter and other social media sites. If you have a blog, keep the design and the content consistent. Put links everywhere so people can find you no matter which site they are on. AND most importantly, decide which avenue your strengths belong to and play up to them. If you’re a writer, start a blog, if you are a photographer, snap away and post them on flicker. Get people to know you!

Dan Schawbel’s website contains a ton of great resources and he even has a book out on the subject. All this and he’s in his twenties! Good for this twenty something that’s showing everyone that you can become anyone you want, and personal branding can definitely help you along the way. Check him out!

New IT / Network Management business based in Boston, MA

Hi All,

My brother-in-law, Nick Sanderson is building his own IT consulting business based in Boston, but operating remotely as well. Here is his website. Check him out!

www.sandersonnetworks.com

You can also follow the business on twitter at SandersNetwork

Have a great day everyone!!!

The value of Twitter

How many of you use Twitter? What do you primarily use it for? How often do you "tweet"?

I have been on twitter for a few months now, and I'm finding it an interesting way to connect with those you never would normally connect with. It's also a great way to hook up with some people who currently work at companies you are interested in working for. I'm still trying to figure out what my best use of twitter is, however. It's a great place to post thoughts, news articles etc and get feedback and or comments. I also find it amazing how quickly some people get back to you, it's practically like instant messenger.

Yet, how often is to often? I mean, with the speed that people respond, I sometimes wonder if anyone does anything else all day. To be truthful, it started to make me a bit crazy, thinking I had to check it every 2 seconds! I have to work as well! Hmm, I'm sure with time I'll settle into my own twitter routine. Perhaps I'll use it to my advantage and post some career questions and see which experts respond. All in all, it's a great way to become a social media maven! Not to mention a great way to promote your blog!

What do Friday's mean to you?

Question for the day:

As Thursday draws to a close, what do Friday's mean to you? Excitement? Relief? Anyone not like Fridays?

Guest Post on "Blogging as a Business"

Please check out my guest post today, on "blogging as a business" on www.urbanmusewriter.com!

Do you feel badly when you "call in sick"?

Whenever I am sick, I always feel really badly about it. Now, granted I have a bit of an anxiety issue about work to begin with, but I am always worried that my boss is thinking something like "She's not really sick...I bet she's pulling a Ferries Bueller." Why do I think that? I know that rationally, she believes that I am sick and hopes I get better soon. But for some crazy reason, I get it into my head, that I am a lazy person, just because I got sick for a day. I know, I know what you're all thinking. I understand rational thoughts on the outside, they just don't always exist in my head. Am I crazy?

Do you like home design and decor?

This is just a personal plug to get you to check out my sister's blog at http://mooninthetenthhouse.blogspot.com/

Check it out!

Office Vibes: good, bad and what to make of them

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Photo courtesy of tv.com

Happy Friday! So, we all know how the melting pot of different personalities in one office can make way for interesting dynamics. If you’re office is comprised of several type A’s who have to work together on a daily basis, well, duck and cover. On the other hand, an overwhelming amount of type B’s could be a dream or a disaster. What do you do when you and another personality just don’t click? You think you’re receiving negative vibes, yet you don’t feel obliged to do much about it, and really, what can you do?

Take the scenario of you and Jane “Attitude” Anderson. Her emails are short; she doesn’t say much to you other than hi and bye. You even think you may have caught an eye roll the other day when you dropped something on her desk. Is there anything you can do? Probably not. As long as you’re doing your job to the best of your ability, take it with a grain of salt. This however, is much easier to say than do. I’m the type of person who takes most things rather personally, even if they are not directed that way in the least. Or, sometimes I’d like to give them a sign stating “I hate my life, don’t take it personally.” For me, I know I need to work on separating myself more from other people’s issues. They have nothing to do with me!

Then, there is you and your office BFF who seem to work together and play together seamlessly. You agree on most things, you get things done and you laugh while doing it. How does this work? It’s so interesting, because sometimes when personalities come together just right, it makes for such a pleasant work environment. It’s too bad we can’t administer personality tests for the office upon accepting positions, especially tests on your boss!

Find your passion: Even if you can’t engage in it between 9 and 5

What’s your passion? A friend asked me over dinner the other night. I immediately assumed they were referring to what my passion would be in the work world, to which I immediately starting muttering that I am not exactly sure and then began listing my hopes and dreams for work while gesturing my hands rapidly. Amidst my blabbering that I was rolling off the tongue as I had so many times, they stopped me and clarified. Shaking their hands, trying to get me to slow down, No, not necessarily for a career, but do you have any other passions that make you happy in life?

I replied that I like to write. Yet, thinking to myself, I was wondering if that is a passion or a semi-passion. My inner thoughts began listing yoga, dancing, tennis…But are any of these my passions? Do I do or play them enough to be considered passions? Hmmm. Maybe I need to pick a real passion so I can be prepared for that type of question.

My friend told me all about their passion for volleyball and running; that obviously doesn’t include their career. They happen to be a teacher, so of course their career is one of their passions, but they were making the point that it’s important to find other passions to complete your life.

So you can’t fulfill your hopes and dreams between the hours of 9 and 5 right now. That doesn’t mean you’re off the list to fulfill other hopes and dreams outside of work. Or, you love your job. Either way, join a hockey league, a dance group or anything that makes you happy. Hopefully you’ll find it fills a hole you have in another way. I can’t speak from direct experience, as I’m exploring what my true passion could be, but last night I took the first ballet class I’ve taken in years. You never know where your passions could lead you. Good luck!

P.S. If anyone knows exactly how to make block quoting work in blogger, let me know. I can't get it to work!

Oprah talks careers with Marcus Buckingham

Image courtesy of O Magazine

Oprah Winfrey, the world-wide queen of talk shows, knows what she’s talking about! Recently, if you at all follow Oprah, she has been doing something that she calls her “Best Life Series” where she focuses on helping people all over the world live the best lives they can live. She believes everyone should awaken to their higher purpose in life, especially in careers, since work takes up 1/3 of our entire life!

I happened to be browsing I-Tunes the other day, looking for some good music to buy, and to my delight, I came across some free podcasts from the Oprah Show! Marcus Buckingham, a British career guy, or “Strength Coach” as he calls himself, does a whole series of workshops to help people find guidance in their careers and in life. He also happens to be Oprah’s main career guy these days. His website offers even more information on his work.

He focuses on the fact that everyone should continually find ways to highlight their strengths, not their weaknesses. He says that only 12 % of people actually work on their strengths as opposed to their weaknesses, since our culture deems that more appropriate. According to Buckingham, people who find ways to continually build on their strengths are happier and far most successful than those who don’t. Unfortunately, many people are unhappy at work. Much of this unhappiness can be accounted for because people are drowning in their weaknesses. I know I feel like I am sometimes. Yet, is it really that easy? Probably not, as these days most people simply need a paycheck to get by, no room to worry about whether or not they like their jobs. Listening to this podcast, has reaffirmed for me that we all need to set aside some time in our lives, to figure out what it is we want and where we excel. Who else agrees?

Sorry!

Sorry fellow readers! I must say that I am embarrassed not to have posted in 2 weeks. I guess I have been a bit caught up with classes starting (I'm taking 2 classes free in addition to working full time) AND good news I have offered to do a guest blog for a friend who is taking a vacation in Feb. Her blog is www.urbanmusewriter.com and she blogs all about writing etc. I just sent her my guest post so I'm hoping she publishes it in Jan. I'll keep everyone updated!

The only good thing about Mondays

Above photo courtesy of tv.com

My favorite thing about yesterday was coming home from the gym at 7:45 (yes I actually went!) and slipping into my pj’s just in time for a whole new year of Gossip Girl. Twisted girl drama definitely lived up to my expectations, but oddly; sometimes I just want Dan and Serena, and Chuck and Blair to stay together happily for at least a minute. Is that so much to ask? I guess there wouldn’t be a show….but arrggh….I love the couple’s and secretly just want them to live happily ever after.

Now, as far as Lily and Rufus go, can you say baby mama drama? I have to admit, at the end of last season when I heard Rufus utter the question “Was it a girl or a boy” I was totally convinced that we would soon find out Serena and Dan were brother and sister unbeknownst to them and Rufus was a father to both of them. Now that would have been somethin’. Sharing a sibling? Meh. At least they aren’t related.

As far as the dying hero Chuck goes, what will become of this train wreck? I certainly don’t foresee him ever chumming happily at home with the Vanderwoodsen’s. His sorry excuse for an Uncle, introduced last night, seems like nothing but trouble. Who will take on this lost puppy?

As soon as the show ends, I always google the blogs to see what people are saying about next week. I think there should be more gossip girl bloggers out there! I probably won’t spend every tues morning depicting last night’s episode, but I think someone should.

xoxo
Gossip Girl Forever!

What is the best way to keep new years resolutions?

Welcome back to the real world everyone! Today is my first day back at work, which means no more lounging for me and no more sleeping in. (boooo) Since I’ve returned from vacation, I’ve had a powerful surge of new year energy that has allowed me to clean and organize my apartment, and hopefully my life. I cleaned off and organized my desk so I’ll want to actually do work there, thus fending off the possibility of procrastination.
The other aspect I dove right into is the gym. Yet, here is the funny part. I was rather determined to get back to the gym and burn off all those holiday calories. I decided a tough cardio kickboxing class would be a great start, or so I thought. I ended up pulling a muscle in my leg and have a hard time moving it! Wow, go me. Will I ever learn to take it easy? I really want to keep my new years resolutions that include self organization, self discipline and a good workout schedule. I am going to try something here. I will list my first few criteria for keeping new years resolutions. For the rest of the list, I need your help! Please help me finish my list by leaving great tips on how to keep a routine going and not cutting those resolutions short! I hope you all have some great resolutions and are sticking to them as well!

Tips to help stick with your new years resolutions:

1) Write down all your goals and how you’ll achieve them so you don’t forget anything. (believe me I do this often as I have the shortest term memory ever) Look back at them periodically until you get into a routine without needing to look.
2) Crack the whip on yourself at first. Don’t allow yourself to skip out the first few times or you’ll never get into a routine. I hear that it takes 2 weeks to establish a routine that feels normal.
3) Find ways to keep yourself motivated. No matter what works for you, do it. Motivation is key.

What else?!