Quick Thoughts

Some Do's and Don'ts:

DO:

• Listen to Nizlopi! Love 'em! They're from the UK and have a really unique sound. One of the guy beat boxes but they're kind of folksy
• Eat at uWink! If you're in the L.A., Beverly Hills, or Mountain View, CA area. It's a crazy restaurant where you can play video games with the restaurant or just your table while you're eating. Way cool!
• Make funfetti brownies with chocolate frosting! So worth the calories!
• Check out upcoming concerts in the Silicon Valley area. It's the bands with the B-names month! Blue Scholars (hip hop), Barcelona (indie) and Brett Dennen (folk) are all coming soon!

DON'T:

• Carry man purses while wearing hawaiian shirts and pleated pants! (this goes out to a certain someone who thinks just because he is literally halfway across the world he can get away with such attrocities)
• Watch entourage. 'nuff said.
• Hit on 22 year old girls if you are past the age of ......45.
• use the term 'bandwidth'
• listen to Katy Perry. Please.. that's not music.

Fall Fashion 911

Summer is coming to an unfortunate end. For most of us, that means cool weather, long sleeves, and saying a tearful farewell to our beloved tank tops and shorts. How do you prepare for fall and what colors are in this season? Here are some helpful tips in getting ready for the autumn.

1. Go through your closet.
A change in season is the best time to evaluate your wardrobe. What shirts have you never worn before? What about that skirt that has sat in the back of your closet all summer and just didn't fit right? If you have an item of clothing that you bought specifically for summer and never wore it all summer, you can safely assume that you will never wear it as the weather turns. I like to pack garbage bags full of unused clothing and either give it away to friends or take it to Goodwill. Giving clothing away to charity will not only benefit the recipient of your clothes but also aid in a clean closet for you.

2. Change your color.
Fall can be a fun time to experiment with rich dark colors. Maybe it is time to darken your hair color or alter your makeup routine. The new color for this fall is a deep purple. Remember to buy staple fall pieces that you can reuse over and over again. Brown boots, fitted sweaters, dark teal and your standard dark blue denim jeans are all staple items for your fall wardrobe. Express is always a good choice for sweaters and Guess for jeans. Boots can be found just about anywhere... However Nordstrom consistently has quality boots. (By the way, I'm talking about knee high leather brown boots with heels, not snow boots, uggs, or ankle boots). There is a fine line you have to be aware of between looking like a hooker and looking stylish. You may need a friend's advice when buying the boots and be aware that at no point is it acceptable to wear a mini skirt with knee high boots.

3. It's all about layering.
Fall is synonymous with layering. Cool mornings lead to warmer afternoons and there is no excuse for having a fabulous jacket on in the morning and a ratty tank top in the afternoon. Be aware when layering shirts that all pieces of your outfit should be acceptable to be worn out in public. The worst thing is to be stuck wearing your jacket all day because you don't want people to see your black bra you wore with your white tank top.

Have fun! A change in seasons can be the opportunity you need to change your look :-)

--"Fashions fade, style is eternal"

MUSIC..

Isn't it awesome how music can shape your mood? Or maybe it complements your mood. It can remind you of amazing memories that bring you happiness.. or it can remind you of the time you broke up with your boyfriend (or girlfriend) and you replayed the same song. over and over again thinking the world was going to end. 

Everytime I hear Garth Brooks I'm reminded of first and second grade, spending the night at my best friend's house. She lived in the basement and we would do somersaults into her bed giggling and gossiping and listening to good ole Garth. Then we would fall asleep under her fake stars on her ceiling. 

I think my 'break up' songs.. or my sad songs anyways, tend to be Snow Patrol-esque. I'm a big fan of "Set Fire to the Third Bar". The classic breakup songs also have to be Dashboard Confessional. What could be sadder than an emo guitar player singing in anguish?

I love to find new music. I think the perfect job would be a record exec who gets to sign artists. My new find of the week? Eastmountainsouth. They have a similar sound to the Weepies, with some nice instrumentals. Check out So are you to me. 

Of course the classics.. Joe Purdy "Another Old Love Song" I haven't heard mandolins in awhile..

Just another old love song coming down,

So if you feel that sun is sinkin' down

Just call out my name

Cause i would make this whole world spin round

just to see you again.

Sarah and I went running at Rancho San Antonio. Energy and spirits are always up until we face the first big hill. Forcing ourselves to keep moving, we jogged slowly up the hill. We decided quickly to save our conversation for the top when we were able to catch our breath. The second part of the trail is mostly downhill and has many turns and bridges so we were able to pick up the pace a little more. The end is always the worst as the trail levels out and then widens into a straight path to the car. We felt pretty good about ourselves.. the second day was easier than the first day. 

"If you can run 3 miles, you can run a marathon!" Sarah boldly claims after our 3 mile jog. This is typical of our running/workout habits. We often make big statements, to build up our self-esteem and make us feel like we are exercise superstars. You could go ahead and call us Chuck Norris. 

It is common knowledge, post-run, should include some sort of food that will put back on all the calories you just burnt off. This is also typical of our workout habits. Although we decided to skip the in&out and pizza this time, we had a decision on our hands.. Chilis or Fresh Choice. This was a dilemma as Chili's obviously just sounds better than Fresh Choice, but in an effort to at least simulate healthiness we decided to go for the Fresh Choice. For those of you who haven't been to Fresh Choice, it is basically a salad/pasta/soup buffet. Now this all sounds good in theory. However, it was a disastrous choice.

We pull in to the Fresh Choice parking lot and literally see Chili's next to us. Turning our backs on the wonderful goodness of Chili's salads (and chips), we bravely enter Fresh Choice. I knew something was going to go horribly wrong as soon as I saw the lettuce. It was looking a little wimpy and wilted. It all went downhill from there. After paying our $13 for a salad we waded through the sea of swarming children (apparently it was 'take your kid to get questionable salad' at Fresh Choice day). I chose a booth to sit in and as Sarah sat down she sat way down. Although she is two inches taller than me standing up, the one side of the booth is like five inches lower than the other side.

I decided to try some raw broccoli since I don't really like broccoli raw but thought I would expand my tastebuds. As I was eating my broccoli later, I smell poop. Straight up poop. I don't know where the smell was coming from. Probably some crazy lady was changing her dirty child on the table next to us. Thanks to the aroma of child poop, raw broccoli now has a nasty association for me. 

As we are attempting to eat in peace, a ten year old overweight boy is muttering "six six six six six" under his breath while his friends are rolling around on the ground. This was rather disturbing and we tried to focus on our disgusting mish mash of food in front of us. 

Sarah got some spaghetti which looked bloody... There was mysterious white liquid in the nacho dish.. there were fruit loops by the cobbler...

We somehow managed to make it out with our dignity.. 

Let this serve as a warning.. Fresh Choice is not the right choice.

On my mind - in my life.

my life right now consists of:

Media lists. Laptops. Research. Water. Big windows that taunt me with sunshine and mountains. Tech companies. Google alerts. Netvibes. Twitter. Blogs. Tech blogs. Wall Street Journal. Conference call meetings. Cision. 5:30. Jeans. Coke. Professional development. Air conditioners. NBC. Writing. Research. Again.

Cell phones. Running. Energy. Sister. Dogs. Suzie and Norma. Weekends. Events. Concerts. Santa Cruz. Pool. Beach. Sun. Water. San Francisco. Festivals. Music. America's Best Dance Crew. Sanctuary.