I love interior design and LEDs… and my job! September 20, 2009

Okay, there are too many things I love about my job to list all at once, but here’s what’s on my mind for loving it right now.

I love interior design. I don’t claim to be even an amateur interior designer, but I do love art and furniture and picking out paint colors and putting everything together. I like reading magazines, blogs, tweets, etc. to see what the professionals do. I love that through my work with Thomasville Furniture (yes, that is a disclaimer that Thomasville is one of my clients) that I have the pleasure of working with Darryl Carter who is the most amazing person at putting together a room. It just comes natural to him. Being with Darryl at Vegas Furniture Market last week allowed me the opportunity to witness what an inspiration he has been to other designers who came to get an autographed copy of Darryl’s book, The New Traditional. This book topped the Amazon charts when it first came out last year, and I understand it’s topping the home category again right now. No surprise. And no surprise Darryl was selected for the Merchandise Mart keynoter (Chicago, Oct 2) this year… for a spot that was filled last time by Martha Stewart.

Darryl Carter talks with interior designers about his book The New Traditional at Las Vegas Furniture Market

In somewhat of a related space, I’ve becoming incredibly interested and intrigued with LED lighting and other energy efficiency and green building topics. How great is it that I get to work with Cree (which is the only NA-based LED lighting manufacturer and the company that is introducing true lighting-class LEDs to the world) AND with Briar Chapel (the largest green community in the area where I live in NC)?

Just hit me this evening as I was following more folks on Twitter for both client and personal interest that the two are increasingly becoming the same. How lucky am I?

What I Love Wednesday #3 August 5, 2009

Just time for a quick What I love today. Here goes.

I love…. knowing someone who has a “toothbrush rotation”. Have to agree that sometimes soft just doesn’t cut it.

I love… Orbiting the Giant Hairball by Gordon MacKenzie. Definitely a survival guide for corporate America.

I love… Server Steve at Vivace at North Hills.  Ask for him by name.

I love…  smiley faces. Lots and lots of smiley faces. I’m a smiley face over-user and proud of it!!

What I Love Wednesday #2 July 29, 2009

It makes me happy!

Thanks to the positive feedback, you’ll notice What I Love Wednesday as a regular feature. Below is this week’s list. Perhaps there’s a theme…

I love… Claire Wise Photography. She captures the essence of childhood like no one else.  Her photos are beautiful. And inspiring. And tell intriguing stories. And okay, here’s the other thing: I simply love Claire Wise. Everyone needs a little Claire Wise in her life so go to Claire’s site, read her blog and follow her on Twitter today.

I love… new, pretty or funky notebooks. Ecojot has some great designs and the notebooks are 100% recycled. You’ll see in the pic that I have a brand new one just waiting for me to remove the cover and dive in!

I love… purple ink in my pretty notebooks. Oh but not any ‘ole purple will do! Uni-ball Vision, fine point. I love writing in purple and think it’s especially good for when I’m editing other people’s work. Black is too easy for edit marks to be missed and red just seems so angry. Purple is passion. A passion for writing and editing.

I love… writing hand-written notes, and personalized stationary from American Stationary makes it even more fun.  I’d love to go to stationary stores and browse the day away, but um, well no. That doesn’t happen. I’ve always been delighted with the online orders I’ve placed with American Stationary. They have pretty stampers too.

I love… SARK.  If you’ve never read her books, start with Succlent Wild Woman. You can also call her Inspiration Line:  415-546-3742.

So there you have it. Some more things I just love, love, love, love, LOVE!

Things I love Right Now July 21, 2009

Move over Oprah, I’ve decided to make a list of things I love at this moment in time. Why? Well, because I love when I really love something and because it’s been a challenging 6 or 7 days, and so I’d like to bring back the positive energy by focusing on things I love.

I love…. that when I walked into the ER after my 8-year-old broke his arm his first words to me were, “I’m worried about you.” He was concerned about me being upset and that I was going to cry.  I have no idea how that could have even been a thought in his mind at that moment but I think it says something really cool about the kind of person he is.

I love… my new Lenovo Ideapad S10-2. Is it a netbook or is it an accessory? It’s both! Pinkish purple and very girly with super secret spy-like security and features. Less than 3 lbs and less than $400, it’s the perfect personal laptop for my itunes, personal photo storage, social networking, etc. With it being so small and light, I suspect I might also use it for work when I want to capture notes in a meeting and then just email them to my work account. Voila!

I love… Jolly’s Jewelry. I mean hey, what’s not to love about a place called Jolly’s? And for the same reason, a watch branded the same. I love my Jolly’s watch and the fact that they understand customer service so well that when my battery dies they will replace it for me free of charge. They delivered the ultimate customer service move Monday when in about 30 seconds they fixed an expensive pair of earrings that I purchased from a gift shop just across the way at North Hills but was not able to wear because they were first too tight and then too loose. Jolly’s fixed the earrings FOR FREE right there on the spot. It was so simple. Next time I won’t buy expensive earrings anywhere other than Jolly’s. I think they’ve made me a customer for life.

I love… the runkeeper app on my iphone. I think it’s the thing that will get me through training for my first marathon. It tracks distance and pace/speed, keeps your run history and does all kinds of nifty things that I’m not even doing with it yet. I love that I can listen to my music on my iphone and run the runkeeper app at the same time and every 5 minutes “she” will come on and give me an update on my progress. GPS-based means no figuring out my stride, no driving around in my car the night before a run mapping out my desired distance.

I love…. Anthropologie. Always have. Always will. Love it even more that they have several locations in NC now with one at Southpoint Mall which is certainly worth the 30 minute drive to get over there.

I love… Andrea’s homemade crockpot mac & cheese. In fact, I could get out of bed right here close to midnight and eat it cold right out of the fridge.

I love…. that when the local UPS drivers get together for drinks after work, a favorite story involves me. Yes, I’m UPS legend. Okay, joking… the story is about my entire family and I never knew it until I met our UPS man for the first time the other day after living here for almost 5 years. Apparently when Jackson was younger, he told the UPS guy, “You can’t kiss my mom TODAY.” Since he put the emphasis on “today” it sounded like there had been previous kissing. Dave raised his eyebrows about the time Jackson said, “Because she has a cold.” I’m sure Dave had told Jackson a million times that day not to kiss me because I had a cold and he was just passing it along. Our UPS driver said it is one of his favorite stories of all times, and I think it’s even more funny that he and I just met.

Broken Arm & Broken Heart July 17, 2009

Wednesday was a day I have dreaded and hoped would never happen for exactly 8 years and one month. I was in the middle of a new business meeting that was about to move across the street to Vivace for lunch when I was told Dave was on-hold and it was urgent. Oh boy. It went like this:

Dave: “Jackson broke his arm and we are on the way to the ER.”

Me: “Are you serious?” (Yes, stuipd I know!)

Dave: “YES I’m serious. We’re going to the hospital.”

Me: “Okay, I’ll meet you there.”

I hung up the phone and cried so Misty drove me to the hospital. I walked in and Jackson asked if I was okay and said he was worried about me. Worried because he knew I was going to cry. And then I did again but just a little. It’s hard when you’re suppose to be tough for your kid. Then I was fine and even watch the doc reset (or try to reset) the bones which is really not a very pleasant thing.

More on his arm and pics soon. He’s a tough boy. Hard seeing him in pain.

Lessons Learned from 8 Birthday Parties June 14, 2009

Each year I look forward to planning my son’s birthday party. Some years have allowed more time for prep and planning than others, but each has taught me something interesting. I’m sharing the lessons here for the consideration of other parents as well as for any life-lesson value they might provide for all of us.

1st Birthday: If you have an adult girlfriend who has ever ended a story with “and I woke up and didn’t know where my wig was” you should consider that her goodbye hug to your one-year-old might resemble something more like a dance than a simple squeeze from a fellow mom. (Although it was quite enjoyed by my uncle, husband and f-i-l.)

2nd Birthday: If the design of the cake involves ingredients that will allow the cake to stand-up on its end without falling over, chances are you won’t really want to eat that cake. (But man that was a cool looking school bus cake!)

3rd Birthday: If Dad’s taking the photos and Mom is presenting the birthday cake to the birthday boy sitting at the table, Mom should wear a turtleneck. It doesn’t matter if it is June. It doesn’t matter if you think what you are wearing is not low cut. Trust me and pull out the turtleneck.

4th Birthday: Lesson #1 – The book Stone Soup makes a great theme for a birthday party and kids could care less that hot soup is not what you would usually serve in the middle of June.  If we had adult Stone Soup parties once a year, the world would be a much happier place. Lesson #2 – Just because you’ve offered peace and love to the universe by being a 4-year-old who asked to have a Stone Soup party, it doesn’t ensure that some snot-nosed little brat won’t come along and blow out the candles on your birthday cake.

5th Birthday: You win some, you lose some and some get rained out. Literally rained out. When the Bulls can’t play and roads are closed because of the biggest flood of the year (perhaps in several) happens the day of your birthday, go to plan B.

6th Birthday: Perception is everything. You may serve pizza around 5 p.m. at your kid’s birthday party, but if he doesn’t think of it as dinner, he will tell everyone that his parents didn’t feed him dinner on his birthday.

7th Birthday: Sometimes the best part of the party is what happens before the party actually starts or when it has ended. (Have you ever seen the huge inflatables being inflated?)

8th Birthday: Lesson #1 – No matter how much red food coloring you put into your homemade cream cheese icing, it will still be pink.  Lesson #2 – If you put your meant-to-be-red-but-in-reality-pink icing on a chocolate cupcake, put a candle in the middle of it and then remove the candle, it might look like something not appropriate for an 8-year-old party.

IDK Where I’m Goin’ but ISK Where I Been June 4, 2009

I like a little blues. I also really, really like folk, but THAT’s another story. I’ve always liked the blues line of  “I don’t know where I’m goin’ but I sho know where I been”.

Seems like an appropriate theme for this evening as I check into the hotel where I stayed my very first visit to NYC about 17 years ago as I was starting my PR career and was a member of PRSSA. This time, I’m here to attend my first Silver Anvil awards ceremony.  I just flew here from the west coast where I was attending the PRSA Counselors Academy conference.

Love the fact that PRSA is still such an incredible resource to me all these years later. Counselors Academy has shown me that PRSA is an organization that grows with you and vice-versa. I remember thinking as a student that I hoped some day I would be ask to join CA, and such amazing people have now allowed me to join them!

And of course, I hoped some day I would have the opportunity to do work that was worthy of submitting for Silver Anvil consideration. Thanks to my wonderful clients at Thomasville Furniture (and the folks of Darryl Carter, Inc. ) and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts who have allowed us at Fleishman-Hillard North Carolina to do incredibly interesting work with them.

I can’t even imagine what it will be like to stand in that room tomorrow night with all the other Silver Anvil finalists as we honor some of the best work being done in our industry. Congrats and best of luck to my fellow Fleishman and Counselors Academy finalists!

Krispy Kreme’s Original Glazed… rumor is there might be some at Silver Anvils!

From the Darryl Carter for Thomasville campaign.

Darryl Carter’s book The New Traditional (which is fabulous!)

And VOILA! They are bald! St. Baldrick’s event was amazing March 8, 2009

Thanks to everyone who has donated to St. Baldrick’s and continues to do so. The event here in Raliegh, NC at Napper Tandy’s was amazing. I’m so proud of the Striving for More team.  I hope you enjoy the photos. 

helping kids with cancer and remembering a special girl March 7, 2009

Dave and Diane get funky-do's prior to head-shaving day to raise more $ for St. Baldrick's

Sweet Colleen

A year ago my husband and son shaved their heads at a St. Baldrick’s head-shaving fundraising event. While I do not work on the account, St. Baldrick’s is a client of “my” agency, Fleishman-Hillard. Now that the disclaimer is out of the way….

While I was watching my then 6-year-old have his head shaved, proud and crying, the mother of the little girl Dave and Jackson chose to honor in their fundraising efforts introduced herself. [Enter Diane.] Diane apologized for Colleen not being able to make it due to recently having chemo, not being able to walk at the time…… hello, more tears.

Diane is a force. I knew that the moment I met her. I felt a connection that cannot be easily explained, but was worried that I would seem like a stalker if I asked her to be my best friend on the spot. A few weeks passed. I sent an email that said something along the lines of…”I know we don’t really know each other but what can I do for you?” Diane’s response is the perfect example of why I love her. She told me very specifically, very clearly and completely unapologetically what I could do for her. This, this and oh yeah this.

I had the honor of making jewelry with sweet Colleen and seeing her a few more times before she died last summer. Today, Jackson and Dave will join Colleen’s parents, Diane and Vince, on the Striving for More team to shave their heads in honor of Colleen.

Oddly enough, Diane just called to say she’s already down at Napper Tandy’s where the event is taking place. Diane is extremely close to being the top fundraiser for this event. Please consider donating in honor of Colleen, to help other kids with cancer, and to help Diane feel like she has done something amazing to help other families who are and will be dealing with the pain that her family has suffered and continues to suffer. As St. Baldrick’s continues to fund research for the treatment of childhood cancer, perhaps not as many mothers will have to go through what Diane has.

The event is today! Please donate now! http://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/shavee_info.php?ParticipantKey=2009-56318

Hiccups January 31, 2009

In keeping with the theme of birthday blog entries, today is my brother’s birthday. I was at his house just a month ago for my birthday, and wish we could be together today. If we were, I’m sure we’d be laughing our heads off about something.

I can almost never be around my brother without getting the hiccups. It’s been like this since we were kids. I’ve written about how funny Dave is, and Doug is funny in a completely different way. From a young age, we’ve seen humor in things that most kids wouldn’t and many times in things that we shouldn’t find funny. And that just makes it more funny. It’s like laughing in church. Once you start, you can’t stop.

I’ll never forget the first holiday our parents were  separated.  We were having Thanksgiving dinner with my dad’s family. I was in 5th grade; Doug was in 7th. The adults were extremely uncomfortable with the situation and didn’t really know what to say. Dinner was served without much conversation, in fact. Then came chocolate cake. Someone who was trying to break the silence said, “This cake is GOOD.” The response: “And MOIST.”

There! We had six whole words out there. A few minutes and bites later a different family member offered, “This cake is MOIST,” to which someone replied, “And GOOD!” Hmmm…. six more words uttered, yet the same six words.  And so it went around the table a few more times before the dishes were cleared about how good and moist, how moist and good the cake was. Each time Doug and I would exchange sideways glances trying not to laugh so hard we’d spit our good and moist cake out of our mouths. As soon as we were excused from the table, we ran out in the yard and laughed at how uncomfortable the adults were.

It might have been the same day that my dad was trying to get us ready to leave my grandma’s (not an easy task since I don’t think we ever wanted to leave there) when he became extremely frustrated with us.  Doug and I were sitting next to each other putting on our shoes and we would tie our shoelaces together and then try to walk.  My dad was just ready to go so finally he took advantage of the fact that Doug and I were sitting right next to each other and he put a hand on Doug’s head and a hand on mine and banged our heads together. It wasn’t very nice. I’m sure it hurt. You can probably guess what happened. Doug and I took a quick look of shock at each other before we started cracking up. It was hillarious. My dad threw his hands in the air.

I guess family holiday gatherings provided a lot of opportunities to laugh at things maybe we shouldn’t. There was the Christmas that a family member made personalized gifts for everyone. It was an incredibly sweet gesture. I didn’t want to laugh as the gifts were unopened to reveal that some of the recipients’ names were mis-spelled on their homemade presents, but one glance across the room at my brother had me quickly exusing myself to get more of my grandma’s sweet tea. I was in my 20’s then, but when we got outside, Doug and I laughed like little kids.

And there are dozens more stories like this. Happy Birthday, Doug! I hope you get to spend the day with your family, and that somebody gets the hiccups today. And of course that your birthday cake is good. And moist. And moist. And good. And good. And moist. And moist. And good.

I love you! –Your Lil Sis