Author Archives: glass-halffull

Rule #76 No excuses. Play like a champion!

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In the past couple weeks, excuses (and how useless and annoying they are) have come up several times with different groups of friends in different conversations. And the moral of the story? Most people are just looking for a little accountability. That’s right, good-old -fashioned taking responsibility for your own actions will placate even the most annoyed person in most situations. Because excuses? They don’t really get you anything except a bunch of unnecessary information.

It’s a key part of crossing over the border from child to adult. In elementary school, you might have gotten away with looking cute and saying your dog ate your homework. In college, you might have gained a gullible professor’s sympathy for missing class (again) from that nasty stomach bug that was going around. But take note of what these little explanations are doing. They’re deflecting the responsibility away from the person who messed up, and blaming some external force, outside of their control. The funny thing about them is that usually they serve to make the person using them feel better (when they know they’re not acting/doing/performing the way they’re supposed to), and serve to make the person hearing them more annoyed. And in the real world-well, that’s just not going to cut it.

One friend put it this way, “Excuses are like assholes: everybody’s got one, and nobody wants to hear about it.” When I hear someone giving me a lame excuse for why they didn’t do what they were supposed to, well, I hear the favorite quote from Wedding Crashers saying, “No excuses. Play like a champion.” And I wish it was appropriate to respond so simply.

When I find myself itching to make an excuse, I try to remind myself of that. If you’re calling out sick because you stayed up too late watching football, while it’s tempting to say you’ve come down with terrible food poisoning, the easier route is to just say you need to use a personal day, and that you will put in the extra time to complete missed tasks. When you screw up on an assignment, or have no idea what you’re doing, people are likely to be more willing to help if you try really hard, present your action plan to fix it, and then ask questions than if you point a finger at someone for not telling you enough.

Best Thing Since Sliced Bread

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I read a lot of magazines, to the tune of 10 a month. Since their publishers seem bent on excluding me from the e-version because I have an iPhone not an iPad, I am forced to use an old fashioned system to flag the articles I like. Because 10 monthly subscriptions can pile up in your magazine rack rater quickly, I usually fold over the page for an item I want to go back to, and then tear out the page when I’m done reading the issue. Then I can recycle the rest of the magazine and put the loose pages in a folder.

Some magazines have made it even a step easier including great stickers like the Bieber ones you see here that make it easy to call out the items you love. And as a side bonus, everyone in the subway is jealous of your cool page markers.

Jennifer Aniston Reveals Engagement Ring

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As you may have noticed if you read my old blog (in these posts here and here), I am a big Jennifer Aniston fan. She won me over as Rachel in Friends, and I have loved her in everything she has done (even the bad movies) ever since. If I had to pick sides in the Brad and Angelina and Jen love triangle, I would always take hers. Naturally I was psyched when girlfriend got engaged to her handsome boyfriend Justin Theroux in August. Now that she’s revealed her GIANT engagement ring, I’m even happier. Go Jennifer.

Hilarious Blog Alert

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Your mid-to-late 20’s are a weird time in a gal’s life. It’s when you still feel like you really just graduated college, but strangely enough you and all the people around you are starting to do really adult things.

Fully support themselves with no help from mom and dad! Buy and care for pets! Purchase homes and cars! Get engaged and hitched! Have babies! They’re all wonderful experiences in the journey of “growing up,” but it’s an odd period of I feel old, but really really young at the same time.

People always say that weddings and babies are a domino effect. One person walks down the aisle and suddenly 12 of her closest friends are doing it too. I can vouch for this. I attended 8 weddings last year. A friend of mine attended 9 this year. I can honestly say I am truly happy for all my friends and family and honored that they wanted me to be a part of their celebrations of love.

But sometimes? That business can be exhausting, and expensive, and wear down even the most loving and loyal friend. Enter this hilarious blog. Just when you’re ready to poke your eyes out after hand gluing individual sequins to that last bachelorette party invitation , here’s a little comic relief.

And for all my married friends let’s just laugh about the ridiculousness of growing up. Check it out here: http://myfriendsaremarried.tumblr.com/

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ERIN Dressy Down Parka

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Adding to the list of things I want, but will likely never splurge on, I found this Brocade Parka in the September Issue of Lucky magazine. It is the PERFECT coat, part of the ERIN by Erin Fetherston collection. It’s stuffed full of down, so it will keep you warm all winter long, but without the I’m wearing a sleeping bag look that so many have. It eliminates the dilemma of whether to wear your fancy coat and freeze for a nice night out on the town, or wear the down in a style that is far too casual for your outfit. The floral brocade and button over zip closure dress up what in shape would be a very casual parka. Love. Now, if only it came in more colors and for a few hundred dollars less.

Baby Animals + You = More Productivity

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The Washington Post had to go and tell the world my secret to productivity all of these years. My whole life, I’ve been accomplishing a lot at a fast pace. When people inquire about how I get so much done, I just chalk it up to my natural impatience, and craving to just get it done and over with already. I’ve left out my secret weapon (though anyone who reads this may have already guessed): cute animals. I have a calendar with them on it, and follow a couple blogs that update their posts daily. I find it improves my day and my mood to take a couple minutes to look at a soft, adorable, baby creature, and now research confirms that it improves my productivity too (who knew?).

A study conducted by a research team at Hiroshima University had students look at images of baby animals before attempting a variety of tasks. In comparison with students who viewed a picture of an adult animal or a pleasing food, the baby animal group outperformed. Productivity was better for both genders, across all image viewing groups. What causes this effect you might ask? Well, as of now, researchers are not exactly sure, but they have a few theories. First, seeing baby animals invokes reflexes of communicating with or caring for baby animals. This can lead to increased vigilance, slower, more methodical movements, and increased attentiveness to protect against potential threats. These results combined = better productivity.

So, there you have it, a daily excuse to check out my collection of cute things here, or to peruse others here and here and here and here. You’re welcome.

Spice Up Your Popcorn (Literally)

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I’ve always liked popcorn. Some of my first childhood memories with friends are laughing about the gross orange buttery film that gets on the top of your hand when you eat the prepackaged kind. But for the most part, I was an air popped girl. My mom had a popcorn maker, and was convinced that microwave popcorn was full of dangerous chemicals (turns out she was right!). She would pop up huge bowls drenched in butter and salt for slumber party snacks and rented movies. I’ve always kept it pretty simple with popcorn, butter, salt, a little pepper or adobo spice, and potentially some cheese was about as inspired as I got.

And then I went to the Hester St. Fair one weekend, and sampled some of Cultured Confections designer popcorn. They had crumb cake popcorn with REAL crumb cake chopped up and mixed in; there was baklava with deconstructed filo dough and nuts tossed among the kernels. Then I read about Jessica Quirk of What I Wore’s Herbes De Provence popcorn on her lifestyle blog That’s Quirky. She tossed it Herbes de Provence (rosemary, thyme, oregano, basil, marjoram, fennel seed) infused olive oil and spice mix.

It got me thinking, why not swap in oil for butter, and try out some different herbs? I’d already used seasoned salt once when I was out of the regular kind, and liked how it turned out. It just so happened the next time I was craving a bowl of popcorn, the only cheese I had in the fridge was crumbled feta. I figured now was my chance, and mixed it up with some dill, salt, pepper and olive oil, and tossed it well with the corn to coat. The result? Delicious Mediterranean popcorn.

Then I picked up this month’s issue of Women’s Health Magazine, and discovered that not only is it delicious, popcorn is actually a pretty healthy snack. Three-cups popped has only 100 calories, as much fiber as a cup of cooked brown rice, and more antioxidants than a day’s servings of fruits and veggies. As a bonus, the article had even more ideas for spicing up this movie snack staple. All mixtures call for 3 cups of air popped corn tossed together with the ingredients to coat evenly.

Rosemary Parmesan

· 1 tsp olive oil

· 1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary

· 1 tsp grated parmesan

Pina Colada

· 1 tsp extra-virgin coconut oil melted

· 1 finely chopped ring of dried pineapple

· 2 tsp sweetened coconut flakes

Curry Chipotle

· 1 ½ tsp canola oil heated, and whisked with spices until bubbly

· ½ tsp curry powder

· ¼ teaspoon ground chipotle or chili powder

· 1/8 tsp salt

Lemon Dill

· 1 tsp olive oil

· 1 tsp oregano

· ½ tsp dill

· ½ tsp lemon zest

· 1/8 tsp salt

Sugar ‘n’ Spice

· 1 tsp flaxseed oil

· 1 tsp powdered sugar

· ½ tsp cinnamon

· ¼ tsp ground nutmeg

· 1/8 tsp salt

Cran-Chocolate

· 1 tbsp dark chocolate melted

· 2 tbsp dried cranberries

· 1/8 tsp salt

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner

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I was reading recently that 95% smart phone users in my generation (the Millenials) use their phone before eating, and 49% consider their smart phones an integral part of their dining experience. Instantly I thought, “Sounds about right,” as I reflected on the number of times I had scrolled through my facebook feed while I ate lunch, looked up a restaurant menu on the way to a new place, or saw a friend post a photo of their dinner. The next thought I had? How sad.

Don’t get me wrong, I am completely, totally in love with my iPhone. Let me count the ways. It makes going to Brooklyn a whole lot less scary when I know my handy friend GPS can help navigate me from a foreign subway stop to the house party. What ever I’m trying to do, there really is an app for that. After moving recently, I couldn’t get over how many times I pulled out my level app, and marveled about the fact that I was using my phone (PHONE!) to make pictures hang evenly. When my friends are late, I am never without a game to play without trying to stuff my Nintendo DS or a magazine into my clutch. I LIKE being able to have constant updates on what my friends are up to on facebook, and being able to scan headlines on twitter to stay up to date on the news.

But with every piece of wonderfulness, there’s the people who take it too far, and the downsides. I mean, how many times have you had friends bail on you last minute via text? It’s so easy to fire off a sentence without guilt when you don’t have to hear the disappointment in the other person’s voice or see the sad expression on their face. Or what about those people who seem so busy posting about all the fun they’re having that it makes you wonder, are they really enjoying the moment, or are they just so focused on letting other people know they’re enjoying it that they forget to really experience themselves?

If a tree falls in the forest, and no ones posts a video on facebook, does it really make a sound?

All this constant need for updates has led to a syndrome that I’m sure you’ve heard about, fear of missing out (FOMO). People curate a happy wonderful life online that shows only the awesome moments. People who don’t take that with a grain of salt feel that their ordinary lives don’t measure up.

But when I think about the moments when I’m so happy I can’t stop smiling, high fiving, and talking about how much fun I’m having? Well, there usually isn’t a smart phone anywhere in sight. They’re the times at trivia when you’re forced (by the rules) to keep your iPhone in your purse, and everyone has to talk together to figure out the answers. Or when you’re at a music festival with no plugs to charge it, and no annoying person in front of you at the concert videoing the whole show with device above their heads, uploading pictures to instagram, and blocking your view of the stage. They’re times spent camping, and tearing up the dance floor in a fancy dress at your friend’s wedding when your dress doesn’t have any pockets.

I love my iPhone, and the powers it has granted me, but sometimes it makes me wonder. Do we really want to be the generation, who’s constant univited dinner partner is our phone? I mean, really, we know enough not to put our elbows on the table, is it really good manners to put our phones there instead?

Photo Credit

BADGE of Obesity?

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We all panicked after when we found out our Nalgenes were poisoning us (or was that just me?), and exchanged all of our water carrying devices for those certified BPA-free. And now, BPA’s chubby cousin, BADGE has entered the scene. And this guy? He’s not just looking to pollute your insides with toxic chemicals invisibly, threaten your fertility, and increase your risk of heart attack. No, he wants to make you fat (which, mind you, can up your risk for other health problems too). A recent study by Environmental Health Perspectives found that BADGE, even in very low levels, promotes weight gain by turning pre-fat cells into fat, and morphing certain adult stem cells into fat cells. Accordingly, the more fat cells you have, well, that fatter you are.

So, what exactly is BADGE? It’s Bisphenol A Diglycidyl Ether found in canned food liners along with BPA (or Bisphenol A). While your risk of being damaged by consuming the chemical is greatest early in life, especially in utero, the chemical appears to affect weight in adults too. Consuming this chemical won’t necessarily make you gain weight all on its own, but it will certainly make it more difficult NOT to gain weight.

Chemicals of this kind can impact well-being for up to three generations after exposure (!!!), so reducing your exposure to them can impact not only your health, but also your future family’s health. Also on the list to avoid: MSG, pesticides and PVC plastics which all are suspected to contain obesity promoting chemicals called obesogens. To cut them out of your diet, eat organic, don’t microwave your lunch in plastic containers, and purchase food items in glass jars instead of cans. Your great-grandchildren will thank you for it.