(Re) Chic

I just finished reading this article  by Rebecca Thorman about how Bloggers are not writers.  And while I see her point that to some extent many Bloggers are not writers they are simply people jumping on the social media train I think you'll find that there are quite a few blogs out there whose authors are truly writers.   If a writer is simply someone who commits his or her thoughts and feelings to words I think that there is an entire blogosphere full of writers.  I read a number of blogs who do not write to receive comments from hundreds of people or who are trying to self-promote with their blogs.  They write simply to send their thoughts into the void.  Maybe they get a comment, maybe they don't.  But they write simply to write for the therapy of it.  And I think that is a true writer.  Someone who puts their thoughts or feelings into words for their own sake, not necessarily for someone else's.   "We posit ourselves into be...

While I know that everyone and their brother probably wrote their New Years Resolution blog weeks ago I've been thinking more and more about mine.   We did this activity at work where we were supposed to write both personal and professional goals and in the coming weeks we're supposed to work in our 1:1s to make them come together.   The one that I want to talk about here is this: "I want to be more positive about my position (as in stop being negative).  I want to feel that I am needed and that my work is valued." But the more I think about it the more I'm wondering if this is even an attainable goal.  Goals are supposed to be measurable.  And something with the words "feel" and "valued" doesn't really create many measurable guidelines.   Secondly, what does it mean to "feel needed?"  I know what I meant in this instance because I wrote them 2 days ago when we did this exercise.  However, when we evaluate these th...

When do you lose that feeling of Christmas magic you had as a child?  Where is that moment in your life where suddenly Christmas becomes a pain in the neck season where you have to run around like a chicken with your head cut-off to buy presents and accrue large amounts of credit card debt and is just too stressful to be worth all the madness? It is normal to stop believing in Santa.  But even after you have realized that Mom and Dad are the ones who wrap the gifts under the tree (your mom's hand writing on the gift tags should have been a give away as soon as you figured out how to forge her signature) Christmas is still a fun and enjoyable season of the year of you.  And that's always been the case for me.  However, the past few years Christmas has ceased to be a season.  It has become a day, sometimes a few days, where I eat too much food, get a few gifts, and get grilled by my extended family about why I'm not dating someone, let alone preg...

I was talking to Bonnie, who is the wife of the director of Sugartree Ministries which has been amazingly blessed with so much from the Rachael Ray special. She was telling me her concerns that people are going to give less because as Rachael said on her special "the shelves will be full for months to come" because Sara Lee has promised food to be donated for a year. Which is of course fantastic but as always, there's a catch. Sara Lee as we know does not make every type of food known to man and so having food only from Sara Lee leaves holes on the shelves. However, because people are seeing that there has been a years worth of food donated, they're not donating because they don't see a need therefore the holes remain empty spaces on the shelves. However, I just read this article about how Xanterra Parks and Resorts is donating $2 for every reservation made in December to Sugartree Ministries so that the work can continue and hopefully the holes will...

I just read Sharalyn's closing blog for Gen-Y Gives Thanks . Not only was it a brilliant idea to bring all of us together to show the side of Gen-Y that no one sees but I would definitely agree that I see myself in the other writers of this series. From my control-freak nature to my appreciation for the unexpected turns my life has taken in the last year. I am grateful for it all. And one of my goals for this month is to remember to be grateful, even when my turkey leftovers have disappeared and even past that to after the ball drops and the new year brings new, exciting things to be grateful for. Being grateful for the little things, and the big things, and the unexpected, or even unwanted things is a strength that I want to cultivate throughout the next year. We've broken a stereotype now we need to keep it up! So continue to be grateful and show it off! Show the world that Gen-Y can be positive!

I just read this article on Bit Rebels called Facebook in Real Life.   The article includes a video (which is hilarious) showing how ridiculous some of our social media (specifically facebook) habits really are. Now, once you get past the ridiculousness of the video itself the idea really does have a point.  On Facebook you actually use your real name, your real face, real pictures of you, your real job and email address are listed.  You don't hide behind a screen name or a buddy icon.  Its our real selves there on the page.  However, Facebook is losing more and more popularity as Twitter continues to get stronger and stronger but on Twitter you can still have that aspect of anonymity.  Your 160 character bio doesn't have to have any information about you at all.  And your mom won't be posting photos of you in the Christmas sweater your Grandma knitted you. Why do we use social media if we're simply going to spend our time hiding be...

Hello again! Here's the link to the Rachael Ray show's page on Wilmington's episode. "Thanksgiving on Main Street" Check it out, I'm going to be working with Sugartree Ministries which is the food pantry that now looks like a food network set!