An oldie but goodie

I posted this on FB over a year ago, but a friend found it and liked it today, so....

From Despair.com. Enjoy!

When does simple = boring?

First, before I get into the main topic of this post (design, or specifically, simplicity vs. "boring-ness"), we're gonna chat money.

I did my taxes by myself this year and I'm 99% sure I did something wrong. Right now, per TurboTax, I'm set to get a $1,540 refund. This seems ridiculously high, especially since I usually owe Uncle Sam moola (and sometimes, depending on how well the market did, I'm stuck paying estimated taxes).

I'm hoping that I did them correctly and will pocket the $1,500, but in the meantime, my mama (pre-kids finance wizard that she was...) is reviewing them. Fingers crossed.

But moving on to the topic of the evening....

Y'all know that I work in marketing and communications. And some of you may know that I was a relatively accomplished artist in my younger years. (Um, hello award-winning 7th grade paintings!) I think I have a pretty good design aesthetic when it comes to marketing collateral.

So you can imagine my disdain when my design taste was challenged.

Here's what happened: yesterday, our art director Tracy came up with a great structural design for a client's new web home page. I loved the layout. However, the colors didn't resonate with me, especially one of the accent colors. I thought was too bright. Tracy's response?"You're always so blah and boring!"

Ouch.

Now, Tracy is an absolute doll and one of my favorite people, and I know she didn't mean it to be so, well, mean. What she meant was that my design aesthetic, be it for websites, brochures, logos, ANYTHING, errs on the side of what I call "simple and clean." Tracy, however, calls it "blah and boring." To be specific, she doesn't think I push the envelope enough. In her opinion, everything I like looks the same.

After talking to Tracy, I went back to my office and looked through some of the collateral I had helped produce for my clients over the last year. And to some extent, Tracy's right. There are common elements to everything I've created -- simple lines, lots of negative space, subdued colors, large fonts...you get the idea.

This whole convo got me thinking about simplicity and when, if ever, simple becomes boring. At what point does a clean and simple look and feel just become an uncreative blank slate? At what point does everything I like just begin to look the same?

Now, I still don't think my design taste is boring. But I do think I have a high level of comfort with a specific design perspective, and sometimes, just *maybe*, I don't push the envelope enough. Perhaps my actual design aesthetic isn't boring, but my inability to test the waters beyond what I'm comfortable with, or what appeals to me, is? To be honest, I don't know. But it is food for thought.

What do you think? When does simple = boring when it comes to design? When are you no longer simple...and just plain dull?

My must-have iPad apps -- and no, Flipboard isn't one of them.

I recently had the good fortune to catch up with one of my besties, Alexis. She's a high powered business woman currently on rotations all over the world, so seeing her is a rare treat. Over delish salads at our usual Houston restaurant (Brasil), we chatted and gossiped about all the normal stuff -- works, travel plans, boys. She also picked my brain about my iPad. Her bro (another high powered business person -- what's with the Jhamb family??) upgraded to an iPad2, so he gave Lex his "old" first generation iPad. "What are the must-have applications I need to download?" she asked.

To be completely honest, I'm not a huge app person. I have about 30 or so downloaded on my iPad, significantly less than the hundreds occupying space on my friends' iPads. Generally speaking, I wouldn't call myself a "simple woman" but when it comes to my iPad, less seems to be more. (And as much as I love technology, I'm pretty retarded when it comes to using it. I won't elaborate, but it's often kind of embarrassing.)

So, what are some of my fave, MUST HAVE, MY LIFE WOULD SUCK WITHOUT THEM apps?? Here you go. They're not fancy (I have Flipboard and have it used all of two times) or popular (Angry Birds? What's that?) but having them on my iPad has, as cliche as it sounds, sorta changed my life. Or at the very least, changed the way I absorb, share and use information on a daily basis.

- The New York Times. This is probably the only app I use almost EVERY SINGLE DAY. I love the NYT and the iPad interface makes reading articles fun and easy. It's like having the paper version, only without the messy black fingers afterward. And although the NYT is no longer free, it is worth every penny to get access to some of the best journalism in the country.

- NPR. Like the NYT, I *heart* NPR. I grew up listening to it and still tune in to it everyday during my commute. The NPR app is one of the cleanest and easiest to use, and I love that I can listen to hundreds of my favorite programs while also reading other NPR news through the app.

- Kindle. After my first disappointing jaunt into the Apple iBook store, the Kindle app saved my life. With it, I have access to Amazon's entire collection of e-books (I think it's close to a 1 million) including free classics I can download. My only issue with the app: it's one stop shopping, meaning I can buy dozens of books -- and spend hundreds of dollars -- in a matter of minutes. Which I've done. A lot.

- Hootsuite. Nothing particularly exciting here, but as a frequently tweeter, Hootsuite on my iPad is essential. Hootsuite doesn't work through Safari on the iPad, so you have to download the app.

- Sketchbook Pro. For all intents and purposes, a canvas on your iPad. Gorgeous interface and extensive options when it comes to creating digital artwork. Not super easy to use, but some of the sample work produced through it is incredible. (My art work, not so much.)

- Evernote. Like I said above, I generally wouldn't call myself a simple woman. In fact, if we're going to be completely honest here, I'm pretty complicated -- and so is my life. Evernote helps me capture and organize all the random notes, ideas, pictures, etc. that I come across and think of on a daily basis. And it works from my phone, my desktop, my laptop, and (of course) my iPad. For someone whose professional success is determined largely by the ideas and innovations I provide my clients, this is an essential tool.

- Epicurious. There is nothing particularly special about this app, but it's my usual kitchen companion. I just prop my iPad up and it becomes an instant digital cookbook with recipes covering everything from appetizers to cupcakes. It also has cool search options for finding specific recipes and it creates shopping lists based on the recipes you pick.

Other apps that I love and use frequently -- Netflix, ABC Player, and Sex Trivia. Ok, I'm kidding on the last one. (Don't bother with it. It's lame.)

What are your fave apps? Share!!

OH NO SHE DIDN'T!!!

Oh yes she did! I (once again) dropped off the face of the earth.

I could blame my long absence on a multitude of things, among them a ski trip (see previous post), another half marathon (this one!), a ridiculous number of social and networking events (yes, it's a tough life I lead), the Texas Independence Relay, SXSW and a last minute trip to NY to see my brother Gil, who was home from Afghanistan. But I won't. Well, not really.

Fortunately, things are (sorta) calming down. I still don't have a free weekend until the middle of May, but the whirlwind weeks of running and catching planes and hopping between three events in one evening are on a hiatus for at least a month and a half. (The only exception to this is the MS 150, but after the last few crazy weeks, it sounds as relaxing as a spa weekend with girlfriends.)

So now I'm back to catching up on sleeping, cleaning out my inbox, and trying to save some moola, especially since my checking account currently resembles a big black hole. The other thing I'm doing? Revisiting my to do list, aka resolutions. (Remember those? No? That's ok. I didn't either.) Here's a recap on where I stand:

To-do number 1: update my blog more often. Ha. That's funny.

To-do number 2: stop reading crap. I did breakdown and read the last Larsson book (not worth your time, fyi) but right now I'm finishing this book, which is much more inline with what I should be reading. That said, I haven't cracked open even one book on my list. Oh dear.

To-do number 3: get more sleep. Yeah, right.

To-do number 4: do a triathalon. Not yet, but it will happen, although it might make it easier if I swim more than 1x per quarter. The spring sprint isn't happening, but hopefully I'll do one in the summer or early fall.

To-do number 5: rid my life of people and things that don't make me happy. I've been somewhat successful on this one, although I sorta think I may be a bit of a glutton for punishment. I'll analyze that with a shrink another time.

To-do number 6: be a grown up, get my own place. Too early to even comment on this one.

To-do number 7: um, oops. Never did a to-do number 7. Or 8. Or 9 or 10. And since my track record ain't so hot right now, I think I should just stick to trying to accomplish the first 6 I have for now. My list of 10 is now a list of 6. I'm changing the rules in the middle of the game 'cause that's how I roll.

And with that... I'm passing out. I have a post due for my company's blog tomorrow (it's a comparison of ereaders! exciting stuff!) and a newsletter article about my major SXSW takeaways. You best believe I'm re-purposing those for this blog, so get ready to read, folks.

XOXO

SKI!

Greetings form Colorado! I am attempting to write this post on my iPad, which is incredibly challenging for someone with fat fingers (me!). So, excuse any spelling and grammar issues. I am sure there will be plenty.

So, yeah, skiing. So far, it's been a great trip...fantastic snow, lots of sun and GREAT company who can challenge me on the blacks. That said, the trip started off with a bit of a hiccup.....

I got into Denver on Friday night. My dad and the rest of my family decided to fly in Saturday, so I spent Friday night with my friend Wynand Dempers, a cool South African dude who recently moved from Houston to Denver. On Saturday morning, we headed out to Vail with Ty, Demper's friend from college. So far, so good - we woke up early so we missed traffic, stopped for delish coffee and even got discount lift tickets through Demper's season pass. By 9 am I had my lift ticket, caffeine in my system and was about to hit the slopes. Then, I saw....

MY SKIS WERE GONE.

Yes, gone. I had left them out when I went inside to buy my ticket (a common practice...everyone does it despite the fact that skis cost more than most people's rent) and when I came out they we gone. I found a Vail ski guy and he told me not to worry, someone probably mistakenly swapped skis and would be back soon when his error was realized. "Just sit tight and wait here for a few minutes." Ok, cool. Easy enough.

30 min. later and still no skis. Now I began to freak. If someone had accidentally grabbed my skis, he or she would have to know by now that the skis were the wrong ones...the likelihood of our skis being set for the same size boot was pretty slim, so he or she wouldn't even be able wear them. However, if they were stolen....well, that would explain why they hadn't been returned.

So, I start to cry. (yeah, yeah, I'm a sensitive cry baby. Whatever.) Fortunately, the Vail ski guy was awesome, and he got me a pair of comped K2 Rictors (awesome skis!) for the day. So I wiped away my tears away, took the comped skis and tried to move on.

By lunch, still no word on the skis. It was looking more and more likely that they wouldn't come back. But by this point I didn't really care....instead I was wondering: "Is there anyway I can afford these Rictors I'm on?"

But alas, as many of you know, I'm a lucky mama and by the time I finish my last run of the day at 4pm, the skis have been uncovered. Apparently, someone accidentally swapped my skis with his, even though they were different brands AND colors AND proceeded not to notice ALL day. Hmmm, right. The whole thing is weird.

But who cares. I'm just glad to have my babies home!

BEST.SITE.EVER.

See below and then click here for more amusement. I found this site courtesy of the gorgeous (and hilarious) Aimee Woodall. Love that girl AND love combining sex and silly humor. What can I say, sometimes I act like a 16 year old boy.

Half marathon recap...and number 7 on my to do list

Hey folks,

Yes, I'm slacking -- again! -- when updating my blog. So sue me. I'm trying to write more frequently, but being lazy is a constant issue I struggle with...hence, delayed postings.

Moving on...

So YES -- I ran the Houston half marathon last weekend! I would put the professional photos up but 1) they are awful and 2) I can't bring myself to pay for photos of myself. I am sure my dad will find the pics online, buy 'em and send them to me. If that happens, I'll post a couple here and on FB. But like I said, they are bad. I look miserable and SUPER pale in all of them.

But, enough about how I look when I race. How did I run? Not badly! If you recall, my goal time was 1:48, and I crossed the finish line at 1:48:17. Close enough in my book -- I'll just round down. Sadly, this run was NOT as much fun as my half last year. Not sure why, but I couldn't get into a groove.

If you want a full recap, my split times were as follows:

Mile 1: 8:29
Mile 2: 8:20
Mile 3: 8:18

At this point, I'm feeling pretty good. On track with my usual negative split percentages to average under an 8:15 pace...maybe I could do a bit above an 8 minute pace??? I'm getting stoked! The other thing that made this part of the race pretty cool: I wasn't the tallest person running! I ran behind Clyde Drexler for miles .5-1.5. His legs were super long -- he looked like he was running in slow motion. I bet I look that way, too. Anyway, after a mile or so trailing him, he sped up and I stayed behind to keep the people with shorter legs company.

Mile 4, 5 and 6: 8:11, 8:10 and 8:04. This is when things got hard. At mile 5 I began to get a side stitch, so I did my obnoxious pregnant lady breathing and (luckily!) it went away when I got to mile 6. I struggle with side cramps a lot...very annoying. Anyway, despite the cramp, my pace increased because I (figuratively) ran into one of my cycling instructors, a tall South African guy named Hans. He was doing the full and averaging about an 8 minute pace, so I followed him for a bit. The guy is a big Ironman, so like my pal Clyde, he soon went ahead and I kept on (more slowly) trucking.

So now the race wasn't much fun. It was rainy and humid, I was sweating a ton and I was tired, even a little out of breath. Y'all know that I don't like to get out of breath....

Mile 7: 8:07
Mile 8: 8:16
Mile 9: 8:11

So I slowed down a bit. I also accidentally high fived a homeless guy. He looked really excited...and then I saw the grocery cart. Oh well. I'm sure at that point in the race I was way grosser and germier than he was.

More split times:

Mile 10: 8:15
Mile 11: 8:09 (A boost of energy thanks my awesome friends cheering me on from my running club, BON!)
Mile 12: 7:56 (Almost there....I should have been going a lot faster though. :( )
Mile 13: Not sure...guessing about 7:50. At this point, I was too tired to click the "lap" button on my Garmin. Yes, I realize this is pathetic.

So there you have it. Half marathon #2 done. Thus far, I've done one half marathon injured and one without much training....I think if I can combine an injury free season with a training regimen I actually follow, 1:45 will be easy to break. So that's the goal for next year -- 1:45. (Or even 1:43 'cause I like random numbers better...)

I'm running the Austin half in a week and half, but it's for fun only. Or at least, that's the plan. I do get competitive, so that could change. God, I hope the weather is better than it was last weekend....I HATE HUMIDITY.

So to close out this post (I need to crash): to-do item #7 for 2011 is...STOP CURSING. I realized over the weekend that I curse way too much. It's really not necessary -- and it makes me sound like I was raised in a trailer park. So...I'm going to try cut back on the R-rated words. No more! (And yes, please yell at me -- even curse at me, that;s ok! -- if I break this to-do list item. I'm sure I will.)

Night folks! xoxo

Eek.

OK, so I've already dropped the ball when it comes to my 2011 to-dos. I'm 1) not updating my blog and 2) definitely not getting enough sleep. Oh, and my reading list? Yeah. I'm not even reading crap now. I'm reading nothing.

I suck. My bad.

Anyway, it is a new week so the past will be the past and I'll move on. This week, btw, is the half marathon! WOOHOO! So excited! :) Like I said, 1:48 would be great, but I haven't been training that well and per the negative split calculator I just looked up...well, it may not happen. I always start my runs slowly and then increase the pace, but the negative pace calculator wants me to start at 8:25! (BTW, if you don't know what negative splits are, read about 'em here.)

I think I have to use the calculator I looked up as a general guide only. I run a pretty ridiculous negative split (example: my 13 mile run was a 9 min pace the first few miles and then about 8 minute or under for the last couple miles...a difference much greater than the average -2% negative split most people see.) For the training run, my avg pace was 8:30, so I hope in the race with all the ppl cheering me on I'll be able to average about 8:15. So if you live in Houston -- come and cheer for me!

But enough about pace and negative splits and boring stuff like that. I'm just STOKED to run this year! Unlike in the past, I'm not freaking out about this race. I know I didn't train the way I was supposed to...I also know that I have the potential to run WAY faster if I do train properly. I hope that this half and the one I do in a few weeks (Austin baby with my friend Brittany!) will kick me into gear and force me to start taking my training seriously. I really think I have the potential to be a pretty strong recreational athlete (some would argue I already am) but I want to be better. I really want to run a half in under 1:45 soon, but to do that I need to start including tempo and speed work into my runs. (Might also help if I run more than 2x a week....)

It's gonna be a busy week at work but I will make an effort to blog a few more times. We have our company retreat this weekend, and I have a TON of work to do for it. (I've been tasked with helping develop our 2011-12 digital strategy and so far, I have nothing to show for it other than some brilliant ideas floating around in my head. Gotta get them on paper STAT.)

So with that....good night folks! I spent about 2 hours cleaning my room and getting rid of old stuff I didn't need, so not only is my room clean (thanks not to my poor cleaning skills, but those of my maid) it's also ORGANIZED! But now, I need to sleep. To-do list to continue this week.

XOXO

Why 2011 is going to rock. Part 1.

(Disclaimer: this post sounds like I overdosed on Prozac. If insanely happy people annoy you, stop reading this now. You have been warned.)

I am in an AWESOME mood today. Why? Because today I got some really, really, REALLY exciting news.

Come March 11 - 15th, yours truly (and this guy) will be attending SXSWi! I am so stoked! For those of you unfamiliar with SXSWi, read about it here. We'll be soaking up loads of digital and social media goodies to bring back and share with the crew at the 'Pont. I couldn't be more excited to partake in such a fantastic event!

But that's not it. This year is going to rock for so many reasons! Here are just a few of the things I have to look forward to: the half marathon (maybe 2), a week of skiing, MS 150 training, SXSWi, more skiing, the actual MS 150, my first tri...and that's just 'til May! Also plotting a VERY cool trip in late summer/fall -- deets TBD but passport will be required. And around that same time, my brother Gil will be back from Afghanistan and Robby will be at flight school only a few hours away in Alabama. Added bonus: I have several friends (and my parents!) planning trips to Houston in the next few months.

I LOVE LIFE!

Now off to bed -- I have an 8 miler tomorrow morning! WOOHOO!

XOXO

Number 6!

Number 6 on my to-do list for 2011:

Be a grown up. (aka get my own place!)

Here's my story:

Like most northeastern gals, I did the requisite post-college drill: after graduating from a small northeastern college w/ an obscure degree (um, hello French Lit....), my pals and I moved ourselves into a TINY (but hip) Boston apartment, paid an exorbitant monthly rent and resigned ourselves to double beds in 10 x 10 rooms.

Fast forward a few years (during which time I moved into a mouse-infested but rocking 12 person house -- ask me about the legendary parties we used to hold) and I'm in TX, where everything is bigger and, some would argue, better. It's certainly a lot cheaper. Yet even with extra space and cheaper rents, I'm still living like a 23 year old. I don't own anything but bedroom furniture, a desk and about a million books. I still sleep on the same double bed I bought right after I graduated. My bed spread and sheets don't match, and don't even ask me about my bathroom towels....

Some people would call my room/style eclectic, but I don't think they'd mean it as a compliment.

So.... 2011 is gonna be the year I grow up, suck it up and do the things that most 28 year old college grads do. Like, get my own apartment. Buy a couch, a TV and a kitchen appliance other than a blender, martini glasses and cookie cutters. I don't know when I'm going to do this. I don't have a lease and my roommate Amy (shout out one of the best roomies EVER!) doesn't seem in a hurry to kick me out. But it will happen this year. It has too.

And since we've taken a trip down memory lane in this post...

Here's a somewhat recent photo of my first roomies out of college -- Katherine (aka Kma) and Emily (aka Eminem). I have some photos of us when we were 21 and 22 but they are awful, or at least they are of me. 'Twas clearly one of my "ugly stages."


When I moved out of the apartment I shared with Em and Katherine, I moved into a super fun house with 11 other roomies -- 2 girls and 9 guys. It was an AWESOME group of people. Think The Real World, but with MIT, Ivy League and liberal arts grads. Here are photos from some of the crazy parties we used to throw. Yes, that dance floor was my living room. The other room was our front hall. Like I said, we threw good parties.