Chasing Harmony shows you how to have your life together: inside and outside of the office
There I was, sitting in front of my laptop without a clue as to what I was going to write about for my upcoming Girl Power Hour blog. The blank page stared mercilessly back at me, the blinking cursor mocking me for my complete lack of creativity. I stared wistfully into space, wishing, praying I could type something profound.
(No one ponders while hovering over a laptop better than Carrie Bradshaw).
Like any professional procrastinator, instead of actually WRITING something, I decided to pop over to my Google Reader to see what everybody was up to. You can imagine my surprise when I found something that was actually relevant what I should have been doing. GeekWire (which everyone and their mom should be reading at this point) had written about employment review site Glassdoor.com and their top 25 tech companies with the best (you guessed it) work/life balance! It was like John Cook had heard my prayers and gift-wrapped this blog post idea for me.
Talk Sporty to Me is your monthly cheat sheet to the hottest, most talk about sports topics.
Winning isn’t everything – it’s the only thing. You’ve heard the phrase and it’s especially true this time of year in the NBA and NHL. The teams remaining either win or go home. That’s what makes it so exciting to watch. Remember conversations about sporting events are a great way to build rapport. Here are few topics to get you talking around the water cooler.
The NBA will crown a new champion in mid-June. The Lakers missed their chance to 3-peat (win 3 in a row) when they lost to the Dallas Mavericks. LeBron James helped silence some critics by helping the Miami Heat beat the Boston Celtics. The Heat is now the team to watch. Remember the Heat have “The Big 3” LeBron, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh. LeBron finally apologized for they way things went down last summer, but the apology rings hallow with many fans. Either way, he’s part of a talented team to keep an eye on.
The Stanley Cup
Talk of the “Stanley Cup” means we’re talking about hockey’s championship series. “The Cup” is awarded to best team in the NHL. The top seeded Vancouver Canucks reached the western conference finals for the first time in 17 years. The winner of conference finals plays for the “The Cup.” Listen for the names Henrik and Daniel Sedin. They’re twins who play for Vancouver. Last year Henrik was league MVP, this year Daniel is in the running.
We’re into the second month of baseball season and it’s still too early to talk contenders and playoff runs. Storylines change daily, but if you want a general topic try talking about the lack of scoring in the game. In April, there was an average of 8 runs scored per game. That was the lowest total since 1992. It looks like pitching and defense will dominate this year, and it’s impacting the way GM’s build their teams.
Football fans aren’t happy the lockout continues to drag on. Studies suggest that viewership will drop this year as a result. There’s still quite a bit of legal maneuvering, but we know the NFL appeal will be heard in court June 3rd. At that point we should have a better idea of the timetable for the season.
The NFL is arguing over billions of dollars, Major League Soccer however, wants fans to see how little they make in comparison. The Seattle Sounders payroll is just $3.5 million dollars – that could easily be a yearly salary in professional football or baseball.
That should get you up to speed on a few of the hot topics. Happy talking!
Jen Mueller inside the Green Monster. Happy Talking!
Beautifully Organized: Teaching you how to live life more organized
Many of us have become grown accustomed to readily informing our Facebook friends and Twitter followers where we are and what we are doing. But how about those times when you don’t want your friends..or how about even more tangentially, you don’t want companies and third-party advertisers to know where you are? Unfortunately, Apple has knowingly been tracking your location with the coordinates provided by your iPhone.
Real Estate Chic is a monthly feature with local housing news you can’t afford to miss and insight you always wanted to know!
In King County 6,284 homes and condos have sold this year. That’s right, you probably even know one of those 6000 plus people who have happily made the jump to home-ownership or are the proud new owners of their 2nd or 3rd house. What are all these homes selling for? Lets take a little tour of homes sold in 2011 in some of Seattle’s most popular neighborhoods.
To make this more interesting I thought I would focus on budget conscience purchases. You may not even know that you can buy real estate in each of these neighborhoods at such incredible prices.
1.A SHEfo™ is a woman who is committed to getting her financial house in order.
2. A SHEfo™ is a woman who is attuned to her spending habits.
3. A SHEfo™ has a short and long-term financial plan.
4. A SHEfo™ knows where all of her financial documents are, and has at least two other trusted individuals who know how to access the documents in an emergency.
5. A SHEfo™ takes the initiative to learn about money matters, and she hires competent advisors to assist her when necessary.
6. A SHEfo™ knows that she is ultimately responsible for her own financial well-being-even if she has consciously agreed to have someone else manage her day to day financial activities.
7. A SHEfo™ understands that while there is no such thing as a perfect financial plan, there are certain priciples that will help keep you on course or derail you.
8. A SHEfo™ understands that debt can be used constructively and destructively-and she always uses it constructively.
9. A SHEfo™ practices safe saving.
10. Are you a SHEfo™, or on the way to becoming one? If you want to be a SHEfo, stay tuned for more about saving, investing, and money related matters-especially for women.
OK – ladies…. Have you planned your next trip yet?! Are you ready to shut down the laptop, iPad, iPhone, iPod (OK maybe not that) and just relax? In the spirit of Cinco de Mayo month, I couldn’t help but write about a few of my favorite places in Mexico! Given our “fall like spring” I cant get tropical beaches, azul blue water, and white sandy beaches out of my head!! Below are some of my favorite places to visit in Mexico
Yoga is good.....however it's much better beachside at Azul.
When I first visited the Azul Sensatori in the Riviera Maya I was beyond impressed with the resort. They had amazing restaurants, great activities like yoga on the beach and their own boat for snorkeling. If you have kids, this is a family friendly resort. This resort does a great job separating the family section from the adult section. The kids club was well maintained and offered nanny services if you wanted to relax from the kids.
Its funny how much more committed you can become to something when you turn it into a challenge. I was working out and actually doing really well at it. I felt healthy, and was at an awesome 16.3% body fat. Then, I decided to up the ante and lead the Pure Barre challenge. Since then, one month and ten days later I am down to 14% body fat and have lost at least another 10 lbs. I am so impressed with the results that I have gotten from Pure Barre. It is so much fun, that I look forward to working out The best part is that it has shaped me in the areas that I really wanted to changed and toned me in ways that I have never been toned before. I just recently added some training with Brent Hruska and that has really sped up my results. I also started running. I am not sharing any of this to gloat; I want you know it is possible for you to also have the ability to reach your fitness goals. You just have make your mind up to do it. Let me share a few things that have helped me along the way.
Celebrity Buzz with Maile Cabral HagerCovering A-Listers, Musicians, Actors / Actresses, TV Stars, Fashion Designers, Models, Athletes, Locals, Bloggers and maybe even some D-Listers…
Lily Jang
This year, Lily Jang, anchor from QFox13 will be the special guest hostess of Seattle Fashion Week. She will be hosting Finale Night, and this year’s Finale will be on Friday, May 13, at the updated historic King Cat Theater, where the runway will showcase collections from Seattle and around the world such as collections by Alexandra Parry, Anna Dicklhuber,The Finerie, H.O.I.A.,The Finerie collection: Abi Ferrin, Elmidae, Heilyke, Madina Vadache, Yoana Baraschi and more.* With SFW launch parties coming up, 2 nights of fashion, and a closing CD release party for Jennifer Newberry, Lily has a lot ahead of her. I was able to get Lily to agree to a brief interview about her job, what she’s wearing, what she hopes to see and this year’s SFW shows. Here’s what she had to say:
Mother’s Day is coming up this Sunday (REMINDER ALERT!!!) and I have a Mother’s Day confession to make.
I don’t really like it.
Okay. Okay. Don’t get me wrong — my husband and kids always treat me so well on Mother’s Day — gifts and love and everything they can possibly do to make me feel appreciated and special.
But for some reason, Mother’s Day and New Years Eve seem to go hand-in-hand in my mind — it’s always such a HUGE buildup for usually a bit of a letdown.
Let me explain.
Mothers have high expectations on Mother’s Day. More than anything, they want to have a day where they don’t have to think about a single thing all day long. Meals have been planned by someone other than you and are also made and cleaned up by someone other than you. The children are well-behaved all day long — no fights over Legos and no three-year olds smearing toothpaste all over the bathroom mirror. Everyone takes naps when they should, including you, and you get to kick your feet up (maybe with a fresh pedicure) and read that book you’ve been trying to finish since 2006.
