Mexican Food...for the Soul

The original title of this post was supposed to be HOLY GUACAMOLE but then due to a change of events, I was forced to alter its tone. The initial reason I felt the need to include such a title was due to my utter shock and awe at how well the Xmas eve celebrations went with the fam! I can genuinely say we all had a great time- there was lots of laughter, smiles, and delicious red wine accompanied with the typical Italian feast. I was relived going to bed happy and full. Come Xmas morning, things changed when we found out a relative had become ill over night. Rushing out to their house to ensure all parties involved were AOK, we certainly experienced a Christmas day we had not expected to. After a long trivial day...my grandmother and I (I am staring to feel like we are Quail man and Quail Dog from Nickeloden's 'Doug') raced to the nearest open Mexican restaurant for a Pina Colada and some Tamales- la comida Mexicana does the soul some good. This 48 hour mixed bag of emotions got me to thinking- why is it that such a great day can become so tarnish by a bad one? I know I have addressed focusing on the negative vs. the positive in a previous post- but I am going somewhere else with this one. In times of family struggle, it seems as though my family has somehow always been brought together at the moment of an unfortunate situation. Although we all had a great time on the 24th, the real emotions, the 'fight or flight' inside of our crew was ignited once again. I am talking about my immediate family here- and I sometimes consider us the crisis crew that flies in to try and remedy most family debacles regarding health. The point here is that although by the end of the 25th I was exhausted, tired (yes I meant to use both of those words here), and confused- sitting here today on the 27th I realize that for the moment, going through trials and tribulations as a family may have actually brought us together. My hope is that as long as we are able to get other family members through a hard time, that it will teach us as an immediate family to be able to get through our own trials together. In the end, I know everything happens for a reason- and now back in my city with a big smile on my face and those damn city lights/noises igniting my soul again...I am grateful for my whole holiday experience :)
xoxo AA

It's All a Matter of Perspective

As we begin to creep into the holiday weekend some of you may be scared of the idea of another full day (wait, like more than an hour?!) spent with family. I am sure many of you don't have this feeling and kudos to you. In an effort to not repeat my Thanksgiving posts- I've decided to get a little perspective here. Many times in life we exert zero if not negative expectations on a situation. In fact it is sometimes the situations that we put the highest expectations on that can let us down. Instead of having any sort of preconceived notions about this Christmas (try as I might) I am taking a step back. My grandmother- bless her heart- has again made me realize something...Christmas is not about the gifts. I already agree with her there, so much so that I didn't ask for anything this year. But what about the shopping and spending and long drawn out dinners? Nope not that either- it's about the birth of Jesus. And even if your not religious, realize that the spirit of this holiday lies in the essence of giving- Jesus was born, died, and GAVE up his life for our sins. In modern day, I don't mean giving as in expensive extravagant gifts, I mean in giving yourself to others. Whether that means giving a smile to a struggling stranger, or giving a listening ear to a family member that just wants to chat- giving of yourself is one of life's most sometimes challenging, but rewarding experiences. In a matter of perspective- so many of us are grateful to be alive let alone are lucky enough to be happy, healthy, and employed this year. But having family, friends, and loved ones in your life is something extra special. Giving just a little bit of yourself to those who are not as fortunate (and many times it is those who seem like they need it least but are actually crying out for it most) a little love and kindness. Tomorrow, I plan to sit back in front of the ole' Yuletide gas burning fire and GIVE myself in to some simple laughter and smiles :)
- xoxo AA

The Male Ego

Listen boys, I have been giving you a lot of credit in the past few posts, with your general positive character traits and broad range of problem solving abilities. But this week- I'm seeing some of you in a funk. Let it be known that this blog will most definitely NOT turn into my accounts in the "battle of the sexes" many folks in my generation tend to do. To that point- the male ego never ceases to amaze me. This week I have seen it both in my professional and personal lives. As I sat (more what felt like a fly on a wall) in a meeting the other day, I observed on the sidelines as 2 fairly successful men in my company hashed it out. Mind you, this meeting was to be a brainstorm for one of my clients, but 5 minutes in somehow turned into 1 male trying to prove to the other how each was more validated in the media world. I listened to both of them express how much experience they had, and how they knew more because they had "been in this game for so long." I couldn't get a word in edge wise...but it was so funny for me to see how each of them were trying to 1 up another- and not for the sake of a lady in the room, but for themselves. The more I interact with men in a business setting, the more I see their need to prove their manhood. It's like this crazy feat for a man to make sure all the men around him know he's THE MAN (did you get that one?). Even in my personal life, I watched as my group of friends hashed it out over email- it was like missiles flying into my gmail inbox, each message screamed "I AM A BIGGER MAN THAN YOU ARE!!" and in fact I believe one of the messages actually called another dude out for not being 'man enough.' So what is it guys? Do you have this innate primitive desire to divide and conquer, hunt and capture? If you are doing it for us ladies- we appreciate the gesture, but keep in mind we prefer it in a more classy, less obvious manner. If you are doing it for other men- I think you should stop now- it seems like an impossible task to prove to another man that you are THE MAN. And if you are doing it for yourself- to prove to the person deep down inside of you who strives for excellence, then I commend your efforts. Fighting for something you so badly want, or believe in- is beyond honorable in my book. This one is dedicated to my little bro- Semper Fidelis :)
xoxo AA

Challenges as Mental Foreplay

Yesterday, my feline friend Kitty and I (she is a real person- but nicknames only here) took on the feat of finishing the Jingle Jog. To most, a 3.7 mile race is nothing. But to Kitty and I- this was kind of a big deal. As we rolled up to Prospect Park in BK, which is beautiful by the way, I started to realize that I had never in fact done a long distance race. For this run, I did 2 weeks of light training and figured I would be fine. But as we approached the START I remembered that the only type of racing I had ever done in my life was short distance- skiing racing. If you weren't down the hill in 30 secs (depending upon the course) then there was something severely wrong. As we stood there at 9:00 AM freezing our tushes off, I had a sort of "Oh-crap-what-did-I-get-myself-into" moment. Awesome. The race began and as I started running to my blasting techno beats I become conscious of the fact that this race was all about mental foreplay. Granted, for a more physically intensive race one would need to be dedicated to training, but for the most part- it is all in your head. When we approached mile 2, to my shock as what seemed not long after the race began, I started to worry if I would make it. Then I literally said to myself in my head "are you serious? you're being a huge baby." That lit a fire under my rear-end and got me easily to mile 3. By that time, I just wanted to finish the damn thing but was naturally (?) beginning to feel fatigued. Again, I said in my head "are you serious? you're going to be a quitter now?" I sprinted the last .7 miles and with ease made it through the FINISH line! Point being here that my physical fatigue was all mentally induced and the more I convinced myself I could do it the easier it became. Presenting yourself with a challenge every now and then allows you to prove to yourself that you can in fact accomplish goals you thought you may never be able to reach. I'll have to get back to you on that 1/2 marathon I'm starting to train for...if of course I am still alive after ;)
xoxo AA

The Male Perspective

I have always found that being friends/spending time with the men is generally easier than doing such with their female counterparts. Recently, I started to realize that men and women are so different from one another mainly because of the way in which they communicate and process thoughts. This past weekend/week I was a lucky gal in that my man in uniform ;) and then my little brother came to visit! Maybe it is because he is younger and of the male species, but just spending time with my brother, I was able to see how much more carefree and SOMETIMES more logical (gotta keep those pride enhancing comments spread out) his approach was to inter-family affairs and situations. From the male perspective, conflict offers a challenge to most, so it seems to me that men remove emotions from a situation to reach the main goal, which is to solve the problem. After a night of emotionless problem solving and white kid jamming out at the Wiz and Snoops concert- my brother and I shared McDonald's at 1:00 AM on a Monday night- worry free. In regards to my visit with my man in uniform, I like to keep most of those details off the blog and to myself- but for the purposes of this post- all you need to know is that if you put the 2 of us in a white room with nothing- we would enjoy endless carefree fun just being around one other. And yes folks, I have yet another relevant cab driver experience that speaks to my point here (I'm sorry these guys are teaching me a lot!!). As I hoped in a cab after another coffee drop to a few "needle-in-a-haystack" clients my male driver offered me a new perspective on attitude. Per the usual and without even realizing, I so rudely shouted my desired destination to which he replied "hello ma'am, how are you doing today?" I instantly stopped myself and explained to the cabbie that I was so used to the angry rushed drivers of NYC that I just unfairly assumed he was one of them. He went on to tell me that many of the drivers express such an attitude because of how hard NYC traffic cops have come down on cabbies during the holiday season. But he said regardless of it all, he was happy to be healthy, alive, and have a job. The point in all of this is that after some of my experiences with the men this week- I think us ladies can all learn a little something. Taking your emotion out of a situation and utilizing logic, being grateful and unassuming about even the smallest things, and just have a damn good time in general- can make life all the more fun, and maybe even a little more stress free ;)
xoxo AA

A Mentor with your Saturday afternoon Starbucks!

A little late- I know, but as promised my "before the weekend" (come on folks, we're only a few hours into it) post! This past Tuesday I met with Pepper Evans, the VP of Digital Marketing and Social Media Development. Going into the meeting I wasn't sure what to expect- and I got a lot more than I imaged...a new mentor! I already have an amazing male mentor in my arsenal, but I am excited to tell you about my new female mentor (as long as she OK with that)! Pepper's journey began Travel Holiday where she lead the company in putting all of their assets online for the 1st time. As a young 25 year old living in the city, this was an amazing feat in my eyes- getting a then largely male business scene to agree to a new aged and out of the box idea. From there, she moved around from start-up to start-up working in what she called the "Silicon Alley." Ending up at USQ Ventures sometime around the new millennium Pepper focused again on convincing venture capitalists that online was where it's at- and that's where they needed to be. When 9/11 struck the big city, and all of us around the country, Pepper explained a concept to me I had never realized existed at the time. Working for a venture capitalist prior to 9/11 meant she was out of a job post attacks. Applying and searching for jobs became an almost impossible task due to the fact that jobs were slim, and innovative positions were shunned. Meaning- all things digital sort of came to a halt. We have to remember that with the new millennium, the digital age was still only years old and such a fresh/new concept to the "boys club," for lack of a better term, seemed like a threat after our country had been hit so hard. Pepper shared with me that through her journey in digital, someone actually told her they thought online was a "fad." I wonder where that person is now- after we just had a record day for Cyber Monday with over $1.25 billion spent online. Now at Amex, Pepper plays a huge role in the company's social media efforts from a branding standpoint. She has done everything from start online content communities for the golf enthusiast card holder, to new product launches such as Serve (similar to Google Wallet). Through the hour I spent with Pepper I get a glimpse of who she was a business woman and a person. Towards the end of our chat we touched on unearthly concepts. In regards to the soul- she explained that if someone is meant to do something, they can't be without it- because it is apart of them (such is true with what we do in both our personal and professional lives). But I was most happy to hear her belief about Karma- in that if you inherently feel blessed as a result of all your hard work- the most important part is to give back. My lesson in all of this is that sometimes- no matter how hard it is to do the right thing, it will pay off in the end. And come close of day, only you will know how much GOOD you've done for the soul :)
xoxo AA

Grateful- I'll take a large w/ great please!

I have another post that I've been meaning to get around to- which you'll see come through before the weekend. A little mystery to keep you guessing! But I am sitting in a cab right now and thought of something I had to share. Think about being grateful- we all say we are, but are we really? Getting a cab in NYC is hassle enough- and I know most of you would agree we often complain about its impossibility. Now that I am actually sitting in the back of a cab (politely engaging with my driver as we jam out to Lady Gaga's 'Bad Romance'- ironic?) I caught myself complaining about the traffic. Did I leave my gratefulness on the street corner when I so luckily got a cab? Or what about at work- most of us are either fighting to keep our jobs or desperately searching for one. So why is it that we complain about our never ending to-do lists or are anxiously waiting for the clock to hit 5:00? So my message tonight- is fill yourself with great. Fill your life with great people, great thoughts and most importantly, great friends. I have a feeling you may get a lite great back...this one is for a member of my amazing NYC family- love you M :)
Xoxo AA