Summer at the Seaport

Soooo... it's been a while, huh?  I think even my mom has given up on reading my blog at this point, since I've been the WORST at posting.

But, here YOU are. Even if you stumbled here by accident, thanks for stopping by!

The summer was a blur, work was crazy busy, I got a $500 Keratin treatment and HATED it, this here blog officially turned 10 years old (!!!).

And somewhere in there, I turned 45.

Forty effing five. Wtaf.

I just might be having a midlife crisis.  So I'm thisclose to buying a sportscar and dating a 26 year old.  I've even started working out.  Kind of.

Who am I?

Anyhoo... I'm still not sure where my life is going, but my work is going pretty well. We had a big event back in August for female social media influencers, so let's both pretend that I posted this back then...

In my whole career, I've only worked on my bday 3 times.
I had no choice this year because our big event was just days away,
but these lovely ladies made it much better.

And tastier! My friends got me a special delivery from my fave Otto,
and cupcakes from Buttercup Bake Shop, near my old NYC apt.

In another room, our magical interns stuffed 2,000 tote bags. 

Our event was at the beautiful and brand-new Pier 17,
in the Seaport District, which was right on the East River.

Inside was a different story... so I needed to find tons of vendors to help me 
transform this raw space. It didn't even have light or electrical outlets.  
It did have AC, luckily.  After all, it was August -- they aren't monsters!

This was the day I learned about construction,
as we widened the entryway for our thousands of attendees.  

We had a crew of about 100 guys for move in,
and they transformed the whole floor for us, all 40,000 sqft of it.
It took us about 25 hours to move in, and about 12 hours to move out.

Day one, and our view of the Brooklyn Bridge couldn't be prettier.

Follow the pink and purple balloons...

Our florist used over 2500 real roses and carnations on this photo wall.

This is my friend, Justine, making Kelly Kapowski
(aka Valerie Malone, aka Tiffani Thiessen) laugh.
I wonder if she knows that when Lifetime makes the story of my life,
she will be playing me?

Gabrielle Union! As beautiful in person as you imagine she would be.

That little green lady on stage is Amy Schumer.
She wasn't going to come. Then she was. Then she wasn't.
Then she did. As you can see, nobody noticed... 

Pret a Manger sponsored all our food,
and whenever you see one of the stores, you should go in and eat there.  
ALL their food is made fresh, on site, each day. 
That meant they baked 1500 croissants each morning, 
assembled 1500 salads & wraps, and baked 1500 cookies every afternoon. 
Just for us. Mind-blowing. And delicious.

These are the amazing designers on my team. They are v creative.

This is the view from the ladies' room. Now, they're just showing off!

Fast forward to day two, the gracious and stunning Christy Turlington Burns 
interviewed Senator Kirsten Gillibrand on women's health. 
Before she came in, I met with her Secret Service guy,
former NYPD, who was massive and extremely polite.

I've known these girls since they were 8, as part of a program we run for Gen Z.
They're now 13 and interviewing Angie Thomas, author of The Hate You Give.
So so proud of the women they are becoming!

Best Buy was a sponsor and brought a cool sequin wall that you could write on,
a box that dry cleans your clothes, and a fridge you can see inside without opening the door.
The future is now, my friends.

Honest Beauty brought their new makeup line,
and there was a line wrapped around the place with women wanting to try it. 

Baked by Melissa wrote our name in yummy mini cupcakes.
I may or may not have eaten the whole G.

Ever wonder what 1500 Barbies look like?
It's nothing compared to the stampede of grown women wanting to get one!

Who is that girl in the middle taking a picture with me and my friends?
Oh hi, Jessica Alba!

And just like that, it was over.  Bye bye, Brooklyn Bridge.

Say cheese if you are exhausted!

So, that's that. I wish you could have been there!

I'll find the time to post again soon, I promise.  I need to pretend it's still September, so I can write about my 10 year Blogiversary, and I hope it is still October when I post about all the new fall TV shows I like.

Until then...

Here's to Your Health

This might be the longest I've ever gone without posting. So Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Happy (almost) Valentine's Day.

Now that's out of the way, I should prob explain why I've been MIA!

About a week ago, I produced a huge event for work -- #BlogHer18 Health, where about 1,000 health & wellness social media influencers joined us for 2 days.  And it has been ALL consuming.

It's extremely hard for me to do anything a little bit. If I'm going to spend my time on something, I'm generally all in.

So by the time this incredible experience was over, I was sick (isn't it ironic?), my feet were full of blisters, I'd neglected my friends and family (and YOU), there was zero food left in my fridge, and my apartment was in a shambles.

The good news is it was a really great event, and I'm SO proud of my team who pulled it off.

But one thing is clear: I need some balance.  I think they call it "self care" -- that phrase makes me barf.  But there's def a middle ground that I'm missing.

Do YOU have any suggestions for still having a life while making a living?  I'll take whatever tips or tricks you've got in the comments below.

And while you think, take a look at these pretty pics... I wish you could have been there!

Pretty cool kickoff ringing the closing bell at the Nasdaq.

Acoustic performance by super-talented Brynn Elliott.

(Non-alcoholic) rose for days...

The calm before the storm.

Selfie wall, inspired in part by an Old Navy commercial.

So proud of the Hatch Kids, who gave an award to Chelsea Clinton.

Dance moves with the sweet, petite Julianne Hough.

Keynote speaker and total badass, Jillian Michaels.

The lovely Kate Walsh played a doctor on TV!

Camila Alves McConaughy & Pitch winner,
Bethany Edwards who invented a flushable pregnancy test!

The iconic Arianna Huffington.

Blue & green smoothies? Don't mind if I do!

Raise your glass.

A venue with a view.

A friend of mind posted this -- made me laugh.

My Bday in LA

Did I ever mention that I don't work on my birthday?

21 years ago today, I stood next to a copy machine at my first real job in Parsippany, NJ. I made $18K/year as an editorial assistant and I spent about 9 months there before starting my career in NYC, where I still work today.  

I just started. Nobody really even knew my name yet, let alone that it was my birthday. On that day in 1995, between collating and stapling and the overwhelming stink of toner, I vowed never, ever to work on my birthday again.

I was like the Scarlet O'Hara of the Xerox room.

After all, being a summer baby, I was used to not going to school on my bday.  I was used to not doing ANYTHING on my bday.  It was a day of relaxing!  

Now that I was a working girl (in the non-hooker way), it should be no different. I declared it a national holiday.

And I never, ever, EVER worked on my birthday again.

Until today.

Today, I find myself in Los Angeles about to kick off a huge event that we've been planning for the past 8 months.  If you squint and look really, really hard, you can see the Hollywood sign in the mountains.  That's the view from my hotel in downtown LA.

Since we're in Tinsel Town, of course there will be a few celebs at our event.  The most notable rhymes with Tim Tardashian. Should be fun!  You can follow along here on Friday & Saturday.

And tonight, my sweet and amazing team is taking me to dinner for Mexican.  So if my 22 year old self knew that my 43 year old self could have a work birthday like this, she might have looked more kindly on birthday workdays.

Still, next year, I think I'll go back to taking the day off.  I can try this all again in another 21 years when I'm 64.  

Oy.  That's depressing.  

Pass me some cake!

Do YOU work on your birthday?  Give me some tips in the comments below...

tags: holidays. travel, work

Mind the Gap

So, a cool thing happened at work today.

See this pic?  It was taken by a colleague as another colleague of ours (who is a pretty inspiring gal herself) moderated a Town Hall discussion on equal pay with the President.

The President of the United States?

Yep.  We go way back...

Why were we there?  Because yesterday was Equal Pay Day.  Did anyone wish you a happy one?

Probably not.

That's because it takes a woman until April 14th of the following year (an 104 extra days "in the red!") to make what her male colleagues make in 365.  Keep in mind, this is for doing the same work.

Put a different way, on average, a woman earns 78 cents to a man's dollar -- for women of color, it only gets worse. So at the current rate, women won't reach parity until 2058.

Will you still be working then?  As much as I love my job, I certainly won't. You'll find me in a yellow mu-mu on a sandy beach under a very large straw hat drinking an ice-cold glass of Ensure.

Ahhhh.  Smooth.

But even if I do slog it out until I'm 100 and climb all the way up to the C-suite, today only 26 Fortune 500 companies have female CEOs.

That can't be right... right?!

To be clear, I don't believe in my heart of hearts that the companies of the world are actively conspiring against us. I doubt a bunch of old, wrinkly, white dudes sit in a sauna every Tuesday at 2 to joke about how little they can pay their women (except maybe at Goodyear).

I'm really not that cynical.

I DO think that women often start out making (accepting?) less.  And then every single cost of living increase, raise or bonus they EVER receive represents a percentage of that number.

My number was $18K.

That's what I made nearly 20 years ago in my very first job in Parsippany, NJ, as an editorial assistant for a children's textbook company.  And everything I've gotten since then has had to pivot off what was essentially less than a year's tuition.  Back when college was still affordable.

And maybe I'm lucky!  Who knows?  But it was a loooong way to dig out.

So, this is the ONE piece of advice I give to every intern I meet: Get the most you can when you graduate, because that starting salary will factor into the rest of your career.

Now, people definitely dispute the 78 cents disparity.  They say it's because women make choices to focus on family or education to achieve that elusive (impossible?) work-life balance.  And that means they work less hours, so it's inherently not equal work and shouldn't be compensated as such.

Is that true?

Well, I can't speak for ALL women, but for THIS woman, who isn't making "choices" and IS betting everything on her career, I can think of no less than 3 companies I've worked for in the past where I was paid less and/or given less opportunity for advancement than my equally non-choosy (yet skilled, educated, and hard-working) male colleagues.

Equal pay SHOULD be for equal work! I'm not entitled to it, I EARN it every day. And I suspect you do, too.

But look at the positioning of the Town Hall today: Obama talks to Mommy Bloggers. Grrrr...

Sidenote: Not sure who decided that a female + a blog = the ultra-patronizing nickname "mommy blogger." Wait, did I have kids and I forgot?  No, seriously. I even looked under the couch cushions.  No kids here!

(And yes, that makes me sad, but that's a whoooole other discussion.)

My point is that woman doesn't always equal mom. (Does anyone call guys "daddy bloggers?" No, we don't, because it's dumb).  And yet, most of the discussion on equal pay centers around how does it impact women and their families?

It's an interesting nuance, I think.

I feel like, as women, we don’t often allow ourselves to ask for things solely because they benefit us – especially at work -- be it equal pay, a raise, a promotion, or a day off.  It needs to be qualified in some way.  Necessary to support your kids, or for some other greater good, rather than because WE went to school and we work hard and we earned it.

For ourselves.

Now, if you're still reading and are unconvinced this is a pretty serious issue, I've saved the best/worst for last.  Go ahead and plunk your age and salary into this lost earnings calculator (and fellas, don't feel left out here -- if your lady makes less, so do you).

Thanks, Gap Inc., for advancing the discussion on equal pay -- how fitting!  I will put my money where your pants are.

Then maybe someday, old bran flakes over here can afford to buy that house on the beach.


So, what say YOU?  Is the pay gap a genuine thing?  Or a gimmick?  Share your 2 cents below...


tags: politics, rants, work

Super Bowl Ad Showdown

It's been a while, huh?  Happy 2015!

Sorry I haven't blogged in ages.  I've been busy practicing urban bee-keeping.

Who am I kidding?  I can't even keep a plant alive.  (No, seriously, my aunt gave me a ficus a few weeks ago and already it's on death's door.)

What I've really been busy doing is working.  And watching TV.  And working.

Well, as luck would have it, the Super Bowl is where my love of work and TV collide.  I guess the game was exciting, but as always, I'm in it for the commercials.  And the snacks.

Most brands release their commercials in advance, so on the Friday before the game, we gathered with a great bunch of teenage girls around a Snackadium and asked them to watch a few ads for the way women were depicted in them.  But little did we know this would be the year of the Super Sentimental Bowl.  Paying for hamburgers with hugs?  Check.  Crying dads in cars?  Check.  Cat's in the Cradle?  Check.  Puppies?  Of course!

I didn't know whether to throw a flag or a hankie.  None of those made my list.

Here are my faves from SB49:

Funniest Commercial: "Very Brady" by Snickers



Sexiest Commercial: "Little Blue Pill" by Fiat



Best Use of Celebrities: "Invisible Mindy" by Nationwide



Best Commercial I've Seen Before: "#LikeaGirl" by Always



 Best Commercial That Never Aired: "Angels Play Football" by Victoria's Secret



Most Depressing Commercial Ever In the History of Advertising: "Make Safe Happen" by Nationwide



Best Video of Teens Reviewing Commercials (because I made it)



Agree?  Disagree?  Are you still reading?  Tell me all about it below...


tags: commercials, holidays, sports, work

Spring Fling

Lately, I've been up to my elbows in all things girly -- planning a Spring Fling party at work. If I show you some pretty pics, will you forget I haven't blogged in a month?

Didn't think so.

Still, here you go...

I asked for a plant wall with our logo written in flowers.
If Picasso and Miracle Gro had a baby, it would be Steve from Superior Florist.

Every party needs cute boys in pink & orange ties. We had 74 of them.
Did I mention they were models? And super nice? It's like spotting a unicorn. 

I never actually had the chance to eat the food, but if I had, I would have chowed down on this
fried chicken and watermelon like it was my job.

This was our perfume station. Guests could blend different scents and take 3 home
from Bergamot based in good old Brooklyn, NY.

This was our tribute to beauty then (as teens) and now (as ladies).
Doesn't it kind of look like a set out of a Wes Anderson movie?
 

Who could that be? I swear it's not me.  I'm definitely not at the 8th grade prom (minus my date).
And I'm certainly not wearing braces and electric blue eye shadow. Or a perm.
 

These were the stairs to the penthouse, lined with candles & flowers. Just like in my apartment,
minus the stairs, and the candles and the flowers and the penthouse.

We filled the clawfoot tub with flowers. And it was the prettiest tub in the history of bathrooms.
 

We taught all the women, and some men jockeying for husband/boyfriend of the year,
how to choose the perfect shade of MAC lipstick. I jumped into this station for a while when the line got too long
so I could help out, and I'm pretty sure I told a woman she was an "autumn" (whatever that means).

About a month ago, we saw this selfie machine at a conference and just had to have it. It's from a company called SOOH.
I still don't know how to pronounce that and now I know exactly how people feel about my last name...
 

Coachella's got nothing on us with these flower crowns from Urban Outfitters.
To no one's surprise, they "disappeared" in about an hour.
 

I would like these straws in every drink I ever have for the rest of my life.
If you would too, I suggest you contact For Your Party.

Our mixologists taught guests how to make 3 cocktails. This one is a strawberry tequila sour.
I'll have 7.

Who wouldn't want to eat healthy with this amazing spread at the build your own bruschetta bar?
The only question is... should you pronounce it bru-SKET-ta? Unless your name is Giada, I'm thinking no.

Can you get over this space? It's called Gary's Loft in midtown -- the elevators suck but the rest of the place
is so beautiful that it can make a raffle for shampoo and nail polish look like a work of art.

Our talented photographers Ashley & Scott took over 700 pictures, including the ones you see in this post. 
This is the only one of me (if you don't count the then & now pic), and I look like I'm about to sneeze. Super.

Anybody could learn to cook in a kitchen like this.

We used this for a dessert station, and I asked for liquid nitrogen so we could make sorbet & ice cream on the spot.
Somehow, our caterer, Scott and his team at Bite, made it happen. See the smoke? They are magic.

This is Jilly Hendrix, the coolest (and only) DJ I know. 
I wish I could keep her in my pocket so she could make the soundtrack of my life.

We opened up the roof deck just as the sun was setting.  This was the view.
Man, this city is pretty.

A look down at the kitchen from the roof.

String lights and outdoor heaters made a cozy atmosphere for something I called Night Brunch.
Who needs dessert at the end of a party when you can have chocolate chip & banana pancakes? 

I wish you could have been there too! 

If you still read this blog, I promise I'll post something new soon. Maybe next week. Definitely before summer. 

Definitely.


tags: city life, holidays, work