Wednesday, November 12, 2014

The boring bits

Pain aux raisins at the Park Hyatt Vendome. These could be my most favorite things in the world. 


In October, I went on a modified Elimination diet. It wasn't easy, but it wasn't the bellyaching bitch fest that most folks seem to discuss on the social networks. Like most things in my life these days, it had a start and stop date. For four weeks, I stopped eating oats, wheat and wheat like products, some fruits and vegetables, sugar, eggs, almonds and dairy from my diet. I did not remove coffee and chocolate from my life because that was going too far, but didn't seek them out either. I felt great for those weeks. I had more energy and not as hungry as I had feared. I tried really hard not to bore people with my elimination diet. I travelled twice during the time and managed okay both times. Sashimi was my friend and I was glad rice and potatoes did not make the hit list.

 I learned that I could live without goat cheese and hemp milk wasn't as crappy tasting as I had feared.

 I added bunch of stuff back to "challenge" my system while I was in France. I felt okay, nothing really awful happened. It wasn't like a sat down and ate an Emmenthal and ham sandwich dipped in beet juice followed by an almond milk chaser. I tried a little of this (bread) with a little of that (grand mariner souffle) and some of this (cheese). The world did not end, I did not start raising funds for my elimination diet video channel and meal planning kit kickstarter. I listened to my body, gauged how I felt after each item was introduced and moved on.

 What I did realize was that I love my boring and predictable food choices and I'm happy to abide by them the 280 days a year I'm at home. I'll try some things when I'm out of my comfort zone, but really I would be much happier in my comfort zone. I could have walked 10 minutes from my hotel and gotten a juice bar experience or I could crossed the Avenue de l'Opera to visit Starbucks and get a soy latte. Instead I decided that my choice would be to skip the smoothie and have fruit instead. I drank more cafes than cappucinos and as TH has pointed out, the tisanes are a far superior to their coffee.

 I'm easing back into my home routine for the next two weeks. I look forward to cooking this weekend and my 3 pm hummus and carrots. It may be boring, but sometimes that is all it takes.

Monday, November 10, 2014

Expect the expected



Tomorrow is the first time in nearly  20 years I am flying British Airways westbound in Economy.  I'm not complaining, it was of my own choosing.  I wanted to get home fast. I have equipped myself with a good book, earplugs and a chocolate eclair from La Marquis de Laduree. I hope this and a decent cup of coffee at the airport will see me through.

I've flown American Airlines many times in the same class and with long layovers and survived. I've grown accustomed to the declining service, lack of edible food, vastly long layovers and non-personalized attention from my airline of choice. I think that is part of the problem - I have no expectations, I just expect meh service and to be exhausted when I get to Seattle.

I'm moving into new ground here with British Airways, wish me luck.


Sunday, November 09, 2014

Plats du Jour


Many small boxes (not of take out), November 2014. 

Sunday is a big day for eating out in Paris.  Families gather to have a lovely lunch out and catch up and tourists look at menus with great hesitation trying to decide whether to venture inside a bistro to get something to eat. Others may wander in to get out the cold or hot or just take a load off.  In all cases, it is nice to take a break and spend the next hour - erm, staring at a screen.

Face it, most of us are guilty of doing this.  You have been pretty darn good all day long.  You may have used your phone to take a few pictures or look up directions, but once you sit down, you are lost.  We are guilty of catching up with Instagram comments, answering work emails from six thousand miles away, or waiting to take a picture of your soup.

The important things is we're sitting down to eat a meal someone else has prepared and more than likely,we're sitting with someone we like/love/respect and we're not paying giving them or the food the attention it or they deserve.

Today I witnessed many tables where both parties were eating and typing at the same time. They weren't sitting at a fast food establishment wolfing down a burger to rush back to their desks.  These were people who were dropping close to 80 bucks per person to eat lunch and they barely spent it interacting with each other or their food.

Why even bother?

I am just as guilty as others, but I am trying really hard to be mindful about this. We have a no phones the table unless the world is ending or the World Series is on. Is it okay to tune in instead of tuning out by shutting out the real world?

Is it okay to just thank the waitstaff who has seated you and brought you food? Is it okay to chew each mouthful of food and be humbled that someone went to the trouble to feed you? 

Watching other's today made me even more determined to stop looking at my phone for entertainment and start paying attention to what is going on around me.

How about you?  Do you have a no-phone/device policy while eating? 







Saturday, November 08, 2014


Tuileries, Nov. 2013.

It is lovely to spend the day with the person you love in your favorite city.

Happy Saturday from the City of Lights

Friday, November 07, 2014

See something, Say something



I have learned a lot about myself in the last few years. One thing is that I am much better off confronting a situation that stewing for hours . It is better to face whatever is nagging or bothering me instead of losing sleep or involving others in my web of crankiness.

There is nothing like remembering a trip because of the one shitty thing that happened to you instead of the 300 awesome things which occurred at same time.

"I loved x, but all I can remember was the rude waiter, crappy valet, lack of turn down service or smelly seat opponent." 

Trying to turn this around to - "Greenland was amazing, I even enjoyed the surprise overnight visit to Disko Island thanks to the ferry running aground.  We got to meet some folks we would have never of met and saw way more icebergs because of it".  


So, not everyone has had  the joy of being stranded in Greenland, but I'm thinking all six of you who have read this blog post have gotten a sub-par room in a hotel and have either shut up and unpacked your suitcase or have bitched about the room to someone other than the Front Desk Manager.

Now, I just confront whatever it is that is bothering me - hotel rooms, inadequate service or ferries that run aground. If I get resolution, great. If I don't, I tried and can move on. Moving on is hard, but sometimes it is all you can do.

What about you?







Thursday, November 06, 2014

Guilty Pleasures


I'm sitting in the Skyteam Lounge at LAX waiting to board my flight to Paris. It is a really nice lounge, light and airy and spacious.  It is also very quiet, which is very unusual in this day and age.

It is also place with free wifi. I'm working but I'm also doing something else  - I'm catching up on my vapid television watching. I do a lot of that these days.  I have become somewhat of a tv watcher. I'm not proud of it, but instead of reading tattered copies of Redbook at the gym, I'm catching up on British shows and U.S. popular culture in 45 minute chunks.

What is my guilty pleasure? Picking a series and downloading a full season to watch on the trip.  The rest, I'll pick up on netflix or hulu, but spending that 19 bucks for 19 hours of entertainment is my guilty pleasure.

What is yours?




Wednesday, November 05, 2014

There is nothing more exhausting on than being "on". I have great admiration for folks in sales. 


That is me on stage. 
 
Nm
Please hold questions until the end 

Tuesday, November 04, 2014

Woo Woo What? and missing your target























Klout, WTF? 

I spend my days wondering if anyone will ever read what I write.

Truthfully, I spend about six minutes wondering if I should hit the share buttons and even posting to Google Plus to see if I can increase my reach. I don't always execute on my intentions because the people I follow or care about are usually on more than one of my networks and I hate bombarding people with the same content or whines.

There are a million places, apps and opportunities for people to share content, but picking the right one is critical to building your audience. Are the folks you engage with the most  on Twitter? Do you love to curate collections and have a million followers on Pinterest? Are your photos envied and emoticoned by more than your best three friends?

Should you pick just one?

I recommend that you and I should spend some time testing hypotheses, measuring reach, and trying different approaches before developing your outreach mix.   I crack up every time I see this ad for Adobe Marketing Cloud.  It is a great example of brands and maybe you, jumping on the latest thing without thinking things through.

Jumping on a bandwagon - Cashing in the Q4 budget and buying some followers. 


Until next time, WOO WOO on or until you mama joins up.

Monday, November 03, 2014

How to dress for success or how to dress yourself successfully

A room with a view, Hyatt Etoile, July 2014.

My life has taken some turns - mostly good.

I have started to dress like a grown-up. Maybe its that I finally feel like I can buy clothes that suit me. It might just be that I work right next to the Nordstrom shoe buyers and I feel like I have to up my game.
Whatever it is, it takes a little more effort that it did before to get out the door and that takes some planning.

I'm going on an eight day trip soon that involves air travel and a bit of driving. I have a short work presentation to a bunch of friendly colleagues who are more casual and then to Paris where I want to look nice and be comfortable. I'm not into wardrobe changes per se, but I could definitely get out of my rut and try a few things.

In my new found love of retail I have learned a few things that I would love to share with you. Here they are.

Always shop for clothes on an empty stomach - you'll look better.

If you can't take someone you trust with you when you go shopping  make sure you model what you bought for them before you rip off the tags.

Try and sit down and cross your legs, bend over, stretch your arms up in your new garments on a full stomach before you rip off any tags.

Cut those tags off, do not rip them.

Always save the receipt and the buttons that come with whatever you bought. You'll need them one day.

Oh, I hate Pinterest, but here is a board that shows you just what I'm thinking of taking.

Do tell me what you think.

nm



Sunday, November 02, 2014

First Sunday

                                 515 PM - still light out, embrace it or go south. 

I love the first morning after Daylight Savings Time ends. I love getting up and having an extra hour of the day to do things.

When did we start doing things on Sunday?

Isn't Sunday the day our Protestant forefathers (yes, fathers) decided we needed to rest after a week of toiling? Come to think of it I did toil a little in the garden yesterday. 

Isn't Sunday supposed to be out relaxing, spending time away from devices, and reflecting on the week behind and thinking about the week ahead?

I'm tired of overachieving on Sunday.  I want my Sunday back. 

Maybe next Sunday.  

nm

Saturday, November 01, 2014

What's the frequency Kenneth?


                                           Startup Hall - U of Wa. Go there. 

Yup. I'm back.

Life has been pretty decent around here - we're busy with work, family, dogs, gardens and travel.  I miss writing terribly. I start a hundred blog posts in my mind and then I just walk away without scribbling anything down.

I think once I learned about page views, impressions, SEO, SEM, trackbacks and how blogging really worked, I got turned off.

I'm not sure Twitter is my medium, either.

Photography is great. I like the instant gratification of posting an image and getting instant feedback. Who wouldn't? However, there is something lovely about writing out your thoughts and something even better when someone takes the 45 seconds in their day to read what you wrote.

I'm going to try this again.

We'll see how it goes.
nm