Here are some wearable winter trends to watch for.

Pink- Maintains a modern and polished look while staying feminine and strong. Ultra bold and catchy.

Contrast- Creates a simultaneously chic and trendy timepiece. Think gold with a bold black face, even gold with silver, or prints with flashy colors.

Smooth Shape-In an attempt to stay sleek and sophisticated the watch has gone stream line. Smooth lines generate a uniform fluidity that can be describes as almost gentle . No sharp corners or sudden lines, just a smooth shape to keep you in line.

Jewelry-  It’s a bracelet, no it’s a watch, wait…it’s a bracelet watch! Meant to be flashy and attention demanding. Playful and fun reminding you not to take anything, let alone the time, too seriously.  Think Juicy and Lucky Brand items and anything with charms.

Elite Croc Leather, $72

Perspex Pink Crystal, $367

Fossil Multifunction, $95

Michael Kors Black/Gold, $199

Michael Kors Tortoise, $180

Fossil Two-Tone, $115

Calvin Klein Bangle, $309

Coach Narrow Watch, $458

Calvin Klein Cuff, $467

Dolce & Gabbana Ring, $417

Alchemy Gothic, $88

Betsey Johnson Pendant, $95

Which one to choose, only time will tell.

XoXo cpFashionista

O.K….Give me 5 minutes and I will tell you how the Detroit Lions can go from league jokers to league leaders. It doesn’t take a genius to figure this out.

Are the Lions a good team now?  No.  But they are FAR from poor, and far from the Rod Marinelli..”Were gonna put this loss over here, ok?” team.  Gosh those quotes got old quick…….Anyways,  I believe they have the right man in charge in Jim Schwartz.

But now it’s time to make up for all the Millen picks. A hard nose guy like Matt Millen should know EVERYTHING you do in the NFL starts, and ends with the push up front. The hogs, the big fellas, Im talkin the offensive and defensive lines.  No ifs, ands, or buts. Period. If they are weak, so is your team.

Here’s my point.  Is Jets QB Mark Sanchez that much better then Matt Stafford?  Is Joe Flacco that much better? I don’t think so. I think Stafford could be a QB stud in this league. What’s the difference between them and Stafford?

 The Jets can actually RUN THE BALL!!  The Ravens can RUN THE BALL!! Running the ball and having that threat of being capable to run softens the defense and opens up the passing game.  The Lions CAN’T run the ball.

We have our QB. Calvin Johnson is a stud. Our defense is improving. I know some stats look bad, but when you ALWAYS lose the Time Of Poss battle game after game, the defense gets tired out.

Very quietly Schwatrz has improved this team, and yes I’m writing this one day after the Lions 27-10  loss to the Minnesota Vikings. But i see it.

Look….I’m not the biggest Lions fan, so take it from someone who isn’t emotionally attached to this team. They are getting better.  Build the line, run the ball, and open up Stafford’s passing world.

Here’s some more reason to have high hopes next year……..

We are going to get a high draft pick (again) but at least Schwartz will get HIS GUYS.

When Jimmy Johnson took over the Dallas Cowboys they were a JOKE!! And Johnson was 1-15 his first season…..then you know what happened!!

Look at the past 8 NFC Champs…..most were, out of the blue, I can’t believe they did that teams!!!  EXAMPLES— 2003 Worst to first Carolina Panthers…..2005 Seahawks…..last year ARIZONA!!!….It can happen. And Schwartz is the guy who can do it.

Things will look up if Jim Schwartz gets his chance to develop this team.

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Do you ever get frustrated that you’ve told someone how to do something and then they ask you how to do it again the next time?

It’s easy to lose patience with people when you feel that you’re investing time in training them or sharing knowledge with them only to find that it’s gone in one ear and out the other.

I’m incredibly impatient.  And I’m also pretty good at remembering things.  This doesn’t make a great combination because I measure people against myself and then get frustrated when they don’t meet my standards.

I was reminded today about the Ebbinghaus Curve of Forgetting.  It highlights how most people forget most of what you tell them in as little as an hour.  It’s no wonder therefore that instructions and information and knowledge, however interesting and creatively delivered, will often be forgotten.

Once I’d remembered about Ebbinghaus I felt my frustration levels come down.  This nugget is useful in so many areas of life – when training staff; when giving instructions; when marketing a concept.  For your message to last you need to find innovative and creative ways to repeat that message so that it is reinforced and remembered.

And my learning point?  To remember that people naturally forget and then forgive!

By Ruth Moody

Ther is no joy in D-town, for the Lions have struck out.

Sunday was another dreary day in Detroit sports. It was a cold gray day, with drizzling rain and wan sunlight. The Detroit Lions were taking the field against one of the NFC’s best, The Minnesota Vikings. Hope springs eternal in the heart of even the most jaded sports fan, but I think we all knew we were going down in this one. So I watched for a while. The Lions in classic form played well enough to beat the St. Louis Rams, but not near well enough to beat the Vikings. Funny how when they play the Vikings they play well enough to beat the Rams, but when they play the Rams they play just well enough to lose.

But I digress. The point was that it was another dreary day in Detroit sports. The Lions lost, again. No big deal, saw it coming, didn’t hurt. But hope springs eternal in the heart of a sports fan. Enter the Pistons. Pistons Mavericks, to be exact. Boy wouldn’t a Pistons win be just the ticket to brighten this dreary day. Well, yes it would have. And the Pistons gave the Mavs all they could handle for four quarters, but fell down at the end. The new young team looks good, but they are still gelling and they are still missing Tayshaun Prince and Richard Hamilton.  So another day was done. A day chocked full of losses and dashed hopes, and shattered dreams, and I wondered why sports fans choose to live and die with their teams. Why do we tie the fate of our emotional well-being to that of a team whose actions we don’t have the slightest control over? Why do we seek refuge from the gloom of our daily lives in a past-time that at least half the time is just as gloomy?

I guess its the same ride as life in many ways. We experience the highs and the lows. I was there for this dismal day, but I was also there in ‘84 when the Tigers won the world series and every other  car had a bright orange “Bless You Boys!” bumper sticker on it. And I was there in the late 80s early 90s when the Bad Boys won back to back championships and nobody in the whole country could stand them but us. That was really our team. I was there when the rejuvenated Pistons and Wallace x2 and fear the fro and the no fly zone, and Rip city and Mr. Big Shot and the Prince of the Palace were all in full effect. And I was there when the Detroit Red Wings won it all for the 11th time in the ‘07/ ‘08 season. So I guess that’s why we suffer through the years of medicrity, and sometimes futility, because we are waiting for the dizzying heights of playoff berths and Conference championships and the great golden euphoria of winning it all, where an entire city, even an entire state is warm and fuzzy for days and weeks and sometimes months, depending on how long its been. Those are the good times.

But for now Detroit sports fans will have to wait. The Pistons are rebuilding, the Lions are still in the planning stages, the Wings are just beginning a new season, the Tigers fate is unknown. So we’ll wait, and grumble and suffer with our teams, until the great golden times come again. And I will sit and look at the standings and wonder if the Lions will get their 2nd win of the season against the struggling Browns. After all… I’m a sports fan and hope springs eternal…

Quick Bits:

Belichick blunders: Man is the old ball coach gonna hear about it this on Monday. In a heated game against their biggest rival the New England Patriots looked to have the game sewed up late in the 4th quarter. But the Colts mounted a furious comeback and were knocking on the door at the end. Still, all the Patriots had to do to salt away the win was to run the clock out. But the Colts defense proved equal to the taks, forcing a 4th and 2 situation with the Patriots backed up on their own 28 yard line. That’s when Patriots coach Bill Belichick decided to go for it, rather than punt and trust his defense to stop the Colts from driving the length of the field in 2 minutes. Long story short, the patriots didn’t make it.  As a result, the Colts marched down the field (all 30 yards of it, give or take a few inches) ran the clock down and scored, dropping a big fat “L” on the Patriots and preserving their own unbeaten status. I don’t believe in hypothetical situations so I’m not going to get into what Belichick should have done. All that matters now is what he did do, and what he’s going to be doing all day today and probably for the rest of the week, and that’s trying to explain his decision to go for it on 4th down.

Who is this Jennings kid anyway? Looks like the NBA may have a new rising star on its hands. Milwaukee Bucks guard, Brandon Jennings (a rookie) scored 55 points in a 129-125 win over the Golden State Warriors. In his short career, Jennings is averaging over 25 points a game. The only question is whether he can maintain this kind of play and become one of the NBA’s rising stars, or if he’ll allow himself to be derailed by fame, fortune and life in general and disappear into NBA anonymity.

As I sit here thinking about our weekend together, myself and 4 of my girlfriends…I can’t help but start smiling to myself. That is one of the greatest things about these women. (Well….4 women and 1 girl. I’ll explain later.) We never seem to stop making each other laugh. Laughter truly is the best medicine and these women are some of the best friends I could ask for.

It all started when my friend, Katie, was turning 30. (Seriously? 30?…insert eye roll here) We decided on going away for a night to celebrate her becoming a “woman” finally. Susan, Kathy, Allison, Katie and myself decided to head to North Conway, NH for a weekend of shopping , eating and drinking.  We told Katie that after the weekend of initiation into womanhood…she would no longer be a girl. This included buying a Coach purse. Lucky for all of us, the Coach Outlet was having an amazing sale. We all walked out of there with new Coach bags.

There is a code that I must follow, however: “What happens on girl’s weekend, stays on girl’s weekend.”  So though there were many, many moments that made us laugh until we had to cross our legs…some of the details will have to remain top-secret. We did some Christmas shopping as well as some shopping for ourselves. We fought crowds and waited in line. We shared coupons. We were triumphant. After a full day of shopping, we headed out to find a place for dinner. We ended up at Bellini’s (sounds like Bennini’s or Pannini’s, but it’s not)…a great Italian place with a yummy drink called the Bikini Martini. I highly recommend it.

For the record, it was pouring all day. Not light rain here and there….but non stop rain creating huge puddles. As we continued in and out of stores, we eventually looked like drowned rats. After a fabulous dinner, we headed back to our suite to get pajamas on and open up a few bottles of wine. It felt great to get dry clothes on and sit and relax. We turned off the television and started a game of “I Never…”  That didn’t work out well for me. Apparently, I was the one with the wildest youth. We moved on to just talking teasing each other  and of course, a lot more laughing.

I have been married to a wonderful man for over 18 years and have 2 amazing children. I love spending time with them. However, the time spent with these women (and other great women in my life) keeps me sane. We talk about everything: sex, our bodies, being happy,being sad, our children, our husbands, our dreams and just about everything else.  I would not now what to do without them. I talk to at least one or two of them everyday. We support each other in a way that our families cannot.

I look forward to out next girl’s weekend. In the mean time…there will be plenty of phone calls, lunches and girl’s night out to get me by.

Dina

How many times have you ever started to write sometihng down and then hit the backspace button until you were again staring at a blank page.  Its monday morning and I am sitting the coaches office at school listening to the silence, ahh the golden silence, of the locker room.  The only thing making noise is the old refrigerator next to my desk.  The soft buzz is the comforting white noise that keeps the mice and roaches from running rampant in the office.  Soon there will be 200 highschool kids hollaring at eachother bumping and shoving, slapping hands and giving the one armed “thug hug”, telling stories however true or untrue about the exploits and adventures of their weekends.  These loud rambunctuous kids have no idea that they have the world at their finger tips.  Let me rephrase that, most of these kids have no idea, some of these kids just dont give a crap. They dont give a crap about anything but themselves and are destined to fail because that is what THEY think people expect of them.  The mentality is if people expect it, it must be ok.  Although I have only been teaching for 9 years I can see how so many teachers end up broken and tired and disgruntaled.  Not postal worker disgruntaled but just a general kind of disliking for coming to work everyday.  I have been banging my head against the proverbial wall trying to teach these kids that just because thats the way it is, its not the way it has to be.  The people that expect you to fail are the minority and the people that know you are capable of so many great things are waiting for you to have the courage to jump, just so they can catch you.  A teaching career is such a long time to be unhappy and to have a case of the fuck its.  I wish some of these kids had a back space button and I could turn them into a blank page

As you walk you path today know that there will always be others that walk with you, and that relationships alway work best when a win-win-win situation is possible. When you create a win-win-win situation you ensure that both parties gain from the partnership, and that you are also able to add value elsewhere (this relates to the third win).

Over the years as a serial entrepreneur I have worked with many people, and have developed working partnerships with a few. In business I have always been conscious of treating people with respect and consideration whilst acting with integrity and honesty. Yet I have discovered that not everyone works in this way.

Descartes said ‘My aim is not to teach the method that everyone ought to follow – in order to conduct his reason well, but solely to reveal how I have tried to conduct my own.’ ….

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Poslovni Salon je nova i jedinstvena edukativna i savjetodavna konferencija za malo i srednje poduzetništvo koje podržava Hrvatska udruga poslodavaca malog i srednjeg poduzetništva te Privredni vjesnik koji zajedno sa Poslovnim učilištem filaks i event management agencijom Marketing odjel organiziraju ovu konferenciju.

Poslovni Salon programski vodi direktor programa Goran Šikić. Više o konferenciji Poslovni Salon možete saznati kroz ovaj press-clipping:

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Iedereen wil gelukkig zijn. Hoe krijgt u het voor elkaar dat u gelukkig wordt? Door uw gedachten te trainen, door te doen, te accepteren wat u voelt, daarna evalueren en eventueel aanpassen. Het is een bewustwordingsproces. Bewust worden van uw gedachten, uw gevoelens en uw gedrag. Als u iedere dag oefent zult u merken dat het u veel oplevert en u steeds gelukkiger wordt. Wat kost het? Niets! Het is gratis. U investeert in uzelf, u plukt er ook zelf de vruchten van! Daarnaast heeft ook uw omgeving er profijt van. Er zijn alleen maar winnaars!
Iedere week schrijf ik tips in mijn gratis e-zine, op mijn website kunt u zich hiervoor inschrijven. U kunt de tips in willekeurige volgorde gebruiken. De tips zijn bedoeld om u aan het denken te zetten over uw eigen leven. Wat wilt u veranderen? Hoe kunt u dit veranderen? Wat wilt u en hoe krijgt u dit voor elkaar? Hoe gaat u met uzelf en anderen om? Wat maakt u gelukkig?

Een stap terug.

Het leven van alledag is tegenwoordig één grote rat-race. We vliegen van hot naar her. Alles moet gisteren klaar zijn en mensen hebben nergens tijd meer voor. Mensen worden steeds ongeduldiger. Herkenbaar? Troost u, het is niet wat alleen tegenwoordig zo voelt. Dit gevoel is van alle tijden. Onze ouders hebben hun tijd net zo ervaren zoals wij nu doen. De maatschappij is door de jaren heen ook aan het versnellen. Eerst gingen mensen te voet, toen werd de fiets uitgevonden, de auto, de trein, het vliegtuig, de raket……….En wij versnellen mee. Als u lekker in uw vel zit en u gaat mee met de flow, is dit heerlijk en kan alles niet snel genoeg gaan. Maar wat, als u die flow kwijtraakt, of niet vindt? Dan is het tijd om eens een stap terug te doen. Even uitstappen uit de trein of auto en met de fiets of te voet verder gaan. Even een stap terug doen, een versnelling langzamer schakelen. Even pauze nemen en overdenken wat u aan het doen bent en wat de reden is dat het niet gaat zoals u het graag wilt. Wat heeft u niet effectief genoeg gedaan? Wat kunt u anders kunnen doen? Heeft u invloed op de omstandigheden? Wat is uw bijdrage? Niet de oorzaken bij anderen zoeken, maar bij uzelf. Die anderen rijden wel door. U bent diegene die even niet meekan. Dat is niet erg, het is juist goed om af en toe een stap terug te doen. Het dwingt u om eens goed na te denken met wat u allemaal aan het doen bent en, wat nog belangrijker is, of u het wel allemaal op deze manier wilt! Komt u tot de conclusie dat er wat verandert dient te worden en heeft u hiervoor ook de oplossing dan kunt u weer in de auto of trein en rijdt u weer met volle vaart verder. Weet u nog niet zo goed wat u wilt of weet u nog geen oplossing? Dan heeft u altijd nog de mogelijkheid om hulp van een ander in te roepen. Vraag eens aan een ander hoe die het probleem opgelost heeft of op zou lossen! Er zijn vaak meer oplossingen beschikbaar, alleen zien we ze vaak niet omdat we er simpelweg niet aan denken! We zijn gefocust op die ene manier, zoals we het altijd al gedaan hebben, en dan helpt het soms als we de weg aan een ander vragen. Dit kan een vriend of vriendin zijn, een kennis of familielid. Weten ook deze mensen geen oplossing dan kunt u altijd nog de hulp van een professional inroepen. En heeft u uiteindelijk de oplossing gevonden, kunt u weer in de auto of trein stappen om met volle vaart weer verder te gaan met uw leven!

Succes en een warme groet van,
Henrice Kupper

Voor meer informatie: www.deditio.nl

©2009 Henrice Kupper – alle rechten voorbehouden.

Idag precis som de flesta andra dagarna nu för tiden är det grått och fuktigt ute. När ska hösten ta slut och ge plats för herr vinter?

Helgen har varit riktigt bra, lördagen åkte vi till storstan för shopping på IKEA och Citygross. Vi handlade mest småskaer på ikea men paketet gick ändå på över 3000:-

Igår gjorde jag en god köttgryta som fick puttra hela dagen. Krattade ännu mer lov och em åkte vi till farmor och farfar för intag av underbart goda våfflor.

Idag händer ingen speciellt mer än att det är min första dag som arbetslös så idag ska jag till af för inskrivning. Jag vet redan att jag vill sutdera till undersköterska (till att börja med) men det utb börjar inte förens till hösten. Min coach utb som jag ville gå vet jag inte om den blir av, det är svårt att få det att gå ihop med barnomsorg,  A-kassa och jobb… Men jag ger inte upp än.. och blir det inte nu går jag den om något år.

¿Cómo motivar a las personas en momentos de recesión? Actualmente vivimos en un entorno de reducción de costes en las empresas, y eso se traduce en una contención salarial y en una reevaluación en las políticas de retribución. Además, la información que reciben las empresas de su entorno no ayuda a levantar la moral de sus trabajadores, lo que difículta la fidelización de sus mejores profesionales y genera problemas a la hora de retener el talento.

Inspirar el talento en momentos de recesión no es fácil, pues las organizaciones pierden la capacidad de recurrir a los motivadores financieros habituales como son los incentivos basados en el desempeño, los incrementos en el salario base o los incentivos basados en acciones o en el derecho de compra de acciones (stock options).

Esto nos obliga a innovar en las políticas retributivas y a buscar motivadores no financieros tal y como publican Martin Dewhurst, Mathew Guthridge y Elizabeth Mohr en su artículo Motivating people: Getting beyond money. El texto contiene los resultados de una encuesta realizada a un total de 1047 ejecutivos, directivos y empleados. En ella se revela que las personas que cuentan con un salario satisfactorio encuentran algunos motivadores no financieros mucho más efectivos que aquellos que están basados en el dinero.

Los autores proponen acciones motivadoras como son la oportunidad de liderar proyectos y grupos, que los directivos presten una mayor atención a las necesidades de sus colaboradores, y que estos den un mayor reconocimiento a la labor que desarrollan los mismos.

Lo interesante del artículo es ver cómo por encima del dinero, muchas personas necesitan sentir que su compañía y sus superiores les valoran, que se toman en serio su bienestar y que crean oportunidades para su desarrollo personal y profesional. Esto nos lleva a replantearnos nuestra forma de liderar en la medida que, si queremos retener el talento, necesitamos generar contextos para que nuestros colaboradores encuentren posibilidades de desarrollo en la organización. Para ello deberemos mantener reuniones personales con ellos al objeto de conocer sus necesidades y motivaciones, darles posibilidades de realizar su potencial y hacer seguimiento de la satisfacción de sus necesidades profesionales.

Por otra parte, el artículo también identifica algunos factores por los que las empresas no aplican estos motivadores no financieros. El primero es nuestra disposición a confundir motivación con compensación económica. El segundo es que estas fórmulas requieren el compromiso de los directivos hacia sus colaboradores, y para ello necesitamos partir de culturas empresariales y de estilos de dirección que no siempre coinciden con los que disponemos en nuestra organización.

Los trabajadores, por encima de todos somos personas. Tenemos necesidades financieras pero también tenemos necesidades de seguimiento, de reconocimiento, de desarrollo personal. Nuestro liderazgo no puede vivir de espaldas a ello. A pesar de la recesión.

Notas

El artículo Motivating people: Getting beyond money, de Martin Dewhurst, Mathew Guthridge y Elizabeth Mohr está publicado en inglés en McKinsey Quarterly Puede descargarse en la siguiente dirección.

Compártelo en Twitter

I’m sorry people i have to say it,Bill Belichek made one of the worst go- for- it- on- fourth- down calls ever!i mean this is a hall of famer and he looked like a rookie coach out there on sunday night football, this is not the kind of message you want to send to your defense, yes they are young but this did nothing for there confidence and he blew it!You have to show your guys you count on them through thick and thin, you need to build confidence in young players especially when they are not use to being in the spotlight and on national tv every single game, this would have been a confidence builder if he had of allowed they to make a play or just being in the position to make one, he took that away from them and this could effect your team for the rest of the season if you don’t watch how you treat this game and how the team recovers from it!i think he thought he was going to out think a rookie head coach because he [Jim Cauldwell]is a first year head coach, well the plan backfired and it made him look like the rookie head coach and he looked bad. What he has to do now is get himself in damage control mode and blame this game on himself and release his defense from thinking they were useless and work on restoring fire in these young guys because this could shadow the team for awhile and as a coach that’s the last thing you want! Chaulk it up Bill, you guys can recover!

Anything is possible – seriously

Always believe that you can do anything.

This weekend I have been preparing for a HUGE upcoming week. Here’s the line up…

1. Grade upload week: every two weeks we upload our grades (though I usually put mine in as assignments are graded) for a mini grade report. I’ve never had this set-up before (only uploading grades at the midterm and end of term). With that said, I feel like I’m still getting used to the two-week grade schedule. Also, though my use of “electronic gradebooks” has included a few different programs depending on the school I was working at, I’m wondering if there are any user-friendly, not “clunky” freeware versions out there? I’m just being picky, but our grading site was being picky this weekend which made me a bit frustrated!
2. NCTE!!! That’s right, headed to Philly this week for the National Convention. I am presenting twice, teaching two “tech talk” sessions, and potentially helping present for a research session. And of course, can’t forget attending as many sessions and learning as much as I can! Talk about BUSY! I’m going to be working/running around everywhere from sun up to sun down (but I think that’s part of the fun ) Anyway, I’m very excited and can’t wait!
3. Since I’ll be attending/working/learning at NCTE, I have to prepare plans for my substitutes! Now, me being me, I’m very particular about my written instructions. I want to be as clear as I can and have everything ready to go for them. Post-its and color coded folders. Enough said.
4. Prepping for a grammar test the Monday after the Convention. I’m handing my students an outline of what they will need to study for the test before I leave. I debated giving a Monday test (hey, I know what it’s like for the students, too!), but want to get the grammar done before Thanksgiving break AND the final exam. I’ve already told them about it, so it’s on their radar which will hopefully help some.
5. First basketball game. And I’m missing it. *sigh* It’s tough being pulled in two different directions being a teacher and coach, but I think the girls understand (at least I hope they do).

Anyway, it’s back to last minute things on this Sunday evening to make sure I have everything ready to go! Guess that means I need to get some laundry going too, ha!

Have a great week everyone!

Cuando pienso en el día en que por fin me compre mi Chanel 2.55, CREANME que no me imagino comprándola en Costco.

Pero al parecer esta semana Costco en New York empezó a ofrecer designer bags de la talla de Chanel, Burberry, Louis Vuitton, y de la no tan fabulous Coach. Sí ese Costco donde venden todo en grandes cantidades, como: detergente, arroz, cereal, etc. Increible pero cierto.

No ofrecen una gran variedad, pero tenian la Speedy de Louis (sold out), y la Chanel Flap Bag. Al parecer, el precio era alrededor de $100 menos que el precio normal en la Speedy, solo por ese pequeño descuento, iría a comprarla ahí.

The party was perfect. I couldn’t have hoped for anything better! My mom and I left home around 11:30am to go to Williamsburg. We went to the outlets and shopped at Underarmour, Adidas, Nike, AE, Bath and Body Works, Victoria’s Secret, Ann Taylor, Coach, and BCBG…my fave! It was sooooo crowded, almost like Black Friday. Rediculous! But there were great sales, and I got lots of cute clothes We left Williamsburg around 5:45pm and started going home, and I drove sllllowly in order to not get home before 7! She didn’t suspect a thing, and I even think she bought my response when she asked “what all the cars were doing in my neighbor’s yard?” I just said they were having a party, and proceeded to talk about our shopping trip. We walked into the house and everyone was surrounding the doorway and yelled “surprise!” at exactly the right time. It was so so so perfect! Thank you to everyone who helped make this party a success-my dad, my amazing boyfriend, my aunt, and every single person who was at the party! Ya’ll are great

I’m going to post pictures when they are uploaded (hopefully!) but here is one Michael sent when they were decorating…this was before the mean “Over the Hill” decorations!!!

-xoxo

Op immense kliffen van Ta Cenc

Sinds we op Malta aangekomen zijn, gebeurde er elke dag wel iets onverwachts. Het begint bij het chaotische verkeer (links rijden!) en de weg zoeken naar je klimbestemming van de dag. Dan vaak door ruig terrein tot aan je klimmassief. Vervolgens de spannende afdaling van een klif van meer dan 100m, zonder dat die rappelpiste geëquipeerd is, onderweg maak je al je eigen tussenrelais. Uiteindelijk hang je vlak boven de golven aan een zandlopertje (je touw smaakt naar zeewater) en begint de beklimming over maagdelijke kalkrots. Geen haken om je de weg te wijzen, maar wat een belevenis! Een uitgebreid verslag volgt na onze terugkeer.

Would you ever dream of paying $1000 for a handbag?  Most people I know, or that are customers of ours, wouldn’t.  $1000?  Really?

Although the Large Madison Spectator bag by Coach is a stunning beauty.  Offered in several colors, our personal favorite is the Violet, which is actually a light purple (when I think of Violet I think dark purple…do you?).  This is Coach #13245, for those of you that hunt for your Coach bag by number.

This bag features a multitude of pockets, two strap options as well as multi color leather construction for eye popping beauty. 

Not to mention the 3 logo hang tags …. no one will miss the fact this is an authentic designer Coach handbag!

3 logo hang tags

 Currently, we have this bag in stock and are selling it at more than 50% off retail, with free shipping.  The Coach Spectator Madison Large Julianne at Dream-Adventures is guaranteed 100% authentic and comes wrapped in Coach tissue paper.  We have a gift box available too, for your holiday gift giving needs.

You can find a wide variety of Coach handbags at Dream-Adventures, as well as Coach handbags on eBay and Amazon.com. 

Happy Coach handbag shopping, and may your days be filled with Dream-Adventures!

Today I waited at Nizamudin Railway station, Delhi, for two and half hours for the arrival of a train from Keralam. At first, they announced a dalay of just twenty minutes, then went on increasing it to two hours!

 When there was only one track, before electrification, another Madam could ensure timely running of trains, during emergency, way back in 1976. It means that they are capable of doing it, but do not bother.

I had come in from the east side. The whole area is very dirty.

Do they wash the trains?

Even at smaller stations, electonic indicators tell passengers, the spot on the platform, where your coach will halt. No  such facility in the capital. I had to find out from coolies. 

Officers are the horses; ministers are riding. We elected you for running the show. If you can’t, GET OUT.

We are giving you salary and perks.

I coach kids. Young adults. The Youth. In America, rugby is small. Its less than small. Rugby doesn’t register with the consciousness of the youth except for negative stereotypes like “crazy” and “dangerous.” Sames goes for the parents,  school officials and too often, the general public as well.

Its important for me as a coach, having no direct public access to kids, to communicate with them about rugby in a safe environment.  I’m not a teacher or a parent. I don’t coach in the middle schools or high schools, but I need to deliver the positive stories and messages about rugby that opens doors to opportunities, rather than closes them.

For me, this tool is social media.

When I began playing high school rugby in Washington State in the late 90’s, there was no MySpace, Facebook or Twitter. The players on my youth team recruited through word of mouth. My high school wouldn’t  let our rugby coaches in the front door to for informational sessions or other recruiting events.  Our numbers were small because of this. So small in fact, that our coach decided to make our team co-ed.  Adding female players was the only way to fill our squad.

Flash forward eleven years to 2008, my first year coaching the Eastside Lions. I didn’t know the current players, nor did I have relationships built in the Bellevue metro area, where my program is located.  The task ahead was daunting. I struggled to reach players by email and wasn’t comfortable calling underage players at home.  I quickly realized I would have to use creative means to reach the boys. I looked at the tools available to me and gave Facebook a try.

Facebook as a friend

I’d been using Facebook for about a year, posting status updates, general observations and upcoming plans. Like the other 60 million+ users, I kept in touch with family and friends, posted photos and ignored game requests. However, my interest with the interface changed when I realized I could use this social tool to communicate directly with current players.

I was able to “introduce” myself to players and gauge their interest and familiarity with rugby.  They told me about friends interested in playing and encouraged me to talk to them about the greatness of rugby.  I built an Eastside Lions High School Rugby page and invited them to join.  I could message players about scheduling and practices, touch practices and create events then invite players & parents to attend,   This eliminated players not knowing about a practices, scrimmages or games. Recruiting and communicating with current and potential players became significantly easier.

I spent hours chatting with players about their school and sport goals and reflections on their practice performance. Being Facebook friends gave them the go ahead to learn about me as well – that I was a coach who cared about them and was someone they could trust. Building these relationships was absolutely necessary because we were ( and are) still a very young club.  Facebook gave us the ability to connect and I was able to build bridges with players and parents much quicker and more easily than without.

A larger barrier in the way of access to athletes in high school in the US are their coaches from other sports (I’m looking at you Football).  Rather than pander to a group of grown men obsessed with protecting their players, I perused the local school’s football and wrestling rosters, then message those athletes through Facebook.  Is it ethical? Does it blur the lines of appropriateness? I don’t know. Did it work? It got a few kids out to try rugby and no harm was done to those kids who weren’t interested in the first place. So, yes, it worked.

You do that Tweeter thing?

Honestly, I was as suspicious of Twitter as anyone. I first heard about it two years ago, when it was just being released. At the time, it seemed like a rather useless tool. I ignored it at first. Then created and toyed around with a personal account. After a few months of “following” celebs, athletes, friends and others, I got bored. I needed a reason a tweet. That reason was rugby.

I logged on one afternoon and gave myself the name of The_Rugby_Coach. TheRugbyCoach was taken Clarence Picard of Buffalo, NY who coaches the St. Bonaventure men’s rugby team. My first step was keying in and searching for “rugby.” This search returned a list of various rugby teams around the country. From there I scoured following and follower lists to find rugby coaches, players, bloggers, local members of the sports media and other various “tweeters.”

I’ve been able to connect and communicate with rugby people all over the globe. Oz to England, South Africa to Argentina. Twitter has removed roadblocks among those of us passionate about communicating ideas and news about rugby. Twitter has created a free, open source way sharing of rugby related information. I can talk to Paul Fremaux , former coach, in New Zealand, Jeremy Beynon, blogger for Heavens Game in Australia or Dumont Walker , of Walker Sports in Washington DC, free of charge, simultaneously, anytime of the day. My knowledge of rugby and insight into the game has increased. My connections with the rugby world have risen ten fold.

Twitter is the snowball effect. Follow a person. Communicate. Follow someone they follow. Those two follow you. Information exchanged. Information shared.

Facebook takes relationships a step further by putting faces to names and allowing direct, real time conversations, invitations to groups & events and the nurturing of relationships between coaches & players.

Relations are built and friendships are made. The world becomes a bit smaller. A bit friendlier. And forever more connected.