It's a Zoo Out There - But, Like, Really

It's a Zoo Out There - But, Like, Really

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

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My email went to five music-loving friends. It was short & to the point:

Anyone want to join me at Portugal. The Man's free show at the Zoo next Monday? At 6:30, it's cutting it pretty close to work hours (it's still sort of during work hours), but it sounds quirky & bloggable, so I'm going to go & would love company.

Yeah, sometimes I make plans around events that might make for interesting stories - & in this case, it paid off.

The Smithsonian National Zoo's partnership with Portugal. The Man (don't blame me for their inaccurately placed punctuation) is intended to raise awareness of endangered species, specifically Sumatran tigers, the smallest surviving tiger species with only 400 left in the wild. The Zoo distributed copies of the band's new song, aptly titled "Sumatran Tigers," to 400 social media influencers. The catch? The polycarbonate records are made to disintegrate after a certain number of plays - literally "a song manufactured to go extinct unless it's reproduced." Through this #EndangeredSong campaign, record recipients were tasked with "breeding" the song, digitizing it for the masses & ensuring its survival.

Yeah, this is the most genius social media campaign ever, & I shall refer to it forevermore as the most impressive effort I've thus far encountered. So first, there's that.

But secondly, there was also this free show, which I was excited to attend. I arrived with three friends, two friends-of-friends, & a picnic blanket (OK, it was someone else's picnic blanket), full of enthusiasm & sweating bullets in the sudden D.C. heat. We joined about 2,000 fellow attendees for a nice, seated lawn show at which everyone in attendance seemed to be in unanimous but unspoken agreement about the "seated" part.

Except for one kid.

This little bro, who was probably about 16, stood up to dance alone, blocking other people's views & inspiring boos from the crowd behind him. When a cop approached him & asked him to sit, he solidly refused - casually at first, then with more intensity (here's a video), & finally, he was hauled off the lawn in a spectacle that stopped the band & paused the whole show. When he was finally cuffed & hauled away, the whole audience cheered & the band apologized & everything continued as planned.

Until the last song. During the last song, one of his friends decided to stage a protest of his own, more peaceful this time but equally obnoxious. He approached the band at the edge of the stage & leaned in for a hug from lead singer John Gourley, who waved off an approaching police officer & accepted the hug in an attempt to diffuse yet another distracting situation. Except then the kid ran on stage, picked up a tambourine, & danced with the band through the duration of their final - & very long - song. That led into "Hey, Jude," & on the na-na-na-nas, the whole crowd finally stood en masse & sang together, confused & amused.

These two ridiculous interruptions sullied an otherwise excellent show for an excellent cause, & my friends & I grumbled about them with an appropriately level of oldness. "Do you think they're on drugs?" one friend asked. In fact, I think I can pinpoint the precise moment I became an adult: It was when someone asked me how old I thought the rebels were, & I said, "Old enough to know better, young enough to be on Molly." Also, I initially wrote "hooligans" there instead of "rebels," so it's official - I'm old.

It also reinforced, as so many experiences do, that D.C. is the right city for me. This ain't Coachella, bro. Sit your hippie ass down & enjoy your free zoo show from the grass like every other goddamn suited-up pseudo-hipster in this town.

The Smithsonian National Zoo's Global Tiger Initiative is working to double the number of wild tigers by 2022. Text NATZOO to 20222 to donate $10 to their efforts. Learn more or donate online.

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The Time I Went to a Google Party & Felt Awesome

The Time I Went to a Google Party & Felt Awesome

Monday, April 21, 2014

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I had a really terrible day at work last Thursday, & I was going to cancel my evening plans. My friend Emily was ready to go, had even called to offer me a ride, but I told her, "I don't think I'm going to make it. I think I'm going to go home." Within seconds of hanging up the phone, though, I had a change of heart: What are you doing?! You moved back to this city to do things! To be with people! Get out there! I immediately called her back & asked her to pick me up.

We were headed to Google's Suddenly Spring Social, an event held at a local art gallery to celebrate the District’s launch of Google City Experts, a review program. The invitation told us to "embrace spring, Washingtonian style — with a picnic bursting with budding blossoms, delectable neighborhood specialties and local craft brews." Yeah, um, just a bit swankier than my usual picnic.

This was exactly the sort of event that I live in a city for. I was reminded of the time in 2008 when my coworkers & I attended an event-planning fair at the National Zoo - not that any of us has ever been an event planner. It's the kind of thing you can only do in a major metropolis, the kind of thing reserved solely for lucky city-dwellers. I made it onto the guest list only because Emily was invited by a friend who works for Google, & she was given a plus-one - plus-three, actually, so she brought a handful of equally excited friends. I didn't know the other two girls she brought or anyone else in attendance, but I found myself happily chatting with them & with total strangers, & even running into a fellow blogger by chance.

We ate so much free food, y'all. Like, so much free food. We ate BBQ pulled pork tacos & garlicky, fire-roasted corn from the BBQ Bus. We broke Passover (oops) for two different kinds of tiny, gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches from The Big Cheese. We ate chocolate-covered bacon & turtle sundaes from the dapper, bow-tied dude who runs Goodie's Frozen Custard & Treats (call me). We ate tiny bags of kettle corn & tiny cherry pies & drank not-tiny Cherry Bourbon Fizz cocktails that didn't actually have any cherries in them. And speaking of cherries, we were each given a bag of chocolate-covered cherries on our way out the door, a parting gift in homage to D.C.'s cherry blossom season. We left full & happy & still not totally sure how to take part in Google City Experts (but given my love of Yelp, I'll probably figure it out & give it a try anyway).

High on the list of things I love are food, kitsch, free things, friends, & the Internet, & this event combined them all. It was the perfect way to recover from a bad day at work, & the perfect reminder that this city is exactly where I'm supposed to be.

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Stuff I'm Enthusiastic About

Stuff I'm Enthusiastic About

Friday, April 26, 2013

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For a brief period of time, I wrote a little series of posts called "Gamechangers," all about stuff I just, like, like. Lately, I've been liking a lot of stuff that I want to tell you about, so I'm bring that ish back, but I'm just going to call it "Stuff I'm Enthusiastic About," because I think that sums up the gist of it. Readyyyy? Go!

Goin' to London: I took a week off at the end of June because I essentially forgot to take vacation time this year, & if I don't use my paid vacation days by the end of the fiscal year (June), I lose them. It's sort of like being forced to take time off! I'd originally planned to do a staycation - sleep in, run errands, watch a lot of Ellen - but so many of my friends are globe-trotting right now, & I've got a titch of the green monster, so I started thinking I should try to get some travel in myself. My little cousin is living in London for 18 months, so I just booked a flight to visit her! More on this to come, obviously.

Drinkin' wine: While I was in Austin for SXSW in early March, a fellow attendee gave me a $60 voucher for NakedWines.com. I was skeptical - because ain't no such thing as a free liquid lunch - but I was pleased to find that A) it was totally legit, & B) NakedWines.com is awesome. That voucher (plus $13 from my own wallet) got me six bottles of wine, delivered to my doorstep within the week. Now, my wine rack is full for the first time in my life, & I'm looking forward to trying to become a wine-lover. (In case you're interested, I bought F. Stephen Millier Angels Reserve Viognier 2011, William Henry Riesling 2012, Rachis by Randy Hester Sauvignon Blanc 2012, & Da Da Da... Lodi Chardonnay 2011.) 

Gettin' trim: I started Weight Watchers in January, & while I'm not always perfect at sticking to it (um, there are Stella D'Oro Fudge Cookies in my car right now...), I've found it to be a really easy-to-understand, mostly-easy-to-follow program. I'm not losing as much or as quickly as I'd like because, um, cookies, but I am seeing a difference & feeling better overall - & also my jeans fit again & are even a little bit too big, which definitely falls into the category of "stuff that's awesome." And if I do lose copious amounts of weight, I promise not to become a Jennifer Hudson (which is to say that I won't abandon the traits & talents you know & love me for in favor of talking about being skinny all the time).

Makin' sandwiches: Nathan & I went to a street fair in downtown Red Bank two weekends ago, where I picked up some Raspberry Hot Pepper Jelly from Jacky's Jams and Jellies, made locally in Pine Beach, N.J. Fruit & heat? Gross. Except no. This jelly is the stuff culinary dreams are made of, & I created the World's Most Perfect Grilled Cheese™ (patent pending in my imagination) with it: three Babybel Light cheeses, sliced in half, with 2 tbsp. of jelly & a sprinkling of mozzarella cheese, pressed on multigrain panini bread in my George Foreman grill. I would eat this every day if I could do that & still end up looking like Jennifer Hudson. Instead, it'll be my new favorite-but-infrequent comfort food.

Eatin' cheese: I recently won a giveaway on my friend Suki's blog Super Duper Fantastic, & my haul arrived in the mail today: five blocks of fancy Sartori cheese! Basically, I have never been happier or more excited in my whole life, which is saying a lot, because it arrived on a less-than-stellar day. For lunch this afternoon, I had one serving of their Rosemary & Olive Oil Asiago cheese on Saltines with a side of carrots & yogurt, & then I pretty much died & went to Wisconsin (in which Wisconsin is heaven because, you know, that's where this cheese comes from). Seriously, I may never buy another kind of cheese ever again for as long as I live. Wonder what kinds of gourmet grilled cheese I can invent next?

So tell me: What are you enthusiastic about right now?

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Notes on New York from a n00b

Notes on New York from a n00b

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

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My general feelings about free coffee
& good hair days, but not about 5:15am

It's 8:40am as I begin this post, & already, I've been awake for 3.5 hours. If you've ever woken up in my general vicinity (I'm also talking crashing on your couch & traveling together, pervs, not just sexytimes), you know that I am not exaaaaactly what anyone would call a "morning person." I see 8am only when I absolutely need to, & my work-from-home lifestyle means this isn't very often (but shut up about it, please).

Today, though, I had to catch a train into the city, & because I'm slightly lazy and/or cold-averse, I caught a ride with Nathan to the train station... at 6:20. I was thus on a train by 6:35 & arrived at Penn Station just before 8:00. Now, it's still shy of workin' time, & I'm sitting at my desk, avoiding work for 15 more minutes because why would I start work early?

It's been awhile since I've been to my office - three & a half months, to be precise. When I first moved to Jersey, I was doing a great job of coming into the city for a few days a month, crashing with a friend & working from an actual office building with actual coworkers who I can see in 3D instead of via GoTo Meeting (whaddup, GTM, you rock, though). But then Hurricane Sandy hit, & the train was out for more than a month, & then it was the holidays, & then I went to Israel... & now it's now. I had to come in for 48 hours for a really long meeting, so here I am.

I fancy myself pretty good at the city for a non city-dweller. I have a terrible sense of direction, but I have an iPhone & common sense, so I can usually make it work for me. This morning, though, I felt like a total new kid, messing up all the little things I usually pride myself on. I also came away with a few fresh observations, which I shall impart upon you at this time:

• This is how to not get robbed when you intend to sleep on a train:
  
  Although to be fair, I don't know that a lot of robbers are active in the wee hours of the morn. And speaking of the wee hours of the morn...

• There's a special place in hell for people who carry on loud, bellowing conversations - or conversations of any volume, frankly - on public transit prior to sunrise. Everyone around you is trying to sleep for the next 70 minutes, bro. I know you're from Jersey, but tone it down.

• Waking up on the train upon reaching your final destination (not like that) is among the most disorienting situations, much like waking up on an airplane is. WHERE AM I & WHAT TIME IS IT & DID I ACCIDENTALLY JUST GET OFF THE TRAIN AT NEWARK INSTEAD OF THE CITY? No? Oh, good. Carry on.

• Subway turnstiles & revolving doors are particularly hostile to luggage-wielding pedestrians, & of course, the city is lousy with both of them. Can't a girl get an old-fashioned hinged door up in here?

• I am incapable of assembling weather-appropriate attire in advance. To be fair, I also didn't check the forecast, but I just assumed it would be, like, four degrees out today, so I sported my thickest winter coat, the one with the faux-fur hood trim. But because I am the world's sweatiest individual & because subway cars in no way approximate outdoor temperatures & because the outdoor temperature is actually sort of balmy for January, I arrived at my office looking like I'd just run an early-morning marathon.

• But my hair stayed good! And good hair days get you things. Or they got me things today, at least, when I walked into Starbucks, all awkward & sweaty & heavy-coat-wearing, & the barista told me my hair looked "bangin'" & then rang me up for a tall coffee instead of a tall latte, which is approximately a million times cheaper. And then winked at me. 

I didn't even know my brain could formulate so many complete sentences prior to 9am. I'm so proud! And whaddaya know? It's 9am now, which means work beckons. Happy Tuesday!

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Christmukkah Came Early! (And a Giveaway)

Christmukkah Came Early! (And a Giveaway)

Monday, December 19, 2011

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*There's a giveaway at the bottom, if you hate reading my wonderful words & want to skip to the potential for free stuff.

Call me nerdy, but after eight days out of town, I was looking forward to coming home for a great many reasons, among them cat cuddles, sleeping in my own bed, and going through a week's worth of mail - especially at the holiday season!

Today didn't let me down. I picked up my letters & packages & was thrilled to feel like Christmukkah had come early! My mama sent me this amazing slipper boots, straight off my wishlist:

And speaking of my wishlist, my wonderful friend (& fellow Ohioan) Cara sent me the Mandipidy print I'd long been coveting. Funnily enough, I'd bought Cara a gift, too, which I gave to her at the convention we both worked last week.

The next one was more a gift to myself, or a disgusting sign of corporatism. After ordering 20 Starbucks drinks on my registered gift card, I finally received my Gold Card, complete with my name on it. Should I be excited or ashamed?

I also came home to about 30 holiday cards. Feeling pretty loved right about now! I've displayed just a few of them on our hall closet door using good, old-fashioned string - in mustard, very festive. I'm still trying to figure out how to display the rest!

Heather from Just Lovely Things sent me a package for the Cold Hands, Warm Hearts swap that is, indeed, just lovely. Soft black gloves with detachable fingers, a shiny black ring that looks like a little disco ball, two of Heather's favorite magazines, a homemade flower headband & a black sequined one, two nail polishes, a lip gloss, & a postcard from Oregon, where Heather lives. I'm delighted, & I hope she likes the goodies I sent her just as much. See, sometimes I participate in activities with other bloggers! I'm not a total online hermit.

I recently won two giveaways, one for this flowery, funky homemade pouch from Glow Kouture from Caroline's blog, & the other for a Shabby Apple bracelet from Christina's blog. The bracelet I won was out of stock (is it just me, or is that weird...?), so I got to pick something else, which is how I ended up with this clock necklace that I like even more. Score!

And finally, my Birchbox arrived. For reasons unknown, I received two Birchboxes this month, each containing the same samples. Coincidentally, this is how I found Birchbox in the first place - awhile back, I won a giveaway from the blog Capitol Hill Style, whose writer had mysteriously received two boxes & opted to give one away. I loved it so much that I signed up to be a member myself.

In the spirit of paying it forward, I'm giving away my extra Birchbox to one free-stuff-loving reader who's interested in checking out this fun service. For $10 a month, Birchbox sends you a surprise package full of three to five high-end beauty samples.There are six ways to enter using the Rafflecopter widget below, & I'll choose a winner on Dec. 27th. Go forth & enter!

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Rendez-Vous New England

Rendez-Vous New England

Thursday, September 29, 2011

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It's no secret that I don't really have any friends here. So when I read that Alison from Long Distance Loving & Jillian from Cornflake Dreams were hosting a swanky blogger meet-up earlier this month in Boston called Rendez-Vous New England, I decided I'd branch of out my hermit-like comfort zone & join in the fun.

I was nervous, yo. Remember that time I told you about how I have All of The Social Anxiety? It was in full force on Rendez-Vous New England Night. To eliminate the hassle of commuting in & out of the city, I'd booked a room at the unobtrusive-but-still-relatively-posh Charlesmark Hotel in downtown Boston & spent the hour-long lead-up to the evening frantically texting a friend who talked me down from my ridiculously unfounded social phobias. Finally, I headed to the hotel lounge to meet up with the other bloggers, none of whom I'd ever met or, for the most part, read before that night.

Guys, it was great. Lesson learned. I was comfortable & normal, & so were all of the other ladies (& one brave dude) in attendance. Once I got past my initial fear of conversing with (very fashionable) strangers, it was just like I'd known them all along. And I drank one of these, guaranteed to induce happiness & ease fears of social settings:

I also got to check not one but two things off my 101 in 1,001 List: "Go to a blogger meet-up" and "Buy myself a night in a hotel, just because."

Did I mention that there was swag? Because there was swag. Gift bags included earrings from Sheyna Jewelry, chocolate-covered apricots from someplace delicious, antibacterial wipes from Desiree Spinner Events, snacks from Popchips. Yeah, I'm done name-dropping. Except....

 

...that I won this really gorgeous necklace valued at $121 from Sheyna Jewelry, one of the event sponsors. Um, check this out:

Pretty, yes? And I have worn it almost daily since then, yes? If you're interested in owning one of your own or something similar (you can even design your own jewelry), visit Sheyna.com & enter the promo code "kate20" for 20% off. Now excuse me while I go create something splendid.

Photos from: 1, 2, 3, 4

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This is Why I'm Not a Fashion Blogger (A Review & a Photo of Me Wearing Leggings Almost as Pants)

This is Why I'm Not a Fashion Blogger (A Review & a Photo of Me Wearing Leggings Almost as Pants)

Monday, June 6, 2011

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I read a lot of blogs. Funny blogs, food blogs, feminist blogs, other blogs that cannot be identified with an adjective beginning with the letter F. But the subject of this post can be: fashion blogs.

Yes, I subscribe to a handful of fashion blogs & find myself usually impressed/sometimes disdainful (dude, some people have bizarre taste) by others' style & their dedication to photographing themselves with regularity & posting their outfits online for the world to judge. This spring, a representative from online dress company Shabby Apple offered me the opportunity to review a dress of my choosing from the company's website, & though I'm the furthest thing from a fashion blogger, I thought it might be fun to play one for a bit.

On top of that, I dig Shabby Apple's values. The company donates 5% of its net dress sales to Unitus, which supports women's work in India by providing them with microcredit loans. Some of these women's stories are featured on Shabby Apple's website, & I found myself reading through all of them. I heartily approve of fashion with a conscience!

Then came the tough part: dressing myself. I initially chose the Kenya, a camel-colored faux wrap dress that the Shabby Apple rep assured me "looks good on every single person I've ever seen wear it." It seems I was the exception to this rule. I took photos, but they're basically NSFW with all the cleavage spilling out; you do not get to see them. Suffice it to say, I did not look nearly as ethereal as this model:

The Kenya was quickly sent back from whence it came, & I moved on to my second choice, the Da Vinci, from Shabby Apple's new Roamin' Holiday Collection.

This model must be a bazillion feet tall, because this dress came damn near my ankles. And the drop waist, designed to cover stomach baggage, made me look like I was unsuccessfully hiding a pregnancy. Perhaps these are both signs that the dress was too big - but I was too embarrassed to ask for yet another return! Instead, I asked my mom to hem the skirt & shorten it to a wearable, non-Amish length.

Except the material was stretchy & flippy, & My Mom The Master Seamstress perhapppps overestimated the size of my ass, & so my lovely, free dress instead became, um, a tunic of sorts. Definitely not a dress anymore. Definitely not a wearable length. "Try it with leggings!" my mom suggested. So I tried. And... well, that looked stupid, & I oppose the wearing of leggings as pants. But did I mention that I'm wearing it today anyway? I can't pass up free clothes, guys, even if they're of questionable taste when all tailoring is said & done. And sometimes ugly stuff is comfy stuff.

Basically, though my interactions with Shabby Apple were largely positive & both dresses were, in theory, quite nice, my experience confirmed that I would make for a terrible fashion blogger. If I had to photograph myself daily & post it for the blogging world to see, I would probably die of embarrassment & poor photography skills.

I also apparently make for a terrible fashion wearer. Clearly, I cannot dress myself. SOS, Stacey & Clinton. Please send help.

*Thank you to Shabby Apple for providing me the opportunity to review this dress. I'm really sorry I effed it up.
*Credits as follows: Dress-turned-tunic, Shabby Apple/my mom; necklace, Send the Trend; sandals, Steve Madden; leggings, Target; shame, my own

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Chained Melody

Chained Melody

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

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One of my internal New Year's resolutions (even though I think resolutions are bound for failure & thus set life goals instead, because I'm more comfortable with bullshit, watered-down terminology like that) was to be more creative. At some point last year, I was shocked to discovered that I don't refer to myself as a writer or artist nearly as often as I used to - & that's only because I don't write or create art as often as I'd like to.

Art's an expensive habit to get into, so I've been holding back a bit. But two days ago, bursting at the proverbial seams with an urge to get crafty, I made a necklace inspired by this one from the GAP:

Because I'm resourceful & respectful of recycling & all that other new-age hippie shiz, I took apart a bunch of old, gold-toned necklaces I haven't worn for awhile & sewed them to the strap of a canvas tote bag. Sounds ugly, I know, but I'm pretty proud of the result:

A free necklace! SCORE. And yes, I'm aware that the tote bang handle absolutely looks like a tote bag handle (I tried to braid it & failed), but for a first attempt, I'll take it. Sadly, the trouble now is that I'm itching to keep creating... but I'm fresh out of bits & pieces of broken jewelry! My lovely mother offered to snag a bunch of thrift store pieces for me on her day off, but in the meantime, I've got to find something else to make. She's also notoriously unreliable at shipping, so it may be awhile. (Ahem. Love you, Mom!)

I could really get into this free accessories thing & being allowed to refer to myself as an artist. Bring it on, 2010!

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The Best Things in Life are Free, Version 2.0

The Best Things in Life are Free, Version 2.0

Saturday, October 3, 2009

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Last month, I blogged about free hookers. Sort of. But last week, I got two free things that are even better!

I know, I know. You're thinking, "But what could be better than free hookers?" I'll tell you, folks - free concert tickets and free movie tickets, to be enjoyed within the span of two days.

On Wednesday, I attended a Regina Spektor concert at DAR Constitution Hall, courtesy of DC music blog The Vinyl District, who hosted a day-before-the-event giveaway courtesy of Jupiter One, the opening band. Having never been to the venue ("Who were the Daughters of the American Revolution & how did they get such prime real estate on Capitol Hill?!"), I was expecting some little old theater for some little old show; what's more, our tickets read "Maybe Obstructed," so our dreams of decent views were dashed. But when we were lead to our seats, the view was anything but obstructed:



Prior to this show, I didn't even particularly like Regina Spektor, but, as my concert-going partner said, the show felt "like watching modern art." It was truly one of the more incredible musical experiences I've had the pleasure of enjoying.

The next day, I attended a sneak preview of Joel & Ethan Coen's new film, "A Serious Man," tickets courtesy of the National Council of Jewish Women. Because I actually walked out of the Coen Bros' "Burn After Reading" (who knew a Brad Pitt/George Clooney flick could be such a snooze?), my hopes weren't particularly high for this one, either, but I was beyond surprised - pleasantly - by this movie, which was the Jewiest film I've ever seen (& I mean that in an enjoyable way). Afterward, the star of the show, Michael Stuhlbarg, did a Q&A for us, moderated by a smarmy NBC news correspondent who asked inane questions.



This week's verdict? I'm so into free things. Everything is exponentially more enjoyable than it would otherwise be when it's free. Where can I get more free things?!

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Brand-Name Swag & The Skeptic in Me

Brand-Name Swag & The Skeptic in Me

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

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If you haven't heard of Brand About Town, you're either living under a rock or not a blogger. Because I'm kind, I will give you the benefit of the doubt & assume the latter.

Brand About Town is a marketing company making its rounds in the blogosphere, reaching out to the best, brightest &, um, bloggiest of the bunch & asking them to be brand reps for a few equally bright & shiny big names. The Chosen Ones (the lucky bloggers, that is) are asked to host modern-day versions of Tupperware parties - instead of being asked to buy plastic dishware, they're instead given swag (that's "stuff we all get," the best acronym ever) from the brands they rep.

The two brand names that seem to be kicking off the Brand About Town trend are Nintendo & GAP, & both have hit the DC blogger circuit with full force. I was invited to LiLu's Nintendo Girl Gamers party, where every attendee sipped champagne & chowed catered goodies before receiving a free (bedazzled!) Nintendo DS. - sadly, my trip to Ohio prevented me from attending. As much as I love the Buckeye State, I was not pleased about this one. Tomorrow, I have the pleasure of attending DC Princess' GAP party, where a few of us will review the brand's upcoming line of jeans. She & other GAP reps have all blogged about the pre-party swag they've gotten - lotsa pretty snazzy stuff, & because love the GAP, I'm really looking forward to seeing how this goes down.

Here's the thing: I haven't seen a single brand rep say a single even-remotely-negative thing about her experience as a rep or the product she's repping; same goes for party attendees. And while I wouldn't expect them to after being given a bunch of amazing free shiz, I've got to believe that each of these ladies has at least some gripe, no matter how small, with the products they've been given.

Full disclosure requires me to admit that I enthusiastically applied to become a brand enthusiast. And though I've not been asked to become one, I like to think that if I were, I'd make clear that my blog is not for sale - & that includes payment in swag. If I'm going to review something, I'm going to review it - the good, the bad, & everything in between, no matter how fun the party that gets me to it is. With brands as pre-existingly baller as Nintendo & the GAP, I can't imagine, honestly, that too much negative exists, but that's not the point. The point is that I wonder how much Brand About Town & its corporate partners bank on swaying us big-cities-&-small-wallets blogger gals into being so thankful for gratis goods that we then say only nice things about their products.

Does gratefulness at being the recipient of otherwise-expensive free stuff negate the willingness to be totally honest about a product, especially when that honesty may include less-than-totally-stellar reviews? Marketers, of course, want to see positive reviews of their products. But aren't reviews most effective for everyone involved when they're completely & totally honest? And do glowing, positive-as-punch reviews hold any water when it's clear to their audience (in this case, readers of blogs) that they're written as the result of thanks-for-the-free-stuff gratitude?

Just something to think about. Let's see if I feel so gung-ho about journalistic (bloggeristic?) integrity when I return home tomorrow with a new pair of jeans in tow...

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Nuts to you -- & to me!

Nuts to you -- & to me!

Saturday, December 20, 2008

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This post is coming a bit late, but as Chanukah begins tomorrow, I suppose it's just in time. Recently, a nice lad over at Oh! Nuts, a New York-based nuts & candy company, contacted me to ask if he could send along some free Chanukah goodies for me to review on my site. I, of course, said yes, because who turns away free stuff? Especially free food?

I told him he could surprise me, that I wasn't particularly picky about my free treats, so he sent along two boxes of gelt (bittersweet & milk chocolate), a bag of blue & white Jordan almonds and a bag of mint chocolate lentils.

Let's start with the lentils, because their name is probably confusing you as much as it bewildered me. "Chocolate-covered lentils?" I thought to myself, "Well, that's new!" In fact, the lentils were actually just lentil shaped, little M&M-sized buggers with slightly misleading names. They're crunchier than M&M's and less chocolatey (which is good news for me because I'm not a massive chocolate fan) & the mint taste is light & unexpected. They're something you'd find in a bowl at a party -- a bowl you'd park yourself next to so you could sneak candy out of it as often as possible. If we're being honest, the truth is that I spilled about half the bag of these on the floor of my cubicle, but I picked them up & ate 'em anyway because I couldn't stand to waste any.

Next up: Jordan almonds! At age 15, my first job was woking in an Italian bakery, where I often stole the occasional Jordan almond out of the jar on the counter. I haven't had them since them, so I was darn glad to find them in my mailbox. A couple people in my office didn't like these because they said they were too crunchy, but I think if you knew what you were getting into (i.e. knew that Jordan almonds are always crunchy!) then they were a delight. I polished this bag off with a couple coworkers -- good for staving off the midday snacking blues!

The gelt was, well, exactly as gelt ought to be. Not one to snack on straight chocolate, I took these to my office's Chanukah soiree, where they were promptly gobbled up by every other Jew in the place.

Long story short? I'm nuts for Oh! Nuts. If you want more info, check out my friend Chavi's blog, where she reviewed candied cashews & almonds last month. And in a shameless act of promotion, I encourage you to get on over to Oh! Nuts for all your Chanukah, Christmas and secular snacking needs. Happy winter, lovelies!

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"Yo, This is Swanky As F*ck."

"Yo, This is Swanky As F*ck."

Friday, June 13, 2008

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One of the perks of summer in the city is an abundance of invitations to a variety of free events. Last night, I attended an event planning fair at the National Zoo with a few coworkers, & I think Ben "The Benator" Weyl put it best when he turned to me, as we awaited our free Linenkugels, & uttered the line that is the subject of this blog post. That sentence sums it up: Although the event was of said swankiness status, Ben's crass description betrayed our severe lack of personal swank.

Regardless, we enjoyed three "stations" of free food & drink. In the Small Mammal House, we dined on shooters of asparagus soup, platefuls of creamy spinach & artichoke dip and mini provolone sandwiches, and we camped out outside the kitchen area for second helpings of crispy plantains with guacamole & hearts of palm. We also enjoyed not one but two free cocktails, aptly named things like Zebra Stripes and the Leopartini.

At the second station, located in what was basically a small meadow, we feasted on Midwestern-style BBQ -- brats, hot dogs, veggie burgers, baked beans, fruit salad & all four glorious flavors of Linenkugel -- while listening to an Enya-style band with a bored-looking lead. I sneaked a Coke into my purse for the road because the contents of my refrigerator are, as usual, pathetically substandard.

And finally, we trekked to Amazonia, where we were surprised to find, not the advertised fondue & flambe, but a buffet of Latin-style hors d'oeuvres, my favorite of which were the prosciutto-wrapped mango slices. Sounds gross, I know, but as Joanna said, "Anything tastes good wrapped in thinly sliced ham."

Swanky.

As.

F*ck.

Try not to be jealous of us.

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For the Shit You Can't Hawk on Ebay...

For the Shit You Can't Hawk on Ebay...

Monday, June 2, 2008

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This framed pic was sitting in the lobby of my apartment building when I came home late Friday night. It's kind of cheesy and '70s-esque, but who could resist snagging lame decor gratis, especially when it came with such a quirky note attached?



In case you can't read it, it says, "FREE! (make your life better!)" So I did. And thus far, it hasn't. I'll wait.

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