I feel like I just sent myself to my room: GROUNDED due to blog neglect. And don’t come out until you are ready to apologize!

So here I emerge, tail between my legs, with a bit of an apology. See, even if you didn’t really notice or didn’t really care, I know that I’ve been neglecting you these last few weeks. I haven’t been living up to the high standards and twice-weekly publishing schedule I try to uphold on this blog. Because I don’t want to waste your time with sub-par content, I end up not publishing anything at all, even though I have so much I want to say and share.

The truth is that I’ve been overwhelmed (AGAIN). Contrary to popular belief (at least based on a handful of humbling and incredibly nice emails I have received recently), I do NOT have it all figured out. “It” being this magical place where accomplishment AND inner peace co-exist, where I seamlessly balance life’s demands while walking a tightrope of my own expectations, and where I pay-close-enough-attention-to-but-somehow-don’t-over-feed my crazy emotions that seem to run amok every day.

So I have been prioritizing the book, my day job, my sleep and my sanity over just about everything else. I haven’t been writing as much as I would like, responding to emails in a very timely way, commenting on other blogs, tweeting or really upholding my end of the social media bargain. But we all need a break sometimes (or a turtle shell to hide under), and this has been mine.

That is not to say I haven’t been thinking about you. Drumroll, please! Enter THE MOST RANDOM POST OF ALL TIME.

Things I’ve been wanting to ask/say/share these last few weeks:

1. I would love your support for my SXSW Panel - I’m pretty much scared shitless to even tell you about this panel (let alone lead it), which is why I know it’s important that I do. I submitted a proposal to speak at SXSWi (tech-geek heaven) called “Got 99 Problems But a Blog Ain’t One” to help bloggers understand what it takes to get a book deal even without a gigantic platform (much like my inside scoop book newsletters). In order to have a shot at presenting, I need your help — will you vote for my idea if you think it’s a good one (even if you’re not attending)?
2. If I Had Known Just One Thing E-Book – I’m a contributor in the free career-related e-book compiled by Shane Mac called “If I had known just one thing.” You can either download the book as a PDF, or navigate through the fancy HTML pages (using your arrow keys). My submission is called “Don’t Wait.”
3. Book Photo Voting & Contest Winner - Thank you SO much for the comments and votes. I’m sorry I haven’t had a chance to reply to your comments, but I read every single one and appreciated them so much — you have no idea. I still haven’t decided which picture I’m going with; the popular vote seems to be for photo #2, but I might just be leaning toward #1 (both need a closer crop). And (drumroll again) the winner of the first-ever-giveaway of my own book is Sneha — congrats! The book is in the mail (and by mail, I mean off to the copy-editor for the final round of edits. Eek!)
4. Career Moxie BlogTalk Radio Guest Spot – I speak with hosts Tiffany and Allison about why you don’t need an official mentor (and share what inspired me to write my book). The show is about 30 minutes long, and covers how to create informal mentoring relationships and how to find mentors in unexpected places.
5. Psychology Today article mention - Speaking of mentors, one of my favorite people, Susan Biali, recently wrote an article for Psychology Today based on conversations we’ve had recently about time management, saying no, and taking care of ourselves. The article is called, “Shackles or soul-stirring? Decide before you commit.” The part where she quotes my email response as “Eeeeeeeeeee!!!” cracked me up. Guilty as charged
6. Hosted Pam Slim for an Authors@Google Talk – I was very excited to host Pam (another role model who blogs at Escape From Cubicle Nation and has a book of the same name), for an Authors@Google event earlier this month. She makes a case for building a “side hustle” (either within your company or outside if it) as a critical part of being successful in the workforce. Check-out the 45 minute video (with a short intro from yours truly).
7. Coaching update – after 2.5 years, 115 training hours, 100+ 1:1 coaching hours, 9 supervised calls, a written exam, an oral exam, and 2 major 3-month long “I’m not cut out for this” dips, I am now a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC)!

Just for Fun:

• Check out these AWESOME retro aprons from Cupcake Provocateur (sent by my fabulous friend Jenny Ferry)
• Want a song with so much bass it will make your butt vibrate when you listen in the car? Download Bassnectar’s Bass Head
• Need some inspiration? Check out 10,000 Ideas and Resources for Writers
• I was honored to be a guest speaker with Merlin Mann at an ASAE event this week. Check out an awesome talk he recently gave at Rutgers on Time & Attention.

Blog Posts I’ve Loved Recently:

• Andrew Weitsman’s “Time Enough for a Life“
• Danielle LaPorte’s “Your Permission Slip from the Universe“
• Elisa Doucette’s “There is a Time for Everything“
• Derek Shanahan’s “A Day in the Life“
• David’s transcription of an awesome “How to be Alone” video on YouTube by Tanya Davis
• Ben’s “Energy Bankrupt“
• Doniree’s “Input-Output and a Calm Presence“
• Chelsea’s “Wrestling My Muse into Submission is like fighting a RABID. DOG.“
• And finally, congrats to Ryan who just landed an awesome new gig in Kansas City and Grace on her 2-year blogiversary!

Words of Wisdom from a Recent TUT’s Notes from the Universe:

You’re the only person who knows what’s right for you. The only one.
And if you already know what this is, commit to it. If you don’t, commit to nothing.

Only you know,
The Universe

That’s it for now…I hope you all have a wonderful rest of your week! I’m off to continue my search for a life filled with rainbows and unicorns. Or just watch some so-bad-it’s-GOOOOD reality TV.

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If pictures speak 1,000 words, I’ll let the first one in this post express the total calm and beauty I experienced on my river trip last week. I loved every unplugged second of it. Great food & guides (thank you Echo!), great people, great yoga, and endless little moments of laughter, connection and perfect weather.

But the best part of all was letting myself roam completely free for an entire week. No to-dos, no make-up, no emails, no gadgets, no worries. It was truly a vacation for the soul.

Rogue River - Southern Oregon

Which brings me to this blog post. You know how much I love metaphors as life lessons (some favorites: domesticating jaguars, lifting the oars, panicking during a triathlon & living a sandboxed life); I couldn’t help but gather 20 gems from my week-long river rafting trip (with my friend Julie’s help during our drive home). I’ve only just scratched the surface – I’m sure there are dozens (if not hundreds) of other little life lessons that could be gleaned from the experience, so feel free to add others you can think of in the comments!

20 Life Lessons I Learned on the Rogue River

1. Contrast makes the world go ’round. The crazy, hectic lives we lead back home made relaxing on the river incredibly fulfilling. Also: squatting to pee and finding a dying bee in my mop of river-dreadlocked hair gave me an entirely new appreciation for toilets and warm showers. And this, my friends, is why contrast makes the world go ’round. Highs and lows, happiness and sadness, the comforts of city life versus life stripped to the essentials are what keep things exciting.
2. It’s a lot harder to paddle back upstream than it is to just keep moving forward. No matter how much you may want a do-over for the rapids in your life, you’ve got to just keep moving. What’s done is done. Find your place back in the current and let the river take you forward. And if you are going to paddle upstream, make sure it’s for a good reason (like helping a friend), because it’s a helluva lot of work.
3. Sometimes you have to cut your baggage loose to get unstuck. On Day 3 one of the boats got caught in an “aggrivated perch” on a challenging Class 4 rapid where the force of the water held the boat locked against a giant rock. The only way for the two guides in the boat to set it free was to literally start cutting bags loose since they were anchoring the boat in the wrong direction. Finally, after freeing a few big bags and the coffee maker, the guides were able to wrest the boat free from the rocks. What baggage do YOU need to cut loose in order to keep moving?
   
4. Sometimes you stand up with a stick in your ass. Literally. Have a good laugh and carry on with your day. This is probably TMI, but after peeing in the woods one day, I stood up and realized there was a stick caught between my cheeks. Stop laughing…it happens, okay?!?! I had a good hearty laugh and realized it was oh-so-metaphoric for all those days we wake up on the wrong side of bed. You might not have put the stick there, but you do have the power to take it out.
5. There’s no point in suffering from heat-stroke on a hot day if you have an entire river below you. JUMP IN! Sometimes I think we let ourselves get so hot, sweaty and miserable in our lives that we forget the answer to our problems can be right beneath our feet. For a day on the river, there’s nothing a jump into refreshingly cold water can’t fix. For a day off the river, look for those obvious opportunities to let loose or feel better. They are everywhere if you just open your eyes and look around.
6. Sometimes the unexpected swim (after falling out of a kayak while going through a rapid) is even better than the ride you planned. Live for the unexpected adventures in your life. Let your mistakes be a part of the fun. Sometimes they are the best part.
7. In moments of panic, don’t jump ship right before a big rock. One of the kids on our trip was planning to go through a rapid on the inner tube. Right as he approached a big rock (that the tube would’ve bounced off of), his eyes got wide and he panicked. Instead of gripping the tube and hoping for the best, he jumped out and was left to fend for himself as a swimmer through the rocks. Our big goals almost always require confronting big rocks – hold on tight and have faith that things will work out.
8. Stake out the big rapids in life and plan your course before going through. For the biggest rapids on the trip we parked the boats, hiked up to see what was going on, and went over how the guides would paddle through. A little planning went a long way toward reducing uncertainty and making sure everyone felt comfortable.
9. On the other hand, sometimes the more you think and plan, the harder something becomes. If you hesitate for too long at the top of a cliff jump (or natural water slide), you’ll scare yourself out of it. Just go!
10. People are fascinating if you get curious. Take the time to get to know people. Ask what they do for fun, what lights them up, what the best part of their day was. People are so much more interesting than the answer to the routine “so, what do you do?” question — stretch yourself and make the effort to really get to know people. It’s worth it.
11. Itching mosquito bites only makes them worse. As tempting as it may sometimes be, don’t engage or encourage unwanted things or people in your life. Let them be.
12. It’s okay to let go sometimes and let someone else do the work. For a good majority of the trip, I sat high up on one of the oar boats in a spot that we dubbed “the princess perch.” It was piled high with bags, and I used the inner tube as a pillow. For once, I didn’t care that I wasn’t the one paddling – I was perfectly happy to relax and let someone else take charge. Mission Relax & Slow Down = SUCCESS!
13. If you always sleep in the comfort of your tent, you’ll miss the stars. I slept outside on the last night under the glow of moonlight with zillions of stars poking through the leaves of the trees, and it was absolutely gorgeous. Sure, I got a few DOZEN mosquito bites, but it was well worth it.
    
14. Friends are like life jackets. Sometimes you don’t realize how important they are until you fall into the water and they’re there to keep you afloat. So be good to your friends even when you don’t NEED them. Especially when you don’t need them.
15. Keep your tent zipped if you want to keep the bugs out. Don’t get sloppy about who and what you let into your life. Better to keep your tent zipped than to sleep with ants and mosquitoes at night. That said, also be open to letting new people and experiences into your proverbial tent.
16. Being unplugged – truly, 100% gadget-free unplugged – is like giving your brain a clear, calm beautiful day on the river. Emails and commitments are like little pebbles that pile up in your brain. Obsess over them and they become big rocks that cause big rapids. Make sure you give yourself frequent breaks from the pebbles of your life.
17. Get the right people on your boat (or your river trip). Whether you’re spending a day or a week (or more) with people, the ride will be much more enjoyable (and your paddle crew more effective) if you pick the right people up front. Our trip was awesome, largely because of the people and river guides who were on it with us.
18. You can do all the planning in the world and you’ll still forget to pack your river pants. I had a packing list. I had a checklist. I started packing a week in advance. I laid all my clothes out before neatly packing them in my duffel bag. And guess what? I still somehow managed to leave one of the most important items of the trip at home. Sigh. Thankfully, my friend Julie forgave my stupid error and let me borrow her extra pair of pants.
19. Getting there is half the fun. The road-trip up to Oregon took about nine hours each way, and my friend Julie and I laughed, vented, shared and played little games (like taking turns listing proudest life moments) through redwood forests, small towns and big curving mountain roads. It was incredible, and I’m so glad we left ourselves extra days to enjoy the ride there and back.
20. Life on the river is not about what you do, how you look or where you live. It is about who you are, how much fun you’re having, and the connections you make with nature, with yourself, and with the people you are surrounded by.

Special thanks to Susan Fox, an incredible life coach and yoga teacher, who organized the trip and led two daily yoga sessions with the group. There is something magical about doing tree pose while staring at a river bank lined with lush green trees, moving into triangle and looking up to see a bald eagle soaring across the blue sky, flipping into waterfall pose (a backbend) with the sound of rushing water in the background, then later ending with savasana (corpse pose) by relaxing onto the hot rocks warmed by sunlight as we finished our practice. The yoga (and entire trip) was truly a little slice of heaven.

Namaste.

Group Photo (that's me in the middle doing Bakasana...not easy on a downhill slope!)

***

P.S. Hat tip to Grace Boyle for recommending the AWESOME book I started reading on the trip. Shantaram is a 900+ page door-stopper novel/memoir about a recovered heroin-addict who escaped over the front wall of an Australian prison (after being committed for armed robbery) who then fled to Bombay where he set-up a free medical clinic in the slums and started working for the Indian mafia. Crazy, right?! Grace also sent me an overview video from the author, Gregory David Roberts, a fascinating man whose book is a total page-turner must-read about life, love, regret and redemption.

P.P.S. Two great (free!) e-books came out while I was gone – check ‘em out:

• What I Know About Getting a Job: Advice from Top Bloggers in HR (edited by Rich DeMatteo of Corn on the Job, in partnership with Brazen Careerist)
• Fearless Health: How to Thrive in an Unhealthy World (by Matt Gartland of Healthy Lifestyle Design)

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I just read an awesome book, The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas, and it inspired me to post this next update as a doodle:

That’s right – starting tomorrow I am going to be UNPLUGGED for eight glorious days. My friend Julie and I are going on a road-trip to Oregon for a 5-day yoga/rafting expedition.

No gadgets, no computer, no email, no phone, no chargers. I will be officially detoxing from all things tech. See you all when I return the week of July 26!

***

P.S. Life After College now has a Facebook page – give ‘er a like if you want to!

P.P.S. Gen Y’ers: My friend Lauren needs 30 more survey respondents to reach her goal of 1,000 for a Bowdich Research Study. Help her out if you can

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View of NYC from my Hotel

This just in: the woe is me cloud from two weeks ago lifted this past weekend and I’ve never felt more myself. Wuhoo!

On a recent trip to New York City for work, I followed all of your advice and I slowed down. Way down. So much that I didn’t even tell anyone I was going to be there. Sorry to any New Yorkers I didn’t get a chance to see!

I selfishly left the weekend wide open for myself to just be me – to traipse around and do whatever I felt like at any given moment. No plans, no commitments.

Actually, I did have a plan for the weekend, but it didn’t work out. When Plan A failed I was determined not to let it ruin my weekend. So I quickly moved to Plan B: enjoy Manhattan and be FABULOUS. Get dressed up just for fun. Spend time alone without cramming my weekend full of plans and see what happens. And let me tell you, the Universe delivered.

Dancing, Dining and Shopping Solo

I’ll spare you the diary-like entry of exactly what transpired over the weekend and just give you the highlights of my time alone:

• On Friday night after Plan A didn’t work out, I had dinner by myself at The Standard Grill. The Food & Beverage manager sent over dessert and champagne on the house. We became friends and he took care of me for the rest of the weekend.
• On Saturday morning I went to yoga class outside overlooking the Hudson River with a view of the Statue of Liberty. Heavenly.
• After yoga I put on my favorite dress, walked down to the Christian Louboutin boutique, and checked a big splurge purchase off of my life checklist.
• I met an amazing woman at the Louboutin store and we became instant friends. We went to a two-hour lunch at The Collective, then she snuck us into the Bagatelle Bistro (a famous brunch spot with a daytime DJ), where we spent the rest of the afternoon dancing on booths and sipping champagne. (Here’s a great article that describes the experience)
• When I got back, I started breaking in my new shoes by dancing around my hotel room before Saturday night’s solo dinner. Fabulously fun.

So those are the highlights! Sure, there were lows. But for each one, I quickly picked myself up. I made the effort to look my best (even if I didn’t always feel my best at first) and go out alone. In return I made new friends, had great new experiences, and most of all – rediscovered my sense of freedom and confidence. I felt proud of myself again.

I was reminded this weekend that when you honor yourself and make (what can be hard) choices to slow down and spend time alone, the Universe takes care of you. Thank you Universe for taking care of me.

***

P.S. New York City, I love you. I hope I see you again soon.

P.P.S. On a completely unrelated note, my friend Kevin Smokler is looking for two unpaid interns to work at BookTour.com this summer. As Kevin says, “The internship is technically unpaid but we fully intend to shower said interns with free books, gift baskets, good will and career advice/introductions.” Sounds awesome! If you’re interested read more here.

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I’d like to take a quick break from my regular programming to bring you another hodge-podge post in which I just throw out random links, features, quotes and tips. Take what you want and throw out the rest!

A Personal Update: It’s not quite the beach, but it’s a start! Headed to Las Vegas, Baby

I’m writing this post at the San Francisco airport, en route to Las Vegas for what I already know will be an awesome weekend with 60+ bloggers for the second annual Bloggers in Sin City trip, organized by the fabulous Nicole Antoinette.

I wrote a post a while back called “The Blogger IS Real…But Even Better IRL” – I’m so excited for this trip because I love meeting fellow bloggers offline. Read Elisa‘s post, “How Blogging Got Me a Best Friend” for a great story how it brought the two of us together!

For a little insight into what I’m like when I’m not buried in my laptop, read the “Introducing Jenny” post from the BiSC blog, in which I talk about my love for dancing on stage. As Nicole joked in the comments (but is actually serious), “Advance warning: this trip will contain a lot of ‘Oh yeah Jenny? THIS is life after college, huh?’ references.” What can I say? Fun is DEFINITELY part of life after college. So you better believe I’m going to be having some!

Awesome Reader Re-Connection: Interview at Brand-Yourself

Now this is a cool story. Katharine Hoffman, from Brand-Yourself.com, reached out a few weeks ago to interview me for their blog. I didn’t realize until the post went up today that I actually coached her two years ago! In her intro she says, “Although she may not remember this, I had actually spoken to the fabulous Jenny Blake two years ago about my quarter-life crisis.  Even though we only talked on the phone for about an hour, it was one of the best hours I had spent because she really gave me some great advice and inspiration on how to move forward.”

Katharine was one of the earliest readers and commenters at Life After College (thanks for sticking around!), and it’s just so amazing to reconnect (and know that I made even a small difference in her life). Click here to read the full interview, in which I talk about coaching, blogging, and dealing with the oh-so-lovely quarter-life crisis.

Introducing Molly Hoyne’s Coaching Program – The Joy Equation

Speaking of coaching and navigating quarter-life crises (how on earth do you write that in plural form?!) – Molly Hoyne, the inspiring woman behind Stratejoy.com (which also has an awesome blog), recently re-launched her Joy Equation program. The Joy Equation is a 30-day guided program that helps you “tackle the quarter-life crisis, gain confidence in yourself and love your life.” The best part? You pay what you can afford – there is no set cost. Learn more here.

A Heartfelt Thank You for the Amazing “Sandboxed Life” Replies (and some follow-up advice)

So many people reached out after my post on Monday with words of support an encouragement – thank you. It absolutely means the world to me. I hope they don’t mind, but I wanted to share a few of their great words of wisdom for anyone else who finds themselves in a stressed or overwhelmed state:

• From David: “When you make room for yourself, you make room for other things/people in your life. Things/people that may actually help you relax more by doing less…which translates to less stress and more happiness. So remember to breathe.Some ways to put time back into your day:
  • Keep social networking, e-mailing and blogging to a bare minimum.
  • Surround yourself with people who energize you, but don’t try to compete with their energy.
  • Find something, and/or someone, that calms you at the end of your day. You need to get your stress out and you need someone to lean on.
  • Laugh more. Worry less. (And cuddle a Bulldog every night.)
• From Ryan: “We all have times where it seems too much, but it’s within those times that you find that second gear, or you quit.  Just like running your marathon, I’m sure you wanted to quit a few times in there, but you didn’t, and you finished…The day we figure everything out is a sad day because that means we’ve stopped growing.”
• From Eve: “Just be selfish.  Take care of YOU, because no one else will.  At the end of your life, you will not regret any of the choices you make, as long as you listen to what you know is right.  And you do know what is right, you just may not know that you know it.”
• From Alex: “I handle stress/panic in a few ways. I have two people I call… they are like my lifelines. I also know to stop doing whatever is making me anxious, take a walk or just get up and move around, chug a bunch of water and take deep breaths. Yoga has helped a lot. I also allow myself to feel anxious or upset in the moment. I don’t hold in my emotions. This has taken my entire life to learn, but if I need to cry, I cry. Something so simple makes a huge difference.”
• From my Dad: “Think of yourself like a great pyramid of Egypt with a very broad and strong foundation of love from many, many circles of family and friends.  There may be a bit of a dust storm at the top of this magnificent, bold and strong structure but it is composed of thousands of blocks of solid achievement on many many levels and in many many realms.”
• Thanks also to Stanley for reminding me about the 80/20 rule (for “ruthlessly cutting the fat”), Jason and Vidya for sending such helpful links, and to everyone else who reached out, commented, retweeted, or just sent brainwaves of happy thoughts!

Quote of the Week:

I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I subscribe to SIX daily quote newsletters. But they send out some gems from time-to-time that really get me thinking! This one is from Positive Quote of the Day:

“Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.”
−Robert Brault

A Little Music for Your Weekend

If you like mash-up music (not just random catch-all blog posts), do yourself a favor and download Bootie’s Best of 2009 CD (free). It’s one of my favorite workout/dance CDs.

From time-to-time I also share random tunes I’m listening to on Blip.fm. It’s another random Web 2.0 service I don’t quite understand (Formspring, anyone?), but what the heck! If you’re on there, add me

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Neil Pasricha describes himself as a “boring guy with a nine-to-five job,” but let me tell you – he is much, much more. Neil is humble and incredibly kind, and despite being “just a normal guy” he landed himself a book deal after his blog, 1,000 Awesome Things, quickly caught fire after starting in June of 2008.

I am so thrilled to celebrate the launch of Neil’s book this week – and happy to announce that Neil will send one lucky commenter an autographed copy! Just share an awesome thing with us in the comments and we’ll pick a winner at random. **Update: this contest is now over – congrats to Eve from South Korea who won!**

About The Book of Awesome:

In Neil’s own words, “Over the past year the website grew into a warm place where people around the world came to curl up under a blanket and think about the small joys we often overlook. With so much sad news and bad news pouring down upon us, it’s fun to stop for a minute and share a universal high five with humanity.” Don’t you just want to find Neil and hug him?! I do.  That endearing spirit, mixed with his great sense of humor and appreciation for the small things in life, makes Neil an absolutely AWESOME guy, and the same holds true for this book.

Some of my favorite “Awesome Things” from the book:
Each one has a page of heartfelt, funny, well-written description and commentary

• When cashiers open up new checkout lines at the grocery store
• When you get the milk-to-cereal ratio just right
• Picking the perfect nacho off someone else’s plate
• Fixing electronics by smacking them
• Tripping and realizing no one saw you
• The universal fry-sharing policy
• The sound of scissors cutting construction paper
• The smell of rain on a hot sidewalk
• Nailing a parallel parking spot on the first try
• Laughing so hard you start crying…or make no sound at all
• The sound of ice cubes cracking in a drink
• That one square in the waffle that is the most loaded with butter and syrup
• The Parking Lot Pull Through
• Getting something with actual handwriting in the mail
• Building an amazing couch-cushion fort
• Squeezing through a door as it’s shutting without touching it
• When you spill something on your shirt and it doesn’t leave a stain (my friends all know I’m a hot mess)
• Watching your odometer click over a major milestone
• Using Rock, Paper, Scissors to settle anything (that one is for you, Elisa!)
• A long hug when you really need it

And finally, I’d like to add one of my own:

• Seeing an AWESOME guy with a 9-5 job get a book deal from a blog that brings smiles to so many people’s faces every day. Congrats Neil!

How to Win a Copy of 1,000 Awesome Things:

Please join me and Neil in adding to the awesome! To enter to win an autographed copy of the book, leave a comment with one of your own awesome things by the end of the day on Sunday. I’ll pick a winner via Random.org early next week, then Neil will send you a signed copy of his book. **Update: this contest is now over – congrats to Eve from South Korea who won!**

You can also purchase The Book of Awesome on Amazon (a great gift, and it’s currently 50% off!) and follow Neil on Twitter.

Click here (or press play below) to watch the book trailer – I loved this!

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While at Sprinkles Cupcakes today I couldn’t resist but film a little video for you. In this video, I give thanks to my lovely readers (that’s you, hot stuff), share my cupcakes-as-metaphor-for-life-and-side-projects wisdom, and disclose my amazing method for eating a cupcake so that you maximize the bliss in every bite.

The video (click here if you don’t see it below) is just under 3 minutes:

Want an extra laugh? Watch the (embarrassing) outtakes of me and my dad actually eating the cupcake (per my ingenious method).

While you’ve got your volume up…

I’ve had the great honor of being featured in several other places this month:

Blog Talk Radio – Lindsey Pollak interviews me for a segment called “Modern Day Moonlighting: Why Two Jobs May Be Better Than One” (~20 minutes)

• Podcast Description: Today we’re talking about the popular phenomenon among young professionals of working a full-time job and pursuing other projects on the side. Why are people doing this and how do you make it work? I’ll be talking with Jenny Blake, who works full-time at Google and runs a coaching and blogging business, LifeAfterCollege.org, on the side.

Blogcast FM – Interview by Srinivas Rao (~45 minutes)

• In this podcast, Srini and I talk about the following:
  • How I turned my post-college confusion into a successful blog
  • The intrinsic value of being a blogger
  • How to grow an audience without focusing on the typical marketing tactics
  • The no-pressure approach to starting a blog
  • The step by step process I used to find a literary agent
  • The numerous fringe benefits of sticking out in the blogosphere

Have a fantastic week everyone!

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Ladies and gentleman: I present you with The Visual Miscellaneum – a book I want to cuddle with and keep forever.

My blog has actually gotten to the point where I have more publicists offering to send books than I have time to review, which for a book worm is pretty cool! But when I heard that David McCandless of InformationIsBeautiful.net had a book coming out – I emailed them asking if I could have a review copy. Even better? I asked for two extras to give away (more details below).

The Visual Miscellaneum is the ultimate eye candy book for nerds – 255 GORGEOUS shiny, colorful pages with the most incredible info-graphics I’ve ever seen. I know I’m gushing, but this book is AWESOME.

From The Visual Miscellaneum Press Release:

Every day we are bombarded with facts and statistics that quickly become meaningless sound bites amidst the cacophony of the Information Age. It occurred to David McCandless, an award-winning London-based writer and graphic designer, that the best way to absorb this barrage of random information is by visually “mapping” facts in colorful and quirky ways.

The result, The Visual Miscellaneum: A Colorful Guide to the World’s Most Consequential Trivia, is a volume like no other: a simultaneously lighthearted and thought-provoking sourcebook to things both serious and goofy.

For amusement and edification, The Visual Miscellaneum compares coffee and cocktail ingredients, online viral videos, the lethality of cosmetic components, and video game sales. If a picture is worth a thousand words, The Visual Miscellaneum is a veritable library of culture, philosophy, spirituality, ecology, society, technology, history, economics, and pop culture.

Want to win a copy? Leave a comment!

When I like something, I tell people about it. When I LOVE something, I praise and promote like nobody’s business. Because I think this coffee-table book makes the perfect gift and I know it’s exactly the type of thing my readers (you) would love, I asked the publicist if they’d send me two copies to give away. Lucky for us, they said yes! So leave me a comment about your nerdy love for infographics (or anything, really) and I’ll pick two winners using Random.org. Comments will close at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, December 18.

Excerpts from the Book – Click image to enlarge in a new window:

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Too many ideas in my head this week! Instead of a series of smaller posts, I bring you a compilation of assorted musings, findings and random thoughts instead:

• Book / Decision-Making Framework: I stumbled across Suzy Welch on Twitter and noticed she wrote a book called 10-10-10. Curious about the meaning of the title, I found the following description on Amazon: “When you’re facing a dilemma, all it takes to begin are three questions: What are the consequences of my decision in 10 minutes? In 10 months? And in 10 years?” This seemed like a helpful shortcut for wrestling with big decisions (or processing something upsetting). Something tells me I don’t actually need to buy the book to fully understand this strategy (but by all means, correct me if you’ve read it and I’m wrong).

• Generosity: I feel very lucky to have had several conversations with people I admire recently. Each one of them asked me, “How can I be most helpful to you?” at some point during our chat. Each time, I was overwhelmed by the generosity of that question, and felt immense gratitude to be on the receiving end of it. These people are all busy, with incredibly full, rich lives (hence, my admiration!) and yet they still took time to put an open-ended “let me know how I can help you” offer on the table. It speaks volumes to me about their generosity of spirit, and reminds me to do the same for others as much as I can.

• Technology & Communication: The Wall Street Journal ran an interesting article yesterday: Why Email No Longer Rules (and what that means for the way we communicate). As someone who often feels overwhelmed by my email inbox (apologies if you’ve ever waited two weeks for an email from me!), I wonder about whether multiple short communication streams (Twitter, Facebook, Blog comments, etc.) make correspondence easier or just add to the deluge. On one hand, the article says “People overused email – now they can use the right tool for the right task.” (Agree) On the other hand, “We get lured into wasting time…and we will no doubt waste time communicating stuff that isn’t meaningful, maybe at the expense of more meaningful communication. Such as, say, talking to somebody in person.” Or writing a blog post about miscellaneous musings??

• On Being Busy: Danielle LaPorte, of White Hot Truth, posts today with a great reminder: We Know You’re Busy. Now Shut-Up About It. Danielle says, “Even as a well-intended social pleasantry, ‘Sorry, I’ve been busy,’ has a little victim ring to it…Whatever is on your plate got there because you said yes to it – in the fullness of ambition and desire and wanting to eat life whole. Busy can be good. Busy can be bad. Busy is most often a choice.” So what to do about our tendency to use busyness as an excuse? Danielle says, “Report on life rather than whine about it.”

• Conditioned Consumer: I am officially a wussy Californian when it comes to the weather. Today marks our first rain of the season and I acknowledged this occasion by oversleeping, skipping my morning workout and stopping by Starbucks on the way to work. Nothing says “comfort me to make up for the dark-grey-pouring-rain weather” like a double nonfat mocha with 1.5 pumps of chocolate and whipped cream. And no, my high maintenance drink orders are not an indication of my dating habits. I SWEAR.

• Fun: I’ve seen this video before, but it never fails to make me grin uncontrollably from ear-to-ear. If you haven’t watched “Where the Hell is Matt” do yourself a favor and go check it out.

As a final note, thank you so much for all the birthday wishes last week! I had a fabulous weekend with friends in San Francisco (and if you had ANY doubt, yes I bought myself a red velvet cupcake to celebrate). The article I referenced in my video is WiseGeek’s “Why Do Snakes Shed Their Skin?” and I’m still waiting for a Personal Branding Expert somewhere to give me a citation for comparing myself to a snake.

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It’s been a while since you last heard from me…there is a good reason, I promise! This video is a short note to say hello, tell you I am still alive, and give you a quick peek at what I’ve been up to. Now back to my margarita…

P.S. As for the shaky camera work? I think my family and I have had too much coffee this week!

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