The Shoes I Love (aka You HAVE to buy these!)

It all started this spring, when I saw a commercial for a shoe company with a great idea. For every pair of shoes they sold, they donated a pair to children in need in underprivileged areas of the world.

I was so moved.

That this company was inspired to help make the world a better place. To help children. And now, it's fashionable. It's a trend. You see someone wearing these shoes and you think to yourself "that person helped a child in need...and they look cool doing it".

For me, at first, it was "this is a great cause! and i need new flats...good NYC walking shoes". So, I bought my first pair. The Classic Women's Canvas Shoe in Ash:

Those little shoes were my obsession this summer. As a formerly flip-flop obsessed woman in summertime, my flip-flops took a backseat to these babies. They are comfortable, easy, and totally adorable. And I just wanted MORE. Cause I mean, yeah, gray goes with a lot, but not with eeeeverything.

So one day, my sister facebooks me to tell me that TOMS is having a sale. $5 off every order. And I think to myself "$5 off?! that's totally a good reason to buy a new pair!" So I did.

Except...

I couldn't decide which pair I wanted.

So instead...

I just...

Well-

I bought 3 pairs.

So, Classic Canvas in Navy, Powdered Wool Cordones in Indigo (the ones with laces), Siebe Perforated Nylon Classic in Black...Welcome to my TOMS shoes family.

Now I have a pair for nearly every occasion! I wear them to work, I wear them to play, I wear them to do other stuff, I wear them ALL DAY! (ok, I had to make it rhyme at that point.)

So, my suggestion to you all is:

Go to www.toms.com and buy yourself a pair of wonderful (and adorable) shoes that will make you feel great- not only because you LOOK great- but because they support a really great cause.

And boys, don't feel left out! They have mens shoes too! And youth, and babies! EVEN SHOES FOR WEDDINGS!

They're the best. Seriously. I've never felt better about spending money on shoes.

So, really, go check them out.

www.toms.com

Peace my friends.

Benefit (...Or "Me with Pink Hair")

So last night was the Lesbian Love Octagon Benefit. It was at the Stonewall Inn, which is a famous gay bar here in NYC (because it was the place of the Stonewall Riots in 1969, which is said to be the start of the Gay/Lesbian liberation movement). It was a night of frivolity, full of all sorts of things that I had never seen before. Lesbian Burlesque, Go-Go Dancers, me in a pink wig...it was an educational evening, to say the least!

So, presenting for the first time EVER in the whole UNIVERSE...

LAUREN WITH PINK HAIR

We did a 50/50 raffle and I had to sell tickets. Unfortunately, I did not sell that entire strand around my neck...I only sold like 8. But someone else took them and sold them for me!

Some of the cast sang the song "Drink To Being Single" from the show, which was also the name of the party! So we raised a glass to being single and sang all about it!

This is Ti, Sue, Me and Kat, who is belting it out while I am sipping my water. I am so hardcore. (PS: Like my tights?! I wish I got to wear this outfit for the actual show.)

Aww, see, here we're kind of sad about being single...but then we get happy again at the end and rock it out!

We had a great turnout for the party and it was a whole lot of fun! It made me really excited to start rehearsals and get this show up and running! Woo woo pink wigs! Woo woo striped tights!! Woo woo party party!!

Ok, the end.

Peace.

Where did September go?!

Holy smokes. How is it already the end of September? Before we know it, it'll be the holiday season. (Oh boy! I can't wait! That's my favorite time of the year!)

This year has gone very quickly. Anyone else feel that way? I mean, shoot, I had stuff I meant to do this year and totally haven't even thought about yet! Golly.

Come October, I start rehearsals for my little show up here in the city. I'm excited, but I know the next month is going to be insanely busy. It's a little intimidating.

Tonight we're throwing a fundraiser for the show. I'm going to be singing at it, woo woo woo! And I'll be wearing a bright pink wig! Pictures to come, of course. :)

Anyway, just thought I'd check in with the blogosphere and let y'all know I'm still alive and well!

I'll write more soon...specifically, I want to tell y'all about my favorite shoes in the entire world. Sounds boring? Whatever, you don't even KNOW! Get ready.

Autumn

Well folks, only 9 days until the first day of autumn. In the spirit of this time of year, I decided my blog needed a bit of a makeover. It's like buying new school supplies...so I picked a "school books and changing leaves" type of decor.

Enjoy!

A General Update

OK! So...

Got a new job. In fact, I got two. I will be doing the whole "retail" thing at Williams Sonoma. (Woo woo! Love that place!) And I also will be working for a pretty nifty up and coming tech company as their administrative (do-all-the-stuff-they-don't-wanna-do) assistant. So, YAY MONEY! But...boo no life cause I'm working all the time. But that's the price you pay when your health insurance on COBRA is just $100 less than your rent. Cool.

Not.

ALSO...I have gotten in to this new type of yoga. It's called anti-gravity yoga. And it's just about the coolest thing I've ever done in my life. Check out this photo:

Yeah. That's basically what you do. You try out poses and inversions in this hammock and it's supposed to put less pressure on your body, especially your spine. Plus being upside down recharges your circulatory system and all this good stuff. Basically, I come out feeling like I'm 5'4"! Which is impressive since I'm not even 5'2". It feels so good to feel the space in between the discs in your spine and your shoulders and neck get stretched so well. Plus, the teacher puts in some strength training and crunches and all this snazzy stuff!

I also tried the restorative anti-gravity class, which is when they lower the hammocks closer to the ground and you do a lot more stretching and "resting" positions. Like so:

I wish these pictures were of me, alas, I had to find some online. Perhaps if I remember to bring a camera sometime, I'll post some of my favorite poses! :)

But I have to say my all-time favorite part of class is in savasana (corpse pose...sounds yucky but it's so relaxing) when we get to snuggle up inside the hammock like we're in a little cocoon and just meditate and let our bodies sort of re-set after our class. It's like being in a womb or something...warm and cozy and safe. I LOVE IT.

So...anyone who wants to come with...this will be a regular thing for me from now on. I adore it.

Nothing else is really new. Rehearsals for LLO start in October and I'm pumped for that! Gotta love singing and dancing and all that jazz.

Until next time!

Peace.

Back in the City

So.

I'm back here in NY after my world travels...and I need a job. I'm temping all over the place, basically just filling in for friends at their jobs...and now I need to find something else. FAST.

Suggestions welcome.

Tomorrow I'm going to ballet for the first time in a few months. I can't wait. I love ballet. I may not be the best dancer, but holy cow it feels good to just let go and move. I embrace the pink tights and little slippers and just plie til my heart's content. I can't wait. It makes me happy.

Sidenote: Starbucks Mocha Light Frappucino...my favorite drink ever.

OMG

People are soooooo mean!

Seriously, folks, who has time to be that rude on the internet? To a stranger? I was just venting about a man who seriously crossed the line in his job...I didn't murder kittens. Don't call me a little snot when you have no idea what MY life has been like. Maybe I deserve some sympathy too!

Yeesh. The story was supposed to be FUNNY, not cause hate mail.

AND FOR THE RECORD: I did not contact ANY of the media first...they all stalked me and found me and literally PAID me for interviews or offered to come to my HOME so I would do it. And so yeah, I TOOK THE MONEY! I'm a broke 24 year old, for pete's sake! If you pay me to tell you what I saw, I'm gonna do it.

So, if that makes me a little snot, so be it! But my wallet is a little fatter because of it. And I'm totally ok with that.

Have a nice day random people reading my blog!

And to my loyal friends and readers, I love you guys!

Update

Thanks everyone for the comments! I'll take some time to really read through them as soon as I can!

By the way, just so you all know, I have had experience in customer service in my life, so I do feel I understand what he went through...at least to an extent. I have been a waitress, hostess, retail sales associate and snowboard instructor. I assure you I have dealt with all kinds of people with all kind of complaints. Though, it's true, nobody has ever dropped a piece of luggage on my head.

Side note: I was interviewed yesterday by Inside Edition after they read this very blog you are reading now. Watch me on CBS tonight!

Jetblue Flight 1502 (Why I Keep Laughing to Myself Today)

So, yesterday I flew back from Pittsburgh to NYC and I happened to be on the flight heard 'round the world.

Everything seemed fine as I got on the airplane, but when I got to my seat, this flight attendant (Steven Slater) was standing in the exit row and his head had this cut on it that was bleeding. A man who was seated in the row asked him what happened and he replied "you wouldn't believe the day I had...".

While doing his little safety talk he was totally bored and tired. Then later he came around with sodas and was offering them to everyone. When he got to me, he said "Soda?" and I said "Water?" And he literally just stared at me. Then turned and walked away and continued to pass his sodas. About 5 minutes later, he walks up with water, glares at me (I am not exaggerating - he was an a**hole) and sets a water down on my tray table and walks away, ignoring the girl next to me who tries to ask for one too. So, my point being, the guy was a JERK and he is NOT some hero for "stickin' it to the man" as many blogs are saying.

Then we pull up to the gate, and one guy stands up and starts getting his bag out of the overhead bin. Steven walks up to him and starts talking to him. I was too far away to hear what was said between them, but what others told me was that he came up to tell the man to sit down because the seatbelt sign was on and we were just shy of the gate. Then the bag accidentally hit Steven in the head as the man continued to pull it out. Steven asked for an apology and the man said it was an accident. Steven then DEMANDED an apology and the man said "f*ck you".

So...then when the seatbelt sign goes off and the door opens, we are all standing and I'm waiting to walk down the aisle to the door and the PA system comes on and we hear the following:

"To the mother f*cker who said 'f*ck you' to me, f*ck you too." Then he goes on about how he has been doing this job for 28 years (which is impossible cause the man is not even 40 yet...but I'm not the only one who heard him say that...) and he's already going to quit and it's not worth it anymore and yadda yadda angry man stuff. He then starts to kick stuff out of the way and open the emergency door on the other side of the plane (up by the cockpit). The pilots come out and start trying to stop him, the other flight attendant is trying to stop him and he pushes them out of the way and falls over into his and the other flight attendant's bags. The whole time he's yelling things like "you know what?! I don't even care! Watch this! It doesn't matter at this point!" This is when I was able to get off the plane. But, I was not going to miss the rest of this altercation so I stood on the jetbridge right off the plane and watched as he pulled the cord for the emergency slide, grabbed his bag and was like "Screw this, I'm out of here!", jumped out of the plane, slid down the blow-up slide and walked away.

I walked out with some other passengers into the terminal and a pilot for the next flight asked me "Did someone blow up one of the emergency slides?" and I said "Yeah, your pilot did it" and he was like "What?" So an older couple and I told the pilot and other flight attendants what happened and they all looked SHOCKED. One even was like "I've got to see this!" and ran to the window to watch.

At this point I was just in a fit of giggles and sadly, I did not stick around to see what happened next, but apparently nobody caught him until later in the day anyway.

Nobody was in any danger and as far as I'm concerned, I still LOVE Jetblue and will continue to fly with them. I planned on writing them a letter to explain what happened, but since it got all this publicity, I don't feel the need. PLUS (and this is how great that airline is) I already received an email with an apology and a credit for $100. I got it this morning. Less than 24 hours later. They are awesome.

But like I said, this guy is not a hero. He's a jerk. And an idiot. I mean, c'mon, I know you're mad...but you work in the customer service industry, you're bound to run into rude people and you have to be able to deal with it. I think maybe that last guy was just the straw that broke the camel's back.

And I'm SO glad I was there to witness it. It was priceless. :)

Joni.

Joni Mitchell makes me happy. And sad. But a good sad. Cause it's an inspirational sad.

Gotta love her.

Happiness

I love it when people surprise me. And I don't mean like jumping out from behind the couch surprise. I mean...I love when people show the good they have inside. I have such wonderful friends and family who are so supportive and loving. And today has been a day where I have seen that from multiple people in my life.

So thank you friends. You are the reason I still have faith in mankind. Cause a lot of times, mankind sorta stinks. But you guys don't. You smell great.

Love

Me

Hey There Blog Fans!

Hi Folks. So I made a new email address through gmail and I decided to switch my blog onto that account. If you read my blog, and you have a blog and it's "invite only", um...I can't see it anymore! And that's sad. So you should either call me, text me, facebook me or... I don't know comment me... and tell me to tell you my new email address...so I can keep reading.

K? Fab. Thanks!