A November to Remember- birthdays, engagements, thanksgiving and more...

As the end of the month approaches I realize a few things:

1) I did not write enough on the blog this month (even though I intended to several times)

2) Time goes by, whether you want it to or not

3) Regimen is key

4) Anyone can surprise you

5) Getting older does not have to be a bad thing...totally!

A lot of things happened to me this month. Early this month, I had a birthday, which I was completely not ready for. As the day approached I was left feeling listless and unfulfilled. Just one of those moods I guess. It comes and goes with the rain sometimes. The closer my birthday got, however, the happier I got.

I had dinner with my closest friends in Long Beach and participated in a mean game of Scrabble afterwards. Having everyone over, just reinforced the fact that I desperately want to move to a new place, preferably a small bungalow house in Long Beach. Our lease isn't up until the end of January, but I haven't been able to stop myself from preemptively paroozing on Craigslist for available listings. It looks promising. All in all, my birthday turned out to be great and I don't feel any older.

Another thing happened on my birthday, my love decided that he was ready to propose. It's a cute story, perhaps I'll save that for my next blog. Regardless, after spending my birthday working, checking in with the doctor and going on a lovely hike. Beno proposed to me in a garden up in Santa Monica. I could tell he was nervous, but I couldn't stop smiling. The ring is one that I had spotted out when we were in Turkey this past summer, very untraditional and very unique. It was an experience that was greater than I expected it to be.

Now, Thanksgiving is upon us. One of my favorite holidays, as I love anything pumpkin flavored. We're going to be spending Thanksgiving with Beno's family, while my parents are living it up in Vegas (I think it's a tradition now :).

I have decided to take the GMAT in February 2011, which will be a tricky one, because work will become very busy with our recent lineup and plans for next year. Beno has decided to take his NASM certification at the same time, so at least I will have a study partner.

What's next? The most important month of the year (at least as far as I'm concerned), stressful Xmas preparation, figuring out New Year's Eve and of course....planning my wedding. At least I know that next New Year's will be taken care of....Wedding date? 12/31/2011

I'm so excited for all that is to come and hoping the fiance is excited to. Although, I don't think any of this has phased him much. Oh...and the puppy! Chaka is great and is now a well-integrated member of the family, always keeping us on our toes, causing mischief and most of all looking adorable.

Happy Holidays everyone! Let the festivities begin.

5-hour energy

I feel like one of those people on the 5-hour energy commercial before they take 5-hour energy. However, I feel like that regularly lately. So much work to be done and so little time. I wish I didn't have so many hobbies and ambitions. Damn me for being so productive :).

I don't think that drinking these will get me through. It is tiring to keep up with myself and I don't feel like I'm finding enough time in the day to accomplish all that I want to. I'll have to figure something out soon!

One day....

I'll write a book about the mind melting pot that is my life, so that others don't have to go through the same thing.

Red Plastic Cup - WFP

A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending the PRSA International conference in Washington D.C., where Bettina Luescher of the World Food Programme was a speaker. She didn't talk about public relations, nor do I think she was really there to. What she talked about was the way that communication was changing and how it makes it easier for people to hear each other from all over the world. Specifically, she told us stories about the Haitian relief effort and how she got the phone number of one of the hottest A-list actors in the industry, George Clooney. Although her story was very entertaining and included a laundry list of celebrities and how they helped in the effort. The message that social media played a large role in raising enough money in a short amount of time to help remote areas during natural disasters, really plugged the message.

Personally, I think a lot of non-profit organizations are pretty annoying and I don't care much for them. That may sound rude, but its just the truth. I had not found an organization that I really believed in or felt made a great impact, although, I'm sure most of them do. When Bettina began to discuss one of the items that she brought to stage, I finally heard something that reached me. What was it?... A red plastic cup!

Bettina said that she took it everywhere she went to remind her and others that filling that red plastic cup can feed a child for a day. "Fill the Cup" is an International campaign to raise awareness and funds for the 59 million children in the world's developing countries, who go to school hungry. What she said was that $5 can feed a child for a month. A whole month! That really hit me and I wanted to do whatever I could to spread the word. It is one thing to donate to a beautiful cause like this, but since I work in public relations, I figured I would volunteer my skills and voice to further promote this grand effort.

Perhaps my audience in limited now, but I will continue to find ways to promote the 'fill the cup' campaign continuously. So please, don't get annoyed, you can just skip those blogs, emails or tweets if/when I do share them, but if you would like to make a real difference, this is one program that can make a difference in the way we care for each other on a global scale.

Inspiration or fact?

I found this quote this morning and I'm not sure if it inspired me or brought thoughts to the light.

“Be yourself. Follow your instincts. Success depends, at least in part, on the ability to "carry it off."” - Donald Rumsfeld

Whether in business, in life or in relationships this quote holds true. Maybe it's because I live in California, or become people are becoming less in touch with themselves with the forward movement of technology; but I think a lot of people have trouble pulling this off.

I find this quote resonating with the way I pursue life and have even felt the success that he describes. You cannot gain anything but success when you're being yourself (which includes being honest with yourself and ethical). I guess I thought I would share this to remind people that success is partly instinctual and staying true to your values. If, in what you do, you are not pursuing those two things, success will be difficult to get to.

If you don't feel it with your whole heart, try something else!

I took a hiatus....

But now I'm back. There's so much to talk about, but so little blog space. I should really write more regularly. Well...this will be an update on my furry friend, Chaka. We took him to the dog beach yesterday for the first time (for all of us). It's crazy to see how dogs interact with each other, and great to see my pup enjoy the beach as much as I do.

Rosie's Dog Beach in Long Beach is awesome. It is the only legal off-leash dog beach in Los Angeles county, which had me astonished with the amount of dogs that are in LA County. I am lucky enough to live right there and be within 15 minutes. It was a beautiful fall Sunday when we went over to Belmont shores. I never knew that Long Beach was so beachy, even after living here for more than 5 years of my life.

I was so used to beaches like San Clemente and Salt Creek, that I never even fathomed that there would be pretty beaches in Long Beach. But Alas, there were some really nice areas that you can run, walk, play volleyball, sun bathe, all that jazz and moreover, take your pup. Chaka got a very thorough bath that day, but he loved every minute of the beach. The more time I spend with my cute lil' guy, the more I understand and appreciate how much people love their pets. They are really like an extension of your family and they have their own personalities and they are there for you when you need them.

It takes a little adjustment to get used to a pet and how to take care of him, but for the most part, he is no trouble at all and has made me way more productive and focused in my day-to-day life. Now, I just have to get back on my workout track and everything will be kosher.

I'm working on Ronjini 2004, that was a good year for me physically! :) Wish me luck.

The big picture...

What is the big picture? Does it have to be big? How big must it be? Can I just think its big? Does size matter? Is bigger better? How about I just make a regular picture that suits me nicely?

I am done.