No Guts, No Glory

After last nights championship games I was looking for a football analogy to kick off my week but I just kept coming back to “No Guts, No Glory”.  

Life is a series of cause and effect situations. Every decision you make has consequences and puts you on a path towards your next crossroad.  What was the last big decision that you made that shifted your life’s course?  Did it entail taking much risk?

I’m proud to accompany my good friend Jennifer Furr to her next convention this week. We will be featuring PictureThatSound at the Craft &Hobby Association Winter Retail Show in Los Angeles.  (Come see us!)  Jenn is a risk taker. PictureThatSound is not her first venture, but it’s her biggest.  Taking a concept from infancy and bringing the product to life takes heart, soul and certainly takes guts.  Today, I applaud her for being a strong, independent business woman and a risk-taker.

Congratulations Jenn! See you in LA!

Good Intentions 2011

Sure resolutions are hard to keep, but it is your intention that is the important thing.  I've done a lot of reflecting over the past few months and would like to share some of my 2011 resolutions:

- More Yoga: I have every intention of getting back on the bandwagon this year.  I miss that solitary hour of breathing, stretching and discovering that my body can do all sorts of things I never imagined!

- More Vegg, Less Bread: It's hard to convince a 5 year old to eat her veggies when you aren't.  Going to attempt to try some new vegg: Bok Choy? Collared Greens? And more importantly try to eat in season from my local farmer.

- Less Complaints: Every gal needs a good vent session every once in a while, but negative thoughts and words can really weigh you down.  I'm going to try to make a solid effort to complain less. I have so much to be thankful for.

- More Music, Less TV: Admittedly, our TV is my third child.  I can recap every season of Real Housewives without blinking an eye and never miss the Today Show or Brian Williams. We eat meals with the TV on, and its only when we retire to bed when I'm TV free. Watching a recap show of 2010's best music videos I realized how much music I've missed this year. Sure I get a few ditties on the way to preschool, but we have to keep that G-rated (shout out Laurie Berkner!)  In 2011, the iPod needs a few uploads and Sirius Radio will be playing during meal time in our household- even if I have to miss the Nightly News.  

With all this positive intent, it should be no problem to run that 5k, balance our household budget and play the part of Super Mom in my spare time, right?  Well, it's early in the year- a walk to the park with the family should start things off in the right direction.  Happy New Year!

SleeveShirts’ Top Ten Client Gifts

I will never forget the first time I received a holiday gift from my favorite vendor in the UK.  Each of us who had overseas accounts had a two foot by three foot box delivered that contained gourmet goodies by the basketful.  Year after year we began to countdown until those boxes would arrive.  Of course this was back when spending was plentiful on corporate gifts, but even if you don’t have a large budget for such things; it’s a MUST to spread goodwill to your special business partners.  Here are a few of my favorite things, all for under $50!:

1. Red Envelope’s Leather Catchall.  Fantastic to monogram!
2. For the chocolate lover, from Williams-Sonoma 
3. Who can go wrong with wine?   I would love it if someone sent me this!  
4. Health conscious client?  These are not only beautiful, but delicious!  
5. Inexpensive and truly useful gift for the iPhone user?  
6. Another great monogram opportunity with the LLBean Boat and Tote. I have one for each of my kids and a great big one for me. The zip top is a must in my book!
7. Who doesn’t love Dunder Mifflin?  Calendars, bobble heads and coffee mugs with your favorite characters: 
8. For the eco-friendly. I’ve used my envirosax for years and they don’t show any sign of wear.  
9. Music lovers rejoice! 

Every year my Scottish Nana got such a kick out of hearing what kind of treats arrived from the UK for me. In honor of her and one of her all time favorites, number 10 is the  Harry&David Tower of Treats featuring Royal Riviera® Pears. YUM!  Happy Holidays!

Back to My Future, Part 2

This week the alumni magazine arrived in my mailbox.  I don't typically read it cover to cover but, after years of skipping to the back to see who got married and who had babies I did decide to start at the beginning and read the first few pages.  The issue started with one of my most memorable professors. He taught finance. Ugh... finance.  Let  me preface this by saying during my entire school career, I had always excelled in Math.  Always.  But finance?  It was not my friend. Chalk it up to a lecture hall setting where you are among a sea of folks who are either cramming for their next exam, sleeping or arriving late and leaving early.  You could say there were more than a enough distractions to keep me focused on learning the ins and outs of the stock market and economy.  College was also a time where I met my soon to be husband. Social distractions? Plenty.

A few more pages in and I realized WOW, my University has fantastic programs for management students.  (Did they always have these and I just didn't realize?)  A mock trading floor?  I'm sure they didn't have that 10 years ago but I think it would have engaged me if I had the opportunity to utilize it.  Wait, an alum is now the CFO for the Yankees?  At this point I'm not only impressed but starting to work on my flux capacitor with one hand and continuing to flip the pages of the magazine with the other so I can read what other great careers have been made with my same education.

If  I could go back in time to my former-self and bungee cord her to her lecture hall seat until she aces that finance final exam I would also give her a few pieces of advice:
- Caffeine is your friend. Embrace it now!!  Stay awake in all classes. You'll be paying for this schooling 10 years from now when you have a husband a child and other more bills. You will learn to love coffee (light and sweet.)
- If you studied as much as you complained about how much studying you had to do, you'd have those hours back and already be reading for fun.
- Read for fun.  Access to amazing libraries is not a right, it's a luxury.  What I wouldn't give for an hour of silence to read something for enjoyment.
- Study abroad. Remember that time you hovered outside your counselors office with an application for Study-in-Ireland and he was taking too long with another student and you walked away?  Might have been worth waiting for if nothing else but a stamp in your passport.
- Take internship opportunities.  Don't think of it as working for free. Think of it as getting free experience.  With a fresh young face you can make mistakes (and learn from them) in a way that will be forgiven because of your age.

Recently I ran for a pad and paper during an Oprah episode to write down this quote. Her favorite definition of forgiveness was "Giving up the hope that the past could have been any different."  I think I'm ready to start forgiving that 20 year old management student. I'll start by brewing a big pot of coffee.

Philanthropy in 2010

Charitable giving is down 11% in 2009; the largest decline in the past twenty years as recorded by the Chronicle of Philanthropy.

The stat shocked me. Mostly because I think my personal charitable giving is up.  We've all seen some hard times in recent years. Personally, I think its motivated me more to be thankful for what I have, and to realize I still have more than most.  But where I see the difference is that my dollars are not going the traditional route.

I can spot a direct mail fundraiser pack from a mile away. Yes, I used to work in the industry which gives me a leg up.  Those handy return address stickers? I take them right out of the package, add them to my collection and recycle the rest of the mailer.  No donation from me.  (Especially if you've spelled my name incorrectly.)

LiveStrongs' requests for donations? Lance, I have just received too many emails from you over the past few years that I am irked to send you my hard earned dollar.  And the sad thing is that I believe in your cause. Just  not "the ask".

So how do you get me to part with my money?

• Personal stories.  Through Facebook I connected to a high school alum who started a charity in honor of his brother.  The young man that I knew was handsome, smart, funny and yet at age 23 committed suicide.  I went to a small high school where everyone knew everyone.  So this one hit close to home.
• If one of my friends is sweating.  This past year I've been easily swayed to support anyone who was walking a 5k, riding a bicycle or doing some other activity that  burned more calories than I could consume on a Sunday morning.  I like it when you work for the money.  Keep it up!
• Randomness.  I've been known to roll down my window and pass out cash to the homeless. Again, it goes back to tugging on my heart. What must it feel like to create a sign on cardboard to plead your case, relying on the charity of strangers?  I've seen the shame in their eyes and the gratitude for acknowledging their existence.   It takes a strong person to ask for help.

This holiday season, the Salvation Army plans to have a system in place that will take donations via text.  It's a great idea for people like me who are motivated to give, sometimes on a whim.

What prompts you to give?  Would love to hear from you.

Greed is good...

With all the hype surrounding Oliver Stones latest flick, Money Never Sleeps I have to admit that I only recently DVR'ed and watched the original Wall Street.  A trip back to days of shoulder pads, really large cell phones and Daryl Hannah.  Oh, 1987... Thanks for the laughs.

MIL and FIL

My personal movie reviewers (my MIL and FIL) can't figure why Newsday hated it.  They thought it was pretty good.  They also enjoyed all of the American Pie movies which is very disturbing.  Siskel and Ebert, they are not.  But we love them anyway because they have lots of free time to watch movies in an actual theater, and not at home on their couch like me and my husband.

"Greed is Good" has been my latest catch phrase.  I'm all for it. Bring on the greed!  Adding another mouth to feed in my house has made me extra stingy. I'm starting to turn into one of those consumers who won't buy anything without a coupon. Yes, this week I probably burned gallons of gas returning a gift after finding it cheaper somewhere else.  I even conceded to the idea that we drive, not fly, to NY for Thanksgiving.  People- I live in the Carolinas. Shoot me.

I'm also getting really greedy about my time. Time is money.  Didn't make the cut into my intimate circle of friends? Sorry. No time for you. Unfriendly you say?  Well, maybe a bit. It's not like I'm holding up in the house like a recluse- I would just rather have deep meaningful relationships with a smaller number of people rather than a long list of one-dimensional, shallow friendships.  That's what facebook is for.

Back in the Saddle

It's been so long since I blogged that I forgot my password. But happy to report that SleeveShirt is back in the saddle again!

Had a fantastic summer highlighted by the introduction of Gus William!  He is sleeping through the night which means I am not a raving lunatic in the Preschool carpool lane.  Speaking of, Natalie is in preschool and we've started carpooling with another family in our neighborhood. My biceps are much happier lugging the baby bucket once a day into the school rather than 2x.

We had a summer filled with fun activities: Saw Mary Poppins in the theater, went to the NC Transportation museum for Day Out with Thomas, took part in the first annual SC Chili Cookoff as taste-testers.  (PS: I'm working on my own recipe for next years submission...)

With all that fun, is it strange that I became excited when my husband came home talking about a SWOT analysis for work?  Yes, it was a sign that I am ready to get back to focusing on marketing strategies outside of how to find the best diaper deals.

Giddy up.