Author: Allie

I'm a 30-something mom, writer, and dreamer at heart.
Livin' and Lovin'

Post b’day roundup…

by Allie1 Comment on Post b’day roundup…

Hello there! It’s been Eons since I’ve blogged (at least on here, but please consider reading my company’s fabulous blog at http://www.likeable.com/blog-end of shameless plug) I’m a year older now and realize that I now REALLY need to focus on my “things to do before 30” goals seeing as I only have 364 days left to accomplish them!

I had dinner with some old college friends recently and we had a wonderful night reminiscing and catching up. I was so excited to hear that many of them read my blog and even noticed my recent lack of posts! In typical “good friend” fashion, they didn’t give a crap that I was “busy with work stuff” and demanded I write more. Point taken! I plan on getting started on my list today (ok tomorrow, I’m still recovering from my birthday shots today) and with that list comes lots of fun blog posts to write.
As a warning, my posts may turn to sappy love song style sentiment over the coming weeks and I begin to embark on a long distance relationship with FF. He’s moving (temporarily!) next week to pursue his teaching degree and we will be doing the LD thing for a year or so…any tips for LDR’s are greatly appreciated!
Number one on my before 30 list…..drumroll please….TRAVEL MORE! This is not news to any anyone who regularly reads this but it really needs to be a priority now that 3-0 is getting closer every day! What else do I NEED to do before 30 folks? Let me know!
Rhode Island, Travel

An escape…

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Rich greens, deep blues birds chirping and ocean breezes-things I rarely (ok never) see from the confines of my 15th floor NYC apartment were all just part of the norm at a place I like to call paradise. Nope, not the Carribean or even Hawaii, my slice of heaven can be found in the wonderful little state of RI, and most recently on Block Island, RI.

Life in RI is so simple and peaceful and when my boyfriend and I recently visited ‘the Block” we honestly felt like we were on some fantasy island. People were friendly and said hello as they passed you by, cab drivers were jovial and helpful and chatty in the good way not the-I’m on my phone speaking erraticly in a foreign language-way. Ironically both cab drivers that we had while visiting (you only needed a cab to and from the ferry, the rest of the time you strolled or rode a bike-ahh sighhhh) were people that lived on Block Island year-round and loved the peaceful picture perfect setting. One guy told us he came for a job as teacher and never left. At this point I was convinced that I should cancel my return trip and apply for a job at the Block Island Times but my cab driver just laughed and agreed that they “probably didn’t pay much.”
After a lovely and relaxing trip of seafood, beaches, coronas, moped-riding and pretty sunsets, we headed back to NY and I found myself wondering “Am I really a city girl, or do I belong in a tiny little beach town?” I’m constantly torn between the desire to be really successful in my career which probably requires at least a few years in a big city and the desire to live in a quaint town near the beach. Unfortunately I’m not sure there’s much of a market for a Social Media Marketer, blogger or otherwise-at least on Block Island. In fact, I kinda got the feeling that if I tried to explain what I did to any of the locals, they’d be confused in the way that my 80-year grandmother is.
For now, I’m back to city-girl Allie, but I can’t wait for my next vacation! I highly recommend a visit to Block Island for anyone looking for a relaxing and perfect little beach getaway in the Northeast.
Livin' and Lovin', NYC

"These Streets Will Make You Feel Brand New"

by AllieLeave a Comment on "These Streets Will Make You Feel Brand New"

Tonight I went to see Sex and the City 2. Me and about a million other fabulous ladies of NYC! I went to the Ziegfeld Theater, which is this amazing old-fashioned theater that still has ushers and a “stage” where the movie screen is–AND the theater was actually IN the movie…which was pretty cool! In prime SATC fashion there was even a faux red carpet where decked out ladies (and I mean DECKED OUT like gold sequined pants DECKED OUT…) posed for pictures and sipped on cosmos.

I think every modern-day single gal these days has thought of themselves as a “Carrie” at one time or another–especially if they ever wanted to be a writer, live in NYC or find true love. I myself have always thought that I truly *am* like Carrie, having been perpetually single for most of my twenties and writing my own column for a while for the local paper. Plus, I actually AM sitting in my bed right now with a view of the Empire State Building out my window furiously typing on my Macbook Pro (for the record, Carrie never had the view, but still!).
Sadly though, this is where the similarities end. The older I get, and the more I actually live and work in “real life NYC” the more I realize that SATC is just an amazing fantasy that most women are easily sucked into due the crafty writing and universal themes of love, friendship and happiness (oh and the clothes and shoes).
Before I actually lived in NYC, I definitely had a *slightly* skewed view of what life would really be like. NYC is without a doubt the most amazing city in the world, the place where anything seems possible and the energy is palpable, but trust me it’s not all cosmos and Manolos (especially without a trust fund or what I like to call a “corner office” job). And dating? While I’m not single right now, I have never seen a man that even resembles Mr. Big-or Aidan for that matter! I like to think of them as mythical men made up of a compilation of every woman in the world’s “dream man.” Every woman wants either an Aidan or a Big. The thing is, most of the great men I know (including my boyfriend!) have a little of both in them…
That being said, I give the new movie two enthusiastic thumbs up as a great way to spend a couple hours with your girlfriends laughing, crying and remembering that anything is possible…
…queue “Empire State of Mind”…and yes, this song IS in the movie! 🙂
Livin' and Lovin', Worklife

Major life updates

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Whoa, whoa, whoa–it’s the end of MAY already?! Once again, I’ve been completely MIA with no good excuse at all. In my defense though, here is a rundown of the major life changes that have occurred since my last post!

Left my job of the past year for a new beginning, said goodbye to some really great and interesting people
Started my new job with an incredible company that is very “likeable!” (more details to come!)
Celebrated my two-year anniversary with my boyfriend (by far the longest relationship of my life for those who were wondering)
Found out said-boyfriend is moving (temporarily, hopefully) to pursue his passion of coaching and teaching and generally molding and influencing young minds (commendable)
I promise to write more (a promise I KEEP making), until then–thanks for sticking with me folks! 🙂

Random, Social Media

Email address frenzy!

by AllieLeave a Comment on Email address frenzy!

Since I first entered the “internetz” circa 1999 I’ve had 4 different personal email addresses (NOT counting various work email addresses).

First, it was AOL, then my college URI.edu address, then Hotmail because AOL was “a joke,” THEN Yahoo because Hotmail was a joke…and NOW I feel Yahoo might be a joke and I should switch YET again to Gmail?! Where does it end folks? Will I forever be changing my email address every few years just to have the coolest, newest handle or is there really an advantage to me getting a Gmail account? I’ve completely phased out my AOL account (although as I noted in my earlier post, I totally DO still have my original AIM screen name), I basically keep my Hotmail account as my “sign up for stuff” account that I rarely check, although I definitely still get email there, and my Yahoo is currently my main, sent to my phone, email account.
To be honest, Yahoo works fine for my personal needs and rarely gives me any problems except for the occasional freeze or temporary glitch on my iPhone, but overall, it does the job. So, my question is this, should I really switch to Gmail just “because” or are there legitimate benefits to it? I need some concrete reasons why people! And is there an easy way to get the word out on my new address, any services that will forward from all my old accounts, etc.? Do social media types really judge someone by their email handle–I mean I’ve seriously heard people say (or occasionally seen people tweet) things like “he called himself a social media expert-and then gave me his Hotmail address, LOLZ” or something to that effect. So what’s the deal folks, convince me, switch to Gmail to be “hip” or just stop the insanity and keep what I have for now?