Author: Allie

I'm a 30-something mom, writer, and dreamer at heart.
Just for Fun

I’m over it…

by AllieLeave a Comment on I’m over it…


So I think I may have grown out of Halloween…at least until I have some kiddies to dress up in cute, fuzzy, non-slutty, non-scary costumes.

I clearly remember Halloween being my favorite holiday as a child. The costumes, the silly string, the fun with friends, oh yeah and the enormous pile of candy that lasted for weeks! My brother and I used to pour all our loot out on the kitchen floor and then engage in intense trading and deal making until we both had the perfect stash of treats. Other fond Halloween related memories include the annual Charlie Brown Pumpkin special, carving jack-o-lanterns and cooking the seeds (oh yeah, and crying when the neighborhood hoodlums would smash my favorite pumpkin right off on our porch!) and drinking apple cider and homemade cookies.

Somehow over the years, Halloween has moved down on my list to maybe a notch above, say, Secretary’s Day (no offense to celebrators of this holiday). Once I outgrew the trick or treating, I still enjoyed wearing grunge clothes out on Halloween night armed with as many bottles of shaving cream as my mom would allow and spending the night with friends. College brought about new meaning to the holiday, where elaborate parties and costumes that began with the word “naughty” or “sexy” became the only acceptable ones. I remember trying my best not to conform, borrowing a friends karate outfit one year, and going as a hippie another.

This year, as I braved the streets of NYC as a “librarian,” I found myself wishing more than once that I was curled up by a fireplace sipping spiced cider and handing out mini snickers to ballerinas and pirates. Am I getting jaded, or just old?

I had a fun night, first going to a costume party, and then a local pub in Soho (after getting turned away from the bar we had planned on going to for arriving too late). I saw some funny costumes, shared some beers and laughs with my friends and took silly photos, but between the lack of cabs, my painful shoes and the crowded streets and bar counters, I think I may sit next year out–have I become a Halloween scrooge? You decide!

In the News, Random

Edits and Updates

by AllieLeave a Comment on Edits and Updates

Papa Zog pointed out a few grammatical errors to me in my previous post so rest assured they will fixed and I will be proofing more carefully from now on! Although i still stand by my belief that it’s ok to be a little unedited in these things, I don’t want any future client, colleague or otherwise thinking that I am not on point… so from now, I will do a once over before hitting “publish post”…happy dad? 🙂

As I’m sure the world has heard since my last post about the missing school teacher, she tragically was found dead, her husband facing murder charges. The story is chilling to me. I just can’t see how a person is capable of murder, especially to someone they claimed to once love. It’s scary that some people can snap without warning. From what I have read and heard both on the news, and first hand from people at her place of work, she was an amazing teacher and person. My thoughts are with her family…

Just for Fun, Worklife

Media Advisory–PR girls don’t eat dessert!

by Allie1 Comment on Media Advisory–PR girls don’t eat dessert!

So a couple of months back I attended a Publicity Club of NY luncheon and “jokingly” poked fun at the crowd of coiffed, predominantly female attendees. Well yesterday, I revisited the scene and quickly saw that I wasn’t the only one who observed the unusual habits of the “NYC PR girl.”

Generally at these types of luncheons, you get served a nice chicken dish, maybe even a steak if you’re lucky, and usually some sort of generic cake/pie/ice cream type desert. Not gonna lie, I always eat the desert! Interestingly, I believe I might be the only one in PR that does. This month’s luncheon served up possibly the most healthy meal ever placed in front of me. Appetizer–lettuce with possibly a dash of some sort of vinaigrette, Main Course–steamed veggies, boiled potatoes and what I guess was poached salmon? (PS, I loathe salmon…), “Desert” (And I use that term loosely)–3 blueberries and a strawberry. Oh yeah, and the Diet Coke was in full effect, but regular Coke had been pulled from the table all together!

Now don’t get me wrong, I fully attended this luncheon for the panelists and networking, and very much enjoyed their discussion and helpful hints, and as a former waitress, I am grateful for any nice meal that is prepared and served to me, but I just had to comment on the hilarity of the menu and beverage choice for the crowd of nearly all young women with “small appetites.” I bet the few men in the room left there hungry!

This got me wondering why there are so few men in the business. Even in my own office, the women outnumber the men by a lot (A LOT!) It doesn’t seem like a girly profession to me, anyone have any thoughts on this?

Oh yeah, and once again, even though I was furiously taking notes about potential blog topics during the luncheon, I was also gaining valuable insight into the pitching preferences of journalists. One thing was clear, phone calls are out, emails are in. All five editors and writers on the panel agreed that they rarely even answer their office phones and never listen to voicemails. I guess the days of call sheets and rehearsed pitches are over. In this digital world, a short, compelling email that positions your client as a “gotta have it” story seems like the way to go. One thing that was interest to me though, was that most of the panelists DID NOT enjoy the follow up email. My colleagues and I have always thought this was a great way to stay fresh in a writers mind and to give them a gentle reminder to get in touch. So now I’m torn, to follow up or not to follow up, that is the question…

Livin' and Lovin'

Reflections

by AllieLeave a Comment on Reflections



Had some time to think this weekend on my own, which almost always leads to over-analyzation (is that a word) on all subjects…I guess it’s the writer in me…

Last weekend I was in my often mentioned favorite town of Newport, RI. I am adding my first pictures to this blog (if it works) to try and capture how truly serene it is there for those of you who have not been.

While there, I of course had a momentary mental crisis in which I questioned why I ever left such a peaceful existence and the easy living of a writer by day, waitress by night, party girl by late night, life. As I sat at the bar at my old place of work, seeing far less familiar faces than my last visit, I realized that it was the right decision to move on. My NY life is sometimes filled with stress, money woes, traffic and more stress but it is also filled with excitement, motivation, a meaningful career, new friends and relationships and a dream of fame and fortune (fingers crossed).

Lately though, I’ll admit, I’ve been feeling a little friendless. Not in the pathetic, I literally have no friends way, just in the fact that I don’t have all that many close friends around me in NY these days, and I don’t have a giant group that I roll with like I did back in the day. I guess that is a part of growing up. Friends get married, have children, move, and that giant posse of ever-ready to party pals becomes a lot smaller. You begin to hang with couples (if your a couple) or work friends, or friends of convenience, but sometimes you just really miss your old friends.

I guess I am not the only one who feels this way though. Recently an old best friend from college who I lost touch with (she lives in Chicago now) contacted me. It brought on an email chain between old friends that went on for about 200 emails in the past couple of weeks between 10 or 12 friends who are now spread all over the country and doing all sorts of things. A big reunion is now set for December in NY and a spring trip to include even more of us is brewing. Yay for old friends reuniting!

Sometimes on the flip side, you just grow apart from people who may have once been close to you. You change or grow, they don’t, or vice-versa, but if they were really as important to you as you thought, then you learn to accept the differences. If not, then you move on, appreciate the friendship for what it was and look forward to making new friends and cherishing the ones that will remain forever…

On a final, and completely off-topic note–Congrats to my boss, Hilary Topper for being chosen as a finalist for Blogger of the Year by the Stevie Awards. Check out her blog at http://www.hilarytopper.com. And yes, that is me with the giant cookie from my darling boyfriend 🙂