It’s a Wonderful Life!

Okay all, I hope this isn’t too morbid to talk about, but today’s topic is related to funerals.  I came across this amazing website called My Wonderful Life, which essentially lets you plan your funeral- everything from the headstone inscription to music to aftercare of your pets!  You get to designate up to 6 angels to carry out your wishes and they’ll be notified upon your death.  And the best part is that you’ve alleviated your loved ones of all the tough decisions!  The service is free and registration takes less than 2 minutes.  I’ve already created my profile and am going to slowly start working on my “book” of information over the next year.  Here is a sampling of things you can do at www.mywonderfullife.com:

Leave letters to loved ones

Document the music and writings you love 

Leave your favorite memories, and anything else you’d like to share 

Let your Angels know where all your “stuff” is, like bank accounts, wills, and other important information 

Leave meaningful possessions to loved ones and tell them why 

Make sure your kids and pets are taken care of 

Write your own obituary 

Design your own headstone 

Upload some of your favorite photos that can be used at your service

80 Trends to Watch in 2008!

Every year JWT Advertising, the largest advertising agency in the US, publishes a list of trends that will define the year.  Their intent is to identify larger social patterns that are emerging and influencing our lives.  I’ve highlighted some of the ones I’ve found most intriguing to research- google some of them to learn more… enjoy!

Here is JWT’s list of 80 Things to Watch in 2008, in alphabetical order:

1. Africa (foreign investment and development in)
2. Antibiotic backlash
3. Assisted marriage
4. Beijing 2008
5. Blue replacing green as the environmental movement’s color du jour
6. Brain exercises
7. British actress Keira Knightley
8. Carbon tax
9. Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang
10. Classical musician Gustavo Dudamel
11. Climate sightseeing
12. Continuation of comebacks (Indiana Jones, The Cure, etc.)
13. Cooperative consumption
14. Couch surfing
15. Country branding (Oman, Indonesia, etc.)
16. Designer Phillip Lim
17. De-teching
18. DJ Tiësto
19. DNA-based exercising
20. E-clutter (and e-clutter consultants)
21. Eco-fatigue
22. E-mail étiquette
23. Facebook suicides
24. Fashion label Vena Cava
25. Foreign government investment (e.g., China, UAE) in U.S. companies
26. French President Nicolas Sarkozy
27. Game 3.0 (gamer-generated global gaming)
28. Google’s Android
29. Gossip Girl
30. Gphone
31. Green weddings
32. Higher education online
33. Hip-hop’s Retro Kids
34. Humbling of the hedge fund manager (anti-excess post sub-prime)
35. Hybrid taxis
36. Indian actress Deepika Padukone
37. Intellectual luxury
38. Investigating ingredients
39. Japanese designs (Tsumori Chisato, Uniqlo, Muji, etc.)
40. Kitchen appliances as new power tools
41. Lifestyle curators
42. Lipstick trumping lip gloss
43. Manga-inspired clothes
44. Mobile technology explosion
45. Mobulimia
46. Music as awareness driver; concerts and other residuals as cash cow
47. Musicovery (music tailored to moods)
48. Myanmar
49. Nollywood (the rise of Nigerian cinema)
50. Outsourcing to Ukraine (and other Eastern European countries)
51. Pakistan’s future
52. Pantone’s 18-3943 (blue iris)
53. Pets in the office
54. Prius homes
55. Radical transparency
56. Radiohead repeats (name-your-own-price music)
57. Recycling into fashion (Nau, Gary Harvey, etc.)
58. Selfless as the new selfish
59. Sex and the City, the movie
60. Shiny Toy Guns (the band)
61. Skiing in novel spots (Kashmir, Japan, Greenland, Russia, Korea, etc.)
62. Single men saying no to sex
63. Skype sex
64. Smart Cars in American cities
65. SNS (social network service) brand communities
66. Spanish actor Javier Bardem
67. Staycations
68. Sturking
69. Tequila as the new wine
70. The N-11
71. Third screen (the mobile screen) rivaling the first screen (TV)
72. Trans-ertainment
73. U.S. gymnast Shawn Johnson
74. U.S. presidential election
75. Vicarious consumption
76. (Video) Gaming Olympics
77. Virtual gifting
78. Wannabe young Internet entrepreneurs (a.k.a. Mark Zuckerberg copycats)
79. Weak dollar/strong euro
80. Women juggling men

For more information about this firm and the trend lists they publish, check out: www.jwt.com.

Fun in South Dakota

Hi all- After 10 hours of driving home yesterday I must comment on the fact that my body does not handle road trips like it used to.  Who’d have thought that my body’s adaptability would decline so much between 25 and 28!  A word to the young- enjoy it while you can!  That being said, here’s a recap of some of the wonderful things I learned in South Dakota.

1.  Prarie Dogs are adorable (see picture below)

2.  I enjoy looking at rock formations more than hiking on top of them… (see picture two)

3.  Not one single person died in the making of Mount Rushmore (isn’t that unbelievable!!)

4.  For your next SoDak vacation, Custer State Park has fabulously cheap accomodations right by Mount Rushmore.  We stayed at a cabin adjacent to Sylvan Lake Lodge for $135 a night!  What a steal, huh?  We were within a stone’s throw of a beautiful lake area and only 15 minutes from Mount Rushmore. 

Back on Monday!

Nick and I decided to take a spontaneous trip to see Mount Rushmore, so I’ll be taking a blogging break for a few days.  We also managed to land a cabin in Custer State Park, which is supposed to be booked 6 months in advance.  Maybe someone decided to trade their vacation for a “stay-cation”, allowing us to benefit!  South Dakota, here we come.  Weekend highlights will be available Monday! 

**Perhaps you’d like to take this chance to sign up for my blog feed, delivering the latest posts from yours truly directly to your inbox.  Just click the orange button in the right corner to sign up!  I’m incredibly proud of that button, by the way.  I had to embed HTML code in the sidebar just to get that little orange button to show- who knew I was so tech savvy!  Surely not me!!

Restaurant Review: Khyber Pass Cafe

Nick and I ventured down to Grand and Snelling to try out the Afghani restaurant Khyber Pass.  I’d seen lots of reviews about it and we were in the mood for something different.  The service was wonderful- I believe we even had the owner come to our table to talk about the menu with us.  There specialties were curry, meatballs, and vegetable/bean dishes.  The thing that struck me was the unique use of vegetables- lentils, leeks, beans, eggplant- lots of veggies that are rare to see on menus.  I wasn’t overly hungry, so I went with a delicious bean soup with cilantro and yogurt on top with a side of eggplant in tomato sauce (served with pita).  Nick did one of the meatball platters, which came with a generous portion of rice, curried potatoes and a small salad.  I think what I liked most about it was the feeling of eating comfort food- it would have been ideal for a cold, winter night.  Perhaps we’ll have to venture back and test that theory!

My ratings this time:
Price/Value: 3 stars (moderate- entrees $12-17, not much below $10)
Food quality/taste: 4 stars (felt very home-cooked.  Great use of spices and vegetables).
Ambiance: 3 stars (So-so space.  Liked the entryway, but wasn’t impressed with the main table area)
Service: 4 stars
Location/Parking: 5 stars (free parking adjacent- surprising given that it’s on Grand)
Overall score: 3.5 – Enjoyed the quality of the food, but thought it was a bit pricey for the amount you got

Friday’s Inspiration: The Candle Cannon!

These people are having fun at work- you can too!  :)

More Cheap Date Ideas for this Weekend!

I’m not sure if you’ve heard about this yet, but Macy’s has sponsored this fabulous Museum Pass for local attractions.  Basically, you go to your local library and there are passes there that you can check out for up to one week with your library card.  There’s no charge and the pass admits 2-4 people at a time (perfect for a date!)  And these aren’ts just any old museums, they’re many of the heavy hitters in town including: The Walker, The Minnesota Zoo, The Arboretum, Fort Snelling, The MN History Center, The Bakken, and many, many more!  Last summer Nick and I visited 6 of them.  This is a great example of why I adore the Twin Cities so much!

Date Night: A Relaxing Evening on the Water

Sarah on White Bear Lake

In celebration of a recent milestone, Nick and I celebrated by taking a 3 hour private sailing lesson on White Bear Lake.  Northern Breezes Sailing School offers delightful packages for either 2 or 3 hour private sails.  Rates are between $200-$300 for these lengths and include a certified instructor.  You can have up to 4 guests on the boat.  What Nick and I enjoyed most about it was the chance to explore sailing before committing to taking an expensive class.  We had discussed wanting to charter boats on vacation, but that requires a certification.  This helped us make the choice as to whether we wanted to pursue that avenue. 

What I enjoyed most about the experience was the mix of learning and relaxation.  There was ample time to enjoy a champagne picnic and cover all the basics that are usually taught in a four week class, including terminology, keeling, and jibing.  Paul Kritzik, our captain, was unbelievably knowledgeable and had a gift for explaining complicated instructions in a simplistic manner.  The entire 3 hours was well worth the money!  Consider it for a special occasion, as it exposes you to something new and provides a memorable experience!  I custom-created this with Northern Breezes, so I don’t think it’s listed on the website, but give Lil a call via their number and she’ll help you arrange something.  They sail on numerous Twin Cities lakes and offer classes as well.

Fabulous Eco-sacs!

 I am enamoured with my latest eco find.  This trendy little bag rolls up into a compact unit that can be stored in your purse or car.  What blows my mind is that it’s waterproof, fashion-forward, and able to carry the weight of two supermarket plastic bags (a whopping 44 pounds)!  Thank goodness for the reinforced seams!  And the best part about it is that the bag weighs a mere 1.4 oz and retails for less than $10.  I got mine at Hot Mama, but you can also get it directly from the supplier, Envirosax.  You can thank me later.  I feel so hip pulling it out and soon you will too!

A Dose of Inspiration for a Monday

Expect the unexpected!

Hip Replacement in Bangalore anyone?

Fast Company recently featured this story titled: Why Americans are Going Abroad for Health Care. Over half a million Americans flew overseas last year to save up to 90% off of US rates on major surgeries. And yes, they paid out-of-network rates and still saved that much! This isn’t that farfetched though, as many major insurers are looking into adding these international sites as in-network providers. Who’d have thought- globalization of medical care! I see this as a beautiful opportunity for markets to work their magic and begin to slow down the out-of-control medical costs. Another fun fact from the article- McKinsey roughly estimates that 10-20% of America’s 39 million hospital patients last year would have been good candidates for overseas treatment. How long do you think it will be before we’re seeing advertisements for Bangkok hospitals encouraging us to “check in” for a relaxing week of healing?

In Love with Network Spinal Analysis

Dr. Tonnie

Well, I continue to explore new and crazy things.  I worry that I’m going to develop a complex and you’ll all think I’m crazy.  But I swear, this is one of the coolest things I’ve stumbled on in a LONG time.  It’s called Network Spinal Analysis and builds off of chiropractic care, except minus all the manipulations.  Tonnie Wulff works out of her home in Hastings and her practice is called Wellness Wave.  Basically, she works to improve our neurological functioning.  She assesses the various kinds of trauma you’ve had in your life- chemical, physcial and emotional through a history analysis.  Then she takes a thermal scan of your spine to look for heat variances between the two sides.  Finally, she looks at your resting posture and breathing capacity.  Based on that information, you begin what are called entrainments. 

Here’s some background on the theory behind it first.  Forgive me if I don’t get all the technical info correct- it was a lot to take in for a non-science kid.  So….the brain sends messages to the cells all day long and vice versa through the spinal cord.  The body can amazingly handle a lot of stress, but when we incur a trauma that’s too significant for the body to process all the messages at once, it cuts off the information flow to the nerves in that area, creating disease or pain.  There is literally a physical place in the body where your brain stores the stress it can’t deal with- and it’s on your spinal cord.  The messages no longer travel so the body does not self-heal that section of the body.  It just metaphorically cuts it off and forgets about it.  Each vertebrae of the spine corresponds to the functions of a different section of the body.  Therefore, Tonnie can study the scan and then press lightly on the impacted section to “unblock” it.  What this does is opens up the information flow so that the brain suddenly realizes, “holy crap- look how messed up it is down there- I better do something about it” and begins the self-healing process.

Essentially, you are training your neurological pathways to be more efficient and process the messages more effectively by expanding your frontal lobe brain capacity.  It sounds crazy, I know!  Results can range from reduced anxiety, weight loss, improved life balance to less pain.  Check out her website for specific details. 

There are open house hours and you just go in and lay on one of the 4 tables face down.  Tonnie rotates between patients and presses lightly on the top and bottom of your spine (where the cord connects to the back).  The places she touches and from what angle are dependent on what needs correcting.  The craziest thing is that she barely touches you, but that’s all the body needs.  It reopens the pathways and improves our ability to heal.  It only takes about 20 minutes for one entrainment and the amount you need per month depends on how severe your life trauma has been (yes, she even asks about your own birth!).

I’m feeling SOOO fortunate that I found this.  After the first entrainment you have to observe your body for 48 hours, as everyone has a different response.  I found that I was exhausted!  I’d sleep 8 hours and feel like I got 3 hours.  I took naps even!  It was nuts!!  Apparently that is related to the heavy amount of anxiety that I deal with and the intense toll that that takes on my body. 

I’m so psyched about this right now.  Tonnie is amazing and the place has the coolest vibe.  I noticed that my head was pretty much going crazy the whole time because it couldn’t understand how lightly touching my spine could heal my arthritic pain and reduce my anxiety.  My intuition told me that I’d found what I was looking for though.  Don’t worry- Tonnie is used to skeptics.  Think about trying it.  She’s offering a free consult for July (a $100 value), so you can check it out without any commitment.  I purchased a $1500 plan for 75 sessions (that’s roughly how many it takes to get your body to superior neurological functioning).  There are also monthly plans or the option to pay by visit.  Let me know if you have any questions, because this holistic medicine stuff is hard to mentally understand, but so amazing to witness!

Restaurant Review: Peninsula Malaysian Cuisine

I like to think of myself as a food snob after my time in the Target Deli.  I mean, I do know my cheese!  I also learned quite a bit about the restaurant scene.  Therefore, I see it as my duty to share my latest and greatest restaurant finds.  On Saturday night Nick and I shared dinner with two friends.  I suggested the restaurant Peninsula, which serves Malaysian cuisine.  The restaurant is located on Eat Street (Nicollet Avenue) in Minneapolis.  We shared a mix of dishes including: Red Curry Chicken, Shrimp Pad Thai, Spicy golden squid and pineapple seafood fried rice.   I loved the curry and seafood rice the most. 

For each restaurant I review, I’ll rate on these 6 things:
Price/Value: 4 stars (super cheap- entrees $8-17)
Food quality/taste: 4 stars (authentic and fresh, but not the best I’ve ever had.  Liked the rice presentation in the pineapple).
Ambiance: 2 stars (pretty boring decor- nothing stands out)
Service: 3 stars
Location/Parking: 3 stars (they had a parking lot across the street)
Overall score: 3 – Good to try at least once

Goodbye Car!

So I got rid of my car!  I know you’re probably thinking that I’m crazy right now, but I swear, carless living has been one of the best things I’ve done for myself in a long time.  Here are some of the ups and downs that I’ve seen so far.

Benefits:

• Bus Buddies: I have many new friends now, some of whom have brought me coffee in the morning (try getting that on a solo commute!).  I’ve also come to know my friendly bus drivers.
• Monetary Savings: I would estimate the following for monthly car-related payments ($300 for a car payment or repairs, $200 in gas (conservative estimate), and $100 in insurance).  That’s a lot people!  In contrast, I pay roughly $100 for a monthly bus pass and spend $35 a month for 5 hours in the hour car.  Check out these sites for rates:  Metro Transit.  Hour Car.  The hourcar website has a calculator that helps you calculate your savings.  I find that I have about 1 or 2 times a month when it’s a challenge to get somewhere.
• Improved sensory functions: My senses have been on overload since taking the bus.  I notice new smells, hear the birds chirping, and see my favorite dog every day on the way to the bus.  It feels very “in the moment”.  I love it!
• Challenge: Getting rid of my car has been a fun challenge.  I have gotten very creative about how I get places.  It may be a combination of biking/busing, walking or using the hourcar.  I’m getting very savvy with my bus routes now and can correctly identify most of the major lines.  Don’t be jealous- you can do it too!
• Knowing my local neighborhood: This was the primary reason I got rid of my car.  I had this desire to support my local neighborhood, but I found that I was always on auto-pilot to SuperTarget.  Today alone I purchased food from the local co-op and bought a new scarf and sweater from a local boutique on Grand.  It feels twice as good to buy from a local businessperson.
• Reading Time: I love my bus time.  I haven’t read this much in a long time.  I also listen to my ipod lots and basically just enjoy my stress-free rides.

Challenges:

• Male aggression: I’ve been hit on countless times on the bus (I’m not bragging).  My favorite lines thus far have been: “Bad weather today, but seeing you has just brightened my day.” and “You’re so lovely and I will never forget that smile.  I can tell we have a connection.  I’ll see you again soon on the 21.”  Ahhh.  Well, at least I’m getting the conversation I so craved. 
• Quick stops/starts: The buses start and stop so quickly that I’ve gotten numerous bruises from when they took off and I wasn’t seated yet.  I like to think of them as my war wounds…
• Missed connections: The worst is when you have a connection to make and you see your next bus leaving just as you pull up.  I’ve run many a time now.  I catch it about 30% of the time.  Good exercise!
• Hauling groceries: This weekend I did a big grocery run using the bus.  I had this cool cart I got from Target, but it was too heavy to lift when full.  Sooo…. you guessed it- I used the automated lift.  I know, it was embarassing.  AND Yes, I know it’s supposed to be for wheel chairs, etc.  But I had just gotten too many groceries in one trip…. I’m learning!

So that’s it.  Post me any questions you have about it.  Check out my fabulous picture with my beloved hourcar.  I have it for 5 hours a month.  I walk 4 blocks to pick it up and buzz into the car with a key fob.  The car key is inside it.  There are currently about 12 car locations in minneapolis/st. paul.  It costs roughly $7 an hour with insurance and gas included.  Isn’t that a deal!

Get ready world…I’m blogging!

Strange how nerve-wracking a first post can be- I feel like I need to have some grandiose introduction or a profound thought to share.  Unfortunately, I have neither of those for you today, but I can promise one thing from my blog: AMUSING STORIES!  Yes, it’s true.  Strange things happen to me.  I also like to try out lots of new, quirky ideas.  Therefore, I plan to use this blog to update you on my latest and greatest finds, whether they be restaurants, books, articles, or organizations!  I will also enlighten you about my experiences using these recommended objects!  You can also expect to see a few other life updates thrown in, along with the occasional business article or inspirational story that grabs my attention.  So that’s it.  Try not to be impressed.  We’ll craft it as we go.

HERE WE GO!  Let the fun begin!