Vote Ada Polla for Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year!

As a female working in the beauty industry, we gots to support one another.

Now, I don't personally know Ada Polla, but she is the President and CEO of Alchimie Forever, an amazing Swiss skincare line sold at Bendel's, and from looking at her picture, she can't be more than 10 years older than me (or maybe those products work especially well...). A young woman that is the head of a successful luxe skincare brand-- now that's someone you can really aspire to.

Ada Polla is a finalist for Entrepreneur Magazine's 2009 Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year Award and she is the only beauty industry entrepreneur nominated. That's huge!

Please join me and support Ada, the beauty industry, and female entrepreneurs everywhere by throwing her your vote!

http://www.entrepreneur.com/e2009/vote/emerging.php

The voting process is incredibly simple and won't take more than 10 seconds.

Not convinced yet?

In addition to being co-creator of the antioxidant-based skincare line, Ada founded The Network of Entrepreneurial Women, an association for women entrepreneurs in the Mid-Atlantic region and she graduated from both Harvard (undergrad) and Georgetown (Masters) at the top of her class.

Geez, throw a girl a bone! She totally deserves the honor of Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year. Hope you'll vote!

Week in the Smokies

In the interest of exploring the world one region at a time, I was originally pretty interested in meeting up with my Dad's whole side of the family in the Smokey Mountains of Tennessee this summer. Then, I realized that meant my 2009 week's vacation would consist of mountains and Wal-mart instead of beaches and sun.

Let's just say I went into this vacation not the most excited in my life.

Now, it wasn't my all-time favorite vacation, but in the end, there were a lot of great aspects to the Smokies.

1. It was pretty. Tons and tons of rolling mountains and streams and lakes everywhere.

2. There was a lot of green. I guess I'm not really used to nature anymore. Maybe New York does that to you... But, on this vacation, I reconnected with childhood. I played in the woods and went hiking and my uncle fell in the creek. Totes felt like childhood. :)

3. White Water Rafting. Really sweet. See hilarious picture above. (Yes. "That guy" is my brother.)

As a bonus, our tobacco-chewing mountain man River Guide slapped my ass when he pulled me into the raft -- he got a good tip. haha

4. Lots of history. During a drive through the mountains we stopped at a really old church/graveyard combo with tombstones from the 1800's. Between the Southern drawls around us and all the stuff about "Rebels" and the Civil War, I felt a bit like I was in Bon Temps, True Blood-style.

Things I would do differently if I went again:

1. Rent a house with a private pool or not go during the summer. It was hot. Really hot. And I had no ocean or pool to dive into all week. And no sun deck to lay out on. Dreams of coming home with a golden tan = shattered.

2. Do not go into Pigeon Forge. I repeat, do not go into Pigeon Forge. Gatlinburg is also questionable. It's a cheesy tourist trap and I can't believe anyone chooses to vacation like that. We only drove through on the way to the God-forsaken Wal-Mart, but the traffic was intense and the entertainment on the side of the road looked awful. "Helicopter Rides!" "Fireworks!" "Ripley's Believe It or Not" "Dollywood" "Fish and Tackle Superstore!" No thanks on all accounts. In my uncle's words - Red Neck Disneyland.

3. Figure out exactly what you want to do there ahead of time, and stay somewhere close-by. The amount of time I spent in a car that week nauseates me even today thinking about it. The amazing lake with pontoon boats - 45 minutes away. White water rafting - 30 minutes away. Major scenic mountain drives - 1 hour away. Wal-Mart (grocery shopping for 20 people is quite the task) - 45 minutes away.

But, the important part was seeing the whole fam and eating and drinking as much as possible all week. And for that, this vacation totally succeeded.

Invention Convention - Flats for the afterparty

Omg, this needsss to come stateside asap! This was on Perez tonight, and if you're one of the 5 people in this world that doesn't read Perez, I'm re-posting for you.

No lady, tranny or Kardashian likes schlepping it home in heels after spending the night dancing at the club.

Well, a genius Brit has come up with a solution: Vending machines that sell flats!

Female clubbers in Britain have been enjoying the comfort of slipping out of their stilettos and basking in the joy of flats at their favorite hot spots. For about 5 pounds (which translates to about 8 bucks), a pair of cushy flats can instantly be yours for your aching feet. And they boast being super flexible, so they can be folded up and stashed in your bag for latter usage.

Founder of Rollasole, Matt Horan, is one clever fellow and his inspiration was nothing short of moments of sheer inconvenience: "After getting tired of giving my girlfriend a piggyback home every Saturday night, I had a 'eureka' moment."

Bring that shiz stateside! American girls party hard too!

Perez is right, American girls party hard, too and we deserve to have vending machines that sell flats when our feet hurt from killer heels, as well. Can we start a petition? This is such an ingenious idea!

PS - They're cute, too! Check out www.rollasole.com

PPS - I'm betting I have an old boyfriend or two that wishes they came up with this first... hahaha

The Big Move

Breaking News: Moving is Hard.

Yes, I understand this is something I should've known already, but geezzz, for this past month and a half, I've been completely preoccupied and stressed out about moving.

Now, this was a big move for me. I was moving into my own place (yikes!) and moving out of the only neighborhood in New York I'd ever lived in (double yikes!). Plus, I was moving out of a huge (albeit crappy) three bedroom apartment and into a studio, hahahah. Helloooo downsizing.

But, I did it. I am now happily moved into a cute little studio apartment in an awesome dog-friendly building in Astoria. Now I am THE worst at making decisions and I like to wait until the last moment on things often, but I was able to pull off this move pretty smoothly. Here are some services and tips I found helpful through this awful process:

1. Checking out every shady listing on Craig's List or paying a hefty broker fee sort of seems like choosing the lesser of two evils. Guess what? There are other options.

- I signed up on Rent Direct New York. For about$200, you get 3 months of access to tons of legit, no-fee rentals throughout New York. You are assigned an agent that works with you to find listings that fit your needs and they have a midtown office if you want to meet face-to-face for more support.

The downside for me was that my search was very niche. I knew I wanted to live in Astoria (by this point, I'm a Queens girl I suppose...) and I was only willing to pay a certain amount. I didn't end up finding my apartment through Rent Direct, but the extra $200 was nothing compared to what I could've paid a broker and I liked having this service to fall back on.

- No-fee brokers do exist! I called on an apartment I saw listed on Craig's List and got connected with Anu Dutta. He became my broker and I didn't have to pay him a cent. Certain building management companies hire agents to show their apartments, but they pay him, not me. Anu was great. Extremely helpful and I now have a new gchat and facebook friend, ha.

2. Even if you're setting out on your own, bring other people with you to check out each apartment. I had a rotation of 4 different people that I'd bring along every time I made an appointment to see a place. That way if it ended up being a creepy landlord or a dump in the wrong area of town, I wasn't alone. And if I loved it, I had someone else to bounce ideas off of, and sometimes to bring me back down to Earth.

EX: "Yea it's an okay apartment, but open the window. You're right next to the train!" (as the apartment rumbled and a train went by)

EX: "Adrienne that place was a shoebox and smelled like kitty litter. You can do better."

3. You're never too old to ask for help from family. This was the first move where I didn't throw all my crap in trashbags the night before and make my boyfriend lug anything heavy. I needed to sort through things, pack things in -gasp- real boxes and do it ahead of time. I needed help and I realized it. Thankfully, american girl's dad, the ultimate american dad (He's a truck driver, loves classic rock and owns a Harley - case in point.) and the rest of the fam came out to Queens for the weekend to help. Dad and brother = my movers. Mom = cleaning lady and decorator extraordinaire. I couldn't have done it without them.

And now, I'm settled and happy in Astoria. No more Angelo's (although I did celebrate with the family there one last time), now it's all about the Brick Cafe. Moving on up and starting fresh. :)

the new Yankee Stadium!

So, summer is officially here.  I went to a Yankee game.  :) 

On Friday May 15, not only was I setting foot in the ballpark for the first time of summer '09, but I was stepping into a brand new ballpark.  And let me tell you-- it's a beaut.  

Coming from Pittsburgh, I know a thing or two about building new ballparks... 8 years ago we ripped down our old and drab Three Rivers Stadium to build two amazing new fields: PNC Park and Heinz Field.  We went from having an ugly stadium to having fields that people want to visit, regardless of how crummy the Pirates are doing.

Telling my mom that I was going to the new Yankee Stadium, she said, "Ohh wow, does the new one have river views??"  I laughed and reminded her that it was still the Bronx, ha.  The new Yankee Stadium isn't anything like PNC Park (we have the river views there!), but it really is beautiful and a nice new addition to the city.  "The Great Hall" when you enter the stadium is amazing.  It feels like you're in a coliseum of sorts.  Huge arches, open and airy...and then there's a tv that's as tall as a house, no joke. Very cool.

Once I was in my seat and looking around, I still felt a bit like I was in the old Yankee Stadium, it was just bigger, and newer.  The cement slab hallways were so white and clean!!  But the white arched top of the stadium with all the mini flags going around was just the same.  We had absolute nosebleed seats, but it didn't even matter.  Even from all the way up there, we had a great view.  Only thing was I couldn't tell Jeter from Matsui without the help of the announcer or the jumbo-tron, ha.

To top off the fun experience, we saw a greaaat game.  Losing in the bottom of the 9th with 2 outs and the bases loaded, Melky hit a two-run single for a walk-off win.  A-maz-ing.  Even better?  I watched it from the Mohegan Sun Sports Bar located basically on the field by the bullpen.  The view was so perfect, you weren't allowed to take pictures because we were in the batter's line of vision.  Can you even??

We finished the night at Stan's.  How can you not?  New stadium or not, you always gotta go to Stan's.  :)

Pittsburgh blowing up on the big screen!

First Zack & Miri Make a Porno, then My Bloody Valentine and now Adventureland.  I feel like my hometown is becoming famous!!

Now, I won't kid myself, I realize one of the main reasons movies have been filmed in Pittsburgh lately is probably because it's significantly cheaper than filming in New York, but still... there's no better city to deserve some on-screen action.

I just saw Adventureland today, and the more I think about it, the more I realize I liked it.  Set in 1987, the movie follows a nerdy post-grad kid that comes home to Pittsburgh for the summer and is stuck working at Adventureland, the local amusement park.  It reminded me of an 80's version of Almost Famous or Dazed & Confused.  The movie was funny, especially when Bill Hader and Kristen Wiigs' characters chimed in, but the movie flowed with mostly an understated humor.  Ultimately, it's a sweet coming-of-age story about a kid that grows up more in one summer at a dead-end job than he did all four years at his respectable college.

The whole movie basically took place in Kennywood, the real Adventureland in Pittsburgh.  I loved pointing out all the rides and seeing the park on the big screen.  Although, just an FYI, the movie makes the park look really run down, but in reality, it's not run down at all.  Kennywood has been around forever, but the film purposely doesn't show any of the new additions to the park or the modern roller coasters there.  Fun Fact: I read that they decided to shoot at Kennywood instead of a list of other theme parks around the country because Kennywood isn't commercialized and they didn't have to cover up a bunch of advertisements and corporate sponsors for filming.

Growing up, Kennywood was the place to be seen.  Every school district in Pittsburgh is given a "Kennywood Day," a weekday where there is no school and you're able to purchase discounted tickets to spend the day at the park.  It was of utmost importance to look cute on Kennywood Day.  Ohhh the shopping trips I would take and the hours I would spend perfecting my outfit to make sure I looked good in case I ran into any boys from school. All the girls basically looked like little hoochie-mamas on Kennywood Day.  No dress-code policy there! haha

The characters felt very authentic and the film kept true to Pittsburgh-- the homes they showed looked like homes near my neighborhood and there were plenty of landscape shots that reminded me of home.  The house parties and aimless driving over tons of yellow bridges brought back memories of high school as well.  I also liked the random glimpses of Pittsburgh pride, like the guy playing the shooting gallery game with the Lambert jersey on.  (Zack & Miri was really good with that, too.)  Fun Fact #2: The directors for both Adventureland and Zack & Miri have personal ties to Pittsburgh.  Kevin Smith (Zack & Miri) had a girlfriend from Pittsburgh and always loved the city and told himself he'd like to film there someday and Greg Mottola (Adventureland) got his undergraduate degree from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

My advice-- go see it.  

Pittsburgh being in the movies isn't new, though.  Throughout the years, lots of popular movies have been filmed in my hometown.  Here are a few to jog your memory of the Steel City on the Silver Screen:

- Wonder Boys

- Dogma

- Inspector Gadget

- Milk Money

- Groundhog Day

- The Silence of the Lambs

- Flashdance

- The Deer Hunter

Bring It On?

Interesting debate to chew on: Is cheerleading a sport?   

At the beginning of this year, the topic of high school cheerleading made it all the way to the State Supreme Court and onto the pages of ESPN online.  It's actually a really interesting case... 

As a cheerleader all throughout middle school, high school and beyond into college (Go Indians...Go Red Storm!), I get super pumped when cheerleading makes it into the headlines. Heck, I get excited when I come across cheerleading competitions on TV, but when regular folk and sports-talking guys are mentioning spirit fingers, I get all warm, fuzzy and proud inside.

The case: Varsity cheerleader, Brittany Noffke from Holmen High School in western Wisconsin decided to sue a male teammate who was her designated "spotter" (for you non-cheerleaders, it means exactly what you think it means), and failed to catch her when she fell backwards out of a stunt.  She ended up with a serious head injury.  

Seriously, cheerleading can be dangerous, y'all!

So, what do you think?  Can you sue a teammate for not catching you?  The question at hand for the Wisconsin State Supreme Court was if cheerleading was a contact sport or not.  If they decided that yes, cheering should be lumped with football and other contact sports, high schools and teammates would not be held accountable when someone gets hurt (including Brittany's teammate).  In other words, join the squad at your own risk.  But, is cheerleading really at the same level as football with injuries and danger?  And should there be no consequence for dropping a teammate??

In the greater sense of the question, it's hard for me to deem cheerleading a "sport."  I typically only associate games as sports, i.e. an athletic event with rules and a clear winner and loser at the end.  Soccer games, baseball games, etc.  The main and original purpose of cheerleading is to support the players in those aforementioned games.  Even when we show off our amazing abilities in competitions, there is still no clear cut winner/loser.  A panel of judges grades each team on their fancy footwork and the "wow factor" of their performance.... how does that fit?  In my world of sports, a team can play a dirty and messy game and still win.

But then there are the Olympics.  They just throw a huge wrench in my idea of sports.  Figure skating, gymnastics, diving... the winners for each are determined by judges and they are all absolutely considered sports.  What is the definition of a sport anyway?  Dictionary.com defines a sport as "physical activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively."  By that definition, cheerleading qualifies for sport status.  But, contact sport status??  There is no risk in the actual "leading of cheers."  When a team begins engaging in stunts and gymnastics, though, it gets more serious. In fact, tons of squads across the country do not allow their cheerleaders to stunt or tumble for the specific reason that those activites are dangerous.  

And voila, with that last statement, I think I have my answer. 

Cheerleading that incorporates stunting and gymnastics is a contact sport, and schools and teammates cannot be held monetarily liable if someone gets hurt.  The nature of the sport is dangerous and you should know that going in.  Tossing people high into the air, balancing a person on human hands (at least) six feet in the air and forcefully springing your body into the air unnaturally can potentially cause injuries, just as sacking a quarterback can potentially cause injuries.  And yes, if your teammate drops you, he should be reprimanded, but not in the courtroom and not to pay for your medical bills.  No one forced you to cheerlead and no one forced you to be the girl in the air.  We all make mistakes and injuries happen in cheerleading.

Do you agree with me?  Check out the full story from ESPN Rise online.

PS - the Wisconsin Supreme Court felt the same way I did.  On January 27, 2009 cheerleading was made an official contact sport, at least in the eyes of Wisconsin.