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I am obsessed with rap music - it's such a big part of my life. Votes: 1Randall Park
Happiness has a bad rap. People say it shouldn't be your goal in life. Oh, yes it should. Votes: 1Richard Dreyfuss
The average rap life is two or three albums. You're lucky to get to your second album in rap! Votes: 1Jay-Z
In my mind, not in real life. My rap name will be Optimus Rhymes. Or the Notorious B.o.B. Votes: 1Bobby Moynihan
Rap culture is interesting and different and has purpose but it has a non-romantic view of life and of social feelings. There may be a void in that. Votes: 1Hal David
I don't consider myself a gangsta rapper. But I'm probably more qualified to be a gangsta rapper than people who call themselves that. I've been through that life. Votes: 1Coolio
You know, jazz is the mother of all American music. R&B and pop and rap and everything are the branches on the main tree of the life of music, American music, which is jazz. Votes: 1Eric Burdon
I think being Shaquille O'Neal would be the most amazing thing. There's nothing I would have done differently in his life. Everything he's done I think is pretty spot on, even, like, the bad rap videos, the shoes, the movies, everything. Votes: 1David Chang
I wrote and produced millions and millions of selling records, so my publishing company alone was worth millions of dollars. I didn't have to work anymore in life because when the rappers started sampling... I'm the most sampled artist in history. Votes: 1Rick James
There's a great documentary on Tupac called 'Resurrection' about the last few years of Tupac's life and how he transformed. And, ironically, how this East Coast rapper became this West Coast icon, back when all that Death Row/Sean Combs stuff was going on. Votes: 1Marco Rubio
I came into the rap game in 1992; my life was changing, but my group wasn't successful; I also saw the biggest rappers in the world die all of a sudden in the ensuing years, so it was a matter of conquering yourself before you can conquer the world. Votes: 1Ja Rule
I strive for perfection, but I'm not perfect. But what I can say is my morals are totally different than any other 24-year-old rapper my age now. I look at life totally different. A whole other aspect. I have different views and morals on life in general. And opinions. Votes: 1ASAP Rocky
I am passionate about music and my work to the bottom of my very soul, but I also very much enjoy good clothes and some of the finer things in life. Rappers do, too, and perhaps it's one of the reasons I've been welcomed so warmly into their world. Votes: 1Clive Davis
Say there's a white kid who lives in a nice home, goes to an all-white school, and is pretty much having everything handed to him on a platter - for him to pick up a rap tape is incredible to me, because what that's saying is that he's living a fantasy life of rebellion. Votes: 1Eminem
With 'Hip-Hop Saved My Life,' I attempted to make 'Kick, Push,' but for rappers. To give a real basic play-by-play of the life of a rapper before he makes it - if he ever makes it, because you can get stuck in that and be trying to make it for the rest of your life. Votes: 1Lupe Fiasco
I was literally told for 'The Show Goes On' that I shouldn't rap too deep. I shouldn't be too lyrical. It just needs to be something easy on the eyes. Like a record company telling Picasso that we don't need these abstract interpretations of life, where people have to sit down and look at it and break it down. Votes: 1Lupe Fiasco
There's something about being any kind of entertainer that is acting. You have to put on a show. Things you wouldn't do in your life, you do on stage. You have to let go. And that's extra hard for rappers. We have a tendency to, quote unquote, keep it real. As an actor, you have to be able to humiliate yourself. Do whatever it takes. Votes: 1Heavy D
One of the fun things as an actor is to find a character that if you were to look up a rap sheet about them, you might say, 'I don't really necessarily want to hang out with this guy' or 'I would never be this kind of guy in my life.' I think it's part of an actor's job to say, 'Maybe you could be.' Votes: 1Jason Ritter
Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what they have been through. Votes: 5 Sam Cawthorn


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Sold Out
A cascade of crystals down inner edge of the bikini top. Heavy coverage cascading in to a scatter of crystals placed 9-7mm apart. Perfect for any competitor that wants to sparkle on stage.Fabric: Pearl
Fabric: Tiffany Blue
Crystal Colour: Crystal Clear, C14 Aquamarine AB
Brief Style: Figure
Brief Cut: Pro
Size: 6
Brief Connector: 3 row 4mm Crystals
Top Style: Standard Moulded
Top Size: A/B
Middle Cup Connector- Solitaire
Strap Connector - 3 row 4mm Crystals
*It is expected that you take the time to read our sizing chart and FAQ before placing your order.
NOT YOUR SIZE? Not a problem. You can reorder this bikini in your size. Simply click HERE and use the details above when customising.
Your brief size is determined by your hip measurement. Your hip measurement is to be taken on your HIGH HIP which is on your underwear line--NOT around your glutes or widest part. Take a tape measure and measure the full circumference of your hips
We want you to look and feel your absolute best on stage so please make sure you check your measurements properly. Remember to order with your stage weight in mind.
|Hip Measurement
This sizing chart applies to ALL of our bikini brief and figure suit styles.
Your crotch measurement is an optional measurement you can offer when placing your order. Our pattern will fit the vast majority of sizes but you may feel free to add this measurement in your order notes if you have a c-section scar you wish to hide or if you want your bottoms to sit higher or lower than usual.
To find your crotch measurement, take your tape measure to your back and hold the end of it at the top of your underwear. Pass the tape though your legs and take note of the measurement of where you would like your suit to sit at the front. Somewhere between 35-50cm is considered normal. Please contact us if you have any troubles.
We offer 3 different brief styles, Standard, Euro and Figure suit.
Standard style briefs is our original and most popular cut. These bottoms are suitable for All bikini and fitness federations. They sit around the hips and have a butterfly shaped scrunch bottom to accentuate the glues.
The Euro Cut briefs have a V shape with a scoop front and butterfly scrunch bottoms. It is designed to sit high over the hips to give a flattering look to your midsection and create the illusion of elongated legs and smaller waist.These briefs are best suited to European competitors and federations like IFBB. Lots of ICN girls also love this look. We have noticed this style is becoming more popular with all federations.
Our figure suits come with a high V-Shape front and back. The briefs and are designed to sit high on the hips. The straps are adjustable and criss-cross on the back, which clips onto the top.They come in all our different cuts. Pro, Brazilian, Extra Cheeky and Cheeky and DO NOT have a scrunch bottom unless requested otherwise. Model wear Size 6, Brazilian Cut.
You can choose Standard Moulded, Sweetheart Moulded or Slider style tops. We do not offer Bombshell Diva cups with figure suits due to poor bust support and possible gaping from the chest.
Each of our 3 brief styles come in 4 cuts. From smallest to largest they are Pro, Brazilian, Extra Cheeky and Cheeky.
Pro Cut: If you have great glutes and want to show them off. then the 'Pro' cut is perfect for you.
Brazilian: Our most popular cut is our 'Brazilian' it is a great all rounder and is suitable for most federation.
Extra Cheeky: For federations that require 1/3 coverage we recommend the 'Extra Cheeky' cut.
Cheeky: For federations that require 50% coverage the 'Cheeky' cut is your best option.
We have 3 different top style to choose form. Sweetheart moulded, Slider, Bombshell diva.
Our most popular cup is the 'Sweetheart' Moulded top. These scooped bra tops have a layer of padding sewn in to help enhance and shape the bust. This style is a great all-rounder and suits competitors with natural or enhanced breasts. This top style has been popular with girls with smaller busts as it adds fullness and cleavage whilst adding curves to your look. The shape of the cup also hugs the chest, preventing gaping and provides plenty of support. For natural competitors who want to control excess skin from breastfeeding or a huge weight loss, the sweetheart cups are great as they can help stop any 'spillage'. The shape also helps to add an extra cleavage boost, especially when extra padding is added. For competitors with implants this style is great as it moulds to in implant perfectly and sits nicely under the bust to hide any scaring from surgery.
Model wears DD Slim Coverage.
Our Slider style top is a traditional triangle bikini, they are designed to slide along a draw string. This allows for more flexibility in the size and coverage of the top. This style is suited to competitors with implants. For our smaller busted girls, this top is not the most flattering because it is not padded or moulded. Slider bikini tops come with a thin layer of padding to avoid 'high beams'.
Model wear DD Slim Coverage
Our newest design the 'Bombshell Diva' top has one continuous underwire which peaks in the centre. This style is suited to WBFF, IFBB and other fashion focused federations. It is a deep plunging bra that creates the perfect cleavage. It is best suited to most girls with implants or a large natural bust. We do not recommend these cups if you are smaller than a natural B cup.
Model wear DD Size.
Our Latest Bikini cup the 'Diva Sweetheart' is designed to give you the European body building competition look. It looks great with natural or implant busts, it comes with inbuilt push up. If you are wanting the extreme cleavage look, we recommend sizing up and adding extra padding to your order.

subset: commoncrawl


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In the month of April 2019, we saw a big increase in the number of sales from March. There was a total of 33 closed transactions in Coral Gables in April. There was 1 waterfront property that sold this month.… read more →
Oscar Arellano's April Transactions 7237 SW 53 Ave Miami, FL Sold 7734 SW 54 Ave Miami, FL Sold 8725 SW 96 Street Miami, FL Sold 625 Biltmore Way, #205 Coral Gables, FL Sold 323 Navarre Ave #103 Coral Gables, FL… read more →
Thank you to my client on this awesome Zillow review! "Real Values, Real Results" Looking to Buy or Sell? Call or Text Oscar (305)-525-7324
Just get it rented. Having a property empty for months does not produce any income. I have clients who tell me "well I had it rented for $5000 for the past two years, so that is what I want this… read more →
On this week's episode of #RealtorBUZZ we discuss the inspection period in a FAR/BAR Contract.
For Sale 9320 Balada St. Coral Gables, FL 33156 Bed: 7 | Bath: 7.5 | 7,999 Total Sq.Ft | 22,400 Sq.Ft Lot Offered at $ 9,500,00 This spectacular waterfront home features 140 sq ft of W/F/100 Foot dock and lift… read more →
For Sale 13691 Deering Bay Dr. Coral Gables, FL Bed: 6 | Bath: 6.5 | 4,721 Total Sq. Ft. | 7,944 Sq. Ft. Lot Offered at $2,000,000 Spacious home with 6 bedroom, 6.5 bathroom plus a poolside guest house with… read more →
Hi I'm Oscar Arellano, welcome to another episode of Realtor buzz. Today's episode we're going to talk about returning phone calls. I can emphasize how important is to return phone calls and return them promptly. A missed phone call, returning… read more →
This is Oscar Arellano, welcome to another episode of realtor buzz. In today's episode, we're going to talk about why did my house not sell the first time? A Very common question I receive from sellers when the interview me… read more →
FOR SALE 17 Tahiti Beach Island Rd. Coral Gables, FL Bed: 5 | Bath: 5.5 | 7,711 Total Sq. Ft. | 23,387 Sq. Ft Lot Offered at $18,500,000 If you are going to live in paradise – LIVE… read more →


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Life is full of important moments that pass by all too quickly. Helping keep these moments alive through photos is what I love most about my job. Whether it be a senior getting ready to graduate high school, an engagement or wedding, a new baby or just wanting to save the time before little ones grow up, you deserve some who treats and captures these moments with care.
Most Recent


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Rs 8.08 cr collected in cash alone at Lalbaug
In a record collection of donations during the Ganeshotsav, the total cash donated to Lalbaugcha Raja is a whopping Rs 8.08 crore. Reetika Subramaniam reports.mumbai Updated: Sep 16, 2011 00:38 IST
In a record collection of donations during the Ganeshotsav, the total cash donated to Lalbaugcha Raja is a whopping Rs 8.08 crore.
The Lalbaug Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal's daily counting closed on Thursday. Last year, the mandal's cash collection added up to Rs 7 crore.
The gold and other precious metal objects donated by devotees will be sold in a three-day auction starting on Friday at the mandal office in Lalbaug.
The organisers are expecting to cross the Rs20 crore mark after auctioning the donations in kind, which includes diamonds, gold, silver and a Cartier watch. Last year, Rs 10 crore was collected through the auction.
"The daily counting system helped maintain clear records of the cash registered," said Rajendra Lanjwal, treasurer, Lalbaug Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal. "This year, we received more foreign currency as compared to previous years," he added.
Earlier, the donations were counted at the end of the 10-day festivities. However, several currency notes were damaged due to the dampness and weight of the donations in kind, following which the daily counting system was introduced in 2008.
The total money that is collected is used to support a social cause.
"Last year, we used it to set up a dialysis centre and a library to support the underprivileged. We are still contemplating what to do with this year's collections," said Ashok Pawar, president of the mandal.
First Published: Sep 16, 2011 00:37 IST


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How to start growing weed indoors in 10 easy steps
Mexican Haze is an old-school style sativa for growers who enjoy contemporary performance. Suitable for outdoors, greenhouse and indoor styles of cultivation, this strain gives a creative high and delicious buzz. Colas form long spears of tight crusty flower clusters with a sweet and pleasing tang.
Mexican Haze matures in 70–80 days and yields 400–500g/m². There's no need to travel to Mexico to fill your garden with this much loved strain.
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Pictured: Pencil Cactus
Poisonous to: Cats, Dogs
Level of toxicity: Generally mild to moderate
Common signs to watch for:
- Drooling
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Skin irritation
- Eye irritation
Euphorbia species plants may cause irritation to the mouth, gastrointestinal tract, skin, and eyes following exposure. This is largely due to the milky sap within the plant that contains numerous irritants.
Poison type: plants
Scientific name: Euphorbia tirucalli
Alternate names: milkbush, milk bush, sticks on fire, fire sticks pencil cactus


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Photos M.Nicoletti
We ought to start from the end, the one that matters most. The French Energy driver fights against the best in the category, always at the top during the entire weekend. The list of favourite is long, and includes Negro and Antonsen (DR/Tm), New-zealander Bray (GP/Tm), Czech Midrla (Birel/Tm) and Italians Zanchetta (Maranello/Tm), Brenna (TBKart/Modena Engines), Marcon (Tony Kart/Vortex) and Spinelli (Crg/Tm). Also, the group of fast French drivers Arrue (Praga/Parilla), Laurent (Tony Kart/Vortex) e David (Tony Kart/Modena Engines), and two more rookies Barnicoat (ART Grand Prix/Tm) and De Ruwe (Crg/Maxter).
The heat session shows that experience does matter, with Negro and Bray taking the pole in the two prefinals, and Zanchetta and Midrla completing the front rows.
Prefinal 1 sees Negro and Zanchetta getting in each other's way letting Boccolacci through. The French stays in command till the very end, piling up over 2" advantage on Brenna. Prefinal 2 is spiced up by the fight between Bray and Midrla, who quickly move away from the rest of the field with Bray never relinquishing the lead.
The final is very intense, Bray gets off to a good start, keeps the lead for 16 laps when Spinelli and Boccolacci move past. Shortly after the New-zealander gets demoted from 3rd by Arrue, and the fastest lap is only enough to keep Negro at bay for 4th. With two laps to go, the French sneaks through past the Italian on the inside taking a well-deserved win, proving quite at ease in such highly competitive field.
Boccolacci triumphs at debut in KZ2
Photos M.Nicoletti


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What's So Special About Virgin Media's TiVo?
The TV market in the UK is an enormously competitive one. There's the BBC with its huge and reliable budget coming from the TV License (running to several billion per year), Sky Corporation, part of the Murdoch empire with it's satellite TV service and Virgin Media, the UK's largest cable TV provider.
With Internet speeds rising, choices for television are getting even wider and potentially more confusing with the likes of LoveFilm offering DVDs through the post and 'streaming' of movies and TV over the Internet. Internet streaming has been possible for a while, but the quality is now viable enough to be watchable, not only on our computers, but the huge TV screens in our living room and really represent the future of all programme delivery. No wonder then that all the games consoles (Sony's PS3, Microsoft's Xbox etc.) also offer movie streaming these days and online companies like BlinkBox and Netflix are also piling in with pay-per-view or subscription streaming plans.
So how to stand out in such a crowd? Well Virgin Media thinks it has the answer and it's called 'TiVo'.
TiVo have actually tried to sell us their wares in the UK before, but it's unlikely most of you have heard of them. An America based company, who are a huge success story in the US, they offered one of their first models to us in about 2000 through the Dixons store chain. Sadly sales weren't strong and the last nail in the coffin was probably when Sky launched Sky+.
You see TiVo essentially pioneered the recording system behind Sky+. Known as PVRs (personal video recorders), Sky+ and TiVos etc record TV to a hard disc drive inside the box, where the recordings can be played back at full quality with none of the painful fast forwarding and rewinding that we were used to before on VHS tapes or recordable DVD. The trouble for TiVo was, they never managed to get across to customers just how revolutionary this idea could be. Sky with it's superior knowledge of its UK homeland pitched it just right and now many people don't "tape" or "record" TV, they say they "Sky+" it. If you can get into the language and become a verb, you know you've been a marketing success!
Tivo left the UK with their tail between their legs, but now they're back! In a major partnership with Virgin, their latest box is at the centre of the cable TV experience. Now although times have changed and everyone knows what a Sky+ box or PVR is - I'm not sure everyone understands what is so special about a TiVo. So let's take a closer look. This is not a review as such - it's a look at the standout functionality that sets this box apart from the others.
Advert Skip
It's a well known fact that TV companies don't like you fast-forwarding through the adverts. For many, it's their source of income. So the Tivo's ability to skip 30secs cannot be a popular one for them. However, as a TV viewer it's so great. A single button skips 30secs forward through your recording. A second one skips 3 secs back. Skip an advert you hate, or tap it 8-10 times (depending on the length of the break) and the Tivo will automatically jump forward and get you to the next section of the show in no time. Much better than fast forward!
The Next Generation of EPG
Although all PVRs have an 'Electronic Programme Guide' (EPG) - there is none better than Tivos. Presented in an attractive high definition grid layout you can easily scan forward up to two weeks into the future looking at the channel line ups and reading detailed synopsis. As with a traditional PVR, you can of course set up your recordings from here, but you can also look at Directors and cast lists and pull out an individual to see what other upcoming shows they're featured in, setting those to record too. Another unique feature not found elsewhere is the ability not only to look forwards through the guide, but to look backwards! Why would you want to look at what you've missed you ask? Well, because the EPG has been cleverly integrated with Virgin's 7-day catch-up service and any of the programs marked with a 'C' style icon can be selected and watched immediately on-demand! It's this sort of simple, joined up thinking that makes the Tivo so special.
TiVo Can Suggest Programmes You Might Like
Whilst the Tivo looks to build upon features we're already quite familiar with, like the clever EPG above - there are also examples of original thinking that make discovery of new shows much easier. After all it's possible to have nearly 200 channels to browse through. Might sound impressive, but it's a bit of a pain and for people with limited time to watch TV and trying and failing to find a new show you like soon grinds. Tivo provides a helping hand by monitoring the shows you like to watch and suggesting, or even automatically recording 'suggestions' - ie shows it thinks you might like. These are not random guesses either. Behind the Tivo service sits a massive database where all broadcast TV and movies are recorded. Each show will have cast and director information, as well as an elaborate tagging system which helps describe what sort of subject or genre the show is a part of. So if you're particularly into watching 'The Office', the Tivo may decide you would be interested in 'Extras'. Like BBC's 'Click' technology show? Then maybe you'll like Channel 5's 'The Gadget Show'. Tivo will record these shows and file them under a 'Suggestions' folder for you to try. You can even help Tivo make its suggestions even more accurate by telling it what you like and don't like. On the remote is a 'Thumbs up' and a 'Thumbs Down' button. Whilst you're watching any show, you can award it up to three thumbs up, or three thumbs down and Tivo will use it to further refine its suggestions. Amazing.
One revolutionary function of PVRs that video recorder users of the 80s and 90s could never even dream of is the 'series-link'. Before series-link, if you wanted to watch a whole series of a programme on TV, say Spooks for example, you'd have to set up each recording individually, or set a weekly repeat record and hope that the broadcaster didn't change the schedule. With series-link, one click and the whole series is set to record, even if the broadcaster changes the time! I honestly thought this was about as good a record function as you would hope to get, but Tivo have gone and topped it with their 'Wishlist' function. Again, clever use of their vast database of TV programme information means that you can enter the title of a programme, let's say "Top Gear" and it will record every episode of Top Gear broadcast across all the channels you have access to. Brilliant! You'll never miss a new one again! Oh, but it's recording all those bloody repeats too. No problem, simply tell the Tivo only to record new episodes and all those hundreds of repeats shown on the Dave channel and BBC2 are ignored. Now perhaps Jeremy Clarkson from Top Gear is your hero (okay, maybe not, but this is just an example OK?) - you can set your Wishlist to record every program Jeremy Clarkson is in, not just Top Gear. So if he shows up on any other program, Tivo will record it. This is fantastic if you have favourite movie actors or directors as you'll never miss a film with them in it again! Keep a list of wishlists of movies as they come out at the cinema and Tivo will record them once they're released on TV - potentially saving you a fortune in cinema and rental fees if you're cash or time poor. Put simply, wishlists are the next generation of the series-link and they're a revolution.
As I mentioned, a lot of Tivo's most clever functionality is an evolution of functions we're already taking for granted in PVRs, like the series link being made into wishlists, or they're brand new ideas, like the thumbs up and down functions for discovery of new programmes. Well, the last function I'd like to draw special attention to is a bit of both. You see in the mobile phone world, we're now well used to downloading 'Apps'. Pioneered by (but not invented by) Apple - the iPhone was the first device to have an 'App Store' as we've come to recognise them and to date, billions of these little programs have been sold at remarkably low prices to smartphone users looking for a new function, or some amusement to keep their device up to date and relevent. Well, Tivo have borrowed that idea and introduced 'Apps' to the TV! Now it's early days for apps, but there are already some useful ones for viewing your online photographs on your TV, watching BBC iPlayer and streaming music from Spotify. Virgin have indicated that they would like to see thousands of apps available to their customers, so if this is even half as successful as it has been in the mobile phone world, Tivo users are in for a treat that will see their box never go out of date as new functionality is introduced. The fact that the Tivo has it's own unmetered 10MB broadband connection (your own broadband is kept entirely separate) means there is plenty of potential.
Wrapping Up
There is no doubt in my mind, that the TiVo is the best TV set-top-box on the market to date. Virgin seems to know it too and is putting plenty of money into marketing it and releasing regular software updates to enhance and improve functionality. There are also exciting developments on the horizon including an iPad app rumoured to give you access to the full functionality of your Tivo via a lovely touchscreen interface. The idea of being able to play with the Tivo without disturbing other viewers is fantastic and if the app works over the internet so you can set recordings etc from anywhere, then we have yet another small TV watching revolution in the making!
There are plenty of other sites that have reviewed the Tivo in terms of the overall experience of owning it - but I hope this article explains just how this fantastic and clever device sets itself apart from all the other PVRs out there and, in my opinion, even beats the previous crown holder, Sky HD.
Your move, Sky.
If you enjoyed this article, please share it using the buttons below.
Jp :)
Tivo reviews you might like to read:
Picture Credits (thanks all):


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Kryssi Kouture New Baby Girl Dream Come True Newborn Shower Gift
"Zoe" Aqua Vintage Floral Tulle Pink Princess Dress
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"It was insanely nice of you guys to double check with me on my order. I Pre Ordered this dress and they caught that it would not arrive in time for my daughter's pictures, and double checked with me and offered me other suggestions of in-stock dresses, they were all beautiful, but I decided to change my daughter's photo shoot so she could have her dress!!! :)) THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR DOUBLE CHECKING. I APPRECIATE IT."
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I LOVE this shop! I bought my daughter 2 outfits for her first birthday photo shoot and they were AMAZING! They were very well made and fit her perfectly. I was worried about shipping time and when i emailed them they were very quick with their response. I would recommend this store to anyone!
Melissa M.
I placed an order for a gift for a friend who is having a little girl. I ordered the Kryssi Kouture new baby girl dream come true outfit and let me tell you I was beyond happy with the quality and timely shipment even being close to the holiday season.
The shop provided email updates on when product would ship. Super happy with everything and will definitely order again.
I highly recommend.


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New To This Site
I just found this site today while looking online for a peanut allergy alert bracelet for my 5 year old son. He is starting kindergarten in a few weeks and I am really nervous about it. He is always with me and I know every bite that goes in him is safe. He is really great about ...read more


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*Please note, this post is not sponsored, it is what I truly think. If you don't believe me, go there and check it out for your own*
I find it weird to admit, but for how much I love traveling and being the homeless girl (cause the world is her home) there are some things I truly hate about traveling. Such as an uncomfortable hotel bed. Ending up in a bad district of the city. Bad Wi-Fi. Obviously, this happened a few times when I decided I was going to handle the situation like the adult I sometimes pretend to be.
Fortunately, I have an amazing and caring father who decided to pay for my last two nights in one of London's best hotels, last January, actually London's best hotel: the Hotel Xenia.
The Hotel Xenia is located in Earl's Court, but actually it's pretty much next to Kensington, in Cromwell's Road. It's a 5 stars hotel, part of the Autograph Collection. The place is calm and relaxing, the atmosphere easygoing. I didn't feel like an outsider when entering in a 5 stars hotel and if you knew me, you would know I don't (sorry fam) look like a 5 stars woman. I mean, I grew up in a hotel so I pretty much know what it's like to be in a luxurious place. Still, when you enter the Hotel Xenia they make you feel at home. They make you feel at ease. And this is what I like about the place. Because you can be a girl in a 5 stars without actually looking like one and that's fine with them.
The room was cozy and quiet, the bathtub was heaven in the cold winter of London. It was simply magical.
Plus, I guess they have the coolest luggage mat ever, I mean, look at this!
Have A Safe Journey!


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Dr Lynne Shannon invited as lead author of IPBES global assessment
21 Jul 2016 - 13:45
Heartfelt congratulations to Lynne who has been invited to serve as a lead author for Chapter 2 in the global assessment of biodiversity and ecosystem services of IPBES (the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services). This high-level global assessment is about to start, and the product will be presented to the IPBES Plenary in 2019. It is expected to play an important role in several major policy frameworks.
This is an outstanding achievement and bears testimony to Lynne's outstanding calibre as a researcher and her excellence in both leadership and teamwork.


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Have you ever heard of a Goldendoodle?
No, I didn't stutter! I can tell you that when I tell people about Goldendoodles, they often look at me like I'm crazy before realizing that our precious pups are simply mixtures between Golden Retrievers and Poodles!
As you already know, these dogs are friendly, social, large, and very high-energy! Figuring out what to feed a crossbred dog like the Goldendoodle can be difficult, so we have put together our top recommendations and the best dog food for Goldendoodles.
Overview: 4 Best Dog Food For Goldendoodles
Our Rating
|Nature's Variety Instinct Grain-Free
|Acana Ranchlands Dry Dog Food
|Wellness CORE Natural Grain Free Recipe
|Wysong Optimal Performance Dry Food
What's In A Goldendoodle's Ideal Diet?
The first thing that you need to learn as an owner of a crossbred dog is that every Goldendoodle is very different because of the differences in their lineage. This difference can lead to size, energy, and personality differences.
What does this mean for their diet?
This means that you'll need to make adjustments depending on their exact size and exact activity levels! Still, we can make some recommendations for you when it comes to how many calories your dog should be eating daily.
Activity Level
Miniature Goldendoodles
Small Standard Goldendoodles
Large Standard Goldendoodles
|91 Cal
|132 Cal
|135 Cal
|Typical Adult
|117 Cal
|156 Cal
|162 Cal
|Active/Working Dog
|144 Cal
|168 Cal
|198 Cal
For this table, the breakdown of sizes is as follows, based on their weight:
- Miniature: between 15 and 35 pounds
- Small: between 40 and 50 pounds
- Large: between 50 and 90 pounds
Goldendoodles vary in size a lot, so use this table to try to figure out what your dog needs to be eating every day! Food amounts offer by dog, activity level, and size, so be sure to discuss your dog's specific needs with your vet as well.
Feeding Your Goldendoodle Puppy
If you are the proud owner of a Goldendoodle puppy, you will want to know a few things about them before you start feeding them!
First things first. Your puppy should not have been taken away from the rest of the little or their mother before they are at least 7 weeks old. Weaning takes place around this time, and your pup should also start to have their first human experiences now so that they come to have a good relationship with people.
Once the pup is about 8 weeks old and 6 pounds in weight, they'll need around 280 calories per day to stay healthy. Generally speaking, growing puppies need twice the calories of what they will need when they are a full grown adult. Their bodies are doing a lot of work, and you need to keep it fueled!
Some people prefer to feed puppies puppy food, but you can also feed an adult food. If you feed puppy food, do so until they are 12 months old before transitioning to an adult food.
You Should Know: Common Goldendoodle Health Issues
Like many crossbred dogs, there are some common health problems that Goldendoodles may face in their lifetime. We will break those down and give nutritional advice where appropriate in the list below.
Von Willebrand's Disease
This is a disease which affects the blood clotting process. It can lead to issues such as bloody stools, bleeding gums, prolonged bleeding at injury sites, and a number of other blood-related issues.
Causes of this disease are largely unknown, and diet is unlikely to be tied to the development of this condition.
Patellar Luxation
This condition is sometimes known as "trick knees." When affected, the knee joints can slide out of place. This leads to a lot of pain and can be debilitating.
Diet can help to prevent and treat this condition. Feeding your Goldendoodle a diet that is right in omega 3 and 6 fatty acids, chondroitin, glucosamine, and other nutrients will strengthen bones and joints, helping to keep everything in place. A healthy weight is also necessary to avoid this condition.
Progressive Retinal Atrophy (or PRA)
There is no cure for this disease, in which the retinal gradually detaches from the eye. This can lead to night blindness, and eventually, complete blindness.
While there is no cure, you can help slow the diseases onset by feeding your Goldendoodle a diet right in various antioxidants. Make sure to pack their diet with lots of nutrient-rich produce to do so.
More Conditions
Unfortunately, there are a lot of conditions to look out for with Goldendoodles:
- Hip Dysplasia
- Allergies
- Elbow Dysplasia
- Bloat
- Hyperthyroidism
- Ear infections
Some of these conditions can be treated and avoided by doing the following:
- Feed your dog in at least two small portions rather than one large meal to prevent bloat.
- Keep your dog's weight in check to avoid joint conditions.
- Monitor dog for any potential allergic reactions to food and adjust their diet accordingly.
Our Top Choice: The Best Dog Food For Goldendoodles
The number one food we recommend for Goldendoodles is the Nature's Variety Instinct Grain-Free Dry Dog Food! Overall, it's the most successful and balanced food for Goldendoodles of any size.
First, remember that your Goldendoodle needs a wide variety of nutrients, antioxidants, and vitamins to stay healthy throughout their lives. Nutrients support bone and joint health which both large and small dogs need to stay healthy. Feeding a diet rich in these things is essential, and this Instinct formula does just that!
Additionally, crossbred dogs like the Goldendoodle need to avoid bloat because of their heritage. Bloat is caused by gas buildup in the stomach which can be caused by filler ingredients. Feeding a dog food with very few filler ingredients will help reduce the risk of bloat while improving your dog's overall digestive health.
The best Goldendoodle food is thus the Nature's Variety Instinct Grain-Free dog food! It's totally grain and gluten-free, so you don't have to worry as much about the risk of bloat as long as you are feeding your dog in numerous small meals per day.
Additionally, this food contains so many great ingredients that really do wonders for digestive and overall health in a Goldendoodle:
- Red meat
- Poultry
- Healthy veggies
- Fruits
- No gluten
- No grains
- Boosts of calcium and other joint healthy compounds
- Easily digestible
Let's wrap up why we love this food so much with a pros and cons list so that you can decide for yourself if this food is right for your lovable Goldendoodle.
- Combines both poultry and fish, giving a wider variety of healthy fats
- Contains many bone and joint supporting compounds
- Lots of healthy fats and omega fatty acids in the formula
- Contains one filler dog owners might not like, tomato pomace
- Contains controversial ingredient alfalfa meal, which some consider to be a filler grain type ingredient but is a good source of plant protein
All-in-all, this food is one of the most high-quality dog foods out there that your Goldendoodle might love eating. Sure, there are other great food options (such as the other 3 we have mentioned in our table at the beginning of this article), but this is without a doubt the best dog food for goldendoodles.
If you want your dog to thrive on wholesome ingredients and a formula that ticks every box a Goldendoodle needs to be ticked, go with Nature's Variety Instinct Grain-Free. You won't regret this choice!


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The Most Difficult Thing About Mastering is…
…mastering more than one song at a time.
You see, making one song sound good isn't that difficult.
We've talked about this before, and you should be familiar with the steps needed to get a good sounding master.
But when you throw a few more songs into the mix it becomes trickier.
Because the goal is to make this collection of songs sound like an album.
Mastering the Songs As a Whole
Mastering is like making a ragtag band of teenagers play as a team. – Click to Tweet!
You need to make every song sound like they belong together.
You can't have one louder than the other and they need to sound similar both in dynamic range and frequency response.
A great way to start is to make sure each song is at the same volume.
I use Waveburner for mastering and it's easy to raise or lower the gain of each song so that they all flow together nicely.
As for frequency and dynamic range goes, I use multiband compression with very similar settings across the board and I always use a reference track to gauge how my masters sound compared to a commercial track.
Back and Forth Comparisons
After that, it's all about going back and forth between songs to make sure they blend well with each other.
Use metering tools to gauge the loudness and frequency response of each song. Looking at the frequency response in your meters might sound like cheating, but it is a good way to see if one song is lacking in a certain area.
And finally, like I said, compare. Go back and forth between all the songs until they sound like a record.
Because it's easy to make one song sound good. The tricky part is to make your ragtag collection of demos sound like a record.
If you're still struggling, go check out Ian Shepherd's Home Mastering Masterclass.
This fly on the wall course shows you exactly how to make masters that sound great. He shows you how to master a range of genres and takes you through all the steps needed to make your masters sound like professional records.
Click the link below to get your mastering lovin':
Home Mastering Masterclass <———- Click there 🙂


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les bonbons
I'm afraid this text is kind of difficult to translate. It's about the sweets I used to eat when I was a little girl 33 years ago. I really was a perfectionnist when I was a little girl. And there is also a sauerkraut of marquise with a caravelle on top.
Smarties, in Europe, look like M&Ms. The boxes were bigger than the volume of sweets, why, but why?


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Handy card room thermometer
A room thermometer is essential for measuring the temperature of your little one's room so you can make sure they have the right amount of bedding for a comfortable night's sleep.
The clear, at a glance, colour coded display allows you to see the temperature of the nursery so you can dress your baby's bed accordingly.
Design is lightweight and can easily be posted in an envelope as a new baby gift. Also makes a great baby shower gift.
Manufacturer holds the ISO 13485:2003 world standard certificate for their thermometers.
Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths (FSID) recommends that a child sleep in room temperatures between 16C to 20C with 18C being just right.
This is a simple card thermometer with a colour changing strip. It does not give an exact temperature, but rather a guide as to the current temperature and if this is a guide. It has no battery or parts that need replacing.
Price includes shipping within New Zealand.
Delivery is usually 1-3 working days after placing an order.
Nursery Thermometer
- Product Code: NNZ nursery thermometer
- Availability: 8
Related Products
Tags: thermometer, nursery thermometer, baby safety, safe sleep, temperature, baby shower, baby gift, nappyneedz


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It's a Friday night, but unfortunately both Brett & I are under the weather. Hopefully Saturday is much better for us wild & crazy kids, but I thought I'd take this time to recap (if you will) my Spring Break.
First off, let me just say Spring Break is soooooo much sweeter as a teacher than as a student. Why, you ask? Well, other than the much-deserved time off it's nice to (technically) get paid for Spring Break thanks to being on salary. Can I get an "Amen?"
But the big thing is I get to be just me. I loved what Emily's mom said to me this week, "So you get to be Lacey and not Miss G for a few days." TOTALLY.
Sooo in no particular order here's what Spring Break 2011 has brought for me the past couple of weeks (wish I had more pictures but my parents took
my their camera with them on a trip) (But a camera might be on the registry) (HINT):
- Friends! With fixing up a house and first year teaching, I don't have much free time. So I have taken full advantage by visiting with friends and eating too much and sleeping in and have SO enjoyed it (maybe a little too much). It's been fun being acting like a college kid again and just hanging out on campus for a couple of days. Did you know college is so much more fun when there are no classes you have to go to?A post will be devoted to her later, but Emily is rad and can make anything fun. Watching baseball, tennis (did you know that the alley doesn't count in singles? Me neither) (And I totally took tennis lessons the summer of 7th grade), going to BCM, and receiving lots of hugs and "What are you doing here?!" greetings was super great. You know who you are to those of you who it was extra great to see at CU this week. Plus, I snuck in a lunch with my newly-engaged Erika! And of course, spending any time with Brett makes me a very happy girl. I had fun watching baseball games WITH him, even if I know deep-down he wishes he were out there.
- Worked on the house– Again, a post will come soon with updates we've done to the house since we bought it, but Brett & I put in a full day this past weekend and cleaned the inside top to bottom, worked outside, he painted the guest bath, and much more. This includes spending SEVENTY something dollars and cents on (are you ready) lightbulbs and knobs. LIGHTBULBS AND KNOBS. But the buy 1, get 1 Sonic burger and homemade (thank you) Velveta mac & cheese for dinner helped.
Just ask Brett.
- Registered! Brett & I also completed our registry at Target and then later Sears. Target went pretty smoothly (although I
totally didn'tfreaked out when the battery appeared to have suddenly died after TWO HOURS roaming and scanning the aisles at Target and we didn't think it saved. But crisis adverted! We were golden). Sears had some great things too, but don't get us started on the process there. A bless-his-heart-older-man employee approached us as we were trying to scan the push mower for the THIRTY-EIGHTH time and said, "How are you folks doing today?" And I, with my Christian attitude, said "Doing great other than I'm ABOUT TO THROW THIS THING OUT THE WINDOW."
There were other things too, of course. My Mom teaches in the same county, so we have the same breaks and I always enjoy spending time with her- around home, shopping, and delivering food to friends recovering (I do love that about her). Thanks for the Oatmeal Raisin at Panera, mama.
Oh, and I bought "THE DRESS." I have to admit, I was pretty excited when I found it (on a whim- by myself- which was probably the best for my sanity). It's simple, perfect for the beach, and (most important to me) COMFORTABLE. You will totally see me rocking it throughout the summer. Ain't no shame in my game.
While break was wonderful, I am excited to get back to school. I'm blessed to be in a career I love, at a school I love, with people I love. Plus, I sure do miss my favorite second graders (but sooo not that 5:40 alarm clock).
If you made it this far, I salute you. I feel like you earned it. Hopefully, I keep the blogging up once school cranks ups again, if solely for my sake. It's kind of therapeutic. I'm my own Dr. Phil.
That did not sound right at all.


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Pageant Directors
Sierra Billock is a graduate of San Diego State University where she earned her Bachelor's degree in Marketing. She is currently an Account Executive for iHeart Media where she helps companies generate revenue and grow their business through integrated marketing campaigns. Sierra got a jump-start in her career as a result of her involvement in pageants. She was Miss Santee 2009, Miss Greater San Diego USA® 2013 and placed in the Top 20 at Miss California USA® 2014. She has worked as a model, host and has been seen on local TV networks. Through her participation in pageants, Sierra learned valuable skills like public speaking, networking & the art of the interview. Her favorite part about being a titleholder was that she developed a strong commitment to community service and realized the power she had to help others and truly make an impact. As the Executive Director, Sierra is thrilled to be able to offer the same types of opportunities she received to the future generations.
Maria Maes is a 21-year-old student majoring in Communication at San Diego State University. Once done with school, Maria wishes to work as a Special Events Manager. Maria has been involved in pageants since the age of 13. She was Miss Santee 2011 and was also chosen as Miss Congeniality by her peers. As a Director Maria wishes to inspire girls to be powerful, independent women in society. She wants young ladies to have the same opportunity she had when she was a titleholder. When she's not spending time with her family, Maria likes to volunteer around her community and be a princess for The Make A Wish Foundation in San Diego.
Erynne Grecco is a graduate of the University of San Diego where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Humanities. She pursued her California Teaching Credential and Master of Arts in Teaching at San Diego Christian College. Currently, Erynne is an Elementary School Teacher for a local charter school. Erynne has been involved in pageants since 2010, when she was crowned Miss La Mesa. She went on to compete for Miss San Diego and placed 2nd runner up. As a Director Erynne is proud to be part of an organization that encourages young ladies and provides them with training and tools for success and experiences they will never forget.


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Staff Directory
Anne Graham - 3rd Grade
Anne Graham - 3rd Grade
My name is Anne Graham, and I am the third grade teacher at Janesville CSD. I have taught in Janesville since 2013. Prior to teaching in Janesville I had 12 years teaching experience.
My husband, Dave, works at John Deere and is a realtor for Huff Home and Land. Our son, Dawson will be in 3rd grade, and our daughter, Macie, will be in 1st grade. We love being outdoors, camping, fishing, and reading books together.
Add To Cart


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I was reading a June 27th blog on diaTribe called "Mapping America's Health – NHANES Data Continues to Illuminate," which revealed that obesity rates in rural (country) areas are actually higher than those in urban (city) communities.
In this blog, the authors, Emma Ryan and Kelly Close of diaTribe, comment on the complexities of understanding these very recent findings of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).
It was initially troubling for me to understand since I have been focused on obesity and diabetes rates in highly populated cities. One of my recent blogs shed some light on "food swamps" (i.e. the prevalence of corner stores, gas stations and fast-food restaurants) as the primary reason for the health crisis in these communities, and not the commonly accepted "food desert" phenomenon (i.e. the lack of grocery stores and health food access in urban neighborhoods).
How could it be that in the rural communities, which define America's heartland, obesity rates for men and women are higher than in our urban communities? For women, we see almost a 10 percent increase (47%) over urban populations (38%). For men, there is a 7% difference in rural communities (39%) over urban populations (32%).
In trying to figure out this rural dilemma, I came up with the following questions:
- Is it a matter of affordable healthier choices?
- Is the education about what we are genuinely consuming that inefficient?
- Are activity levels drastically reduced as compared to 20-30 years ago?
- Could it be related to how our food is currently packaged, as well as what is present in our food versus what it was like 30-40 years ago (increased added sugars, sodium, and chemicals)?
- How are wealthier communities approaching diet and exercise versus lower-income communities?
Levels of Income
In pondering these questions, I considered the one factor that these two demographic areas have in common – income levels.
I've been saying for quite some time now that diabetes is an epidemic often associated with income level, and recent data shows urban and rural poverty rates running neck and neck, with both geographic areas being the highest in the nation.
- Urban poverty rates are 19.6%, while rural rates are 17.6%.
- Suburban rates are on the rise but are still at only 11.2%.[i]
To further support this argument of the difference in levels of income, when we look at life expectancy rates between wealthy areas and lower income communities, the statistics are staggering.
Consider the urban environment of New Orleans: Figures from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation show that life expectancy varies by as much as 25 years between neighboring zip codes. The defining difference in life expectancy is the relative wealth of the community.
The Correlation Between "Food Deserts" & Being "Food Insecure"
According to the Rural Health Information Hub (RHIhub), many of these rural communities are "food deserts." What is troubling is that some of these food deserts are physically located in the areas where food is grown![ii]
The RHIhub (a clearinghouse of the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy) contends that the presence of food deserts in these rural areas is because many of these communities lack the population to support a local grocery store. Also, some rural residents do not have access to reliable transportation to grocery stores. For many of these towns, residents are stuck with more expensive and less nutritious options, like gas station convenience stores.
The RHIhub also describes many rural families as being "food insecure," which means that they do not have consistent access to sufficient and affordable healthy food. Data for food insecure households in rural households and inner-city households are quite comparable, at 15% and 14.2% respectively.[iii]
Physical Fitness
When it comes to physical fitness, research indicates that rural adults are less active than their urban and suburban counterparts.[iv] Factors influencing this trend are limited access to exercise facilities, lower income and less available information on the benefits of physical activity.
What distinguishes those with lower income in a rural setting versus an urban environment is that in the rural communities we see smaller populations, increased vacant houses and more geographic separation from infrastructure and the legitimate economy.
Yet, the suburban lifestyle environment is not what you would call "light years ahead" of the urban and rural experiences. While there are higher income populations and greater access to exercise facilities and affordable healthcare, we must consider that common factors like stress, extended working hours and other lifestyle habits suggest that there is significant room for improvement about proper diet and physical activity.
The Link Between Our Health & Our Environment
What is going on in our rural communities is perhaps an excellent lesson for all of us regarding the importance of available nutrition, healthcare providers, and physical fitness; and as the diaTribe blog indicates, there are still a lot of questions to be answered in better understanding the obesity trends across different demographic groups.
For our part, I encourage everyone to check out the free resources on our website, especially concerning Nutrition Tools, Exercise, and Diabetes Resources. Also, like our friends at diaTribe, I strongly recommend using the AADE Diabetes Educator Search Tool to find Certified Diabetes Educators in your area.
Finally, if you have unique resources for proper nutrition, healthier living, and diabetes care management in your area, we would love to read your comments on this blog.
[i] https://www.brookings.edu/testimonies/the-changing-geography-of-us-poverty/
[ii] https://www.ruralhealthinfo.org/topics/food-and-hunger
[iii] https://www.ruralhealthinfo.org/topics/food-and-hunger
[iv] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4256125/


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Well, folks, I was a little gun ho this morning. I was so excited about my new MacBook (I haven't owned a laptop in YEARS) that I took it out and decided to update my blog from DOWNSTAIRS. Because I can! And then I realized I didn't have my images imported or edited. My image sizing program wasn't on my laptop. Actually nothing is loaded on my laptop yet and so it's about as useful as my phone ever was until I fix all that. So I'm on my PC :)
I'll write about my grand foray (apparently this is the correct way to spell it ;) thanks Carly!) into Apple land at another time when I'm less overwhelmed by the steps it takes to right click.
Today I wanted to share a few photos from this weekend's bridal show.
Here's my little table, including all the junk underneath it that I should have moved for this picture muahaha.
The table cloth came from my kitchen and the easel came from my mom's house (she paints!). Don't even ask how long it took me to set up that easel. I was asking the vendors around me if they could help me and nobody could figure it out. It was a giant rubik's cube of annoying. And yeah, it's supposed to be taller than it is in this picture. I took what I could get. #mechanicallychallenged
The wind kept knocking my sign over, so everything had to lay flat which isn't so aesthetically pleasing, but it was nice to be outside (despite what the sunburn on my nose is still saying five days later).
This is Janice's beautiful booth. She's the florist who invited me to the event. I was drooling over the screen door flower arrangement. Brides, there's a Pinterest worthy idea for you!
And here's some of the other booths, including the DJ who told me he'd play "Happy" for me and then made me wait three hours for it. Talk about suspense!
I have never done a bridal show before. I've attended one as a bride and I remember when I went that I was kind of overwhelmed by all these vendors asking me when the big day was. I told myself I was not allowed to be one of those vendors and I wouldn't even ask when these brides were getting married. I would just talk to them about photography. Honestly, I just wanted people to get the sense that working with me was going to be simple and easy.
I'm still not sure how I feel about bridal shows. I don't know if the kind of brides who attend them are the kind of brides who want to work with me. In the past, I haven't done them because the hosts charge so much for vendors to set up a booth (the cheapest one I found was $600!) and then you're supposed to make your booth incredibly elaborate with signs, electricity (which costs extra), lights, furniture. It's just become a huge production and almost an art in itself for the people who go year after year, perfecting their incredible booths. I've just never been sure that's the way to go with my business.
This weekend's bridal show was free to attend, so I went for it. And sadly it was kind of a bust as far as meeting potential brides. I think there were three who came by. But the positive was that I got to meet a lot of new wedding vendors who I hadn't met before. I've come to know a lot of photographers, so it's nice to mingle with other vendors as well.
Overall impression? I don't feel like I can even say since I got to meet so few brides. It was a nice first show just because it was small and free for me. Was it my last show? Eh, I dunno. We'll see :)


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We're off to Cape Town for nine days of concerts and education projects with the South Africa National Youth Orchestra. We're extremely grateful for the support of the British Arts Council, the Radcliffe Trust, and the Birmingham Conservatoire for making this trip possible.
Back to All Events
Earlier Event: June 15Birmingham Chamber Music Festival
Later Event: July 29Sholto & Schumann at the Wallace Collection


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BODZii Testimonial - Julie Vincent
Julie Vincent recently finished the 6-week intensive program that BODZii offers. Over the course of the 6 weeks, she lost 9lbs and became much more confident and aware of her eating choices. Here's what she has to say: The process to sign up for the BODZii Nutrition Program was very convenient. Robyn and Emilie made the program easy to follow, exciting and kept it professional. This encouraged me to join the program and provided me with the support to succeed.
The BODZii Nutrition Program taught me a lot about my eating habits and how they affected my life/body. I was not aware of how much emotional eating was affecting my life. I decided to take control of it! It's not always easy but when you are aware of it, it makes the whole process more manageable.
My relationship with food is definitely less emotional than it was 6-7 weeks ago. I'm much more accountable for the type and amount of food I'm having since I started counting my macros. Tracking your food intake makes you aware of all your habits! For example, I didn't know that I was eating that much fat every day and that fat had such a big impact on my body composition.
I tracked my food on a daily basis and received helpful hints from Robyn as I went along. Every week she surprised me with ideas on how I can continue achieving my goals. I found the weekly check-ins and support to be quite helpful. What I also liked was that Robyn helped me set realistic goals that weren't too drastic. This contributed to my success in the program and will help me continue with my success after the program.
I definitely had the attention I needed to be successful. I like the approach of having a call once in a while. Furthermore, writing down how the week went and having Robyn replying with a lot of information and feedback was extremely valuable. Addressing why I was binge eating and planning my meals ahead of time helped with my success. Doing this introspection work helped take control of my eating patterns.
Without any hesitation, I would absolutely recommend this program to anyone looking to have a better relationship with food. The amount of knowledge, support, and growth I received from participating in this program will continue helping me in the future.
Don't overthink this and do it. Change doesn't happen without any action.
To sign up for BODZii, click Here!


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We are located in Ottawa, Canada and we work with our client worldwide by utilizing tools such as Trello.com, Slack.com, Skype.com
Would you like to become our client. Please send us a message and we will get back to you.
To get in touch with us, please send your message to
info [at] blinkdesigns.ca
Blink Design Theme by Themesmob


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Wednesday, June 27, 2018
UAL Service Excellence Nominee - Jupiter Project Implementation Team
Meredith Bratland Wednesday, June 27, 2018 awards , staff No comments :This is a new yearly series on the blog to focus on UAlberta Libraries staff who were nominated for a Service Excellence award. Over the next couple of weeks, we will share the nominees and winners of 2018. Nominees were put forward by fellow staff members and then winners were chosen by an internal committee of peers.
Jupiter Project Implementation Team
UAL Service Excellence Team NomineeSubmitted by: Peter Binkley
The Digital Initiatives Area Leads would like to nominate the Jupiter project implementation team for the exceptional service contributions they made to this complex, lengthy, and challenging project.
The Jupiter project (2017-2018) redeveloped ERA and created a new open source application, called Jupiter, that UAL will rely on for future digital projects. For the duration of this project, the Jupiter team has worked diligently and tenaciously to solve what often seemed to be unsolvable problems. Their work to advocate for and establish best practices for user testing, project management and application deployment, high standards of documentation and code quality, and processes to help with team collaboration and communication has reaped some tremendous rewards, not just for the users of ERA, but in improving how we do our work each and every day.
Early in the project, the implementation team bravely and articulately voiced concerns about our direction. They also recommended concrete changes we could make in our plans to address the risks and obstacles that they had identified. As a result, we dramatically rethought the way we were carrying out this project. Their insistence on using accessible design, well-written and documented code, good project management principles and team communication practices will reap benefits for our entire team well into the future. Additionally, end users will enjoy greatly improved online services as we continue to develop new applications applying these principles.
Through close collaboration with each other and extensive experimentation, research and creative problem-solving, the members of the Jupiter team have developed a number of exciting innovations which will benefit both internal and external UAL users in many ways. For example, the dev and sys admin groups worked together to create a new environment for testing and demonstrating work-in-progress that lets us more quickly test features with end users, and check that everything is working as expected. They also implemented automated processes that greatly reduce the amount of time people in ITS and DI have to spend manually testing and monitoring different parts of the code. Team members from the metadata group drove the creation of a migration process that makes innovative use of tools to make our metadata more consistent and easier to access for testing. They worked closely with other teams to establish shared documentation to help prevent issues we had experienced in past projects when shared data was inconsistent. These improvements have been widely adopted by other projects in DI and will be used and improved on into the future.
The entire team has been deeply committed to the principles of this project from its inception, and their leadership in finding better ways for us to do our work has inspired and invigorated our ongoing work. They have been advocates for better and more accessible design, sustainability in our practices, and are always seeking to improve in how we communicate, collaborate and do our day to day work.
Team Members:Jeff Antoniuk, Matt Barnett, Piyapong Charoenwattana, Tricia Jenkins, Shane Murnaghan, Alex Strilets, Chris Want, Henry Zhang, Tai-chun Lee, Neil MacGregor, Beau Sapach, Danoosh Davoodi,
Mariana Paredes-Olea, Zach Schoenberger, Natasha Nunn.
Tuesday, June 26, 2018
UAL Service Excellence Nominee - Humanities and Social Science Public Service Team
Meredith Bratland Tuesday, June 26, 2018 awards , staff No comments :This is a new yearly series on the blog to focus on UAlberta Libraries staff who were nominated for a Service Excellence award. Over the next couple of weeks, we will share the nominees and winners of 2018. Nominees were put forward by fellow staff members and then winners were chosen by an internal committee of peers.
Humanities and Social Science Public Service Team
UAL Service Excellence Team NomineeSubmitted by: Virginia Pow
Why is the Public Service Team at HSS so awesome? Because of the team's amazing ability to work together and problem-solve together. The core of the team are our 9 Public Service Assistants, who's esprit-de-corps allows them to accomplish anything they set their minds to, and contributes to a positive workplace for everyone at HSS. Whether it is finding solutions for users, working on student engagement, supporting Librarians, or seamlessly implementing equipment lending services, the team is united in their mission of providing excellent service and creating a welcoming and inclusive environments at HSS and Weir. An environment, which they successfully maintained through the HSS first floor renovation in 2016 and after, as users adapted to the new space. They are committed to ongoing learning both as individuals and as a group. For example they challenged each other to undertake and complete the Indigenous Canada MOOC, and they continually seek learning opportunities and share them with each other.
As a team, HSS PSAs literally work from dawn until dark seven days a week to make library collections, services, and facilities friendly and accessible. The PSA team combines knowledge, professionalism, and caring for library users. When students don't know what a microfilm is or how to use it for their research, when they have no idea how to start their English assignment, when their paper is due in 10 minutes and the printer just won't print, the HSS PSAs are there to collaborate on solutions and ease academic and library anxiety with understanding and humour. They advocate on behalf of students to their supervisors, bringing concerns and suggesting improvements.
The core team of PSAs knows their key role within the public service infrastructure, and they are such a strong team that they are able to expand to include Indigenous Interns, SLIS Collaborative Students, Weir Student Employees, Librarians, and Practicum students throughout the cycle of the academic year. While continuing to provide excellent service and engaging in successful student outreach, they are constantly training new colleagues, leading by example, and inviting student employees to contribute to student engagement projects. While service often begins with them, the PSAs know they are part of a wider service landscape: they collaborate with and refer to Subject Librarians, Access Services, Bib Services and ITS colleagues, ONECard, IST, Protective Services, and beyond.
Equipment lending is a service that has been so well loved by students and the only way this could have occurred was because of the efforts and work behind the scenes of the PSA team. However, it was only seamless for the students - the countless hours and time the team put in to make it work has been well noted by their HSS colleagues. This team works hard to successfully make an above-and-beyond level of care and service feel easy and seamless for users, whose experience always remains their top priority. Being the first point of contact is a huge responsibility and the HSS team does so with grace and a smile.
Team Members:Amy Southgate, Bernard Offengenden, Carmen Loconte, Denise Irwin, Hanne Pearce, Jamie Spivak, Noelle Fraser, Shawna Manchakowsky, Ursula Pilmeier.
Monday, June 25, 2018
Five Ways Browzine Will Revitalize Your E-Journal Experience
Erin Sanderman Monday, June 25, 2018 collections , faculty , graduate students , students No comments :
Have you tried Browzine yet? If not, you're missing out on a fantastic way to stay up-to-date on all your favourite journals wherever you have a network connection. Best of all, Browzine offers free apps for a plethora of desktop and mobile devices, meaning all current University of Alberta students, faculty and staff can take advantage of all Browzine has to offer. Here's five more reasons you should be using Browzine:
- Planning on sitting back with the latest issue of your favourite journal? Browzine's simple bookshelf interface gives you the ability to view single articles and full issues of journals.
- Curious about what other journals are available in your area of interests? You can browse an incredible array of journals available through UAlberta libraries and open access publishers using Browzine.
- Do you eagerly await the release of the latest issues of your favourite titles? You can save your favs to your personal bookshelf and get alerts when new issues are published.
- Headed somewhere where there's no internet access? You can save articles to your mobile device for offline viewing.
- Discover an article that complements your research? You can easily export the article's reference data into the reference manager of your choice.
UAL Service Excellence Nominee - Jeff Papineau
Meredith Bratland Monday, June 25, 2018 awards , staff No comments :This is a new yearly series on the blog to focus on UAlberta Libraries staff who were nominated for a Service Excellence award. Over the next couple of weeks, we will share the nominees and winners of 2018. Nominees were put forward by fellow staff members and then winners were chosen by an internal committee of peers.
Jeff Papineau
Individual UAL Service Excellence NomineeSubmitted by: Robert Desmarais
I am nominating Jeff Papineau for a UAL Service Excellence Award for his extraordinary contribution to Bruce Peel Special Collections in all matters relating to service excellence. Jeff consistently demonstrates leadership and initiative in the unit, especially on public service matters that impact our researchers.
A shining example of Jeff's demonstrated excellent service to library patrons is his recent handling of a researcher visit that resulted in a cash donation to the Peel library. Gary Kurutz, retired Director of the Special Collections Branch of the California State Library in Sacramento, recently contacted Jeff to follow up on an earlier visit he made to the Peel library to consult Klondike materials for his forthcoming bibliography to be published by the Book Club of California. Gary asked if it would be possible to get the measurements of a title page and scan of a rare dust jacket for his bibliography. Jeff immediately obliged but he also showed great initiative by informing Gary of some recent acquisitions from the library's uncatalogued backlog that Gary had never seen or heard of before.
Gary was incredulous that Jeff would take it upon himself to go above and beyond his expectations to provide important new sources for his bibliography. In a follow-up letter addressed to me, Gary expressed his appreciation with high praise for Jeff and a promise to make a cash donation to the library:
"Dear Robert, Enclosed is a donation in honor of the extraordinary service of Jeff Papineau of your staff. Jeff has always answered my requests with utmost professionalism and efficiency. He has made my research on writing a descriptive bibliography on the Klondike and Alaska gold rushes so much easier. In undertaking this project, I have now visited twenty-six research libraries and archives, and without doubt, Jeff has exceeded in service all the other institutions in responsiveness. The Peel Special Collections Library is most fortunate to have him" (Gary F. Kurutz, letter dated 10 December 2017).In every interaction with library patrons, Jeff demonstrates that service is a top priority. A further example of Jeff's commitment to excellent service is his dedication to the ongoing and increasingly complicated effort to assist Peel curators with exhibition projects. Jeff's excellent service to support curator Helen Cheung and her research for a forthcoming exhibition on Chinese merchants in Western Canada deserves special commendation. Helen wrote that Jeff's efforts are especially praiseworthy because he always goes the extra mile to help:
As a guest curator of Bruce Peel Special Collections, I wish to express my heartfelt appreciation for the outstanding support service that I received and continue to receive from Jeff Papineau as I prepare for an exhibition scheduled to be held in 2021. I am impressed by his professionalism and appreciate that he always provides service promptly and with a big smile. He often goes beyond his call of duty to accommodate special service requests from me, the donors, and the Chinese community such as locating more recent and uncatalogued archival materials on short notice. Sometimes he will take the initiative to make suggestions so that services can be delivered to us more efficiently. I believe that he is a great asset to the Peel library and all its users (Helen Cheung, email dated 25 May 2018).The impact of Jeff's contribution to Helen's exhibition work is remarkable. Jeff cares deeply about his public service work and he takes great pride in his role as an ambassador of the Peel library.
Friday, June 22, 2018
UAL Service Excellence Nominee - Monograph Acquisitions Team
Meredith Bratland Friday, June 22, 2018 awards , staff No comments :This is a new yearly series on the blog to focus on UAlberta Libraries staff who were nominated for a Service Excellence award. Over the next couple of weeks, we will share the nominees and winners of 2018. Nominees were put forward by fellow staff members and then winners were chosen by an internal committee of peers.
Monograph Acquisitions Team
UAL Service Excellence Team AwardSubmitted by: Trish Chatterly
The monograph acquisitions team, comprised of Sarah Chomyc, Kaitlyn Hill, and Carol Rodgers under the motivating leadership of Kathy Urban, works tirelessly to fill book, video, and other orders submitted by UofA students, faculty, and staff. Whether it is purchasing an ebook from one of our primary vendors, or buying one of a host of other unique and sometimes obscure items (robots, board games, a polar bear skull!), the team members are committed to providing excellent customer service.
They ensure orders are placed quickly and efficiently. When items are needed in a rush for use in class, they find means of expediting delivery to ensure the curriculum resources arrive in time. They always present a professional and tactful point of view, and follow up with patrons to ensure all questions are answered. They identify and set up relationships with new vendors for the purchase of non-English material. They exhibit persistence, and ensure all avenues are exhausted in the hunt for items that are sometimes very difficult to locate. In just one example, team member Carol went to great lengths to identify sources for authentic items for the completion of First Nations kits for the Coutts Education Library.
Team members Kaitlyn and Sarah presented on their ordering work at the Staff Support Showcase last fall. In addition to purchasing materials for the libraries, however, they manage other responsibilities as well. They ensure print serials are checked into the catalogue in a timely manner, review donated materials to identify new items for the collection, and contribute to a wide range of collections project. As a cohesive team, they work well together to balance priorities to ensure that our users' needs are met.
One need only read the emails of thanks (eg. "Wow! You guys are amazing! I can't tell you how helpful this is and how grateful I am!! Please keep up the great work you are doing!" and "Wow! Our library is THE BEST! Thank you so much!") or the tweets from happy library users (pic.twitter.com/2f1wYrC3AH) to know that this team provides a significant service to the university community that is widely appreciated.
Team Members:Sarah Chomyc, Kaitlyn Hill, Carol Rodgers, Kathy Urban
Thursday, June 21, 2018
UAL Service Excellence Nominee - Peggy Morgan
Meredith Bratland Thursday, June 21, 2018 awards , staff No comments :This is a new yearly series on the blog to focus on UAlberta Libraries staff who were nominated for a Service Excellence award. Over the next couple of weeks, we will share the nominees and winners of 2018. Nominees were put forward by fellow staff members and then winners were chosen by an internal committee of peers.
Peggy Morgan
Nominee for Individual Service Excellence Award 2018Submitted by: Elaine Coupland, Natalya Brettle, Kenton Good
It is our honour to nominate Peggy Morgan for the 2018 UAL Service Excellence Award. Peggy, in her role as Application Specialist within the ITS ILS support team, provides exemplary service both on behalf of the University of Alberta Libraries and within the larger NEOS consortium. When tickets arrive in the helpdesk and are assigned to Peggy, she truly owns that problem, shepherding it from beginning to end, diving deep into the issue and often uncovering issues that might not have been apparent by solving the symptom rather than the root cause.
Peggy is always concerned with providing outstanding customer service, and her focus at all times is on tweaking the system to meet and deliver that service need. Peggy's special talent is bringing together system knowledge, library policy and end user service needs. She pulls it all together like few others can.
Peggy always takes initiative in delivering top quality service through her courtesy, conscientiousness, timeliness, and respect for others, and her ability to actively anticipate and meet service expectations and needs. Peggy is an excellent teammate providing unwavering commitment and support to fellow ILS team members. Peggy is calm under pressure, patient, measured, and non-judgmental, and approaches every problem with her lovely sense of humour and wit. She is consistently enthusiastic about her work! Every time a head-scratching question arrives on Peggy's desk, she approaches it with delight and gusto. She truly enjoys the 'thrill of the puzzle'.
In the current academic year Peggy has resolved a staggering number (500) of helpdesk tickets which is impressive in and of itself, but even more so considering the complex issues and questions that land in her inbox. Peggy is the solver of impossible problems and the one person we all go to when something in Symphony has gone a little sideways.
Peggy has also provided leadership with the larger BLUEcloud Analytics project this past year, diving deep into the functionality and configuration of this new service and optimizing functionality to insure it will provide the information and data required to deliver high level service amongst the various NEOS Libraries. BLUEcloud Analytics will be a high impact game changer in our ability to make evidence-based decisions moving forward, and Peggy will have played a large part in the success of this project.
Peggy is a master at finding efficiencies within the Workflows environment. An example from the last year - she figured out how to change the alternate circulation rule for recalled books so that the notices borrowers receive would always happen consistently and still ensure 2 full weeks of borrowing privileges. Little details like this make a big difference in the type of high level service we all strive to provide.
Wednesday, June 20, 2018
UAL Service Excellence Award 2018 - Depository and Fulfillment Team
Meredith Bratland Wednesday, June 20, 2018 awards , staff No comments :This is a new yearly series on the blog to focus on UAlberta Libraries staff who were nominated for a Service Excellence award. Over the next couple of weeks, we will share the nominees and winners of 2018. Nominees were put forward by fellow staff members and then winners were chosen by an internal committee of peers.
Depository and Fulfillment Team
Winner Service Excellence Award (Team)
Submitted by: CJ De Jong
The team demonstrated excellent service by maintaining access to the collections throughout the entire move, with little to no service disruption for UAL users, NEOS libraries, and external libraries. Logistically, having an active collection that is moving from one building to another across the city, is extremely daunting. An example is the sending of a book out to a user from BARD, then the tray is moved to RCRF, and the book is returned at BARD, which required planning and teamwork to ensure items ended up where they belonged. The team came together by bringing forward solutions to various situations that created barriers to our success.
Servicing two facilities and materials in transit was one challenge, but it was further complicated by the limitation on access to the depository for purposes of retrieval, returns and move preparation, which was restricted to the hours of 8am to 12pm. Adjustments to workflow and schedules was necessary to keep everything moving. Many staff members showed leadership by volunteering to work adjusted hours to either supervise the move by working late or create additional access time to the depositories by coming in early. Others took on supervisory duties, worked on projects that required organizational and problem solving skills, and demonstrated further flexibility by splitting their days between facilities.
This team truly rolled with the punches and stepped up to the plate where needed to ensure that the collection would be fully accessible, and all items could be found for user requests.
Of course, the move started in January, but a lot of preparatory work had to be completed prior to the start of the move. This team carried out numerous projects prior to the move to ensure that the collection would be able to move in the best shape possible. These projects included the relabeling of trays to ensure a consist approach to tray numbers to help identify incorrectly scanned trays, cleaning up data in our systems by checking lists upon lists, and identifying and correcting errors in the collections. The dedication, flexibility, and stamina demonstrated by the team to get us ready for the move, and then see us through, has been incredible.
The Depository and Fulfillment Team members:
Vaughn Munro, Dmitry Azarov, Jamie Rattai, Linda Wiersma, Bernie Judge, Jason Cameron, Trevor Cunningham, Michael Orsini, and Anuar Caldera.
Monday, June 18, 2018
UAL Service Excellence Award 2018 - Kim Frail
Meredith Bratland Monday, June 18, 2018 awards , staff No comments :This is a new yearly series on the blog to focus on UAlberta Libraries staff who were nominated for a Service Excellence award. Over the next couple of weeks, we will share the nominees and winners of 2018. Nominees were put forward by fellow staff members and then winners were chosen by an internal committee of peers.
Kim Frail
Winner of UAL Service Excellence Award (Individual)
Submitted by: Debbie Feisst
We are pleased to nominate Kim Frail, Public Services Librarian at the HT Coutts Library, for the UAL Service Excellence Award. As you will see, her system wide work is significant and she most certainly excels in all criteria for this award.
We are pleased to nominate Kim Frail, Public Services Librarian at the HT Coutts Library, for the UAL Service Excellence Award. As you will see, her system wide work is significant and she most certainly excels in all criteria for this award.
Kim's recent term as Chair of the UAL Teaching and Learning Committee is an exemplar of her commitment to service excellence and leadership. Over the years that she has chaired this group, and as the Subject Librarian for CTL, Kim has developed a series of unique and well-attended workshops with CTL-seconded professor Dr. Carla Peck for librarians to strengthen and deepen our teaching abilities.
Kim's leadership in and attention to supporting librarians to be strong instructors has resulted in the most rigorous attention to teaching development at the UAL in at least a decade and with tangible impact on teaching for all who have attended these high quality workshops.
This aligns perfectly with the UAL Strategic Priority related the Teaching Library and shows a scope of accomplishment and relationship building within UAL and other campus units. Kim has taken a lead in this strategy being rationalized, developed and articulated for the UAL as a whole. It is thanks to many of her efforts and strong vision that UAL is moving forward as a Teaching Library. She is able to also communicate this perspective to others and does so enthusiastically and on an ongoing basis.
Kim consistently shows initiative and innovation and the most recent and impactful example of this is her tireless effort to champion the inclusion of the Library Resources Block in eClass. Kim pioneered use of the eClass Library Block starting in 2012, winning a TIGER grant to work with an instructional designer to design the block. Kim collaborated with faculty and colleagues to assess uptake and use by students, providing statistics and laying the groundwork to back PSC's initial advocacy with CTL to get the block hard-coded into eClass.
Kim has maintained relationships with CTL and ITS in order to introduce updates to the block when the opportunity presented itself, and has advocated with effective persistence for the block to become present by default in all courses for 2018-2019 and beyond! Thanks to Kim's efforts, and solutions-focussed perspective, library services are present for all students in the digital learning environment. You cannot get much more impactful than that!
Kim is a skilled communicator and a respected and valuable staff member at Coutts and beyond, demonstrating strong facilitative abilities and who has the very significant and important capacities for collaboration and project management. Kim's strong competencies in these areas and her overall qualities she brings to the work environment have ensured her great success
Her commitment to service is evident in the relationships she has developed in her Subject area, Elementary Education, where Department Chair Maryanne Doherty describes Kim as "a very positive asset to our Department in that she makes outstanding contributions" and that Kim's "professionalism and ability to provide outstanding advice" is essential.
Monday, June 4, 2018
Climate Change Exhibition
Meredith Bratland Monday, June 04, 2018 exhibits , Rutherford No comments :The libraries hosted a fantastic exhibition this spring in the Rutherford Galleria from April 14 to May 14, 2018. Check out this guest post from Royden Mills, UAlberta Sculpture Instrutor.
Curators: Marilène Oliver and Royden Mills, K-Lee Fraser
Special Thanks to: Stephanie Jonsson, Cambell Wallace, Steve Dixon and Mark Seignor
This Exhibition offered energy from the momentum of studio artists who either were studying or have studied in direct connection to the Faculty of Arts and especially the Department of Art and Design at the University of Alberta. First Nations artists from Portage College in Lac La Biche presented an important collaborative Installation for this exhibition as invited guests.
The spectrum of contributing artists included First-year Fundamental students with a cross section of Undergraduate students, a few Graduate students and former students who already had terrific, professional careers. This exhibition ran for a month and was really a wonderful opportunity; and we were grateful to the Rutherford Library staff, especially Michael May, who started the exhibitions years ago. We gratefully acknowledged stellar support from Sarah Polkinghorne who enthusiastically supported it and K-Lee Fraser who carried the energy wonderfully this year.
The Printmaking and Sculpture Divisions at the U of A made the show a part of the course curriculum and the undergraduate student work done by them was completed for this exhibition in less than the thirteen weeks of course time this term. The energy they dedicated spoke to a passion they had for efficiently using their studio practice and reached out in an effort to inspire others. These artists were all trying to make lives as studio professionals.
Change Climate: The exhibition was titled in a way about the climate that these students wanted to address which included a range of serious issues that affected the climate of our existence. The changing weather patterns were obviously a very big and significant concern in our era, the anxieties that we felt over human influence over temperature change, the hopes and fears we felt around the socio-political climate of our era are also very much in the forefront of the minds of some of these artists too.
In some cases the work spoke directly and obviously with full force on trying to provoke change or reaction, but in other cases there was expressed equivocation over feelings to do with human wilfulness and engagement with nature. There was no question that we had to do something about SO many things in our era and these were the people who carried the responsibility of trying to inspire us by using their Fine Art studio practice. They hoped we would consider things that we may have overlooked about being alive. Perhaps it was the role of artists to present alternatives to orthodoxy in our world through the very way they lived.
Our students studied the traditions of Fine Arts proudly; they all were taught how to draw accurately, they were taught how to sculpt accurately, and they studied art history and contemporary visual culture; and they were faced with trying to sort out how they must generate sustainable lives as professional artists.
The Art and Design Department has proven remarkably successful at launching people into pertinent careers by helping to build individuals who are agile enough to deal with many types of traditional and contemporary media. The students were challenged to take on the same uncommon work ethic that professionals of any discipline require.
You saw work here by a spectrum of artists, junior through accomplished artists seeking not merely to match the décor or be background music to the daily life of this University space. They sought more. They respected the intelligence of the audience and believed that, generally speaking, all people enjoyed arriving at doing something that at first they may not have considered possible of themselves. That kind of satisfaction over applying one's self and challenging one's self was a sign of respect offered by these artists to the audience.
In the end, the work validated both artist and audience member and in that way art really can save lives, one validation at a time. We hope you found something that stirred something in you!
Royden Mills, Co-curator of the exhibition, April 2018
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Each month, besties Soojeong and Ginny divulge shameful secrets on stage and invite hilarious guest comics to do the same. Equal parts vulnerable, raucous and absurd, it's guaranteed to make you feel a little more shameless.
Nore Davis (Inside Amy Schumer, Last Week Tonight)
Janelle James (Bridgetown Comedy Festival)
Jordan Temple (NY Comedy Festival)
Musical Guest: Ikechukwu Ufomadu (Ike At Night)
Hosted by GInny Leise & Soojeong Son
Union Hall: 702 Union St. Brooklyn, NY 11215
7:30PM Doors / 8PM Show
$8 advance / $10 door
Get your tickets in advance here!
Event Detail http://www.unionhallny.com/event/840261


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We're in the midst of a cold snap here in DC. The federal government is shut down today and I've been hauling wood and shoveling. It's been worth trudging through the snow and ice to see the Potomac River. It's frozen over right now. The first shot is from before the recent snow storm and the following shots are from this morning, Tuesday.
iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan's YouTube channel here.


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Work…Work…Work…I feel like that's all I've done today. I guess I should feel accomplished, but honestly it just makes me feel behind! I guess I did get a lot done today, but not everything. I've got a few more jam-packed days ahead of me, but I can't complain. I've decided this is what I want to do and I should be grateful to have made that decision. Most people hate their job…I really quite enjoy mine! (Most days!) We are working on a Free Holiday issue for Die Cut Crazy! I'm excited to get that finished and get to work on the other December issue that will also be coming out.
I'm trying to get most of my work finished before the weekend. It would be nice to not have the worry of work around me while we're trying to get to know our new puppy!!! I think we've decided on the name Juno for our new family member. Jeremy is pretty set on that one and I don't hate it! I am really excited and anxious about getting her. Puppies are a lot of fun, but also a lot of work. I'm sure it'll go smooth, but I like to worry about ridiculous things. (kidding, but true.)
I'm getting pretty tired and still need to jump in the shower. I think I'm done working for the evening and I have another full day of it tomorrow.
Enjoy your Thursday everyone. I will try to enjoy mine.


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